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Behavioral health effort focuses on prevention

Ventura County Star (CA) - 9/22/2014

Sept. 21--CAMARILLO, Calif. -- Think of alcohol abuse, violence in the home and post-traumatic stress disorder as a white-water river.

Many behavioral health programs focus on treatment -- on getting people out of the water. Leaders of a nonprofit funding organization in Camarillo are trying to help programs find ways to prevent problems before they emerge -- to keep people from getting wet.

"It's going all the way up the stream and finding out why people are falling into the river," said Linda Garcia, a vice president at the Ventura County Community Foundation.

The foundation is dangling a carrot in the form of $80,000 or more in grants to nonprofits that address problems that often go hand in hand, such as substance abuse, isolation, bullying, mental health issues and barren bank accounts.

The grants are aimed at groups focusing on what is called primary prevention, or finding ways to intervene before warning signs boil into violence, drugs or other behavior that requires intensive treatment.

"There are no easy fixes, but there are strategies that are implemented in everyday life that are making a difference," said Hugh Ralston, the foundation's CEO.

Garcia mentioned programs that make drugs or alcohol less available or focus on improved housing. She cited efforts to bring support systems to workplaces or push people out of isolation.

The goal is to shift from only reacting to problems to focusing on causes.

"Do you just want people to navigate the minefield and hope they don't get blown up? Or do you want to remove the mines?" said Dan Hicks, prevention services manager for the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department.

The change can mean dramatic shifts in the way people view prescription drug misuse, bullying or other behavior that may be linked to substance abuse or mental health issues and often goes unchallenged, he said.

"Ultimately, we're talking about changing what's accepted as normal. ... Problems grow out of social conditions and social norms that can be toxic," Hicks said.

Primary prevention strategies apply to families, too. First 5 Ventura County, which focuses on early childhood health and development, is involved in a parenting program and efforts to identify risk factors like prenatal drug abuse. The idea is to help children by helping their parents.

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men," said Claudia Harrison, First 5 Ventura County executive director, quoting abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass.

Stigmas can be a barrier. In a statewide survey released by the California HealthCare Foundation on Wednesday, nearly 1 of 5 people said they probably would not seek professional help for issues like depression, anxiety or substance abuse.

"There is just a huge stigma to those issues," Harrison said. "It prevents people from getting the kind of treatment and early intervention that could make a difference."

The need for behavioral health programs is large, Ralston said.

"It's way more than $80,000 can solve," he said, referring to the foundation's grant. "We don't think this is going to solve the problem, but we think it will help address it."

For information on the grant, visit http://www. vccf.org/grants/index.shtml.

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(c)2014 Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.)

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