El Futuro expands initiative to improve mental health outcomes in Latino families in Northeast Florida
El Futuro is conducting a new program in Northeast Florida to improve mental health outcomes in the local Latino community. The program works with community-based organizations to develop Spanish language mental health services tailored to the needs of the local community. The program is being carried out in collaboration with researchers at Mayo Clinic and funded by an award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
Mario Decunto is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who has worked with families since 2009, and has served on boards in Jacksonville, Florida, including the Mayor’s Hispanic American Advisory Board and Human Rights Commission. Decunto is proud to serve on the Mayo Clinic Hope 2 board and has an insight on the need in Northeast Florida. “Current research shows a significant disparity in health care for our Hispanic community, so we are very excited to focus on patient-centered outcomes research to start addressing the real needs of the Hispanic community and close that gap in services, especially mental health.”
The goal of this mental health initiative is not only to improve outcomes, but also to empower local Latino communities to take an active role in research to improve the health of their community. Central to the project is listening to the wisdom of the community to help guide research efforts in order to deliver the greatest benefit to the people being served.
Richard White, MD, an internist and pediatrician, and a health disparities researcher at Mayo Clinic, is collaborating with Smith and El Futuro on this project. “I am excited to build on El Futuro’s work with the Latino community and its expertise in culturally-responsive mental health approaches,” says White. “Our collaboration will bring more effective research results to communities in Florida who have been hit hard by the pandemic.”
This research is funded through the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EATR-18787) from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®)). The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®) is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to continually seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work.
Click here to see El Futuro Press Release
Click here to read the Chatham + News article by Victoria Johnson
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