Technical Assistance & Consultation
Technical Assistance & Consultation
ALMA supports organizations in overcoming barriers to providing high-quality mental health services to Latine communities. Through our process of assessment, goal development, and consultation, ALMA collaborates with your agency to increase your ability to reach Latine individuals in a culturally responsive manner.
Examples of how ALMA can assist agencies in supporting Latine experiences include tailored suggestions for:
- Developing signage, materials, and forms in Spanish and incorporating images and themes in decor and materials reflecting Latine communities
- Integrating personnel policies focused on hiring, retaining, and promoting bilingual and Latine staff
- Adopting financial policies that allow access to services for uninsured clients
- Offering non-traditional scheduling and service locations
If your organization is interested in learning more, you can reach the ALMA team at collaborations@elfuturo-nc.org.
The ALMA Process
ALMA works in partnership with organizations, using the principles of implementation science, to offer personalized services that match their unique goals and needs. We do this by:
- Providing guided assessments to identify organizational strengths and areas for growth
- Engaging agencies in goal-planning to increase their capacity to provide care to their local Latine communities
- Supporting organizations through technical assistance to increase the accessibility of mental health care to Latine communities.
Why partner with ALMA?
Roberto was an energetic 8-year-old when he was referred to mental health services because of his disruptive behavior and difficulty in following instructions at school. His parents were confused and overwhelmed and efforts to get Roberto help were repeatedly frustrated by language barriers, cultural differences, and his parents’ limited resources.
After implementing the plan you developed with ALMA, Roberto’s family found the support they needed from your agency–caring mental health providers who spoke their language, who met at times that fit the family’s needs, and who worked with Roberto and his family to create a culturally-responsive therapy plan. Working with ALMA can give your agency an opportunity to create a more accessible and culturally responsive path forward for families like Roberto’s.
Goals
Click on the buttons below to learn more about ALMA’s goals for communities, institutions, service providers, and clients.
Alvely Alcántara, LCSW
Rossy C. Garcia, MEd 
Katy Sims, MD 
Everardo Aviles, LCSW, LCAS (Eve)
As a medical anthropologist and social work researcher, Dr. Gulbas’ research embodies interdisciplinarity through the integration of applied theories of health and human development with qualitative and ethnographic methodologies. Her work seeks to understand how people—children, families, and providers—navigate complex sociocultural landscapes in the pursuit of mental health. Most of her work, to date, focuses attention on developing more robust interpretations of suicide risk. With funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, this body of research has contributed to advancements in theoretical and empirical knowledge of the broader contexts within which youth suicide risk is situated. 
R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez is a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the principal investigator of a study that examines the impact of immigration-related threat and stress on school communities. She earned a PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University and hold a BA in human biology from Stanford University. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first gen college student.
Dr. Parra-Cardona is an Associate Professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) at the University of Texas at Austin. At the SHSSW, he serves as Coordinator for Mexico and Latin American initiatives. He also serves as Area Director for Research at the UT Austin Latino Research Institute. Dr. Parra-Cardona’s program of research is focused on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based parenting interventions for low-income Latinx populations in the US and Latin America.
Bianka Reese, PhD, MSPH is a research scientist and program evaluator specializing in adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her previous research in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her work as the Research and Evaluation Manager at SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led largescale evaluations of multilevel, community-based sexual health promotion initiatives and research projects aimed at elevating the voices of diverse youth in North Carolina. Dr. Reese is currently the Senior Research Strategist at Creative Research Solutions, LLC, an award-winning national evaluation, research, and assessment firm.
Tania Connaughton-Espino, MPH is an independent researcher focused on adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her interest in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her previous work with SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led the training and evaluation department, conducted capacity-building workshops for youth serving professionals including on the topic of how to be more affirming of LGBTQ youth, and from her extensive experience working with the Latinx population in NC.
Maru Gonzalez, EdD is an Assistant Professor and Youth Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her areas of inquiry include youth development with a focus on activism, social justice, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ young people across familial, school, and community contexts. 
Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD
Hector Y. Adames, PsyD