Latest / Look Who's Talking / Dr. Antonio Garcia - Mental Health
Transcript
- 0:00You are listening to Look Who's Talking.
- 0:20I am Cameron Minter.
- 0:21I am your co-host and our host is none other than Head Start director, Jessica Coffie.
- 0:28Good morning y'all.
- 0:29What's going on Jessica?
- 0:30Not much Cameron, not much.
- 0:31She's in the house today?
- 0:32Yeah.
- 0:33What's going on?
- 0:34Literally not much, I don't know.
- 0:35Well, you know, we're coming up, we're looming up on a big deadline.
- 0:36Of what?
- 0:37Well, I think it's by Friday.
- 0:38Our government may be shutting down.
- 0:39Oh yeah, that's a thing.
- 0:40That's a thing, that's a thing.
- 0:41So as our Head Start director, is that a thing?
- 0:42I think so.
- 0:43Specifically, it will not affect our program right now.
- 1:04It will affect any program who has a project period or program year of October.
- 1:14And actually that's about 10 programs throughout the country.
- 1:17So it won't specifically affect us.
- 1:21So we dodged that bullet right now.
- 1:23Yeah, we dodged that bullet, but however, you know, we just want to stay on top of the
- 1:30news.
- 1:31I was watching the Today Show the other day and they were mentioning the shutdown.
- 1:36And one of the programs they were talking about of cuts is Head Start, along with Snap.
- 1:42So you know, it's affecting those programs that, you know, really service people and
- 1:50help those who need those opportunities.
- 1:53That's something that, you know, we are keeping watch of.
- 1:57But as of right now, it will not affect our program, so we will be able to, you know,
- 2:02go ahead throughout the fiscal year and be able to continue to provide services.
- 2:07Right.
- 2:08Now that brings us to, you know, it may not affect us now, but in the future, we could
- 2:15be very well affected.
- 2:16So what does that mean?
- 2:18That means we need to get out and vote.
- 2:20That's exactly what it means.
- 2:23Make sure your voice is heard.
- 2:25Every vote does count.
- 2:27I was just in D.C. last week at our Head Start Fall Leadership Institute and we were able
- 2:33to talk to congressmen.
- 2:35We were able to lobby for Head Start and advocate for Head Start to say, hey, this is an important
- 2:42program for thousands of children and families and we don't want our services cut.
- 2:50So you know, hopefully that will work.
- 2:53Right.
- 2:54It's important that we vote.
- 2:56Just a note that Kentucky voter registration deadline is October 10th at 4 p.m.
- 3:03So it's important that we have a voice, not just presidential, but in every aspect that
- 3:11affects our children and our families.
- 3:13So it's really important.
- 3:15Impact that vote.
- 3:16Because guess what?
- 3:19What?
- 3:21The president is the highest position.
- 3:24Right.
- 3:25However, the congressman makes all the decisions.
- 3:30So those other elections are so much more important.
- 3:35And even our state and local officials are important.
- 3:38So if you are not a part of the process, you are just a part of the decisions.
- 3:47So let's get out there.
- 3:49Let's get registered to vote.
- 3:50And after that, I need some encouragement.
- 3:54Do you?
- 3:55I do.
- 3:56I think I have some for us.
- 3:57Let's have a coffie break.
- 3:59Let's have a coffie break.
- 4:02So today, what I want to say to everyone is self-confidence is a superpower.
- 4:25Once you start to believe in yourself, magic starts to happen, Kim.
- 4:30So one thing I never leave the house without is confidence.
- 4:36I can leave my phone.
- 4:38I'll turn around and go back and get it.
- 4:41But do not leave the house without your confidence.
- 4:45It can just make your day a whole lot better.
- 4:48It sure can.
- 4:49You know, when you say confidence, I immediately think of Coach Prime.
- 4:55He has always been extremely confident in who he is and what he can do.
- 5:03And he's not afraid to tell people about it.
