About Us

ENGAGE’s goal is to improve access to effective interventions for ethnic and racial minorities, the socioeconomically disadvantaged, and sexual and gender minorities. ENGAGE launched in 2022 in partnership with two agencies serving individuals in the NYC communities of Washington Heights, Harlem, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and will be rolled out to additional sites. ENGAGE trains and supervises a lay workforce to screen, assess, and provide short-term interventions for mental health and substance use problems as well as for financial need.  It offers the potential to teach evidence-based skills to a range of community-serving human service staff such as case managers, care coordinators, behavioral health peers, nursing aides, caregivers and family members, and school personnel.

With this specially trained, supervised, and certified workforce, the ENGAGE model presents an opportunity to deliver effective mental health care to those most often underserved, while employing and creating career paths for community members. 

Our Initiative

ENGAGE partners with organizations and clinics to train Community Wellness Workers (CwW) who triage and provide care through an innovative digital decision and treatment support platform. ENGAGE can increase the number of people receiving evidence-based care in a timely manner. Working with the pilot sites and their Community Wellness Workers, the ENGAGE curriculum and the digital platform are being tailored, with anticipated expansion throughout community-based organizations in the U.S. 

The CwW uses the digital platform to screen and triage, with 95% sensitivity, for the presence of a mental health or substance use disorder. The platform then suggests the next steps, guiding the CwW to provide evidence-based treatments for concerns such as mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide risk, while connecting those with severe disorders to more intensive interventions. Additionally, the platform supports the monitoring of symptoms as well as indicators of intervention impact. CwW are also trained to assess and address social determinants of health through education and connection to financial resources.

Designed by Dr. Wainberg and his team based on their National Institute of Mental Health-funded research in low-resourced countries, the ENGAGE initiative is supported with pilot funds from the New York State Office of Mental Health as well as community project funding secured by Congressman Adriano Espaillat.  The ENGAGE team is also exploring federal and state reimbursement mechanisms to sustain the Community Wellness Workforce over time.