Latest / Behavioral Health Brief / Ep 11 | Where Youth Futures and Behavioral Health Meet: A Conversation with Project Next

Transcript

Ep 11 | Where Youth Futures and Behavioral Health Meet: A Conversation with Project Next · Behavioral Health Brief

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Behavioral Health Brief, presented by Tern Behavioral
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Health Services. Behavioral health is about people, people who deserve compassion, dignity,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and the opportunity to heal. At Tern, that belief drives our.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Mission of improving lives.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: This podcast is brings together behavioral health expertise and real
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: stories of transformation to elevate the field and inspire meaningful change. Hi,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I'm Jim Callahan, President and CEO of Turner Behavioral Health Services. Today,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: we're joined by Lisa Stout, Executive Director of Project Next. Lisa,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: thank you so much for taking the time to be
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: with us today.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's great to have you today.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: For those who may not be familiar, please take some
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: time and describe Project Next for us.
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  Speaker 3: Project Next is a local nonprofit organization that helps students
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: plan and prepare for their next best step after high school,
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: whatever that may be, whether it's college, trades, military, direct
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: to the workforce, but helping students figure out who they are,
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: what exists, and then connecting them to opportunities so that
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: they can take that next step.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Wow, great. How long have you been involved with Project Next?
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  Speaker 3: Been, this is year seven now.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Year seven?
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  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: Wow. That's terrific.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Yes. You often talked about growing up in a single household.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Can you please share what that was like for you?
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: And also you shared with us that you moved out
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: at 16 years old, such.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: A young age. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: So my parents got divorced when I was in second grade.
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  Speaker 3: And so ever since second grade, I would kind of
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: bounce between households and sometimes with my grandmother. So, um,
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: move schools at least once or twice a year and, um, lots,
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: lots going on there, just lots of toxicity. Um, but
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: by the time I got to high school, I told
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: myself I am not moving schools. I really wanted to
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: find a place where I belonged and, you know, have
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: the ability to get involved and really invest myself in something. And, um,
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: my mom decided that she was going to be moving
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  Speaker 3: and I said, I'm not, going. And so I decided
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  Speaker 3: to stay and just figured it out. And yeah, and
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  Speaker 3: I was able to finish high school at the same
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: high school that I started. And it was a great
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  Speaker 3: choice for me.
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  Speaker 2: Was it here?
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  Speaker 3: It was actually in Lake Elsinore. So not too far
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: from here. Yes, yes. Very different back in the 90s.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Lake Elsinore, it's grown a lot.
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  Speaker 1: That's really grown out there. I just can't believe how
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: much it's grown out there.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's grown a ton.
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  Speaker 4: We used to drive out to Escondido.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: To the mall.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, it was my decision, and
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  Speaker 3: I think it was a great decision. It was a
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: challenging one for sure, but it allowed me to stay
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: at the high school where I felt like I belonged,
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: and I made connections, and it was really important for me.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: I have to ask, what was it like when you
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: made that decision And you maybe packed a bag and
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  Speaker 1: walked out the door.
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  Speaker 2: And where were you headed?
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  Speaker 3: I had a car. I had all my belongings in
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  Speaker 3: the car. Luckily, I had some really great friends. I
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: actually ended up moving in with my boyfriend's mother. My
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: boyfriend was off at college at the time. He was older.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: And I rented a room from her. I loved her.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: She really took me under her wing. and, you know,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: I paid rent, and I worked, so I had a
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: place to stay. I, you know, I was in between
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: friends' houses for a while, but honestly, it was a
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: lot better being away from home than being in home,
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  Speaker 3: and so it was a good choice for me. I
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  Speaker 3: didn't spend that much time at home anyway, so.
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  Speaker 1: But that was a huge decision to make at 16,
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  Speaker 1: and now, I mean, working with the young adults in
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: our community, and that's just a big decision to make,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: and come across and did you suffer any behavioral health
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: challenges at that time that came up for you or no?
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  Speaker 4: Honestly, I, my mother, I grew up, my mother had
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: a lot of behavioral health.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: There were some lots of issues there growing up. So
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  Speaker 3: I witnessed it. Honestly, I think just from a young age,
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  Speaker 3: because of what I witnessed, I realized that I needed
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  Speaker 3: to seek out, you know, people, mentors and people who
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  Speaker 3: would kind of help me along and help prop me up.
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  Speaker 3: And I, I don't think I did that even knowing it,
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  Speaker 3: I just kind of gravitated towards those older, you know,
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  Speaker 3: people in my life throughout, um, my, my high school
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  Speaker 3: counselor was one of them actually. And which is why
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: I became a high school counselor.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Um, so there's that connection. Okay.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: That's why I became a high school counselor.
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  Speaker 4: Um, but it was difficult, but honestly, for me, it
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: was kind of, it's what I needed to do.
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  Speaker 3: And so I didn't even think about it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: It was just kind of like, this is what I
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  Speaker 3: need to do to take care of me. And I'm
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: going to figure it out.
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  Speaker 1: And then the other thing, first-generation college student, where did
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: you go to college, and how was that challenge, and
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: what were some of the biggest challenges there?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Back to my high school counselor. Luckily, I listened to Ms.
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: Crossway.
