Updated as of Sept. 30, 2024.
Birth to Five Child Health & Development Initiative
Funding in this area aims to set a high trajectory for success in school and life among children from birth to 5 years of age by strengthening family engagement and promoting the health and well-being of young children and their caregivers in home, school, and community settings in Boston.
The Basics Boston Alliance will enhance children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development by working with partners and parents of young children to apply, adopt, and lead efforts to share The Basics Principles as caregiving routines.
Family-Centered Childcare Initiative aims to improve and optimize the social-emotional learning, growth, and development of children ages 0 to 5. This program will increase the knowledge and skills of parents/caregivers and childcare teachers to nurture and teach social-emotional skills. It will provide linguistically accessible, dual-language wraparound services to immigrant children and families. This project is in partnership with the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence and Tufts Medicine.
Screen Every Child 2.0 (SEC 2.0) will focus on the coordination and expansion of developmental screening within Boston’s early childhood system. This initiative will train parent coaches and align best practices across settings to ensure equitable screening practices. It will also build and improve referral linkages across early childhood and healthcare sectors. Key partners include the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Family Nurturing Center, Mayor’s Office of Early Childhood, and Boston Public Schools Universal Pre-Kindergarten.
Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: The Next Generation will expand their reach by connecting their residents with children to high-quality early education and learning experiences, continue to build a sustainable housing-based system, and support policy changes to improve affordability and access to childcare.
East Boston Social Centers Early Education Network will convene organizations around a shared mission to ensure kindergarten readiness through supporting parent partners, providing referrals and support to families, and developing strong relationships with local family childcare educators, in partnership with the family childcare educators on the Family Childcare Educator Action Team.
Power of Parenting and Ripple Programs will continue to build parents’ knowledge of parenting topics to promote their child’s development while also providing professional development for partner agency staff on how to work effectively with parents in additional languages and across Boston, with a focus on Dorchester and Mattapan. Key partners include Epiphany Learning, the City of Boston’s Countdown to Kindergarten, and the Boston Basics.
Power to MORE Parents: Increasing Access to the First Teacher Community will increase capacity to welcome and support a greater diversity of families within the First Teacher movement. It will strengthen outreach and communication to increase the number of families prepared to advocate for their own children and each other's children.
Diversifying and Strengthening the IECMH Workforce Across Boston will build upon their partnership with MassAIMH to support the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) workforce. It will offer new professional development trainings to prepare IECMH professionals for MassAIMH Endorsement. Key partners include The Home for Little Wanderers, Neighborhood Villages, and the Boston Opportunity Agenda.
Read about the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Neighborhood Birth Center’s Community Programming will expand culturally reverent, free educational programs to engage fathers/non-birthing parents, LGBTQ+ families, and families who experience pregnancy or infancy loss and in additional languages, including Haitian Creole and Spanish. This is in preparation for the launch of their clinical services of reproductive health care and birth care in Roxbury.
A Model for the Coordinated Provision of Behavioral and Mental Health Supports in ECE (Early Childhood Education) Settings will work toward increasing educator capacity to address behavioral and mental health concerns in ECE classrooms, increase children’s access to high-quality ECE and referral-based supports, and engage in policy research and advocacy in ECE settings in MA. Key partners include East Boston Social Centers, Ellis, Epiphany Early Learning Lap, Horizons for Homeless Children, and the Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health, Walker Therapeutic Services, and Jewish Family & Children’s Services.
Supporting the Well-being of Parents and Young Children in Boston through Family Partners & Expanding Family Support Services in Family Child Care will provide family support to meet more complex needs. It will incorporate an integrated, multi-tiered approach to support the children and families enrolled in Nurtury’s family child care programs.
Put it in Action will work with partners to expand access to free dialogic reading programs and resources that promote Social-Emotional Learning, Science Technology, Engineering, and Math, and racial learning, awareness, and acceptance for Boston families and their children from birth to 6 years old. Key partners include The Dimock Center’s Child and Family Services Division, Countdown to Kindergarten, Mario Umana Academy, Roosevelt K-8, the Lee Pilot Academy, Harbor Area Early Intervention Program, Horizons for Homeless, the John F. Kennedy Center’s CFCE playgroup, Healthy Baby Healthy Child Program, Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, South Boston Neighborhood House, Action for Boston Community Development, and Ellis Early Learning.
Successful Early Intervention Blossom in an Engaged Home Environment will work to improve Somali-American parents through one-on-one in-home support to help identify concerns around developmental delays. It will connect them with resources to provide early intervention, facilitate access to community-based daycare providers, and increase parent engagement in their child’s health and development.
