FAIRFIELD — Solano County Behavioral Health has been acknowledged for its efforts to provide mental health services to underserved populations.

The American Association of Medical Colleges recognized the county agency for its innovation plan.

“The project, called the Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Cultural Transformation Model Innovation Project, received second place in the “2022 Innovation that Bolster Community Trust in Science Award.”

The project will be highlighted in the third edition of the “Principles of Community Engagement,” which is a publication currently being developed by the National Institute of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. This publication is available in English and Spanish.

Additionally, the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission recently approved the use of Covid funding to scale the Innovation Project to all California counties.

The project’s strategies will be implemented through a statewide ICCTM Learning Collaborative, which will be delivered in partnership by Behavioral Health and the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities.

“What UC Davis Health, CRHD and the county and community partners have accomplished with this unique collaboration is nothing short of remarkable,” Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, the CRHD director, said in a statement.“This is one of the most meaningful projects I’ve been involved with in my entire career because of the way in which we collectively increased access and utilization of much-needed mental health services for populations that have been historically underserved.”

The five-year ICCTM Innovation Project was implemented in three phases:

• A comprehensive cultural needs assessment using a community engagement approach.
• The development of a Solano-specific training curriculum and community-defined quality improvement action plans using the national CLAS Standards as a framework.
• Refinement and implementation of the QI action plans.

Through the ICCTM Project, 14 community-defined quality improvement action plans were developed. They focus on improved community engagement, workforce development and training.

For example, one of the actions plans “supported the funding and implementation of culturally responsive school-based Wellness Centers on 45 K-12 and adult education sites across Solano County.”

Another action plan resulted in a community friendly resource guide called “TRUEcare Promoter Roadmap.”

“As a result of the ICCTM Project, we are now using an equity lens in all things we do, from outreach to service delivery,” Tracy Lacey, Solano County senior manager and Mental Health Services Act coordinator, said in the statement.

Some of the more significant outcomes of the project included:

• A 24/7 access line received an increase in calls from an average of 1,601 callers per year prior to the project, to 2,066 callers per year after the project ended.
• Access line use among Solano County residents increased by 29%, and was higher among the three communities of focus: Filipinx increased calls by 32%; Latinx increased calls by 41%; and LGTBQ+ increased calls by 309%.
• LGBTQ+ consumers doubled their usage of outpatient services from 4% to 8%.

“In addition to increasing access to care for the three communities of focus, we are most proud of taking a community that was often invisible and creating environments where people can be seen as their authentic selves,” said Lacey, specifically in reference to the LGBTQ+ community.

“As a result, our mental health teams are much more responsive to the behavioral health needs of the populations they serve in general and underserved populations,” she said.

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