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  Speaker 3: I still remember her. She's an amazing woman. I had
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  Speaker 3: no idea. Nobody ever talked to me about college. My
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: parents didn't go to college. Nobody in my family did.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: But my high school counselor would always just say, you're
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: taking this class, you need to do this, you need
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: to do this, and luckily I listened to her. But honestly,
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: I never even visited a college campus before I went
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: to Cal Poly. I just applied to a bunch of places. Honestly,
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: what I would do is get out of class to
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: just go listen to the college presentations. So I listened
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: to a lot of them, but I had no idea
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  Speaker 3: what I was doing. So I ended up getting into
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Cal Poly Pomona, but back at the time I wanted
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: to be a detective. I wanted to be a police officer.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So I didn't law enforcement.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Until I did an internship in Pomona and decided, Nope,
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to, I'm going to help students. Um, but, uh, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: so she, she really guided me towards just getting in.
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  Speaker 3: I had no idea what the A through G requirements were.
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  Speaker 3: I had no idea that financial aid was a thing.
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  Speaker 3: I just figured I don't have the money to go.
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  Speaker 3: I can't do it. And so luckily I had her
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  Speaker 3: to help me walk me through these, those steps, um,
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: and get me there. And yeah, Yeah, the rest is history.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Is she still in your life today?
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  Speaker 3: No, she's passed. Oh, she's passed. Yeah, but I did
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: stay in touch with her for a long time.
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  Speaker 1: It's those mentors that are so critical for all of
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  Speaker 1: us in our life. Just a quick story from my standpoint,
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  Speaker 1: I can remember graduating high school and I can remember
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  Speaker 1: finishing off the summer after high school because I swam
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: and I played water polo and I lifeguarded in Newport
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and Huntington Beach and And then it ended. And I
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  Speaker 1: was overstruck with anxiety, depression. I didn't know what it
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: turned to. And I finished high school and there was
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: nobody in high school to really guide you. I think
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  Speaker 1: you said earlier when we were chatting, you know, hey,
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  Speaker 1: I had, you know, 400 kids. And when I was counseling, 600. And,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: you know, you had to get them through the door.
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  Speaker 1: And that's how it felt for me. And it took
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: me good two to three, maybe even four years to
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  Speaker 1: figure out what I was going to try to do
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  Speaker 1: and how I was going to.
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  Speaker 2: Get back involved in life.
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  Speaker 1: I ended up going to college late in life because
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  Speaker 1: I kind of floated around for a couple of years
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  Speaker 1: and really had no guidance.
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  Speaker 2: And that's really, really.
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  Speaker 1: Troublesome when we think about that and those experiences. And
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  Speaker 1: then I was very passionate when I read yours about
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  Speaker 1: Leaving a home at 16, I couldn't imagine leaving my
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: home at 16. I left at 18 and 18 and
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  Speaker 1: a half or 19. So that's just really interesting. You
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: spent 20 years as a high school counselor. What lessons
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  Speaker 1: did students teach you that still influence your work today?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a really great question. So many lessons. I
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: think we learn a lot more from students than we think.
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  Speaker 3: I think the first thing would be to not judge
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  Speaker 3: a book by its cover. Never assume. You know, students,
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  Speaker 3: I said I had 600 per year on my caseload, and,
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  Speaker 3: you know, a lot of students walk through your doors
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  Speaker 3: with so many layers, and you never have any idea
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  Speaker 3: until you get to know them. And that's how the
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  Speaker 3: relationships develop and why it's so important, because you're not
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: going to be able to help a student unless they
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  Speaker 3: trust you, unless you've invested the time to get to
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  Speaker 3: know them. but never assume. Also, I learned that, you know,
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  Speaker 3: information is one thing, but access to that information is different,
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  Speaker 3: and I was thinking of a lot of different examples
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  Speaker 3: as you were asking the question, but thinking of, let's
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: just say, first-generation college students, there's so much that goes
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  Speaker 3: into that process, and even just understanding how you get there,
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  Speaker 3: but the application process, let's just say, it's all online.
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  Speaker 3: You know when the deadlines are, but The information's there,
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  Speaker 3: but how do we actually make that accessible and help
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  Speaker 3: the students walk through that process? There's so many examples
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  Speaker 3: that I could give, but yeah, a lot of great lessons.
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  Speaker 1: Do you still have any friendships with people that you
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  Speaker 1: worked with over 20 years that you got out of
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: high school and then they went on to college?
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  Speaker 2: Do you ever run into any of them?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, my personal friends from high school?
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: No, yeah, or no, more that you were counseling.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: Oh, so many. My husband actually is a high school
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: art teacher. And we actually worked at the same high
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: school for about 15 years, which was really fun.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: What high school was that?
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: San Marcos High School. Oh, good.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Right here in town. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Right here in town. I started my, and now.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: You're giving back through project next. That's so great for
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: the community.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So you've been here for a while.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. And I actually started in Vista. So that's where
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: I first started counseling and then moved over to San Marcos. But, um, uh,
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: so many students that, you know, we don't have our
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: own children by choice. Um, we love everybody else's children, but, uh,
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: we were able to give so much more of ourselves,
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: I think that way. And so we kind of feel
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: like we've adopted so many students along the way. So,
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: oh yeah. In fact, my husband's like, now that I
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: have students, former students that have their own students, it's
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: time to retire. But yeah, so many, and I love
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: running into students, you know, that are in their, well,
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: actually now like forties with their own kids. And just,
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: you know, if they'll remember, you know, a way that
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: I helped them or something that I said that I
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: don't even remember, you know, make, it makes me think
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: back to the lessons, You never know. Sometimes you never
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: know that one thing that you said to a student
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: or the one opportunity that you gave them, what that's
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: going to change for their life.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: I moved to San Marcos originally when I moved down
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: here in 1996. And I bought a house up here
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: right above Palomar College. Nothing was here as it is today. Right.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, San Marcos has changed completely there. I was
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: so excited when fries came in.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Right. And moved into town.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: But when I was looking for homes, I was driving
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: down San Marcos Boulevard.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Hey, it's lunchtime. We're hungry.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Let's stop and get something to eat. The only thing
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: that was there was a small food court up by
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: the theaters now and Burger King right on the corner.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: And nothing else existed there. It was really incredible.
