A(n) SDoH digital village for at-promise youth

The pediatric mental healthcare market presents a unique yet challenging opportunity. According to JAMA Pediatrics Journal, 7.7 million, or 1 in every 6 American children, suffer from at least one form of mental illness. Additionally, nearly 50% go untreated due to lack of access caused by poor state policies, lack of healthcare coverage, poverty, and inequitable distributions, among other social barriers.

Mentoring Nurturement for Dynamic Youth Resilience and Restoration (MNDYRR, pronounced “mender”) is an AI-powered B2B2C SaaS that helps child welfare professionals better support the 500K foster youth in the U.S. system and can be expanded to the 7.7million at-promise youth experiencing mental health ailments. By offering community-based social services and telehealth, MNDYRR's multi-use platform links the systems of care approach and social determinants of health to address the whole child and their family.

This community is an online haven for students. Once students join the MNDYRR community, they can access the support system they need in real-time. The variety of therapies specific to their needs will be linked for sessions but flexible enough to change and experiment based on professional recommendations and evidence-based programs. As a result, they will better cope with life’s challenges and develop confidence and self-esteem, knowing their situation will get better as their trauma heals or condition improves.

This app community is also an ideal online gathering space for mentors, psychologists, therapists, counselors, educators, education leaders, parents, foster parents, social workers, and child advocates to foster successful results for at-promise youth. By ensuring they have real-time access to resources, guidance, and help throughout their formative years, we can create an ideal supportive online community and a better future for our youth.

Shortly after writing my autobiography, Broken Child Mended Man, I wanted to address the complex societal challenges facing children in the foster care system. My book inspired many, and my speaking engagements led to other opportunities but still fell short of meaningful and direct impact in the lives of at-promise youth. When I graduated high school, the success rate for foster children aging out of the system was 3%. Over 20 years later, the success rate still hovers around 3%, likely due to children and their families falling through the system gaps. I created MNDYRR shortly after publication to offer something to alleviate the crisis stemming from issues I later discovered were the social determinants of health. MNDYRR offers a multi-use app with a comprehensive support system for children, youth, and families while providing a hyper-efficient SaaS for child welfare professionals to coordinate services.

I feel at my best when I’m helping others. As a former foster child who aged out of the system, it is important to establish a legacy of reaching out to help other youth and families in similar situations. The youth mental health and child welfare professional burnout crises can be alleviated with better support systems via technology.

Solving problems motivates me more than anything with the exception of traveling. Despite the systemic complexity, I determined the youth mental health crisis is a problem worth solving. The MNDYRR app was a years-long process assessing the need to develop the idea into a workable model to fill the gap so millions of children wouldn't continue to be neglected or underserved in our society.

As a product of poverty and a former ward of the state, I'm proud that I can overcome obstacles, maintain a dream, and sustain a path toward upward mobility. However, I want my legacy to be known as someone who reaches back to give others the same opportunity. The vision I have for MNDYRR offers access to that possibility.

My lived experience can be replicated by overcoming the barriers to healthcare access based on socio-economic factors with tech-based solutions. I will make this happen by acting as a social catalyst to gather industry expertise with advisors, partnerships, and outsourcing CXO roles to agencies. Most child welfare organizations (schools, social services, nonprofits, etc.) operate in silos. MNDYRR streamlines the communication process between agencies to better coordinate services to prevent youth and families from falling through the systemic gaps.

Currently, over 2,500 digital health and mental wellness apps aimed at child and adolescent health exist within the U.S. market (webOS, iOS, & Android), with only a few addressing more than one problem. The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “We can’t just keep pulling people out of the river; we have to go upstream to find out why they keep falling in.” Most mental health-related ailments stem from hopelessness and despairing living conditions. Many communities have the resources but may lack the knowledge to coordinate their efforts to help their fellow citizens thrive. MNDYRR’s social catalytic approach brings public organizations together within their communities to land the moonshot most healthcare tech companies miss. To improve public health, MNDYRR’s comprehensive strategy embraces the social determinants to ensure that needs are met equitably.

