Project BLOOM
(Building Leveraged Opportunities and Ongoing Mechanisms)

Project Bloom focuses primarily on young children from birth to five years old with serious emotional disturbances (SED) in El Paso, Fremont, and Mesa counties and the city of Aurora. The project provides enhanced training, integrated delivery of supports and services, statewide working groups focusing on system improvements, and ultimately, sustainable statewide resources for addressing children’s mental health. Although the population of children who receives services under Project Bloom are those who have SED, the project has a broader impact by ensuring that there is a true system of care for all children to address prevention and treatment needs.

Project Bloom is building on the seeds for improving mental health in the four communities, including working with each county’s Consolidated Child Care Pilot program to further improve the quality of early childhood care and education (ECE). Project Bloom works with diverse partners, including early childhood leaders and educators, mental health centers, departments of human services, employment and training programs and others.

1. Reduce Expulsions from ECE Programs: Improve the mental health and school readiness of young children by providing prompt, accessible and quality treatment services.
2. Address Limited Behavioral/Mental Health Training and Capacity for ECE Providers: Build provider capacity to address mental/behavioral health through cross-trainings.
3. Address Limited Resources for Behavioral Care of Young Children: Maximize funds and payer options; expand the pool of service providers; implement a case management system that provides decision-making authority to fund services; build community support of mental health services.
4. Address Fragmentation of Current Systems: Utilize Pilot’s Waivers to overcome barriers; build provider capacity; incorporate Part C (IDEA) mandates into system of care
5. Address Limited Knowledge on Behavioral Care of Young Children: Implement an assessment process to establish better understandings of MH services for youth children.
6. Increase Identification of Young Children: Establish EPSDT screening procedures that help providers identify young children with SED.
7. Develop Culturally Competent and Family-Focused Services: Increase family access to resources; develop model family involvement practices; provide culturally competent services.

Funding Source: 
Project Bloom is funded from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)/Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) through a partnership of the Colorado Department of Human Services and JFK Partners.

Project Bloom Website:
www.ProjectBloom.org

JFK Partners

University of Colorado Denver

13121 E. 17^th Ave, C234

Aurora, CO 80045

This site designed and hosted by Electronic Storefronts, Inc