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  Speaker 3: Such growth.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: The community and the growth.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: My son actually went to the original high school before
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: they moved and built a new one and took.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: The dairy away and everything like that. Wow. Was in
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: San Marcos for a while. Really liked the community. Yeah,
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: it's a great place.
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  Speaker 1: So one of the things I want to really talk
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: about now is opportunity, access, and hope.
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  Speaker 2: And I really want to focus on some questions about that.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: When was the moment that you realized there was a
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: need for something like Project Next?
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure it was actually one moment. I think
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: it was just throughout the years, seeing over... and over
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: the same thing, feeling very frustrated that I have this
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: human in front of me that I wanna help in
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: so many ways and I have 599 others and not
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: having the resources myself to be able to help them
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: or the community, just not having the ability to reach
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: out and bring those resources in to help these kids,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: so frustrating. you asked about running into students, you know,
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: after graduation, running into them two, three years after graduation,
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: and they're still floundering. You ask, you know, where are you?
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: What's going on? Kind of like you were saying with yourself,
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: after students leave high school, kind of their safety net
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: is gone. And where do they turn to for help?
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: Where do they go? And so it was kind of,
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: it was just an accumulation of all of that over
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: the years. And this opportunity came about to take over
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: another organization that was changing and wanted to you know
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: offer programs and resources and honestly at first I said
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: no because I was I did not know non-profits I
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: did not want to fundraise I said but I know
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: I know students I know the programs that were needed
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: from you know the inside um so it's a little
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: intimidating but my husband said you know either you can
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: keep complaining about it or you can take this opportunity
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: to create what you need what what the students needed
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: and so course he was right so I said yes
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: and I'm so happy I did because and it's so
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: um it makes me so proud to just see what
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: we built you know from the ground up and it's
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: it's great I think.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: It'd be good for you to describe for our listeners
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: out there today um if you haven't been to a
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: project next site you really need to go she has
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: one right in San Marcos High School here and I've
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: been there and been to it and seen it it's
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: really great for students to be able to come in
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: So maybe you could describe how you get the hidden
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: barriers for students to be able to see what the
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: opportunities are out there for them as they move through
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Project Next.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think by being, so our model is
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: being physically embedded on the high school sites, which I
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: think is so important to meet students and families literally
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: and figuratively where they are. So what we do is
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: we create spaces called future centers. And There are physical
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: spaces on high school campuses, actually now middle school campuses,
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: but the students design them. So that's the fun part
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: is that each one looks very different. Like Escondido High
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: School looks different than Escondido Charter High School. And so
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: the students have agency in just creating a space. Their
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: challenge is just make it welcoming and inviting in a
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: place where your peers are going to want to come
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: and hang out. Because once we have them there, we
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: know we have them. And then we staff a full-time
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: career coach in each future center who's there, and their
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: job is what I thought I was going to be
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: doing as a counselor. It was my dream job, just
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: the one-on-one attention that a student deserves to figure out
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: who they are, what's out there, and then connect them
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: to those opportunities. And so by being fully embedded on
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: a campus, it eliminates so many barriers that students have,
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: whether it's transportation or just their scheduling or all of
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: the things that stand in the way of getting somewhere.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: That's all eliminated by being on-site, plus the partnership with
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: the counselors, the teachers who know these kids, who can
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: be that mentor, that person to say, hey, have you
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: gone into the Future Center? Have you checked that out?
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Have you met with a career coach? And so that
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: gentle nudge sometimes is all a student needs, and then,
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: you know, we can take it from there.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's really amazing. How many campuses are you in now?
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: We're in nine now.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Nine?
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, nine now. So we've actually expanded this year. We've
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: always talked about, you know, the work that we're doing
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: needs to start earlier. It really does need to start.
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: as early as possible. It's never too early to provide exposure,
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: but we had the opportunity this year to partner with
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Vista Unified School District, so we are in all of
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: their middle schools now. And so we're getting started there,
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: which is really exciting, so we can start the work
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: a little bit earlier. But nine total.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: So what's your big vision for Project Next? I mean,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: it started very small, right? You've expanded. Yeah, it started
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: with two people. Now how many staff.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: Are on board? I had an idea, 14.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: 14?
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: So what's your vision for Project Next? What's your... You're
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: a North Star.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: I think every high school and every student deserves to
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: have a future center. And so I would love to
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: see a future center in every school in San Diego County. Oh,
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: that's terrific. Yeah, that would be.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: What about, I noticed, what's the phrase, own my next
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: is incredibly empowering. What does that message mean to you personally?
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: And what do you hope the students take away with that?
