Service for Community Change: Recruiting Mental Health Professionals of Color

Project Brief

Co-creating with Knowledge Partner Homeboy Industries, ArtCenter students were challenged to develop effective, low-cost and comprehensive campaign strategies to recruit more diverse mental health professionals who can serve the Homeboy community as volunteers. Additionally, a focus on the Homeboy Heals brand and these strategic outreach systems could also be used to build awareness and strong volunteer pipelines throughout communities of color.

Through research, interviews and immersion, students developed concepts, co-created with Homeboy Heals and presented thoughtful and diverse solutions that could be economical, effective and long-lasting.

About Homeboy Industries

Founded in 1992 and based in downtown Los Angeles, Homeboy Industries provides hope, training and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated men and women, helping them redirect their lives as contributing community members.

Through Homeboy’s 18-month program, participant/trainees learn new employable skills, job training and self-empowering identities.

Homeboy offers kinship, open dialogue and the “holiness of second chances.” Even though Homeboy was founded by Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, the program is not religious-specific, but rather stresses how individuals come broken and struggling to Homeboy and through the power of hope, hard work, and community support they find a way to change their lives. Homeboy trainees come from various scenarios: those with felony records, escaping gang culture, previously incarcerated, battling alcohol and drug addiction, young parents struggling with duties of adulthood.

Many find work in Homeboy’s bakeries, kitchens, IT asset recovery and electronics recycling programs. Trainees find helpful resources and services (tattoo removal, parenting classes, anger management, etc.) along with group and one-on-one mental health therapies which allow time and space to thoughtfully reexamine and reclaim their lives.

Research and Project Development

At the virtual session kickoff, students introduced themselves by sharing a recent project they worked on by describing what they learned from conceptualizing and executing their design ideas.

Panelists from Homeboy provided an overview of Homeboy Industries detailing the programs and various outreach methods they use to attract trainee participants as well as the numerous other volunteers who give their time and talent as service to the community.

ArtCenter students heard from a variety of speakers: panelists who shared their personal volunteer experiences and their journey to Homeboy Heals; students in a prior DesignJam that involved Homeboy Heals offered their insights from their experiences; and Pacific Oaks University Professor Carlene O. Fider who provided deeper context on mental health issues among minority racial/ethnic groups.

Students then learned more about Homeboy Heals which started in 2011 to address the psychological needs of program trainees. Volunteer licensed therapists work with Homeboy clients as they go through the 18-month program; the program started as a word-of-mouth networking; the therapists commit to one year working with Homeboy clients.

Therapy sessions are typically held at Homeboy; during the pandemic, however, those meetings moved to a virtual platform but have been greatly reduced. Students learned that Covid-19 created additional stresses and crisis situations for many clients.

Since Homeboy trainees are mainly Black and Latino, panelists explained that having more BIPOC therapists could encourage more participation and cultural familiarity; however investing the time for recruitment outreach has been challenging for the staff.

In Zoom-based breakout rooms, students probed panelists about the Homeboy model, the volunteer process and specifically how therapists are incorporated into the program.

After the breakout session, students regrouped and shared insights that provided directions for upcoming research opportunities: What motivates professionals to volunteer their services? What are the barriers to volunteering? Can there be some kind of compensation offered to these volunteers? Do they need to be local? How can the business ventures of Homeboy (Homegirl Café, etc.) support and help the mental health program?

For the duration of the studio, students were divided into three teams. Class assignments provided concept directions for teams to consider as they conducted research. Mapping out the volunteer application journey revealed the main steps of Entice, Enter, Engage, Exit and Extend; students wondered how at every step can the volunteer feel welcomed, supported, needed and valued?

Teams reached out to Homeboy personnel and gathered information from a variety of subject matter experts. They heard from UCLA BIPOC students studying to be mental health professionals who offered insights into the career landscape and how volunteering could play a role. Teams learned about engaging with hard-to-reach audiences from a marketing professional, and how other organizations recruited BIPOC mental health therapists.

Finally, student teams visited Homeboy Industries Headquarters (socially distanced) which provided a deeper understanding of the unique community and kinship that permeates the campus.

Initial Research Discoveries

At Week Four, teams presented their initial research discoveries to Homeboy representatives and mental health and education stakeholders. Feedback was critical at this point for teams to move forward with their campaign ideation.

Teams generated specific research questions, constructed case study persona profiles of BIPOC therapists, examined key pain points, and brainstormed areas of opportunities. Looking ahead to their campaign concepts, teams also presented possible design directives, branding ideas and offered overall takeaways and their next level of research.

Teams examined the current website platform, considered how to capture the inspirational Homeboy spirit in their designs, offered alternatives to word-of-mouth/posting flyers outreach, and delved into the diversity makeup of mental health workers (which is mostly white) as well as the pros and cons of younger vs older therapists.

Teams presented their brainstorming opportunities that involved extending social media reach, creating a support group for mental health workers, streamlining the volunteer application process, creating storytelling videos (clients and therapists sharing personal stories), developing an inspirational podcast and designing the Homeboy Heals brand.

Homeboy representatives and stakeholders offered candid feedback, explaining why some ideas wouldn’t be cost-effective or logistically feasible; they were excited by some possible concepts, (“I never would have thought of that!”) which encouraged teams to push forward in their ideation. Teams realized that the next phase of research would include a deeper look at mental health workers, how they can be found and what would encourage them to respond. What emotional connection must there be for a professional to fill out an online application and make a commitment?

Concept Development; Midterm Presentations

At midterm, teams once again connected with Homeboy representatives and other stakeholders, presenting their research, personas, insights and analysis along with concept proposals. This valuable feedback allowed student teams to pivot, amplify or discard their concepts.

Teams shared demographics of therapists, revealing that a small percentage are BIPOC. Overwhelmingly, because the profession is white dominated, the target audience is a very specific group of people which could be limiting.

Teams addressed using students or new graduates as volunteer therapists, citing that Homeboy clients are an extremely vulnerable population and require established experienced therapists to safely guide them. However, the importance of having volunteers who have the “Lived Experience” can be instrumental in helping others navigate new territories.

In analyzing their insights/research, teams saw the value of creating an emotional connection through storytelling, images and wording which can be done as podcasts or individual short videos that could be posted on various platforms such as Instagram Stories and YouTube. Students stressed that these avenues would make sure not to “exploit” clients or therapists, but rather capture the inspirational appeal and essence of Homeboy. Creating partnerships with influencers could be mutually beneficial.

Citing opportunities on the main Homeboy website, teams offered various approaches to redesigning pages, enhancing the Homeboy Heals presence and integrating the volunteer experience throughout the main website’s landing page.

Each team received detailed constructive feedback; these options and suggestions gave the students specific directions on how to refine their concepts, what they still needed to do and how to incorporate the needs of Homeboy Industries into their final proposals.

Refinement & Production

For the remainder of the studio, teams worked on incorporating the feedback, co-creating with the Homies and their audience, broadening their approach and making final design decisions – all the while seeking to strike the right “Homeboy” vibe in their campaigns.

Teams continued to collaborate with Homeboy personnel, including marketing and social media representatives about current and future branding as well as communications directions.

Students constantly questioned if their approach was making the correct inspirational appeal, folding in comments and suggestions from interviews and research.

Finally, students considered how to make their projects budget-friendly and easy to implement while still retaining the big vision of outreach. Teams also developed an overview of implementation for their campaigns, how elements would be rolled out and other touchpoints needed in making their vision a reality.