Our Projects

We support initiatives in mental health, substance use disorder prevention, health equality, crisis response and recovery, mentoring, and other areas that promote community health and wellness. With every project, we are committed to advancing evidence-based practices—working alongside changemakers to bridge the gap between vision and action.

Current Projects

Maryland Prevention Exchange (MD Exchange)

Maryland Department of Health (MDH)

California Reducing Disparities Project LGBTQ TA Center (CRDP)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Medi-Cal Mobile Crisis Training and Technical Assistance Center (M-TAC)

California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)

Advance Behavioral Health Prevention California (ABHPC)

California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)

California Community Colleges Health & Wellness Program

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office & Foundation for California Community Colleges

Behavioral Health Student Services Act Statewide Technical Assistance Coordinator

California School-Based Health Alliance, California Commission for Behavioral Health

California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Program

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office

California Mentoring Partnership

Gerbode Foundation

Georgia Expansion of Comprehensive Suicide Prevention

Georgia Department of Public Health

Select Past Projects

National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health (NTTAC)Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)The Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARS) supports individuals and organizations working to improve mental health outcomes for children, youth, and young adults (ages 0–21) and their families, through the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health (NTTAC) project.Funded by SAMHSA, NTTAC strengthens community-driven and evidence-based approaches through training, technical assistance, and collaboration.

Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC)Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)The Pacific Southwest MHTTC was one of 10 SAMHSA-funded regional centers that comprised the MHTTC Network from 2018-2024. The primary focus of PS MHTTC was the development and dissemination of evidence-based and community-defined practices and policies to the mental health workforce. PS MHTTC had specific programming streams for the school mental health workforce and also served as the MHTTC Network’s national youth and young adult mental health expert center.Access all of our archived content on our CARS Learning Exchange!

Crisis and Recovery Enhancement (CARE) Technical Assistance (TA) CenterCalifornia Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)The CARE TA Center (2020-2024) provided training and consultation services to help the 59 California Mental Health Services Act-funded jurisdictions build and strengthen their crisis response and justice diversion systems. Under CARS’ leadership, CARE had a strong emphasis on responsive, community-driven, and trauma-informed approaches.

Orange County Student Mental Health Initiative (OC RD & OC CN)Orange County Health Care Agency (OC HCA)CARS partnered with OC HCA from 2020-2023 on their Student Mental Health Initiative, leading the Resource Directory and Community Networking Projects. These efforts included developing customized resources and tools for county schools, leading virtual and onsite engagement campaigns, and facilitating access to resources.

Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) for the California Mentoring Partnership (CMP)National Mentoring Resource Center funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionFrom 2015-2019, CARS served as a subcontractor to provide training and support to local community-based organizations implementing youth mentoring programs. Services focused on training and resources to effectively implement evidence-based mentoring practices.

Now Is The Time Technical Assistance (NITT-TA) CenterSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)From 2014-2018, CARS led a comprehensive array of coaching, consultation, and training services for the 20 Project AWARE state education agencies (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education); 17 Healthy Transitions state and tribal agencies (improving mental health systems for youth and young adults of transition age); and 10 ReCAST jurisdictions (Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma). Collectively, these high-profile mental health and violence prevention initiatives supported children, youth, young adults, and communities nationwide.

Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health) TA CenterSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)CARS led the Project LAUNCH TA Center from 2017-2018, which supported 36 state and tribal agencies implementing strategies to promote the wellness of young children, birth through age 8. Key training and coaching topics included behavioral health and primary care integration, screening and assessment, family engagement, and familial substance/opioid use.

The School Crisis Recovery & Renewal ProjectSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)From 2020-2025, SCRR supported students, educators, school staff, and school-based clinicians to effectively implement trauma-informed crisis recovery and renewal strategies. Nationally, the SCRR Team: provided training and technical assistance (TTA) services and resources, created curricula, training opportunities, and best-practice resources and promoted effective and sustainable change in the ways school leadership build the skills, knowledge, and attributes necessary to recover and renew after a crisis. SCRR was a Category II site and now is an affiliate site with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.You can also access all of our SCRR archived content on our CARS Learning Exchange!

Youth Suicide Prevention and Response Network YSPRNThe Youth Suicide Prevention Crisis Response Pilot Program was funded by the California Department of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch. This project supported the efforts to plan, develop and test approaches and models for rapid reporting and comprehensive crisis response to youth suicide and suicide attempts in youth 25 and under. CARS offered Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) services, focused on support for reporting and implementation of crisis response services, targeted learning opportunities, resource development and an annual convening of collaborative partners.