- 5:05Now, that's the part where people get upset is because it seems arrogant to them.
- 5:10Conceited.
- 5:11Conceited.
- 5:12Yeah.
- 5:13But when you're betting on yourself and you're saying, I know what I can do, that offends
- 5:19people because some people walk around this world and like, I don't know if I can do that.
- 5:24That may be too much for me.
- 5:25I am not that person.
- 5:26Come on.
- 5:27Because I'm my own cheerleader.
- 5:28Like, you know, back in the day, you know, years and years ago, I was a cheerleader.
- 5:35But I was, I'm like my own champion.
- 5:38And I hope that, you know, even during some of the coffee breaks, we can encourage people
- 5:43be your own champion.
- 5:45Like applaud yourself.
- 5:46Right.
- 5:47And you know what?
- 5:48If you don't, who will?
- 5:50Right.
- 5:51You know what I'm saying?
- 5:52If you're betting on somebody else to, you know, recognize something, recognize yourself.
- 5:57Exactly.
- 5:58And it can be the smallest accomplishments.
- 6:00Absolutely.
- 6:01Applaud yourself for making it through the day.
- 6:03Let's start there.
- 6:05Not fighting nobody, not punching nobody.
- 6:07We are not choosing violence.
- 6:09No violence.
- 6:10We made it.
- 6:11We made it through the day.
- 6:13Well, we have an exciting show today.
- 6:15We are going to be talking with our guest, Antonio Garcia, who is the associate professor
- 6:24of social work at UK.
- 6:27Antonio, welcome to the show.
- 6:30Thank you for having me.
- 6:31We're glad you're here.
- 6:33Your expertise is mental health, dealing with families and how they impacts our Head Start
- 6:41kids is what we're going to be talking about today.
- 6:44So I'm excited about this conversation because I get to experience more than Cameron what's
- 6:51going on in our classroom.
- 6:52You don't know that for sure.
- 6:54Just call me out like that.
- 6:56You don't walk upstairs.
- 6:57Right.
- 6:58Okay.
- 6:59Sorry.
- 7:00So just what we have seen, the evolution of just behaviors in the classroom through COVID
- 7:10has dramatically increased.
- 7:13Do you have any idea of why that's happening?
- 7:17Well, if you think about what's happened in the past three plus years, our kids have gone
- 7:24through a lot.
- 7:25We pulled them out of school to hopefully keep them safe, to keep them from actually
- 7:30getting COVID.
- 7:32We threw them back in the classroom.
- 7:34Hey, and they really did throw their kids in the class.
- 7:38They were like, take these kids.
- 7:40We're leaving.
- 7:41Right.
- 7:42So think about that time when the schools were shut down.
- 7:47Parents are going through a tough time too.
- 7:48They are managing their careers.
- 7:50They were managing their kids at the same time.
- 7:54I was in the same boat.
- 7:56And I can speak just for myself.
- 7:58It was quite challenging to grapple with all of those demands.
- 8:05I think one of the key lessons we learned is that Head Start schools or education systems
- 8:10are so imperative.
- 8:11They provide a support in terms of not only for learning and growth for our kids, but
- 8:16also for us as parents who are working and trying to provide for our families.
- 8:23And so our way of living for parents, for kids, dramatically changed.
- 8:28And it's no surprise that's going to leave an imprint on the well-being of our kids.
- 8:33It's going to take time for them to adjust.
- 8:37One of the things that we learned during the pandemic is that we're almost essential workers.
- 8:44Because if you don't have a place where the kids can go, the parents can't go.
- 8:50And so it was imperative to get classrooms back open.
- 8:55But there was so many different things that were being weighed.
- 8:59And I think when you were experiencing, you had just moved.
- 9:02Is that correct?
- 9:03That's correct.
- 9:04And we're going through just a lot of transition.
- 9:07And if, for example, many parents held meetings via Zoom, and then in the background you've
- 9:16got screaming kids and kids who need to be fed.
- 9:19And so it's just dealing with all of those challenges.
