Project Imani (ee-MAH-nee)

Nguzo Saba Kwanzaa Principle #7: Day of Meditation. Imani Faith. “To believe, with all our heart, in our Creator, our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.”

Project Imani is a culturally specific school and home-based mental health program developed to increase the positive functioning of African-American boys and girls by utilizing the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa in their homes, schools, and community.

Project Imani’s Africentric programming is the transmission of ideas, values, culture and the development of the self-care and the primary functions of socialization. Socialization is the interactive process by which individuals acquire some of the values, attitudes, skills, and knowledge of the society they belong.

Furthermore, Africentric programs place Africa at the center of African American identity. Africentric programming is used to overcome barriers and promote access to services and cultural self-identity.

This identity acknowledgement can be done through the study of African American history. African American boys and girls being proud of being black, dealing with school and/or world concerns, discipline, teacher support, crisis management, transitions for students, and parent involvement along with consistent direct services.

The goals of Project Imani are to:

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1. Improve classroom behavior

2. Improve behavior at home

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3. Maintain or improve academic performance or attendance

4. Increase parent involvement in their child’s education

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5. Promote community involvement

About

Mission & Vision

The Project Imani model is a Culturally Specific model with Black Children, Families, and Community at the center informing service, learning, and practice.

Who is Project Imani

When I started Project Imani, my focus was on providing mental health services for African American children and their families.

It was quickly evident that African American children and their families were not at the center of policy decisions about service delivery, and they did not feel seen or heard when they made their needs known to systems.

Unless policy decisions and practice change, outcomes for African American children, their families, and their communities will not change.

The History and Growth of Project Imani

We grew the work of Project Imani to include policy, practice, and training in partnership with the African American Community.

As a Culturally Specific Service Provider, we are working to develop more culturally specific services.

Project Imani is led by LaRone R Greer, MSW

Programs and Services

Fill out the Umoja Mentors Referral Form

Project Imani, LLC: Partnering with Children, Families, and the Black Community as our teachers

Direct Services

Culturally Specific Mental Health Services for Children and Families
Home and Community Based Services
Culturally Specific Child and Family Mentoring and Navigational Services
Culturally Specific Targeted Children's Mental Health Case Management

Policy and Practice

Consultation on Governmental Policies and Practice
Development of Culturally Based Services
Training, Instruction, and Support for Skill Building in Community Relationships
Leadership and Staff Coaching
IDI qualified

Culturally Specific Direct Mental Health Services to Children and Families

Over twenty years of experience as Mental Health Provider serving African American boys, girls, and their families using a multi-systemic therapeutic approach which includes the child, family, caregivers and all those who have an impact on the child in service.
Brothers & Sisters of Imani Children's Mental Health Targeted Case Management (CMH-TCM).

Community Engagement & Community Relationship Building

Highly skilled in working in, and with, community to translate community needs into public policy
Instructor in Community Engagement at the Public Health Institute at the University of Minnesota
Member of the Cultural and Ethnic Leadership Council
Commissioner's appointee to the Governor's Civic Engagement Committee

Governmental Equity Liaison

Highly skilled with experience in the construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of health and human service policy with an equity lens.
Five years of experience in governmental agency as an Equity Liaison with responsibility budget and legislative review of policies

Development of Home-Based Alternatives to Institutional Placement

10+ years working in Child Protection and Children's Mental Health to develop many culturally appropriate home-based services for children facing out-of-home placement.
15+ years working closely with Human Services and Licensing staff on the development of culturally-specific training of families dedicated to providing support and services to children facing out-of-home placement.

Past and Current work of Project Imani

Ramsey County Transforming Systems Together
MN Department of Human Services/Children and Family Services
- Building a leadership culture that welcomes partnerships with community
MN Department of Human Services/Behavioral Health Services
MN Department of Children, Youth, and Families
- Community partnerships in systems skills building
- Mentoring young black boys and girls for success
- Operational Assessment using a racial equity lens

Brothers & Sisters of Imani

Brothers & Sisters of Imani’s Children's Mental Health Targeted Case Management services (CMH-TCM) means activities that are child-centered, family-focused, culturally specific services with modalities, and are community-based as they relate to the child’s mental health needs.

Case management services include developing a functional assessment, and individual family community support plan, referring and assisting the person to obtain needed mental health and other services, ensuring coordination of services, and monitoring the delivery of services.

CMH-TCM has six core reimbursable service components:

Assessment
Planning
Referral and linkage
Monitoring and coordination
Nguzo Nane Modalities
Clinical Supervision

The Brothers & Sisters of Imani curriculum is targeted to students in grades two through eight. It is designed to give African American boys and girls a broader sense of their culture and to support and increase their sense of self worth, to create possibility thinking, to identify and discuss feelings and emotions, to appropriately give and receive feedback and criticism from others, and to understand the importance of supporting one another. This is done by incorporating the African American modalities.

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Age-appropriate living skills, behavioral role modeling, and teaching

Leisure and recreational activities and constructive use of non-school time

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Individual, group, family support, and counseling

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Parent involvement in child’s schooling

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Parent skills and support

Measuring Results

Brothers & Sisters of Imani will be evaluated annually. Methods used will include teacher and parent ratings of behavior at the beginning and end of each year, teacher and parent surveys, and school attendance and discipline records.

A satisfaction survey will be filled out by the parents, as well as instruments that will assess the levels of stress parents are experiencing in various areas related to parenting.

Behavior In The Classroom

Teacher ratings show statistically significant positive student behavior changes in staying on task and using time productively, showing self-control, accepting responsibility for behavior, interacting well with other students, and following class and school rules.

Behavior At Home

The Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Family Survey will be used to indicate behaviors at home, school, and within the community.

There will be interviews with the student as well. This will be monitored and tracked through the Teacher Survey, as well as the school records.

Parent Involvement

Parents are encouraged to be more involved with their child’s school and activities. Being a bigger part of their child’s life has a positive effect on the child.

Satisfaction

Brothers & Sisters of Imani will do teacher and family surveys to track the success of the program and the child’s progress within the program. We will also check ratings for cultural competency, outcomes, and accessibility.

Rites of Passage

Guiding Children through the Transition into Adulthood is a community-based and family-based Africentric rites of passage program that encourages adult involvement and recommends an Afrocentric value system.