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we were very intentional when we created this. our
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: name and our logo in Project Next. And our tagline
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: for students is Own Your Next. And we really wanted
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: students to understand that it is their future. They are
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: in control of that. I think so many students feel
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: out of control of so many things in their lives
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: and even their future. And it's scary. It creates anxiety,
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: all of these things. And I think it's empowering when
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: they realize, oh yeah, actually I am in control of
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: my life. And so we tell them, whatever it is
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: that you want to do after high school, as long
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: as you're making a well-informed choice, your future's not happening
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: to you, but you are choosing that future, then we're
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: going to support you and help you. And so we
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: always say that, just own your next. It is yours.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: And actually, we have a huge, beautiful mural that the
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: students wanted at the Escondido High School Future Center, and
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: right in the middle it says, own your next, and
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: it's my favorite.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: You know, when you describe what the students are going through,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: it resonates with me as.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: I have to honor and be the CEO and president
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: of TURN Behavioral Health Services, and we run several different modalities.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: But it's the same scenario when you're hearing about students,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: then you're helping families in behavioral health. You're helping somebody
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: come through and out of addiction and get their lives
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: back together.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: People that don't feel that they have the ability to
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: reestablish their life.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: We deal with people that are coming out of incarceration.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: I'll just share a quick story. We just opened a
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: year ago, a men's rehabilitation facility in Fresno, 110 beds.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: They're coming with only two years left on their incarceration
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: and they're serving out.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: So they're outside of prison.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: And the gentleman walked out of the van and he
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: walked into the area where he's going to be living
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: for the next two years. And he said, was on
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: the phone with his mother. I'm feeling grass between my
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: toes for the first time in 20 years.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: And I'm actually looking at palm trees instead of four
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: concrete walls and one with a jail cell entrance to it.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: So I think when I hear things like that, there's
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: some crossover there, right? Because the children are experiencing challenges
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: and they're trying to figure out their future where our
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: clients that we work with who've gone the wrong way
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: with their future are now trying to come out and
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: figure out their future. So I just see a lot
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: of crossover with behavioral health and substance use and stuff
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: with children because some of our children are just, really
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: losing their way early, rather than having a project next
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: help keep them on track. So there's a really close
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: relationship between our organizations and serving.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Of our communities.
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: What would you say to the person who feels like
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: their circumstances have already been determined their future?
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: And a lot of students do because they see what's
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: in their immediate surroundings, their immediate environment. And that's the
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: one thing that's a real challenge when you're working with students, right,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: is you have them in this space, in the school environment,
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: for a portion of the day and you know they're
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: going to go back to their home environment in which
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: it's hard. So back to your point about supporting the
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: whole family. While we do not, our mission is helping
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: students plan and prepare for their next steps, we realize
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: there's a lot more to that. When our career coaches
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: get to know a student and they've got these challenges
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: going on or they know that the family's experiencing housing
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: insecurity or they're hungry. And we have other organizations that
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: we partner with that do that thing that are experts
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: in that field that we can refer students to so
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: that we can try to help in all the other
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: ways while keeping that student focused on their future and
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: being hopeful for it. But what I would say is
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: that where you start doesn't dictate where you end up.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: And I would always share my story with students. I
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: have no problem doing that. I think there's something important
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: about being vulnerable yourself and sharing with students, you know,
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of high school students look at professionals,
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: look at adults and have a very different picture of
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: what really it is. Like we're all human.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: They all have it figured out. Why can't I figure
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: it out?
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: It's like, really? None of us have it figured out yet. Um,
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: and when they see that, when they interact with professionals
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: and they, you know, somebody who comes in the suit
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: and they learn, Oh, they used to work at Chuck E.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: Cheese when they, you know, like, Oh, you know, and
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: they can see themselves in other people. Um, I think
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: that helps.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: That helps a lot.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: What's one of the most, um, not important, but a
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: milestone in your career when you move from transitioning out
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: of teaching and then to project next, was there a
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: gap in.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: That transition or did you just move right into it?
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: Um, moved right into it. Yeah.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: It was a big learning curve, a big learning curve.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: It was, it was kind of like, you either got
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: to take over this organization or not. And so I said, yes,
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: and let's do it. And so, and luckily, you know,
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: I had the relationships established already with, um, a lot
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: of the schools in the area because I worked as
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: a counselor for so long, which again, back to relationships,
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: which is so important in all of the areas, we
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: didn't really have to prove ourselves because people knew who
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: we were and what our aim was. And we were
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: filling a really important and needed void, you know, in
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: the schools. And so, um, it hasn't been easy for sure.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: It's been, but I love challenges. Right.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: So, so what's your census today?
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: How many, how many students are you touching on a
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: daily basis?
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: So, well, last year, well, 10,000 students walked through our
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: future center doors.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: And so, you know, we, we see students in a
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: lot of different levels. So the way future centers work is, um,
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: and I'm very, every student has a need, right? They're
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: just different and you don't know what they are till
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: you get to know the student. So I wanted to
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: make sure that any student who wanted to access a
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: future center could. So it's open doors to any student,
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: any family. We have parents that come and get help,
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: which I love. And then we have programs for students
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: who are furthest from opportunity, who really need the higher
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: level of support. And again, back to our partnership with
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: our schools, our teachers and counselors and the school psychologists
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: and workability, they know the students that could use that
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: extra support. And so they're such great partners in helping
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: us invite students in to participate in these different programs
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: that we offer. So thousands of students, thousands of students.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: And there's no fee for your services.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: No fee.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: So how's your funding work then?
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's a shared investment. So some from the schools,
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: some grant, a lot of grant, a lot of grant writing,
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: and then a lot of private foundations and just generous
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: individuals in the community who want to support and invest
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: in this movement.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw and met some of them at the
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: event that you had over here at the, what's the
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: new development?