- 9:23And now with kids returning to the classrooms, they have to readjust.
- 9:29They have to reset in terms of what the new norm is.
- 9:33And that just takes an adjustment in a lot of patients, I think.
- 9:37So I'm interested.
- 9:39I know that you've done research on racial disparities in serving children.
- 9:45Can you talk a little bit about that?
- 9:47Yeah.
- 9:48So just for background, I actually used to be a CPS worker in Michigan State.
- 9:56And that involved responding to reports of abuse and neglect.
- 10:01And through that experience, I realized that a lot of the kids were falling through the
- 10:07cracks.
- 10:08And I was putting sort of band-aid solutions on these huge public health concerns, ranging
- 10:14from crime, poverty, social inequality, trauma, abuse, neglect, and so forth, a laundry list
- 10:24of public health concerns.
- 10:28And I felt that, at least in that role, seeing what I had seen, I had to pursue higher education,
- 10:34pursue a PhD, to at least use research as a vehicle to inform how best to eradicate
- 10:43some of those public health concerns.
- 10:46And through my research, I really focused on access and use of effective mental health
- 10:52services for kids of color in the system.
- 10:56And so through that research, I found that, indeed, black and Latino kids were less likely
- 11:03to receive mental health services to address risk factors.
- 11:07And so then I started to wonder, well, why are we seeing these patterns happen?
- 11:13And so through some complicated models and so forth, I found out that if you take into
- 11:21account things like poverty and organizational dynamics and leadership, that those disparities
- 11:27go away.
- 11:28What does that tell us?
- 11:30It tells us that we need to address poverty, social inequality, and restructure our systems
- 11:35to be more conducive to adapting or implementing evidence-based interventions for kids of color.
- 11:42So we know what needs to be done.
- 11:43Are we going to do it?
- 11:45Yeah.
- 11:46You mentioned something that I'm interested in.
- 11:48You were a CPS worker.
- 11:51And I've been trying to, we've been doing a good job in trying to get our teachers to
- 11:56realize that neglect is different than poverty.
- 12:01So being concerned that a family doesn't have living room furniture is way different from
- 12:11a parent not being able to provide.
- 12:14Exactly.
- 12:15Yes.
- 12:16And I think it involves educating and training educators and other folks to recognize what
- 12:23are the signs of abuse and neglect?
- 12:27You know, and oftentimes our own biases in terms of how we think we should raise kids
- 12:31comes into play in that process.
- 12:35My grandmother was a teacher in Louisville.
- 12:40And she, they used to call her BD, behavior disabilities or something.
- 12:47That was her specialty that she taught.
- 12:50And she had such bonds with the kids that were beyond teacher, student.
- 12:58And she would be there for them in ways that opened my eyes.
- 13:03So like she would bring meals and stuff like that because the kids weren't getting fed
- 13:08at home.
- 13:09Or the kids were, once they left school, they would go home into an environment that just
- 13:16wasn't conducive for their learning.
- 13:17So there were so many different things that she opened my eyes to not look at the problem
- 13:23that's being presented, but try to get to the root of why that is happening.
- 13:29Right.
- 13:30Exactly.
- 13:31And it just reminds me that, you know, I think about Maslow's hierarchy of needs, kids need
- 13:36to be fed.
- 13:37They need those basic needs in order to learn and grow and develop.
- 13:44But in terms of really trying to distinguish between poverty and neglect, with neglect,
- 13:52it's that intentional harm.
- 13:54Exactly.
- 13:55With poverty, there's actual need.
- 13:59There are needs that need to be addressed.
- 14:01Exactly.
- 14:02Exactly.
- 14:03And that's why, you know, through the services that we provide, we've been in contact with
- 14:14all kinds of types of situations.
- 14:16And that's why we have washing dryers here.
- 14:23Because we deal with some parents who have to make the decision whether, am I going to
- 14:27pay rent or do I need to buy this washing detergent?