Read about Somali Parents Advocacy Center for Education Inc.
Advocacy Network will implement their immersive year-long advocacy training, networking, and leadership experience for early childhood professionals. It will expand their alumni network, connecting advocates to new leadership opportunities, and integrate them into local and state early childhood initiatives.
Promoting Community Advocacy and Children’s Mental Health through Expanded Access to College will work to expand community access to multilingual learning opportunities focused on children’s mental health and family well-being. It will embed a formal focus on community advocacy and leadership in Urban College’s programming to equip students with the skills and confidence needed to advocate for policies that will help families thrive. Key partners include Families First, Massachusetts Association for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, and the Vital Village Networks.
Enhancing Social-Emotional Practices Amongst Our Preschoolers and Parents will work to support multilingual staff and educators to improve parent capacity to be effectively engaged in their children’s education and to empower parents to advocate for policies that shape the lives of their children and reflect community needs.
Community-based Peer Lactation: Advancing Community Leadership, Workforce Diversity, and Access to Breastfeeding Support will address maternal and child health disparities in underserved communities in Greater Boston. It will implement a community peer lactation support model that will engage community leaders to provide mentorship, support, and education on breastfeeding.
Youth Leaders for Mental and Behavioral Health
Funding in this area supports youth designed and led projects that address the impact of climate change, social media, substance use, and war/global conflict on the mental and behavioral health of young people (ages 11-22) in Boston.
Future Green Leaders: Cultivating Resilience in Urban Youth integrates education, advocacy, and wellness for youth (ages 14-19) to tackle mental and behavioral health issues stemming from environmental challenges in urban settings, especially around Chinatown.
Youth Organizing for BIPOC Youth Mental Health will support youth (ages 14-24) to organize two campaign action projects on the topics of climate justice and war/global conflict and its impacts on youth mental health with the goal of implementing a community-based mental health crisis response in Boston.
East Boston Alliance for Support, Treatment, Intervention, and Education will train and engage newcomer, Spanish-speaking youth in existing coalition work, including the creation of a linguistically and culturally appropriate version of a peer-led substance use prevention curriculum, leadership development, and integration into youth-led efforts to make Central Square Park a safe, family-friendly space.
Creating a Culture of Mental Health and Digital Literacy at Friends-Boston will create a youth-led and centered Mental Health Digital Literacy task force that allows youth (ages 11-21) to survey, research, discuss, and integrate lived experience to become near-peer experts at social media safety and its impact on mental health with a focus on grades 3-7 and 8-12 in Boston.
Social Media Curriculum Integration and Development will develop and deliver a comprehensive training series, led by teen mentors, aimed at educating and empowering middle and high school students, youth workers, and parents to navigate social media platforms safely and responsibly.
Soheil Turner Youth Leadership Institute – Youth Lead on Mental Health will have youth (ages 14-21) explore the impacts of social media, climate change, and substance use on youth mental health as well as within the broader communities in which they live through forums, education, campaigns, advocacy, and placemaking activities.
Youth Health Advocate will train young men (ages 16-22) on substance use, mental health, community violence, social determinants of health, and trauma recovery support to take on leadership roles in advocating for and supporting mental health among peers, families, and the community, with a focus on substance use.
Exploring Social Media Use and Youth Wellbeing will support young people in their Health Educators en Acción program to design and facilitate educational workshops to teach their peers and families how to be safe online and reduce their social media usage while also advocating for policies that facilitate this.
Social Media and Mental Wellness in Adolescent Males of Color will create a team of youth leaders (ages 14-18) who will explore how social media impacts young men’s mental health and safety through research and peer discussions to inform their advocacy messaging for local and state representatives.
Healthy Living
Funding in this area supports organizations conducting projects to increase youth physical activity and recreation opportunities and/or increase access to healthy food options.
Healthy Pathways: Building Skills, Resiliency, and Joy Through Bicycle-Based Learning will support young people from under-resourced Boston neighborhoods to build skills, establish healthy habits, advance transportation equity, and develop a passion for cycling in safe, supported, trauma-sensitive environments.
Transforming the Food System through Community Ownership and Healthy Food for All will open a cooperative market to create access to affordable, nutritious food, build community wealth, and develop partnerships with urban farms and local health centers to enhance health, well-being, and equity in Dorchester.
Growing the Dudley Community Food Center will work with residents and stakeholders to plan and pilot expanded programs for the Community Food Center, a new facility that will support residents to access, grow, cook, share, and advocate for healthy food in Dudley.
Roxbury Rooted: Nourishing Youth and Community through Urban Farming at Haley House will provide opportunities for youth and families to connect with the land, grow, cook, and share food, and deepen relationships through urban farming, in partnership with the Hawthorne Youth & Community Center and YouthBuild Boston.
