Barber Peer Navigation Training Program

The Barber Peer Navigation Program is a capacity grant program for Health Departments to provide outreach and paid training and certify barbers to provide life coaching, violence prevention, mental health, and mentorship to customers during their conversations in barbershops seeks to address the need for community-based support and resources for individuals. The barbershop is an important cultural institution in the Black community, serving as a social hub where people come together to talk, share their experiences, and receive grooming services. The goal of this program is to leverage this cultural significance to improve the health and well-being of the community by providing access to critical resources and support. One of the main reasons for wanting to implement this program is to address the lack of access to mental health resources in the Black community. Black individuals are often underserved by traditional mental health services and face significant barriers to accessing care, such as stigma, cost, and a lack of culturally-sensitive providers. By training barbers to provide basic mental health support and referral services, this program aims to improve access to care and help address the mental health disparities that exist in the Black community.