Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO®)
About Project ECHO®
Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a telementoring model designed to expand knowledge, build practical skills, and increase capacity among professionals and communities. Using a “hub-and-spokes” approach, multidisciplinary teams with specialized expertise connect with participants through videoconferencing. ECHO programs combine brief didactic instruction and skills-based learning with case discussions, expert consultation, and peer-to-peer learning, providing opportunities for participants to apply new knowledge and skills to real-world challenges.
Across the JJBH Lab, the ECHO model has been adapted for different audiences and goals, including strengthening trauma-informed practices among juvenile justice and child welfare professionals, enhancing the capacity of behavioral health providers serving system-involved youth, and building research and evaluation capacity among community-based organizations and community members. These programs were offered at no cost to participants, and continuing education credits were available to eligible participants.
ECHO–Trauma-Informed Systems of Care (ECHO-TISC)
Funded by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) California Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), ECHO-TISC was designed to increase trauma-informed knowledge, skills, and practices among non-clinical legal professionals (i.e., attorneys, probation officers, and court-appointed advocates) serving youth and families within California’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
Across six sessions, didactics addressed the effects of trauma on behavior and long-term outcomes; the role of identity and oppression in experiences of trauma; trauma screening and prevention of re-traumatization; evidence-based interventions for traumatic stress; and secondary traumatic stress among professionals. Through brief “in practice” skills exercises and case-based discussions, participants learned to apply trauma-informed principles in their professional roles, including recognizing and responding to the effects of trauma; preventing re-traumatization in interactions and decision-making with youth and families; collaborating with behavioral health providers; and identifying and managing secondary traumatic stress. CLE and STC credits were available for eligible participants.
ECHO-Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health (ECHO-JJBH)
Supported through foundation funding, ECHO-JJBH was designed for community behavioral health providers, including case managers, clinical social workers, and substance use counselors, serving systems-impacted youth and families in California. The program aimed to strengthen providers’ capacity to deliver empirically supported assessment and treatment of substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions in the context of complex trauma.
Across 12 sessions, participants learned how to assess and conceptualize complex clinical presentations; develop treatment plans that integrate approaches to address multiple behavioral health needs; conduct risk assessments and safety planning; use motivational interviewing; monitor treatment progress; engage youth and families in treatment delivered in person and via telehealth; and apply strategies to support provider well-being. Continuing education credits were available for eligible participants.
ECHO-Community
Funded by the San Francisco Dream Keeper Initiative, ECHO-Community was designed to strengthen evaluation and research capacity among community-based organizations (CBOs) and community members serving San Francisco’s Black residents. The program combined didactic training and technical assistance with shared learning to help participants build the knowledge, skills, and infrastructure needed to develop and sustain program evaluation and research efforts aligned with community priorities.
Across 12 sessions, participants developed practical skills in community needs assessment, evaluation logic model development, community-participatory research methods, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, and dissemination of findings. Participants applied these skills to design evaluation approaches responsive to their community contexts, assess programs and community needs, communicate findings to relevant audiences, and strengthen their capacity for grant writing and publication.
Program AvailabilityThese ECHO programs are not currently enrolling participants, but the JJBH Lab welcomes inquiries from organizations and agencies interested in exploring opportunities to develop or implement similar ECHO-based training, consultation, or capacity-building programs.
