May 2, 2016 – CARS is excited to announce that we have been awarded the TA Provider contract for LGBTQ-serving grantees participating in Phase II of the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP). Through the LGBTQ TA Center, CARS will provide comprehensive capacity building TA and training to a cohort of seven implementation pilot projects (IPPs). These IPPs are locally-embedded organizations that have developed community-defined evidence practices to support LGBTQ Californians’ mental health. The ultimate goal of Phase II funding is to prepare these community-defined evidence practices for rigorous evaluation and potential replication. In addition to TA on mental health and cultural competence topics, CARS will provide intensive support for strategic planning, evaluation, and sustainability.
The CRDP is a project of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Office of Health Equity (OHE), funded by the Mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63). Phase II also includes grantees focusing mental health prevention and early intervention services on African American, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, and Native American populations, for a total of up to 35 IPPs across the state of California. Over the course of Phase II, CARS will work with the other population-specific TA Providers to provide cross-cultural trainings and TA to these IPPs.
CARS’ team members Ken Einhaus and Daniel Toleran will lead the LGBTQ TA Center as Project Co-Directors. CARS has partnered with Change Matrix and Evaluation, Management, Training Associates, Inc., to provide a comprehensive approach to supporting the TA and evaluation needs of the grantees.