- 14:32I'm going to pay rent because it's more important that we have a roof over our head.
- 14:37And that's why, you know, we provide opportunities for our families to, if you don't have a washing
- 14:44dryer, guess what?
- 14:46Use what we have in this center.
- 14:48You know?
- 14:49Definitely.
- 14:50And those little things make such a difference.
- 14:51And oftentimes we don't realize that.
- 14:53Yeah.
- 14:54Yeah.
- 14:55We have a mobile food market, but Kim, I'm trying to get a mobile washing dryer.
- 14:59Ooh.
- 15:00I think it can happen.
- 15:01Oh, that would be great.
- 15:03That would be awesome.
- 15:04I've seen some of that.
- 15:06Yeah.
- 15:07I've seen some of that, especially when there have been disasters and show up, you know,
- 15:13but we're going to continue this conversation.
- 15:15We want to know some of the results of your research on the things that bring greater
- 15:21disparity.
- 15:22All right.
- 15:23We'll be talking once we come back.
- 15:27You're listening to Look Who's Talk.
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- 16:36What are you waiting for?
- 16:58You're listening to Look Who's Talking and our guest today is Antonio Garcia.
- 17:04He is an associate professor at UK and we've been talking about disparity in education
- 17:12and just the results of your research.
- 17:16What can you tell us about those results?
- 17:19Well, over the course of the past 10 years, I've really focused on how research could
- 17:26be used to better enhance practices within systems, across different systems, whether
- 17:30it be in shelter, welfare, mental health, schools, and so forth.
- 17:35And so one of the key drivers to success is essentially making sure that our systems,
- 17:41our organizations that serve kids and families are ready and prepared to implement evidence
- 17:47based interventions to mitigate some of those risk factors and promote positive psychosocial
- 17:52outcomes.
- 17:54And the key sort of theme across all of those studies and the projects is again, leadership,
- 18:03innovative leadership, transformational leadership, and the willingness to innovate and engage
- 18:11in new practices that are evidence informed and culturally relevant.
- 18:17But through that research, I've done work with interviewing kids and families, foster
- 18:22parents, but I realized after sort of looking over my portfolio, so to speak, I haven't
- 18:29really captured the voices of fathers.
- 18:32And as I looked through the prior research that's been done in the area, it's rather
- 18:40limited.
- 18:41So that just goes to show that there's a huge gap in really trying to identify ways to better
- 18:47incorporate healthy father involvement in our kids' lives.
- 18:54That is a big concern that we have in our Head Start programs where we have a program
- 19:01for family engagement and we even have one specifically for fathers.
- 19:06So we know that the prime years of learning are zero to five.
- 19:14Right.
- 19:16And that makes me think about we do have quite a few fathers who are active in their children's
- 19:22lives, but when it comes to the parents not being together, we see that's when it's harder
- 19:29for our parents.
- 19:31And then especially when we give out information, we usually give it to the primary parent,
- 19:38but then you have the secondary parent and that parent didn't get the information and
- 19:43they don't know what to do and they're picking up the kid today.
- 19:46And we are trying to find better ways to make sure that we involve both parents because,
- 19:54again, it's so important, especially that father.
- 19:58That's great to hear because what we do know from the research is that when fathers are
- 20:02equally involved, kids benefit.
- 20:05We see better outcomes across the board in terms of their mental health, their educational
- 20:10outcomes, prevention of abuse and neglect, and just more maternal support when they're
- 20:16involved.
- 20:17So it's just a way, father involvement is a way to sort of address some of those public
- 20:22health concerns that I raised earlier.
- 20:24And if they're involved, we see a lot of those risk factors decrease.
- 20:29So mental health has really been, in my opinion, ratcheted up since the pandemic.
- 20:35That's all we hear about is getting your mental health in order.
- 20:39Can you just give us some insight on why you think that is occurring?
- 20:47That makes me think, what is the climate?
- 20:49We talk about mental health climate.
- 20:51Well, what's the temperature?