MNDYRR's process map creates a much-needed interconnected social infrastructure and re-engineers complex psycho-social factors through assessment and community-based action. The multi-use app format creates convenience for parents and child welfare professionals seeking to address youth's needs better. The restoration and resilience processes prevent relapses of mental health ailments by instilling coping mechanisms and community-based or village-like reinforcements.

Youth falling through the systemic gaps is our nation’s greatest tragedy. Fragmented social communication structures from various child welfare agencies operating in silos are the probable link to poor social determinants of health (SDoH)-related outcomes. By focusing my efforts on preventative care, the rise of youth mental health disorders may significantly decrease with the right support mechanisms in place. Social service-related interventions can greatly reduce the negative impacts of psychological distress that create a harmful environment for mental health deterioration. Community-based tech has the potential to provide equitable access to mental health and wellness resources alongside other safety and security-related community resources.  Partnerships can be forged via application programming interfaces (APIs) to create more holistic apps to address all social and environmental aspects impacting mental health. Community-based tech also has the potential to be the solution to equitable access to mental health services in low socioeconomic areas and marginalized peoples.

Partnerships are MNDYRR's defining strength. Rather than recreating electronic health systems, educational tech, or social media forums, MNDYRR's hub-and-spoke approach links these services together for optimal outcomes within communities. Partners such as LUCID, a digital music therapy app based in Toronto, Canada, are the first of many in our Digital Therapeutics (DTx) suite.

Lastly, partnerships with mental health associations, government agencies, and research universities present the best opportunities to overcome the youth mental health crisis. While the matter will never be solved due to myriad factors, partnerships present the best way forward to meet the needs of as many youth in crisis as possible.

Phase I of the project will include linking AI to the existing systems of care. The AI-powered bot, named Mindy, will initially assist in crisis intervention based on evidence-based approaches created by a potential MNDYRR partner, Crisis Prevention Institute. The bot will be conversational as a crisis prevention ally but will prompt a call to the new 988 suicide hotline or 911 if self-harm is imminent. Eventually, paid features will involve the use of text and voice biomarkers to triage and eventually diagnosis mental health-related ailments and prescribing digital therapeutics from our options (digital music therapy, meditation, etc.) hub. During the intervention period, the AI-bot will refer them to a licensed-therapist office within their location/state powered by First Match. Finally, when young people are chatting with the bot, their mentor can be alerted to the conversation and the youth will be empowered to include them in the conversation or keep it private.

Preventative measures and restorative outcomes should be conducted using biopsychosocial assessments to address the myriad challenges posed to HD demographics. Moreover, a holistic and longitudinal approach with such consistent measurements can be used to assess prolonged stressors that may lead to psychological ailments or serious mental illness. The strategies must be centered around the moral injuries sustained throughout history, consequently making these populations less likely to seek or accept help in the form of therapy. Addressing the social determinants outside of the mental health barriers will help regain their trust for such services and inadvertently accept better mental health outcomes. By building a social ecosystem that communicates with the social connectors rather than operating in silos, we can greatly improve the SDoH of entire communities.

With that in mind, several stakeholders may have access to data.

Using the SMART method, MNDYRR seeks to address the youth mental health crisis with a holistic healthcare tech solution. The product will be released as a minimum viable product (MVP) to market, focusing on equitable access to mental health therapy and support of child welfare initiatives. The app's beta version will be introduced in a rural county and medium-sized city to build case studies. Certifications, trademarks, and patent-pending status will be completed as well. Once Phase II is fully implemented, MNDYRR will quickly expand into rural, suburban, and urban school districts and appeal to child welfare nonprofits throughout the U.S. By the end of 2024.

Albeit ambitious, an upstream social determinants of health (SDoH) approach is possible and necessary. The main pain points involved interconnecting the pieces and sectors of the children, youth, and welfare community. However, when our social systems have organizations operating in silos, children, youth, and families continue to fall through the gaps no matter how good the work's intentions within our respective communities are. MNDYRR has the potential to streamline services, resources, and communication across the social spectrum. Invest in us to secure the future! 

Currently, it's me with a potential Chief Clinical Officer upon funding. Many of the executive roles will be fractional and operational tasks will be contracted out to minimize labor costs in the beginning. 

