Positive behavioral health provides a stable foundation that supports all aspects of childhood health and development. Services and policies that strengthen families, aid caregivers struggling with adversity, and promote positive interactions within families helps kids thrive. While Jefferson County, Colorado ranks as a relatively healthy county, many health concerns disproportionately affect people of color. These disparities correlate with systemic social and economic inequities reflected in widening income and education gaps between white/non-Latino and Latino residents. Additionally, Spanish-speaking/Latino families face inequities when attempting to navigate and connect with resources and referral systems. Families have expressed an inability to successfully connect with a bilingual or culturally responsive behavioral health service provider, navigate the school system, or understand their role as parents in the interventions provided for their children. A 2015 Community Readiness Assessment revealed Jefferson County has strong community efforts and resources in early childhood health and development. However, these efforts are largely designed by professionals and lack family voice. The absence of coordinated, culturally responsive services limits the ability to develop trusting relationships with families, identify barriers, develop solutions, and create conditions for sustainable healthy behaviors. Adelante Network is a comprehensive, multisector approach to improve child health and wellbeing by strengthening Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) support systems while enhancing the social capital of families. The Network includes community voice in the design and evaluation of culturally-responsive health, education, and community programs. Through a multimodal approach, Adelante has identified supports and barriers in the provision of equitable services to the Latino Spanish-speaking community. This workshop will share the journey of cross-sector coalition work using community-based participatory data collection and health promotion practices to incubate a resilient network of families and organizations. Learn how providing space for community voice and response to data changed the direction of coalition work and redefined priorities and outcomes. We will share lessons learned, challenges, and surprises in this exciting work. Modeled after the Adelante Network meeting format, this session will be co-facilitated in English and Spanish with bilingual interpretation provided by workshop hosts. This unique approach allows for real-time collaboration among attendees who speak different languages.