The Cooking with Confidence + Getting Physically Active Project will provide culturally based cooking classes and physical activity opportunities for families in Mattapan.
Powered by Playworks: Restoring access to safe, healthy play for Boston Public School students who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 will provide coaches to support and improve the health of 4,000 students across 10 schools in Boston by infusing play and physical activity throughout the school through daily recess, class game time, a peer leadership program, and afterschool sports leagues.
Hydroponics STEM Lab will provide youth and families with healthier food options, nutrition education, and hands-on experiences in cultivating their own organic foods and contributing to greater food access in their community.
Reconnecting and Reimagining Healthy Living for Somali-American Families in Boston will engage Somali-American families in workshops and conversations to encourage the adoption of sustainable, healthy behaviors, and strengthen partnerships between families and social service and health care providers.
Read about the Somali Parents Advocacy Center for Education.
Entrepreneurship and Healing to Support South Street Center Youth will create entrepreneurship and employment opportunities to improve health and healing for youth of color in Jamaica Plain.
Healthy Eating for Boston’s Communities of Color will provide a food- and farming-related curriculum for schools, and add education offerings for adults and families in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan to increase their knowledge about growing food, cooking, and nutrition.
Connecting Kids and Families to Parks and Open Spaces will identify and address physical and social barriers to park access in East Boston in order to create a safe and welcome environment so all residents can enjoy their local parks and the associated health benefits.
Outdoor Adventures with YES! will engage youth from Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Mattapan in outdoor physical activities by expanding partnerships with additional housing developments, community-based organizations, and/or schools.
Family Housing Stability and Economic Opportunity
Funding will support organizations that help to keep children and families in their homes and/or foster youth and family economic stability and mobility.
The Family-Led Stability Initiative will help the families of 500 students who are homeless by expanding collaboration from seven to 13 schools and partners.
The Chinatown Stabilization Project will focus on equitable recovery, prevent displacement, and remove housing from the speculative market in Chinatown.
The Care That Works Pilot will support low-income single mothers of color in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury on pathways into family sustaining union jobs in industries.
Closing the Racial Homeownership Gap will expand the STASH-matched savings program for first-generation homebuyers to build generational wealth among families and children of color.
Building Wealth, Building Health in Roxbury will preserve affordable, quality housing and improve health outcomes by converting existing affordable rental homes to homeownership opportunities for residents of those units.
Housing Equity for Healthy Families is a multi-level individual, community, and public policy mobilization effort rooted in tenant organizing to stabilize Boston children and families permanently through direct support and establishment of new tenant protection public policies.
Mental Health Systems
This area funds projects that seek to improve accessible, culturally responsive, and supportive systems of mental and behavioral health care for children, youth, and families by expanding and diversifying the workforce.
The Boston College School of Social Work/Boston Public Schools Integrative Supervision Initiative will develop a multi-tiered supervision model for Black and Latino social workers. This work will strengthen the pipeline of a linguistically and culturally diverse mental health workforce serving Black and Latino children, youth, and families in Boston Public Schools.
Pathways to Mental Health Equity will provide a path to advancement for people of color in the mental health field through scholarships, peer group support, and licensure support. It will strengthen a two-way pipeline between higher education and the multicultural workforce by training 30 clinical interns.
The Simmons Workforce Wellbeing Empowerment Project will reduce workforce challenges contributing to inequalities in access and delivery of mental health care by strengthening the workforce via financial support for emerging practitioners. This program will offer a mandatory training intervention for practitioners that focuses on burnout, injustice, resilience, and positive psychology.
The THRIVE Scholars Program will increase access to a high-quality graduate education by preparing ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse social work students to be leaders and providers equipped with evidence-based and culturally responsive practices. The program will provide academic support, professional training and experience, and post-graduate and career development.
Read about the Springfield College Department of Social Work.
BIRCh Project Fellows: Diversifying Children’s Behavioral Health Providers Across the Commonwealth aims to recruit, retain, and support 24 to 30 fellows from marginalized backgrounds across the state into graduate training programs to increase representation in the behavioral health field.
The Children and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative will train a culturally diverse behavioral health workforce to promote the health and well-being of children, youth, and families in underserved communities. The program will expand partnerships with community-based agencies to recruit 60 graduate students and offer mentorship and trainings for non-traditional and underrepresented behavioral health providers.
Healthy Youth Development
This initiative provides funding to projects that support trauma-informed, youth-centered programming and services to promote healthy youth development and resilience.