I've been working on the solution since December 2021 alongside my outsourced development team. 

Countless studies have shown the best teams have the most diversity of races, genders, and different nationalities. I pride myself on my board's diversity and will continue to do so as I launch and scale. Regarding team goals, I prefer to gather ideas from various perspectives to arrive at an ideal solution. As the app expands its footprint in the public health space, recognizing that progress that needs to be incorporated into our app is vital to MNDYRR's overall success. Although I'm in the pre-launch/pre-revenue phase, I'm including DEI best practices in my strategic plan. 

For our users and customer base, emerging trends are re-embracing community-based approaches to identify and serve the needs of all demographics regardless of bias and prejudices. Of course, the historical trends never relent easily or dissolve entirely. The systemic inequities are by strategic design and have traditional players who insist on the status quo because it is intertwined in their livelihood and belief system. Nevertheless, shared prosperity in the form of well-coordinated community resources can go a long way toward alleviating psychological distress/ailments through a necessary and holistic SDoH approach for HD populations. 

Preventative measures and restorative outcomes should be conducted using biopsychosocial assessments to address the myriad challenges posed to HD demographics. Moreover, a holistic and longitudinal approach with such consistent measurements can be used to assess prolonged stressors that may lead to psychological ailments or serious mental illness. The strategies must be centered around the moral injuries sustained throughout history, consequently making these populations less likely to seek or accept help in therapy. Addressing the social determinants outside the mental health barriers will help regain their trust for such services and inadvertently accept better mental health outcomes. By building a social ecosystem that communicates with the social connectors rather than operating in silos, we can greatly improve the SDoH of entire communities.

MNDYRR’s business model utilizes a B2B2C operational model. As a social impact organization using a catalyst approach within communities, we aim to maximize resource efficiencies to ensure needs don’t go unmet or services aren’t duplicated. Currently, most child welfare agencies operate in silos meaning they are doing good for children and families but often don’t communicate across channels. This oversight allows many children and families to continue falling through the systemic gaps and continuing with unmet needs. MNDYRR streamlines the communication process from families requesting needs to the menders who take action and begin coordinating with local agencies.

The team will be organized as follows:

Dr. Adam Starks will assume a solopreneur role to minimize costs and dedicate himself 100% to launching and scaling MNDYRR to its market potential. My first planned executive hire will be a Chief of Clinical Operations. Virtual assistants (contractors) will handle day-to-day remote administrative tasks.

Contractors & Consultants

For client onboarding and 24/7 support, a remote team will be hired from an outsourcing firm (TBD) to ensure consistency and minimal cost during the start-up phase. The SaaS and application development team will continue to be sWorks until the database can be moved in-house, which will occur after a successful seed round.

CXOs

An executive team will be outsourced on a project-needed or semi-permanent basis from a reputable CXO firm specializing in start-up companies. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief of Human Resources will be hired on a fractional basis. The Chief Technical Officer and Chief Information Officer will be hired on a project-needed basis.

A Marketing firm will be hired to assist the founder when he wears the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) hat. Quickbooks software will be used to track financial operations and 1-800 Accountant will assist with tax requirements. A Marketing firm will be hired to assist with search engine optimization (SEO), public relations, advertising, and event-related operations.

The CEO will get assistance from a human resources firm to oversee the hiring and vetting process for the Chief of Clinical Operations. This position will be the first executive to come on board in early 2024.

Key Hires

Community Liaisons and their Assistant Coordinators will be hired for on-the-ground operations. On-the-ground operations will include community relations efforts and showcasing MNDYRR to interconnect the social nodes necessary to optimize the MNDYRR platform. They will also be on-site client support contractors who may be used for an additional fee.

Stakeholders & Partners

For stakeholders and partners, MNDYRR will utilize a hub-and-spoke method to orchestrate the child and family welfare ecosystem. 

To begin operations in a fiscally sound manner and balance cybersecurity needs, MNDYRR partners to outsource various tasks related to safeguarding the student experience on the app.

Content Moderation: https://.www.hive.ai

Background Checks, Certification, & License Verification: https://www.checkr.com

In addition to these protective measures, MNDYRR will use third-party services and auditors to comply with federal regulations for HIPAA, FERPA, and COPPA. 