- 20:52Because I don't know.
- 20:53What's the climate?
- 20:55Right.
- 20:56Well, I think what COVID did is that it helped sort of reveal what's on the carpet, so to
- 21:04speak.
- 21:05And I think during that time, a lot of that trauma resurfaced.
- 21:12Some have said that the whole COVID pandemic was a traumatic event for many people.
- 21:18And when trauma happens, oftentimes, all of those other traumas sort of come to the surface.
- 21:24And so that's a lot to handle for any one person to grapple with.
- 21:30And I think that's why we're seeing at least more discussion around mental health concerns
- 21:35and trying to normalize it instead of stigmatize it.
- 21:44We're so quick to say, go to your physician and get this checked out to promote physical
- 21:49health.
- 21:50But the same mentality doesn't apply in our society for mental health.
- 21:54Right.
- 21:55And you know what you said, COVID was traumatic.
- 21:59COVID was traumatic.
- 22:01And as a single person who I live by myself, I found myself like, oh, what am I supposed
- 22:09to do with my time?
- 22:10Because everything that I would normally do to emote, I couldn't go to those places.
- 22:18I had to be by myself, with myself.
- 22:21And I could only imagine how a family was during that situation, during that time period.
- 22:30We kind of joked before the show and said that post-traumatic stress, when we think
- 22:36about it, because I think you were saying that it was a blur, what all the details and
- 22:41the details of two years is gone out of most of our lives.
- 22:46But I think it just opened up wounds or opened up areas that needed to be addressed.
- 22:53And now that something traumatic has happened that has got us on a better trajectory.
- 23:01But you also said that most minorities, there is a big disparity in receiving help for mental
- 23:10issues.
- 23:11A lot of it has to do with lack of trust with our systems.
- 23:15In other cases, it's just a stigma of reaching out for help.
- 23:21And a question of whether or not the services that are available are culturally relevant.
- 23:26Those are the biggest barriers that I've seen through my research.
- 23:33Is there a compatibility between what I need and what's out there for me?
- 23:38Through the past few years, have you seen an increase of people reaching out or understanding
- 23:46mental health, mental therapy, wanting to get counseling or anything like that?
- 23:53What have you seen when it comes to and the minority population receiving?
- 24:04So I think talking with different leaders across different systems, I think there's
- 24:11more conversation happening.
- 24:13They want to make sure they have the tools, the resources, the capacity to motivate their
- 24:18staff to engage with their clients authentically and in culturally relevant ways.
- 24:26And I think part of that process involves educating clinicians or leaders that many
- 24:33of the existing interventions out there have actually been tested by or within minority
- 24:42populations.
- 24:43But there's this bias that they haven't.
- 24:45And so as a leader, I make questions, is this practice applicable?
- 24:51Are they going to buy into this?
- 24:55First and foremost, in my research and my work, I go to organizations, I don't tell
- 25:01them which intervention to implement.
- 25:04They are the experts.
- 25:06They have a firm grasp on what they need, what their staff need, and what their clients
- 25:12need.
- 25:13I'm just there to support them implementing whatever they decide to implement.
- 25:17But in that process, I encourage them to really sit down and think about what are the issues
- 25:21of concern?
- 25:22What is your target population?
- 25:23Will this intervention, will it address the risk factors that you're really trying to
- 25:29address?
- 25:30So it's just a lot of pre-planning rather than sort of, oh, I'm just going to pick
- 25:33this intervention and go with it.
- 25:36Have you seen an increase in minorities getting into the profession?
- 25:43I think, at least in our programs here at UK and even across the country, yes, definitely.
- 25:49I see a lot of bright students of color who are motivated to address the mental health
- 25:56concerns as an avenue to promote educational outcomes.
- 26:01My background is nutrition, actually.
- 26:05And I did a research project on just the disparities of nutrition in African American women living
- 26:12in low income housing.
- 26:14And that reminded me of just, you mentioned trust being a big part of why people don't
- 26:25seek help.
