Youth Villages and Mozzaz team up with digital application, platform
In the next few months, young people in Nashville will be using the Mozzaz app loaded on their smartphone to connect to their specialists and to researchers collecting data that will be used to enhance the YVLifeSet program.
The Nashville young people are piloting an application that Youth Villages plans to use throughout its programs to link children and youth receiving help for emotional and behavioral problems with their counselors, specialists and everyone involved in their care – from teachers and coaches to mentors.
The Mozzaz app allows interactive communication designed to support, connect and motivate young people. It can include appointment reminders, tips for specific interventions, and resources around jobs, housing or education.
“It helps keep young people engaged with their specialists by providing frequent and responsive contact,” said Dr. Tim Goldsmith, chief clinical officer at Youth Villages. “And, it offers another avenue for the collection of data that helps us understand what works and does not work in our program.”
The app will link participants directly with Youth Villages’ researchers after they complete the program. The organization has tracked more than 10,000 young people who have participated in YVLifeSet since 1999 and used the data to enhance program components. YVLifeSet was also the focus of the largest randomized clinical trial of a program to help former foster youth. More than 1,300 Tennessee young people participated in the five-year trial that found the program to decrease homelessness, increase earnings and economic wellbeing and decreased mental health issues in some areas, including decreasing partner violence.
“We’re excited about our partnership with Youth Villages. Technology enablement of YV LifeSet will provide continuous engagement with participants through their mobile device through interactive content, help resources, alerts and notifications monitored by the Youth Villages team,” explains Sammy Wahab, CEO of Mozzaz. “Our goal is to help increase engagement levels through personalized and secure mobile technology that clients can interact with as they become independent.”
About Mozzaz
Mozzaz provides a versatile mobile health platform that facilitates the delivery of personalized interventions to support cross-functional care across a wide spectrum of needs including behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disabilities, foster care services and substance abuse programs. Mozzaz is a secure, interoperable solution which enables real time data collection for providers, managed care organizations and care workers alike. Mozzaz technology places the client front and center making the individual an active member in their care through interactive and accessible personalized plans of care available on any device. For more information, please visit www.mozzazz.com.
About Youth VillagesYouth Villages is a private nonprofit organization that helps more than 22,000 of America’s most vulnerable children and families each year in 13 states and Washington, D.C. It is one of the largest providers of children’s behavioral services in Tennessee. Youth Villages has been recognized by Harvard Business School and U.S. News & World Report, and was identified by The White House as one of the nation’s most promising results-oriented nonprofit organizations. For more information about Youth Villages, visit youthvillages.org. For more information on YVLifeSet go to yvlifeset.org.
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