Lessons, Part I: Lessons, Limitations, and Funding of the BridgeUp Model

This chapter summarizes the lessons learned during the 7-year demonstration project at the BridgeUp Center at The Menninger Clinic (BridgeUp). The lessons included applications that needed improvement and intervention components that worked well. The BridgeUp model, described in a previous chapter, forms the basis for the proposed, new adolescent public mental health (APMH) model. Additional focus is on limitations of the BridgeUp and adolescent public mental health models and funding. BridgeUp consisted of two phases, each lasting for 3 years. The first phase was the Pilot Phase (Phase I), including the academic years from 2016 to 2019. The second phase was the Strategic, Sustainability, and Scalability Phase (Phase II), including the academic years from 2019 to 2022. The design of the basic structure of BridgeUp remained the same for both phases, which included three evidence-based frameworks: integrated social and emotional learning (SEL), multitiered system of supports (MTSS), and multisector collaboration using the collective impact (CI) framework. The BridgeUp model was designed to work within the intersections of the three, core systems: adolescent mental health, public health, and school health.