Substance Use, Safety, and Kids’ Care: Programs Changing Lives

Today’s Brief:

• Substance Abuse Outreach Briefs

• Bridging the Gap: How Integrating Behavioral Health Into Pediatric Care Eases Kids’ Symptoms

• Mamdani Unveils Bold Public Safety Blueprint: A New Path for NY Region Safety and Equity

• Social Briefs

  Total Read Time: 3 minutes

👮 Substance Abuse Outreach Briefs

Saving Mothers: Mobile Medical Outreach Brings Addiction Care to Unhoused Pregnant Women in Portland

Portland’s “Project Lifeline” delivers medical, addiction, and perinatal care directly to pregnant, unhoused women. The program emphasizes non-judgmental support, connecting them to treatment, housing, and child custody resources, often reaching women who’ve never had access to such services.

Bridging the Gap: How Outreach Is Changing the Path to Recovery at St. John’s

St. John’s Community Health in Los Angeles tackles substance use through proactive outreach, mobile clinics, harm reduction, and reentry support brought straight into neighborhoods. The approach breaks down barriers, builds trust, and delivers care with dignity.

72 Hours of Hope: Buffalo F.A.T.H.E.R.S Takes on Crisis in Broadway-Fillmore

Buffalo F.A.T.H.E.R.S. launched a 72-hour outreach to aid 1,000 residents with basic needs, mental health, and addiction services. The campaign aims to meet immediate needs while fostering long-term trust in the community.

Sponsored by: Julota

🧠 Bridging the Gap: How Integrating Behavioral Health Into Pediatric Care Eases Kids’ Symptoms

A new study led by Boston Medical Center’s TEAM UP Center shows that embedding behavioral health directly into pediatric primary care can significantly reduce children’s psychosocial symptoms. Researchers followed 942 children across four federally qualified health centers in Massachusetts, measuring outcomes with the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17.

Results demonstrated a meaningful drop in symptom scores after treatment through the TEAM UP Model™, which brings together pediatricians, behavioral health clinicians, and community health workers in a collaborative framework. This integration not only improves access but also breaks down barriers of stigma and fragmented care. With expansion efforts underway in New York City, Atlanta, and beyond, TEAM UP is positioning itself as a scalable, evidence-based solution to the pediatric mental health crisis. The model’s emphasis on holistic, culturally sensitive care highlights its potential to transform child health nationwide.

🧠 Mamdani Unveils Bold Public Safety Blueprint: A New Path for NY Region Safety and Equity

Zohran Mamdani proposes creating a Department of Community Safety in New York City with an estimated $1 billion budget, shifting many 911 mental-health and social crisis calls away from the NYPD toward teams of social workers, mental health professionals, and community outreach workers. He intends to scale up programs like B-HEARD (which sends non-police responders to mental health emergencies) and violence interrupter/mediator initiatives, aimed at preventing gun violence and other community harms before they escalate.

Mamdani does not plan to significantly increase police headcount, but rather reduce reliance on them for nonviolent incidents and reallocate some existing funds into the new department. He also proposes disbanding certain specialized NYPD units like the Strategic Response Group, which he argues are misused, and keeping the department’s traditional functions for serious crimes. Critics raise concerns about feasibility: staffing the new teams, determining which calls are eligible for non-police response, and whether this model can be scaled rapidly without compromising safety.