To sustain operations while being mindful of the mostly public and nonprofit agencies we serve, the MNDYRR revenue model proposes a 5-tiered pricing structure depending upon the amount of youth or families served. The tiered subscription approach ensures that MNDYRR can keep the program affordable for small community organizations and free for families in need. Higher price tiers have been created for pediatric clinics/hospitals, large nonprofits, schools/school districts, and government social service departments. Within three years, MNDYRR will expand into the federal contracts, juvenile justice systems, and college markets.

MNDYRR is in the pre-revenue stage throughout 2023. I'm bootstrapping investment for development at this time. For 2024, forecasted operating costs are $568K on $1.4M in sales. The human capital is estimated at $467K. The application programming interfaces (APIs) to link our partner's app functions to our tech stack make up the bulk of the remaining total expenses. 

Dr. Adam Starks will assume a solopreneur role to minimize costs and dedicate himself 100% to launching and scaling MNDYRR to its market potential. Once established by Q4 2023, the first planned executive hire will be a Chief of Clinical Operations. Day-to-Day remote operations will be handled by contractors.

Contractors

For client onboarding and 24/7 support, a remote team will be hire from an outsourcing firm (TBD) to ensure consistency and minimal cost during the start-up phase. The SaaS and application development team will continue to be sWorks until database can be moved in-house, which will occur after a successful Series A Round.

CXOs

An executive team will be outsourced on a project-needed or semi-permanent basis from a reputable CXO firm specializing in start-up companies. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief of Human Resources will be hired on a semi-permanent basis. The Chief Technical Officer and Chief Information Officer will be hired on a project-needed basis.

A Marketing firm will be hired to assist the founder when he wears the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) hat. Quickbooks software will be used to track financial operations and 1-800 Accountant will assist with tax requirements. A Marketing firm will be hired to assist with search engine optimization (SEO), public relations, advertising, and event-related operations.

The CEO will get assistance from a human resources firm to oversee the hiring and vetting process for the Chief of Clinical Operations. This position will be the first executive to come onboard in late 2023 to early 2024.

Key Hires

Community Liaisons and their Assistant Coordinators will be hired for on-the-ground operations. On-the-ground operations will include community relations efforts and showcasing MNDYRR to  interconnect the social nodes necessary to optimize the MNDYRR platform. They will also be on-site client support contractors may be used in the future for an additional fee.

I am kindly requesting $90,000 to conduct the following work in 2024:

$50K development, pilot testing, and launch to market. 

$20K in peer support and community liaison coordination services

$20K AI research, planning, and implementation

$50K will allow my UI/UX developers to connect several partner/white-label apps to MNDYRR via APIs. After the pilot study, I'll publish the results in a case study and contact the other 12 markets interested in the MNDYRR platform. 

$20K will allow us to compensate moderators for their online peer support work and coordinate work within our pilot communities. 

$20K will allow developers to coordinate the AI-guided features to navigate the social drivers impacting mental health outcomes for youth and families. 

I understand the importance of this contest and want to ensure the other contestants can be adequately funded as well. Any range from $75-90K will be greatly appreciated and used responsibly. 

Although funding is greatly needed, I'm most excited about the mentorship and networking opportunities. My idea is complex, and although I’ve embedded many safety features, I still seek guidance to launch carefully. For example, choosing the correct AI platform is vital to the success and sustainability of MNDYRR, so input from Cure's residency experts will lend credibility and much-needed expertise to the development process.  

Becoming a Cure Resident in the community tech capacity will allow me to engage with experts in the field and amass actionable knowledge to improve my app significantly. Plus, networking and developing relationships with those achieving the same mission will allow us to partner to address the youth mental health crises effectively. I’m seeking to collaborate with like-minded individuals and groups to bring them into MNDYRR’s hub-and-spoke model to address the myriad mental health ailments negatively impacting youth. Given my lived experience in the foster care system, I’m confident in the community approach to addressing the interconnected issues that negatively impact youth at risk of slipping through the systemic gaps or becoming afflicted with mental ailments.