Latest news with #GRO
Chicago Tribune
12-02-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Waukegan's Wraparound Center adds third social service provider; ‘Our focus is molding boys into men'
After seven months of operation and more than a 30% growth rate since late November, the Wraparound Center operating at the future Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 administration building on Washington Street is adding a third social service provider. GRO Community began working with students at two district middle schools in the fall providing mental health services for boys and men. It will join A Safe Place and the Community Youth Network (CYN) as service providers at the Wraparound Center. They are ready to start. Bridget Dotson, the Wraparound Center's director, said GRO provides an additional dimension to the sexual abuse and domestic violence counseling provided by A Safe Place, and general mental health as well as substance abuse therapy coming from CYN. Participants are waiting. 'GRO is already in some of our middle schools, so that connection is made,' Dotson said. 'We have students waiting for the approval tonight to refer them to GRO. We utilize our outreach. They have their system already in place.' The District 60 Board of Education unanimously approved GRO's entry to the Wraparound Center Tuesday at the Lincoln Center administration building in Waukegan, giving it the opportunity to expand its services beyond its two-middle-school base. Dotson said GRO fills a special niche in the community which it demonstrated working initially with students at Robert Abbott Middle School in the fall, and then with youngsters at Edith Smith Middle School as well. 'Their specialty is developing boys into men,' Dotson said. 'They are already known in the community, and they will enable us to enlarge the scope of our work in the community and the scope of the Wraparound Center.' Already operating in Ohio, Michigan and Texas, as well as Illinois, Rashaud Media, GRO's regional director for Illinois, said Waukegan is one of five locations in the state. The others are Rockford, Peoria, Carbondale and Cairo. 'Our focus is molding boys into men,' Media said. 'We work primarily with Black and Brown men, as well as men as a whole. We take a holistic approach. We go to basketball games. We just took them to a Bulls game. We held a job fair.' Jaimon Barconia, a therapist working for GRO in Waukegan, said the organization generally helps boys and men from 'low socioeconomic communities that are struggling with behavioral issues or the criminal justice system.' Different approaches are used. 'Therapy doesn't have to be conducted in an office,' Barconia said. 'Therapy can be conducted in a park. Therapy can be conducted in a nature preserve. We can walk around and participate in community support intervention.' Barconia, along with District 60 board members Carolina Fabian and Christine Lensing, all said breaking through the stigma attached to mental health treatment is important for the well-being of the community. Barconia said the makeup of GRO's Waukegan therapists helps remove barriers. 'The participants are responsive to our services,' Barconia said. : That is important because therapy has a stigma. Therapy has a taboo. We're able to break those stigmas, break those barriers, by them seeing someone who looks like them.' Lensing said she is hopeful the GRO approach will appeal to all students the way it has at the two middle schools. She believes the approach the organization uses will help remove the stigma attached to mental health treatment. 'With this vibe and this approach, hopefully that resonates with our community and they actually begin to seek out your resources because there is a huge stigma and we're trying to break past that,' Lensing said. Fabian agreed there is a stigma attached to mental health treatment, but she said as people started to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, they realized the need to confront feelings and emotions was more widespread. 'There is a stigma,' Fabian said. 'I think with COVID it highlighted everyone needed some mental wellness in their life and were more mindful. One highlight of going through the pandemic is we're able to see more therapeutic services and highlighting that need.' From the time the Wraparound Center opened over the summer until late November, Dotson said it helped 54 participants. As the middle of February approaches, the number has reached the low 80s. 'This is great,' Dotson said. 'The community is becoming more informed and, as they do, I believe our numbers will continue to grow. The majority of people we see are students, but we do see some adults in the community.'
Associated Press
30-01-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Care Predictor & ERPHealth Form Strategic Partnership to Elevate Behavioral Healthcare Through Data-Driven Intelligence
/ -- Care Predictor and ERPHealth are teaming up to empower the behavioral healthcare industry with the latest in data-driven solutions. This collaboration brings together the unique strengths and capabilities of both companies to provide organizations with scientific tools and insights they can use to deliver effective, measurement-based care. Care Predictor utilizes AI and predictive analytics to measure essential personality traits, generate actionable insights, and support the optimization of care provider skills, all of which assist in enhancing treatment quality and strengthening both clinical and organizational outcomes. ERPHealth positions companies to deliver high-quality, outcomes-based care by providing them with real-time data and solutions that empower patient engagement and personalized treatment. The two organizations recently collaborated by implementing the Care Predictor Index (CPI) at a treatment center closely affiliated with ERPHealth. The CPI, a groundbreaking assessment tool that predicts a care provider's ability to form a strong alliance with clients, was scientifically validated by two leading research and innovation firms in 2024. Studies conducted by Berkshire Associates and the National Institute for Behavioral Health confirmed the tool's accuracy and efficacy with regard to hiring, forecasting job performance, and predicting therapeutic impact on clinical symptomatology. Following the treatment center's implementation of the CPI, Care Predictor collected a variety of data from ERPHealth's GRO platform in order to run reverse-validation studies. Results revealed a strong correlation between higher CPI scores and salient clinical outcomes such as a decrease in AMA rate, an increase in treatment completion rate, and a significant reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety. These findings corroborate the efficacy of the CPI in providing valuable insights related to improving behavioral healthcare. 'At Care Predictor, we believe that people drive performance. We know that care providers who are effective at creating strong bonds with their clients ultimately facilitate better clinical outcomes, hence the need to maximize workforce potential to the best of our ability. The Care Predictor team is delighted to partner with ERPHealth, a respected organization that shares our dedication to improving treatment and is highly effective at measuring and leveraging outcomes. With our focus on improving factors that drive clinical success, and ERPHealth's keen understanding of outcomes-based care, this alliance creates a unique opportunity for us to elevate the standard of care in behavioral health,' said Michael Castanon, Founder and CEO of Care Predictor. According to Nick Bardoutsos, Co-Founder and President of ERPHealth, 'ERPHealth's partnership with Care Predictor has the potential to generate remarkable insights for behavioral health organizations that will move the needle on the quality of care being provided. While our colleagues in healthcare have appreciated advancements in precision medicine for years, behavioral health is just scraping the surface when it comes to the value of individualized treatment. At ERPHealth, we believe this is the key to improving outcomes and positioning organizations for success and sustainability. This partnership with Care Predictor sparks excitement as we are joined in the mission to improve behavioral healthcare.' About Care Predictor Care Predictor is an innovative intelligence platform that provides scientifically-validated tools and data-driven insights to behavioral healthcare organizations, empowering them to deliver the highest quality of care while achieving sustainable growth. To learn more about Care Predictor, visit About ERPHealth ERPHealth is a next generation digital behavioral health company providing enterprise-grade technology that leverages the power of patient-reported data to individualize treatment, promote health equity, and position providers as industry leaders. To learn more about ERPHealth, visit Neha Kumar Care Predictor +1 949-339-6657 Legal Disclaimer:
