CalHOPE: A New Sustainable Model of Care

As we wrote in May 2021, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) was able to leverage federal grant funds to greatly expand the CalHOPE program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. CalHOPE was designed to build community resiliency and help people recover from disasters through outreach, crisis counseling, and support services. The program offers several complimentary layers of intervention and support to engage Californians and connect them to emotional support services. By investing in a robust media strategy, California was able to raise awareness about CalHOPE and encourage residents to connect with a wide array of no-cost services through online, telephone, and in-person connections. Resources were made available in different languages and tailored to a variety of target populations including Urban Indian and Tribal populations, to reflect the diversity of state’s residents.CalHOPE has demonstrated remarkable outcomes including:

• Nearly 7 billion media impressions to help spread awareness of CalHOPE and the no-cost emotional support services available to residents.

• Nearly 110,000 individual crisis counseling sessions provided.

• Nearly 567,000 group counseling sessions and connections through public education events.

• Over 3 million outreach-based connections using a diverse array of methods including in-person, email, and social media.

Given the ongoing and ever-changing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the looming expiration of the federal funding available to support CalHOPE, DHCS worked to secure a more sustainable and long-term funding stream to ensure that Californians in need of emotional support can continue to access CalHOPE services. Thanks to tireless advocacy combined with impressive outcomes data, funding was allocated in the California state budget to support the continuation of the program. This is a prime example of how initial federal investments can ultimately lead to long-term sustainability of successful programs.Under the long-term approach, CalHOPE will expand and increase the array of emotional support services that are available, particularly focused on supporting youth mental health and wellbeing. This is an important expansion, as recent data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 37% of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 44% reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless during the past year.At Aurrera Health Group, we are proud to provide ongoing project management and implementation support to DHCS and CalHOPE partners in offering these much-needed resources to California residents. To keep stakeholders informed about the impact and reach of CalHOPE, Aurrera Health Group compiles monthly reports that recap accomplishments, outreach successes, highlight utilization data, and provide real-life testimonials from residents.If you or your loved ones need support or someone to talk to, CalHOPE is here to help. Connect with CalHOPE by phone at (833) 317-HOPE (4673) or initiate a live chat. You can also learn more about the array of services at www.CalHOPE.org.

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Author

Courtney Kashiwagi [Director]