Youth Empowerment: Beat by Beat

Mental health

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Youth are facing an escalating mental health crisis. Due to unprecedented levels of trauma and stressors—from the disruption and aftermath of a global pandemic to the influence of technology, social isolation, and systemic issues such as racism—the impact on their mental, physical, and emotional well-being is palpable. In Los Angeles County, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and youth from underserved and under-resourced communities are disproportionately affected and face barriers to accessing equitable, appropriate, and timely support.
Schools play a crucial role in supporting student mental health and are a key link to community wellness, yet staff report needing trauma-informed solutions to address student support as well as teacher well-being. Incorporating expressive-arts based social-emotional learning (SEL) programs such as our Youth Empowerment Project can provide a back-door approach to mental health by reducing stigma, help de-stress and manage feelings, and create a foundation for success.

In Long Beach Unified School District (spring 2023), we pilot recruited and trained 8 7th-graders to team-deliver a consolidated Beat the Odds® (BTO) curriculum to 2 groups of 40 5th-graders. In the 7th graders, we witnessed innate wisdom, initiative taking, problem solving, teamwork, cooperation, new friendships, self-expression, confidence, and creativity. District buy-in has been unprecedented. A principal, a school board member, and counselors have observed sessions; the district supported a full-day BTO training to 50 of its mental health professionals on 1/31/24 (half of them reported interest in training youth to deliver BTO and each counselor serves multiple schools!), plus the district is translating our full BTO manual into Spanish! This initiative will: 1) pilot train 5th graders to deliver BTO to younger youth, 2) provide additional training, materials, and mentorship for interested counselors.
In Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (fall 2023), we pilot trained 20 7th-graders to serve 4 5th-grade classrooms. Impact is being comprehensively evaluated by a PhD-level researcher. The administration has shown tremendous buy-in. The principal and the 2 assistant principals attended a 1.5-hour training for their mental health team, and they arranged for media coverage of the project! This initiative will: 1) pilot train 8th graders to mentor 7th graders to mentor 6th graders in a sustainable cycle of support, 2) train and mentor a music educator supervisor.

This initiative demonstrates scalability. Youth-led BTO is exciting to districts and expands their capacity to address student's social-emotional needs for engagement, self-esteem, connection, stress reduction, and joy. Based on recruitment samples of 100+ students in each district, 30% of 7th graders and 75% of 5th graders are interested in delivering BTO to younger youth. This model attracts diverse students and transforms them before our eyes. Surveys of our student trainees have shown that they are learning what we intended. District and news media interest, combined with the outreach power of our organizational online and in-person community offerings, will inspire partnerships far and wide. We will also pilot youth-led BTO through Boys and Girls Clubs and develop a team of professionals to deliver online training and consultation. We believe this initiative, with its focus on process over product, can transform the lives and improve mental wellness of LA County youth, creatively.

This current initiative will measure social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes in a variety of ways. We routinely assess youth participants and adult trainees regarding their learning and its value to them through quantitative (Likert scale) and qualitative surveys. For youth-led BTO, we have been assessing both student leaders and their younger participants. We have also held focus groups with the student leaders and will obtain school-gathered data on attendance, academic performance, and behavior. We are currently analyzing data from comprehensive, daily, pre-post assessments using analog scales to measure deeper qualities such as agency, leadership, self-esteem, and empowerment. To strengthen statistical power, these surveys were given to our student leaders repeatedly over a three-month period and included intensive, week-long, pre-post assessments of the entire 7th grade class as well, for comparison purposes. We are refining our methodology for future evaluation protocols.