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PAGE 79 Kaiser provided a $25,000 grant to the parent outreach coordinator in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District, to support family engagement in access to mental health care. The program was designed to serve approximately 2,500 individuals,10 and, if effective, might be built on or brought to scale in the three communities. Although Livermore has an in-school wellness center in its high school, Livermore youth expressed an interest in having additional services available. Dublin has a high school wellness center with online resources such as counselors for elementary and middle school students. Dublin High School also has a National Alliance on Mental Illness chapter. Findings from these and other initiatives within each school to promote mental health and wellness should be shared across schools in the three cities. COMMUNITY-BASED YOUTH AND FAMILY EVENTS Youth spoke to the need for more affordable extracurricular activities during the school year, including less competitive, more affordable sports. For many parents and children, this was an equity issue, with those who are more affluent being afforded more opportunities for participation in sports and other recreational activities. We recommend exploring opportunities to engage youth by establishing subsidized (e.g., free or reduced cost) recreational-level sports. Youth also noted a need for more community events and activities in the summer. One student, reflecting on mental health over the summer said: “I don’t think a lot of people want to admit this but I’ll admit summer’s probably my loneliest time of the year. You don’t meet your friends as much, everything is so digital and you really want to go back to school where you see your friends every day… I want more community events where you can meet people – you can meet your friends, you can meet new people, you can keep your connections.” A community event or activity could also connect youth to their families. Family relationship building supports youth mental health. The idea for more community-based events was proposed separately by a mental health counselor reflecting on options to support youth and family activities: “It would be amazing if in the future we could get something that’s more community-based to support those who need help with mental health, and families and whatnot. I’m a private practice clinician, and I know that I have people who reach out to me all the time, who are asking for more things within the community, even within the school. So it’d be great to see more. Even though we are doing a lot, there’s always the need.” The three cities were aware of the need for free or reduced cost youth activities. They have worked to make recreational activities accessible, but further analysis is needed to determine whether the programs are at capacity. The three cities plan to work together to decide if additional funding and event advertising are needed, and if there are barriers to participation, such as transportation. Actionable Recommendation 3: Tri-Valley Nonprofit Funding Nonprofit staff spoke at length about the extent to which funding mechanisms and processes impacted their ability to effectively and efficiently deliver services in the Tri-Valley. In short, nonprofit organizations need more funding generally, and more specifically they need funding with fewer restrictions that might be directed to organizational costs, including infrastructure and paying staff a living wage. Increased funding should be allocated from each of the three cities, as well as from Alameda County and other funding sources. This requires ongoing relationship building with such entities as Alameda County and national and local foundations, such as the Three Valleys Community Foundation and Tri-Valley Nonprofit Alliance. As described in the recommendation to establish a Regional Service Network, a focus of this effort could include relationship building between funders and nonprofits, and grant writing and reporting support from a development specialist. Based on the administrative burden nonprofits face in each of the three cities, it is recommended that additional planning be undertaken to determine how EASTERN ALAMEDA COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES NEEDS ASSESSMENTSS Page 137 of 554