Empowering Newcomer Voices: A Trauma-Informed, Gender-Responsive Group Intervention in Schools (VOCES-NUEVAS)

University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

Status

Begins enrollment in 5 months

Conditions

Mental Health

Study type

Observational

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT07041931

7500252 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

24-42289

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to see if VOCES-NUEVAS, a school-based program for newcomer girls from Latin America, is helpful and easy to use. The main questions the investigators want to answer are:

Is VOCES-NUEVAS a good fit for newcomer girls in schools?
Does it help improve their mental health and well-being?

Students who are already part of the VOCES-NUEVAS program at four school-based health centers will take short surveys before and after the program and give feedback after each session. The adults leading the program will also share their thoughts in group discussions or interviews. The results will help improve the program and prepare for a larger study in the future.

Full description

The number of newcomer youth from Latin America entering the U.S. has surged recently, with border crossings reaching a 20-year high. These youth face mental and stress-related health challenges compared to their non-migrant peers, including higher trauma symptoms, substance use, and psychosocial issues. Culturally attuned, evidence-based interventions in trusted settings like schools and school-based health centers (SBHCs) could address these needs. VOICES-LITE, a gender and trauma-responsive intervention for adolescent female-identifying students, aligns well with these needs. After piloting VOICES-LITE in Spanish with newcomer youth, local partners found it feasible and acceptable. However, feedback indicated that further cultural adaptations are needed to better fit the specific context and population.

The investigators propose a hybrid effectiveness-implementation study to evaluate the culturally adapted intervention, VOCES-NUEVAS. This study will involve an open trial at four selected OUSD school/SBHC sites to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the intervention, providing insights for further refinement ahead of a future R01 trial. The four participating sites will be selected from OUSD/SBHC locations that serve newcomer students (see attached site list), based on the availability of providers who are facilitating the VOCES-NUEVAS group and have agreed to participate in the research. Providers who are already scheduled to implement the intervention with newcomer students at these sites will be recruited for the study.

The investigators will assess whether the culturally adapted VOCES-NUEVAS manual and implementation guide used in schools sufficiently address the needs of newcomer students and their supporting providers. Students participating in the intervention at these sites will be recruited to participate in the current study. They will be asked to complete pre- and post-intervention questionnaires and provide session-by-session feedback to further improve the intervention. Both participating providers and students will also be asked to participate in a focus group or exit interview to provide additional feedback.

Results from the study will be shared with community stakeholders and used in future research, including a future R01 randomized-controlled trial to assess VOCES-NUEVAS's impact on newcomer students' mental health, substance use, and long-term outcomes. This future trial will be a separate IRB application from the current study.

Enrollment

24 estimated patients

Sex

Female

Ages

12+ years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria (Youth):

current students of an Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and/or School-based Health Center (SBHC) middle or high school site
Eligible and registered to participate in a VOCES NUEVAS group during the 2024-2025 or 2025-2026 school year

Exclusion Criteria (Youth):

Not proficient in Spanish
Unable to provide informed consent or assent
Does not meet eligibility criteria to participate in VOCES-NUEVAS intervention
Not enrolled as a middle or high school at an OUSD school/SBHC site.

Inclusion Criteria (Provider):

aged 18 years old or older
current social worker or school provider working at one of the eligible Oakland Unified School District and/or School-based Health Center middle or high school sites
Facilitating a VOCES NUEVAS group during the 2024-2025 or 2025-2026 school year
Eligible to deliver school services at OUSD school/school-based health center sites
Previously trained on Voices-LITE curriculum
proficient in English and Spanish

Exclusion Criteria (Provider):

Not proficient in Spanish and/or English language
Not previously trained on the Voices-LITE intervention
Not approved to deliver the VOCES-NUEVAS intervention to students at OUSD schools/SBHC sites
Not leading a VOCES-NUEVAS group at an OUSD school/SBHC site during the 2024-2025 school year.