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: 222 North City. Amazing, yeah.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: That tall building, residential building.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: Beautiful space, yeah.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: That's really great.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we have so many people. I think the thing is,
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: you know, looking at it from when I was working
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: in the high schools, I could never get out literally
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: of my office because you're just, you know, you're working
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: with so many students. There's so many people in the
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: community who want to come in and give back and
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: help these students. But in talking over the last several
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: years with a lot of the businesses and professionals, the
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: feedback we were getting was, we want to help, but
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: we wouldn't even know who to ask, or we've called
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: and nobody really owns that connection. And so really that's
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: kind of what we own is making those connections and
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: bridging education in the community so that we can support
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: these students.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: Lisa, this has been a wonderful conversation, and I'm excited
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: to continue the conversation. But before we go further, let's
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: take a quick pause for the brief, where we highlight programs, policies,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: and emerging trends that are shaping behavioral health. And these
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: two we're going to talk about are right in the schools.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: And I'm so excited for this. These are two bills,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: AB 2150 and AB 1586. And they were signed by
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Governor Newsom literally last weekend. And one of our biggest
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: sponsors that we work with was the California Association of
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: Alcohol and Drug Professional Executives, and it's called CADPE.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: As an organization, TURN is.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: A member of this group, and we're actually a platinum member,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: and we really advocate a lot with their legislative committee.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: They were very integral in helping us with 2150 and 1586.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: And 2150, for our listeners out there, adds overdose recognition
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: and Naxalund training to the workplace for CPR certification, helping
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: employees recognize and respond to overdose emergency. And then AB 1586,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: which really takes it beyond that is the school safety
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: and opioid overdose prevention act requires that school resource officers
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: are to receive overdose response training to ensure trusted adults
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: working closely with students are prepared to respond, um, quickly
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: and effectively in an emergency. And I'll give you an
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: example of this. Uh, before my question is my niece
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: is a, um, school teacher in Chula Vista and she
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: always is on, um, uh, playground duty. And she says,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: if something happens to one of our children and she's in, uh, um,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: it's a K through eight school, I think it is
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: and happens on the playground. She has to run to
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: the nurse's office. She has to see if the nurse
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: is there. If the nurse isn't there, she can't get it.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: She has to run back out to the playground and
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: be calling 911.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: And so we really think this is.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Going to be super helpful for the schools and for
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: the people that are the responding officers because they can
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: carry it now and be able to administer if they
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: need to administer under 2150, but both tied together.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: So both bills are focused on.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Overdose prevention.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: So in your years of experience, over 20 years as
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: a counselor and being in the schools, tell us what
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: it's like in that moment of crisis. And now that
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: these two bills are available, how is that going to
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: be so beneficial to our students?
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: Gosh, I think it's so great. I was not aware
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: of this, so I'm so glad that I just learned
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: about it. And I think it's about being proactive rather
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: than reactive, right? And I mean, you are dealing with
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: thousands of students you need to be ready to respond
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: because emergencies occur all the time. And if you're not prepared,
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: you could lose a life.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Well, I think this follows your philosophy about that we're
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: giving young people information, right? And that there's a resource
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: now on campus who they can, however they reach out on.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: Campuses when an emergency happens.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: I haven't been in school for a number of years,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: but I'm sure there's a PA system that's rather loud
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: if there's an emergency or a number that somebody can
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: call from the phone or something. But I think there's
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: a real connection now for the students that are on
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: the campus. And is there any education and prevention like
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: this about overdose that's really taught in our schools now
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: or no?
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: You know, I've been out of the school, out of
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: my role as a counselor for a few years. But
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: I do have several friends that are still counselors. And
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: my husband, like I said, is a high school teacher.
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: So I know they do professional development and things like that,
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: and they will bring in experts to talk to the staff.
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: But I think education is one thing, and the knowledge
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: is important, but I think they need to make it accessible,
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: and I think it's just super important.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: And what I'll do, probably sometime next week, I'll send
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: you the full bills so you can take a look
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: at the bills and see, because it might be something
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: that you could share.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: With your network, say, hey, this is available now. Here's
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: the full bill.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Your resource officers at the school, you know, can use
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: this information and they can be trained. And I think
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: the key one also that was really exciting is when
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: anybody goes for CPR training, they're also going to get
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: the additional training and certificate before they can actually go
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: to work and be able to perform CPR and stuff
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: like that.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: So I think it's really, really, really....
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: I think it's another way that adults can look at some...
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Children can look at adults as somebody who's trusted.
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Well, it's no different than, you know, CPR report.
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: I mean, CPS reporting or, like you said, yeah, CPR.
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: It's a definite need these days.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's going to be really good for school.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: So thank you for sharing your thoughts. We'll be right
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: back after this message from our sponsors.
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: Improving lives every day and in every way for Californians.
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: This is the mission of TURN Behavioral Health Services. By
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: focusing on wellness, recovery, and resilience, TURN is helping create
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: lasting change, especially for our military community. If you're active duty,
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: a veteran, reservists, regardless of military status or part of
• 30:34
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• 30:38
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• 30:43
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• 31:11
  Speaker 5: Courage to Call is a program of Turn Behavioral Health Services,
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: improving lives every day in every way.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Behavioral Health Brief. I'm Jim Callahan.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: And today I'm here with Lisa Stout, the.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Executive Director of Project Next. For our listeners, Lisa, Tell
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: us how many districts you're currently providing services in.
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: We're currently in three different districts across nine schools. We're
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: in Escondido Union High School District, Oceanside Unified, and we
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: just expanded into Vista Unified School District in the middle schools. Nice.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: What about Carlsbad? What are your next ones that you
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: want to tackle?