Creating HiSET Access and Career Path Development will help LGBTQ+ youth achieve their educational and professional goals in a supportive and culturally competent environment.
Career Connections for Opportunity Youth connects non-college-going high school graduates with job training, employment, and alternative pathways to college. This program aims to put youth on a path to career level employment, financial independence, and healthy adulthood.
Visionary Children & Youth @Brookview is a culturally responsive, trauma-informed behavioral health program to help Black and Latino children and youth who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This program helps participants develop skills to attain personal and academic success by addressing cognitive, behavioral, attitudinal, physical, and social factors.
Reducing the Impact of Trauma on Foster Youth Through Permanency will increase organizational capacity and focus on permanency by ensuring each youth exiting foster care has a safe, secure parenting relationship. The program will also develop best practice through trainings, skill building, and professional development.
Beats, Rhymes and Life, a group hip-hop therapy program, uses the power of written and spoken word for young people to heal from trauma, explore creativity, collaborate, and build leaders. This program aims to give a voice to young people who are used to having their story told instead of telling it themselves.
Teen Empowerment Boston: A Culturally Responsive Trauma-Informed Mental Health & Wellness Program will provide monthly trainings on culturally responsive trauma-informed practices to increase the agency’s capacity to improve access to quality mental health and wellness supports for youth who have experienced adverse childhood experiences and health disparities.
Preparing Urban Students for Success in Higher Education will advance college access and post-secondary success for students by providing comprehensive services focused on holistic youth development, with the goal of increasing college graduation rates and career readiness.
Greatest MINDS Youth Mentoring Program will provide mentoring and high-touch support services to young people as they explore college, career, and volunteerism as a way to bring about positive change in their family, community, and neighborhoods.
Jóvenes en Acción/Youth in Action provides youth with supports in Afro-Latin arts, education, and organizing that support their health and well-being, as well as their success in adulthood.
IBA’s Youth Development Program prepares 50 low-income high school students for college and professional careers each year by offering an employment-based, arts-focused program that explores themes of social justice.
The Roxbury Youth Leadership and Empowerment Project-Soheil Turner Youth Leadership Institute will improve access to comprehensive, year-round youth workforce readiness and training, paid employment, mentoring, leadership development, and college and career exploration for youth of color ages 14 to 24.
The Capacity-Building/Trauma-Responsive Project will expand programming reach and organizational capacity through a merger with the former Dorchester Youth Collaborative. This initiative will increase partnerships, training, and resilience for youth, staff, and mentors.
MJE Trauma Informed Youth Services will support healthy development and trauma recovery for 600 youth, and connect 600 families with case management and supportive services.
Youth Health Education and Virtual Health Solutions in Greater Boston will provide 6,000 young people with health education, and access to an expanding suite of digital and direct resources via school- and community-based partnerships.
The Grove Hall Healthy Youth Development and Trauma Response Initiative will continue to expand outreach and trauma support capacity in the Cape Verdean community while increasing prevention work through the Grove Hall Youth Center organizing campaign.
The Transition-Age Youth Initiative provides young people in Boston foster care (ages 16+) with committed mentors and the opportunity to learn life skills and access additional resources to prepare for independent adulthood.
The Youth Leadership Program will engage 570 youth leaders ages 11 to 21 through greater emotional and wellness support during programming that promotes healthy healing through to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, fear, trauma, and depression as a result of the COVID pandemic.
The Racial Reconciliation and Healing Project will support high school-age youth from Boston and beyond, as well as faculty trainees, in a framework and process that allows for lifelong engagement in the work of racial justice and collective liberation.
The College and Career Pathways Initiative supports and empowers young people from Boston. This program guides youth toward discovering their own successful college and career pathways, culminating in a college degree and/or full-time employment.
Building Young Man with a Plan’s Capacity and Partnerships will increase its ability to serve a growing number of students and alumni, and expand and formalize partnerships that help students access college and career success.
Special Initiatives
The Children's Mental Health Campaign will engage in targeted efforts to operationalize behavioral health equity as their focus. With support from experts and partners, CMHC will develop goals, strategies, processes, and tools for ensuring that policy priorities, external communications, and organizational culture facilitate the promotion of behavioral health equity. They will partner with the Massachusetts Public Health Association to develop policy priorities in these areas. Consultation from the CMHC will also be available to the other funded partners in the Collaboration for Community Health.
HCFA will build a strong consumer voice to advocate for children by providing policy and advocacy training and technical assistance to Boston Children’s Collaboration for Community Health partners and ensure that MassHealth Accountable Care Organizations are responsive to children’s needs through monitoring, assessment, and collaboration with key stakeholders.