Every Child Succeeds

3333 Burnet Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45229

Moving Beyond Depression

The Charles H. Dater Foundation awarded Every Child Succeeds (ECS) a grant to continue providing our evidence-based maternal mental health program, Moving Beyond Depression (MBD). Developed by researchers at ECS and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), MBD uses in-home cognitive behavioral therapy specifically designed to work in tandem with home visitation programs. With therapy provided in the home, MBD removes barriers to treatment, such as transportation and childcare. MBD makes a difference for mothers so that they may make a difference for their children and benefit more fully from home visiting programming focused on parent-child relationships, parent self-efficacy, and child development.

The population being served is mothers in Greater Cincinnati in a home visiting program who score in the clinical depression range on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. In general, the demographics of this population are 86% unmarried, 45% Black, 45% Caucasian, and 15% Latino/a/x. A growing portion of this population solely speaks a language other than English.

Between June and September 2023, ECS provided Moving Beyond Depression to 32 mothers. In September, our last two therapists, contracted with partner agencies, left for other opportunities. The ECS team has been working alongside these partner agencies to recruit new therapists since September. Unfortunately, the Cincinnati region is experiencing the mental health professional crisis highlighted in both the Ohio State of the State speech and the national State of the Union address 2023. A survey of Google Jobs or Indeed.com shows several hundred mental health job openings in the Cincinnati region. The U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration scores counties for mental health professional shortages. Counties in our region average a score of 20 out of 26 indicating a severe professional shortage.

The ECS leadership team is seeking new opportunities to provide Moving Beyond Depression to mothers in critical need. We recently had two initial meetings with potential partners that were very promising. Follow-up meetings are planned during the next month.

The road out of the nation’s mental health professional crisis is going to be long. ECS is dedicated to providing the families we serve with every resource at our disposal. We will continue to think creatively to ensure mental health support for our families. The team is open to a conversation with the Charles H. Dater Foundation Trustees about the use of this grant and other opportunities we could pursue together.


Website: http://www.every childsucceeds.org
Amount: $25,000
Date: July 2023