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: We've been in conversations with Carlsbad. We're actually also talking
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: with National University about creating... This will be the first
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: time we say it, Next at the Nest, where we
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: will be able to provide our services to that 18-
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: to 24-year-old population, to the younger gyms of the world,
• 32:10
  Speaker 3: to help those students who still need to find their
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: next after they leave high school.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: Are they students that are considering maybe even entering the
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: military that you'll be working with too? Because National University
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: really supports veterans in active military. We do a lot
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: of work with them through our Courage to Call program,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: which is we provide behavioral health services through Courage to Call.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: And we're the only one in San Diego County that
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: does those services. So is it also with young men
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: that might be considering going into the military?
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. And we are supporting students on any and all paths.
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: So yes, if military is something that they're interested in,
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: we do provide exposure to all the different branches and
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: bring men and women in to talk about their experience
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: being in the military. So yes, absolutely, that could be
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: a path for them. And yes, we love working with
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: National University. Their nest is basically like a future center
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: for their Anders, which they call them their Anders.
• 33:11
  Speaker 4: So they're, you know, military and students, parents and students.
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: And so having a space within the nest where we
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: can serve students after high school will be really great
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: just because there's such a need for it.
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there is. Yeah.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: Before we went to the break, we were talking about
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: the importance of trusted adults in helping young people. I'm curious,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: how does the mentoring help bridge the gap between potential
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: and opportunity?
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: I think everybody needs a mentor in their life. I
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: have several mentors. I think the importance is that when
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: you have somebody who is not judging you, who you
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: can just show up authentically with, And just be yourself
• 33:53
  Speaker 3: and somebody who can often see potential in you before
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: you see it in yourself. I think that's just so helpful.
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: Whether you're in middle school or whether you're 50 years old,
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: I think everybody can use a mentor in their life.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: I wish I would have had a mentor when I
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: was younger. My older brother was a mentor, but he
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: had already moved out of the house and had his
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: own experiences and came back home from Vietnam and then
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: went right on to Hawaii and lives over there and
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: he still lives there so interesting but he has been
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: my mentor even though through these years now I still
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: call him up and we talk about things one of
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: the things that makes Project Next unique is the future
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: center model we touched on that a little earlier but
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: can you explain the future centers in a little bit
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: more detail and bringing the resources directly to the students
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: matters and why that matters.
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah I think First, even starting with the name Future
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: Center is important and was an intentional decision on our
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: part because high schools have college and career centers, which
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: is great. But sometimes even a name can, I don't know,
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: be intimidating or off-putting to a student if they don't
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: see themselves in that space yet or ever at that point,
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: who knows. But Future Center to us is very disarming
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: and welcoming. Everybody has a future. You know, at one
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: of our centers, we had a really close relationship with
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: the workability department. And I loved it that she would
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: refer students with IEPs into the space. And they loved
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: it because they felt like throughout their entire educational journey,
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: they were always being called out of class into a
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: different space. But they have a future, too. And so
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: the Future Center is for anybody. So the name is important.
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: I mentioned that students design the space. I think that's
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: very important because we want them to have ownership in
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: that and to feel like they belong there. And when
• 35:57
  Speaker 3: they walk in, they feel like they're welcome and they
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: want to be there. And so that's just really important.
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: And being on campus, like I mentioned, eliminates all the
• 36:07
  Speaker 3: barriers to access. They don't have to come to us.
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: They can come before school, after school. During class, we
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: are able to call students out. We have special future
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: center passes. And we're very intentional with building the relationships
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: with the staff so that they know who we are,
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: what we're there for, what our goal is. It's the
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: same as theirs, right, to get these students on a path.
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: And teachers are very receptive to sending students into the
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: future centers. We don't keep them in there for hours.
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: We're respectful of class time as well. But, yeah, the model,
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: it's just, I mean... I don't know anybody else who
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: has that model, but we were bringing the services directly
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: to the students and families, and that's really where we
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: should bring all the services to the schools. That's where
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: they show up.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: Curious question just comes to mind.
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: Are there any federal grants out there that you're able to.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: Apply for through the Department of Education that maybe could
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: help with your not just fundraising but expansion as you
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: expand these future center models?
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: Good question. I'm looking for them. I think... we're small
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: but mighty. And as we've expanded beyond one district into many,
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: and as we, you know, kind of go middle school,
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: you know, through the 18 to 24. And so there's
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: this continuum of services that we're building. I think more
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: opportunities will present themselves as we kind of establish ourselves
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: in this space. So we're getting there and I'm looking,
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: but yeah, we do not want to be a best
• 37:33
  Speaker 3: kept secret. So we're trying to really get our name
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: out there and get people to understand what we're doing to.
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: Join our movement.
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: That's why we had you on the brief today.
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: We want to expand your network and be able to
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: expand your services to so many.
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: Different fractions of our youth.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: TURN is partnered with Project Next through internship opportunities. Why
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: are programs like TURN's internship program so valuable to the
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: young people?
• 37:59
  Speaker 3: I think any opportunity for a young person to physically...
• 38:04
  Speaker 3: walk into a space and feel comfortable there, feel confident,
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: feel like they belong there. And to see what exists
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: is important, whether it's a job shadow for a day
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: or an internship, whether it's paid or not, just giving
• 38:19
  Speaker 3: students that experience. It's unlike anything else. It's, it's, it's,
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: we need to get the students outside of the school
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: walls to experience what really exists in the, in the
• 38:28
  Speaker 3: real world. And so internships are a perfect way for
• 38:31
  Speaker 3: students to do that.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: And We do a lot of internship programs. We have
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: a large one with Cal State San Marcos. And some
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: of the people that are coming out of high school
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: go into the social service department.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Then we end up, they have to get their hours, right?
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: So they'll come to our programs.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: There's one of our clinics that's in Oceanside, right next
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: to the Live Well Center there, in the Live Well Center.