- 26:27And I found that to be the same with nutrition.
- 26:31They were more prone to listen to me than to my Caucasian counterpart that didn't understand
- 26:40the culture or understand how I live.
- 26:43Do you see that or do you think that's a part of the distrust factor in...
- 26:51Definitely, yes.
- 26:55In my work, when I try to engage clients or leaders, I try to identify champions who could
- 27:02be a voice for that community.
- 27:05And I partner with them.
- 27:07So all the work that I've done is really, it's a testament to partnership and team science,
- 27:14really.
- 27:15So what are you doing now?
- 27:17I understand you're doing something.
- 27:20You're constantly doing something, but now your research is taking you to another path.
- 27:25Well, I think it's on the same path.
- 27:26It's just a pivot, I think, in really trying to figure out how we can better engage fathers
- 27:31authentically.
- 27:32As I mentioned, when fathers are involved, we see better outcomes for kids across the
- 27:37board.
- 27:39And thankfully, here in Lexington, Kentucky, David Kozart has been a true leader and champion
- 27:47for fatherhood.
- 27:49And so I connected with him three years ago to work on this project.
- 27:56And part of that project involved evaluating his services.
- 28:01A lot of his work is devoted to delivering father-centric services and programs in our
- 28:06community.
- 28:07He wanted to get a sense or get a pulse on whether or not what he was actually doing
- 28:10was effective.
- 28:11So we partnered and we examined the acceptability and the feasibility of a 24-7 dad parenting
- 28:22program.
- 28:24And through that research, we realized we need to address some really complicated structural
- 28:30systemic issues.
- 28:33In my interviews that I conducted with fathers, I learned that many of them just didn't feel
- 28:39valued or didn't have a seat at the table during case planning for their own kids.
- 28:45And this happened in school settings and child welfare and so forth.
- 28:50So it's about how can we better equip those systems to even think about involving the
- 28:55father at a meeting.
- 28:59And so a lot of the narratives that I listen to involved, gosh, I just want to be involved.
- 29:08I want a seat.
- 29:09I want a chance to comment on what I think about my own kid.
- 29:14And so a lot of those pieces are just missing right now because the go-to seems to be the
- 29:20mother in most cases.
- 29:23So have you all come up with any recommendations as of yet with your study?
- 29:27So with the study, we took all of the interviews we conducted with fathers and actually the
- 29:34system providers that work with kids and families.
- 29:39So we interviewed numerous providers representing child welfare, probation, schools, and other
- 29:46systems.
- 29:47And through all of that data, we actually developed a training curriculum for providers
- 29:56statewide with some tools and some resources on how to actually engage in father-centric
- 30:04practices.
- 30:05That's awesome.
- 30:10That's something that we can look forward to and figure out how to bridge this gap.
- 30:17There's a gap that's affecting our children and our families.
- 30:22It's great to know there's someone out there who's doing some research to try to get some
- 30:26answers.
- 30:27Well, thank you.
- 30:28We'd like to thank you for being on the show.
- 30:31We really appreciate it and we appreciate the knowledge that you bring to this tub.
- 30:36That's the show.
- 30:37What you got?
- 30:38That's it.
- 30:39That's it.
- 30:40I'm excited about just what we have coming up with our father engagement and just listening
- 30:47to Dr. Garcia.
- 30:50I think that we are on the right track, but it would be great to be able to partner and
- 30:57see how we can just make the relationships hybrid.
- 31:03How can we learn more about what you're doing?
- 31:06Well, I'm actually, if you just go to the UK website and search for Antonio Garcia,
- 31:13you'll find that.
- 31:15All right.
- 31:16Thank you for being on the show.
- 31:18Thank you.
- 31:19Thank you.
- 31:20You have been listening to Look Who's Talking.
- 31:22Tell your friend.
- 31:23Tell your family.
- 31:24Tell everybody about this show.
- 31:25We'll be checking you out.