HJNO Sep/Oct 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS  I  SEP / OCT 2024 47 student can benefit from the program, while schools identified with the highest needs have received further intensive sup- port. In year one, ThriveKids provided on-site staff in 14 target schools identified with the most significant needs, along with care co- ordination across the entire 76+ campus district. This included connecting students with a dedicated psychiatric care team and helping facilitate re-engagement following extended absence due to trauma, juvenile detention, or other significant life events or challenges. In New Orleans, children face unprece- dented levels of trauma, and they benefit from this holistic approach that bridges healthcare and education. New Orleans youth experience four times the national average for rates of PTSD, with 54% hav- ing experienced the murder of someone close to them. Additionally, less than half of youth who experience trauma receive any form of mental health services. ThriveKids and its school partners are aiming to change that. By providing interventions to reduce social, environmental, and health-related barriers to learning, we have been able to identify collective solutions to address the health challenges our students are facing and to help improve their quality of life. The stories and the numbers are powerful. In NOLA-PS alone, throughout the 2023-2024 school year, 3,815 individu- al counseling sessions were delivered with an additional 892 completed mental health visits with the advanced psychiatric care team. And nearly 900 students across Emily Wolff, MPA Senior Director, Community Benefits Children’s Hospital New Orleans The foundation that was established throughout the first year of the ThriveKids partnership with NOLA-PS is building a long-term system of care. By working together, we are providing immediate re- sources for children and decreasing bar- riers for families to access care. We are seeing the direct impact and look forward to expanding the reach in the new school year. Looking ahead into the 2024-2025 school year, plans for continued growth and impact across NOLA-PS include growing the number of target schools with on-site staff to 20 total schools, expanding care coordination to reach more students across NewOrleans, growing the advanced psychiatric care team to increase capacity, and expanding reach through community partnerships to serve those most in need. ThriveKids also plans to establish a Youth and Families Advisory Council and con- vene community stakeholders to inform policy, programming, and strategy moving forward. n Emily Wolff, MPA, serves as the senior director of community benefits at Children’s Hospital New Or- leans,where she focuses on positively impacting the lives of vulnerable children through diverse care pro- grams and facilities across NewOrleans.Previously, she played a pivotal role as the founder and director of themayor’s Office ofYouth and Families for the city of New Orleans. In this capacity, she spearheaded numerous youth-centric programs and policy ini- tiatives, exercising oversight over key departments such as the recreation department, library system, and juvenile detention center. Additionally, she led the Broadmoor ImprovementAssociation,a nonprofit organization recognized on both regional and nation- al levels for its efforts in revitalizing the Broadmoor neighborhood. Wolff earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Bard College and amaster’s degree in public admin- istration from the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy. 63 NOLA-PS campuses also received care coordination from full-time ThriveKids coordinators who worked to remove bar- riers and connect students with the spe- cialized care they needed. On top of this, more than 700 connections were made for health needs, ranging from psychiatry and counseling to ophthalmology, dentistry, and primary care. The ThriveKids program also works to remove any barrier at hand, such as trans- portation or language assistance. Just last year, more than 700 free rides were pro- vided to families across the Greater New Orleans area to help parents access the follow-up appointments their children need. ThriveKids has further supported school partners by providing ongoing professional development opportunities and community outreach events such as its suicide prevention awareness program, which holds assemblies with middle and high school students to help raise aware- ness and support for this leading cause of death in kids and teens. ThriveKids also joined forces with NOLA-PS, the Office of Youth and Families, and other valued com- munity partners to help kids and families get back-to-school ready by holding the annual Back to School Boogaloo event at Joe Brown Park in New Orleans East. The second annual event, held July 13, reached more than 2,500 families, providing free school supplies, sports physicals, immu- nizations, haircuts, dental fluoride treat- ments, complimentary meals, and health and wellness resources from dozens of vendors.