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: Actually, on the second floor.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: We probably see 1,000 people a month through that clinic,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: even sometimes more. And when I've toured through there, almost
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: everybody was an intern from Cal State San Marcos, has
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: stayed on board. So I think internship programs are really great,
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: especially for our school students that are coming out to
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: experience that. And you've done some of that already with
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: the city of San Marcos. Through the EDC, there was
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: a networking event that was there, and we had like
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: 400 students. students show up that were looking for opportunities
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: for work.
• 39:33
  Speaker 3: Yes any opportunity that we can provide to get students
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: into the doors whether it's paid you know unpaid just
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: giving them that experience is so important because you know
• 39:43
  Speaker 3: as we talked about earlier a lot of students don't
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: have that network they're not born into a network of
• 39:50
  Speaker 3: professionals who can show them the way. And so we
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: need to provide that access for them. And so we
• 39:54
  Speaker 3: rely on all of the professionals in our community to
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: open their doors to our students so that they can
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: gain that experience that they need.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: I could think of a way that we could probably
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: partner together more on really trying to bring the mental
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: health component to Project Next. I don't know what that
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: looks like, but I'd love to explore that with you
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: because I think we see a.
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: Transitional centers for youth.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: In our communities here. We have one right over here
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: in Escondido. We have one central. And so those are
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: really critical because it's after school type programs. There may
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: be a way to connect in with Project Next that
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: we could, you know, maybe even just have an office
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: at the center for Project Next as these youths are
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: trying to transition. So I think there's some benefit to
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: that with our children that are experiencing mental health and
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: maybe some depression and anxiety. As I explained earlier in
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: my young career, I experienced that.
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: I think that's fantastic. The more ways we can partner
• 40:59
  Speaker 3: with other organizations doing different but equally important work, we're
• 41:06
  Speaker 3: all in for.
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, and I think in today's environment around
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: philanthropy and government funding and government contracts and grants, we've
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: seen it really shrink And even the pool and opportunity
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: with philanthropists, they're even pulling back a bit. So I
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: think you even mentioned in the paperwork that you submitted
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: that working in partnerships like that to really help our
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: communities and show the communities what we can do, we'll
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: be able to bring in funding once we kind of
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: stand up that model.
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: So I think there's going to be more of that.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: I'd like to hear your thoughts on that because there's
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: so many CBOs in our community here, but we all
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: get so busy sometimes and we get siloed But if
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: we really work together on a mission at one point,
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: I think we can really bring funding back into our communities,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: whether it's through the county, the cities, the education systems,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: or even philanthropists to be able to stand some things up.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: How about your thoughts on that?
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: I 100% agree. I think at the core of all
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: of what we do is people or youth or students.
• 42:09
  Speaker 3: And so we're going about it in different ways. But
• 42:13
  Speaker 3: also by partnering, I feel like we're breaking down some
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: of the crazy systems, you know, and it's really frustrating,
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: I think, for some of the students and families to
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: navigate all of that. So, you know, you're going here
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: to get help with your future. You're going here to
• 42:27
  Speaker 3: get help with your mental health. You're getting, it's so
• 42:31
  Speaker 3: fragmented and it's so, how can they access? It's very
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: frustrating for families and students. And I see that. And
• 42:37
  Speaker 3: so I think the more we can do in partnering,
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: I think is going to greatly help the students and families.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: So why wouldn't we?
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: That brings up for me, we had Dr. Luke Bergman
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: on here on our behavioral health brief. He's the ex-director
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: of behavioral health services for the county of San Diego.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: And he said, I had a child that was in need, right?
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: He said, I couldn't find services and get my child
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: the services that he needed. And here I sit as
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: the director of behavioral health services. It was hard for
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: me to navigate the system. Those are a lot of
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: the barriers that I think we also need to focus
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: on in breaking down to get more services to.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: Our youth and children.
• 43:15
  Speaker 3: Exactly. And then layer on top of that families who
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: there's a language barrier or they're, you know, so yes,
• 43:22
  Speaker 3: the more we could do to help our students and families,
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: we are all in. Yeah.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: Well, at this point, I'd like to bring our audience
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: into the conversation with a few community questions. And Nico
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: from Stockton shares, I was the first person in my
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: family to graduate high school. And now my younger brother's
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: trying to figure out his next steps. How can families
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: support students when they don't have personal experience with college
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: or career planning?
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: Well, I would say to Nico that younger brother has
• 43:57
  Speaker 3: looked up to you the entire time. So you, even
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: though you don't realize it, have served as a great
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: example to your younger sibling. And I see that a
• 44:07
  Speaker 3: lot in first-generation students or students first in their family
• 44:12
  Speaker 3: to pursue any type of education beyond high school. they
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: don't often realize it in the moment that they are
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: setting that example for their siblings. So I think Nico's
• 44:21
  Speaker 3: already doing that, just doesn't realize it.
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: That's really good. You're very insightful.
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah. And I think, you know, in terms of families,
• 44:29
  Speaker 3: I don't know if I remember any families that really
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: had it all figured out. Even families who have the
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: resources and whose both parents went to college, it was
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: a much different time then. A lot's changed. And it's
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: an anxiety-ridden time for most families. And so I feel
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: like kind of back to what I said, where every
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: student has needs, every family has needs too. Sometimes you
• 44:51
  Speaker 3: just have to figure out what they are. I think
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: the most important thing is seek help and resources. But
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: as a family, what you could do is encourage your
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: student to follow their interests and their strengths and what
• 45:07
  Speaker 3: to own their next. I think that's some advice that
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: I would give to families and just really encourage them
• 45:13
  Speaker 3: through the process and help find the resources for them.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you for that.
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: David from Bakersfield asks, how can a young person build
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: confidence in their future when they don't see many examples.
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: Of success around them? Well, that's an interesting question, David.
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: And that's really hard. I think we talked about it
• 45:31
  Speaker 3: a little bit earlier about just your immediate environment and
• 45:34
  Speaker 3: what you see every day and the power of getting
• 45:37
  Speaker 3: outside that. But how do you do that as a
• 45:39
  Speaker 3: student and who doesn't have the social capital, the networks.
• 45:42
  Speaker 3: And so that's where programs like Project Next would come
• 45:45
  Speaker 3: in to provide those resources because it's so important for
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: students to see, well, representation matters too, right? People who
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: look like them in these positions. But where do they
• 45:58
  Speaker 3: go to find them? And so that's where organizations like
• 46:02
  Speaker 3: Project Next steps in and we bring in professionals from
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: any and every industry who are willing to talk to
• 46:07
  Speaker 3: our students so they can see themselves in those people
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: and discover careers as well, maybe that they didn't know existed,
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: but it takes people seeing these students and opening doors
• 46:19
  Speaker 3: and inviting them into opportunities so that they can see
• 46:22
  Speaker 3: themselves outside of the circumstances.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: Well, I think we have Stockton and Bakersfield future project next,
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: right there and then. Well, final one from Sacramento, Angela,
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: what's one piece of advice you wish every young person
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: could hear before they graduate?
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: You don't have to have your entire life figured out
• 46:42
  Speaker 3: at age 17 or 18.
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: Wow. That's terrific.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 46:46
  Speaker 3: And I'm going to say why our, so our X
• 46:49
  Speaker 3: on our logo is very intentional.
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: Okay. So describe that.
• 46:53
  Speaker 3: So the X is the crossroads that students face at
• 46:56
  Speaker 3: this time in their life. It's curved at the end
• 46:59
  Speaker 3: showing that no path is linear and there's multiple lines
• 47:02
  Speaker 3: showing that there's many different paths, right? So no path there, every,
• 47:07
  Speaker 3: every student's different. And, um, Yeah, I want every student
• 47:11
  Speaker 3: to know that, yeah, they do not have to have
• 47:14
  Speaker 3: it figured out. They just have to figure out their
• 47:15
  Speaker 3: next step and have the resources to help them do that,
• 47:18
  Speaker 3: and then they'll figure out their next and their next.
• 47:20
  Speaker 3: I think that's the biggest piece that I would like
• 47:22
  Speaker 3: students to take away.
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: Great. Lisa, I want to thank you for being here today.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: Before we close out, is there anything that you would
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: like to leave our listeners with today?
• 47:32
  Speaker 3: I would say get involved in the next movement. We
• 47:35
  Speaker 3: invite anybody who's interested to reach out, and I would
• 47:38
  Speaker 3: love to Just talk more about what we're doing and
• 47:40
  Speaker 3: how we can get you involved because we need everybody
• 47:44
  Speaker 3: to help these young people. Also, I would say that
• 47:48
  Speaker 3: everybody can be a mentor. Everybody can help open a door,
• 47:51
  Speaker 3: make a connection. It doesn't take a whole lot, and
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: one act can change the entire trajectory of a student's life.
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: How do people get in touch with you?
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: How can we get in touch with you or our
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: listeners today get in touch with you?
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: Go to our website, projectnext.org, and... our information's there to
• 48:10
  Speaker 3: contact us. Somebody will reach out right away and invite
• 48:13
  Speaker 3: you to visit a future center or participate in one
• 48:16
  Speaker 3: of our events. But yeah, we would love for all
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: of you to get involved.
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: Well, I'd love to be able to come to one
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: of the next events.
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: And if there's any opportunity that at some point in
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: time that you're working with some students and they'd like
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: to hear from a CEO and share his story, I
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: would love to come by and meet those students and share.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Because I'm at the point in my life now where
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: I need to be mentoring everybody that I touch. And
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: Jessica and I just had this conversation the other day.
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: Jessica is my senior executive.
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: Strategist, keeps me in line.
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: And I said to her, I said, my job is
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: to help mentor you now so you can take your
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: next steps in your career. So that's one of the
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: things that's personal to me. So if you ever have
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: the opportunity, I'd love to be able to join you.
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: And then just take a few minutes and let's talk
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: about gratitude. And I'd like to hear from you I'll share,
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: you share. One thing that you're grateful for today.
• 49:11
  Speaker 3: I'm grateful to be here, to be able to amplify
• 49:14
  Speaker 3: our mission and share with everybody about Project Next.
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's great.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: What I'm grateful for today is to be here with you,
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: really and truly. I've looked up to you since I
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: met you, and I can remember meeting you because we
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: were in the parking lot at the Debbie Awards, right?
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: Yes. And you were in front of me. Oh, I
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: got to go back and get my license plate. Will
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: you hold my spot? And I went, well, I'll go
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: with you because I got to get my license plate.
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: And that's how I met you. And then you were
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: given that great award. So that was.
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: Really neat and really great to have you on here
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: today because what you're doing is very tremendous for our communities.
• 49:48
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: To our listeners, thank you for spending time with us today.
• 49:52
  Speaker 2: Please like, share, and subscribe. I'm Jim Callahan, and this
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: has been the Behavioral Health Brief.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: This has been the Behavioral Health Brief, where insight meets impact.
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: Cloudcast Media.