Get Started:

The first step is to contact a referal agent. Families come to us from many different sources. Sometimes other professionals working with families let us know that our services may be helpful. Other times parents call directly because they are struggling with their child's behavior and would like additional support and/or tools. In either case, the referral process consists of a phone call.

The referral agent will spend time on the phone talking with you about what the current challenges are and how our services may be able to support and assist. We will collect some demographic information from you as well for insurance eligibility and billing purposes.

How long does it take to get started?

 We will let you know during that call what our timeframe is for getting started. At times we have a short wait list, though we work diligently to prevent this when possible. Even when there is a delay in getting the full service set up, we will schedule an initial meeting to lay the groundwork, and may be able to offer some level of support in the meantime.

What Happens Next?

Once the clinical assessment is done, eligibility is confirmed, and consents and releases are signed, there are several processes that occur relatively quickly.

First we will ask that you fill out a questionnaire that explores your family's strengths, needs, and culture across multiple life domains, called the Strengths, Needs, and Culture Discovery (SNCD). This gives us a better idea of how to respect your family as guests in your life, and how to design our interventions in a way that fits with your strengths and values. It also gives us direction as to what the priority needs are, what steps need to be taken, and in what sequence. Finally, it helps identify who you would like to be on your team, including professionals and non-professionals like family, friends, neighbors, or other natural supports in your life.

Together we compile your Child and Family Team, and we encourage you to have as many of your own people on your team as you feel comfortable with. We then work to pull this team together to design an Individualized Service Plan (ISP), otherwise known as your family care plan. This plan is revisited at least every 90 days to ensure it accurately reflects where you and your family are in the process.

Part of the care planning process consists of a Safety/Crisis Plan. We will ask you what your concerns are for safety or crises, which could range anywhere from your child's physical violence to your child's suicidal thoughts, and together make a plan for you to follow should a crisis occur. In addition, we offer a 24 hour telephonic response crisis line to assist in coaching you and supporting you through crisis situations until you feel comfortable managing them on your own.

What Does The Service Actually Look Like In My Home?

Because our plans are individualized to the family, it is difficult to generalize about the services. However, there are some common components that may give a better picture of our services in action. One of these components is our belief in a team approach, however that team is comprised.

Collaboration With Other Professionals

Building and maintaining relationships with other agencies and providers is essential in serving families effectively. Often families have already been working with other agencies when we begin services, and want to continue those relationships. Our approach is team-based, and we encourage families to choose the individuals that are important to them.  

With that said, it is important to note that we cannot duplicate services other professionals are already providing.  

Transition: Length of Service

The duration of our service varies from family to family, situation to situation. The approximate range is six to eighteen months. Length of service is determined by several factors.

• Funding/ Medicaid approval: We are required to submit documentation to Magellan Medicaid Administration explaining why the services are medically necessary.  There is the potential of a denial of service.
• Completion/ Achievement of Goals: When we begin with a family, we ask for a family vision, and identify criteria for how the family will know when they get there. When children and families have met their goals and no longer need our level of support, we celebrate a successful transition while ensuring necessary supports are still available.
• Readiness for change: Change is hard. Everyone has their own process for how they make changes in their lives, and what they are ready for. While we can assist with this process, we cannot and do not direct it. Families may make some changes, and decide they are satisfied where they are. They may decide later that they would like to take other steps. We respect and understand that the change process is unique for each person.
• Placement/ Level of Care : Our ability to serve is contingent on the child's place of residence.  We can serve children in home environments of parents, guardians, temporary guardians, foster parents, or other family members. We cannot offer family based services in shelter care, group home, or residential facilities. Case management has more options for serving children in various placements. (See case management section for details).
• Life Events: People move, get married, get divorced, lose loved ones, change jobs- life events and changes can be unpredictable, and may cause services to end unexpectedly.
• Conduct : In our initial paperwork, we outline certain conduct that we expect from families as service providers. These guidelines center on safety and respect for our employees. Violence or intimidation toward our staff is not tolerated under any circumstances. We also reserve the right to terminate services if there are repeated cancellations or no-shows, lack of engagement in the treatment process, or if there are conditions that significantly inhibit our ability to be effective.
• Dissatisfaction with the service: Just as we have conditions and expectations for working together, families may as well. There may be times we do not meet the needs or expectations of a family. Our services are completely voluntary, and if families are not satisfied with our services, they have every right to discontinue. If there is error or fault on our agency or employees, we encourage families to give feedback and if necessary follow our grievance procedure. We will make all efforts to address these concerns.

Transition: Measurements of Success

There are several ways that success can be measured. First, it is important to remember that the meaning of success will vary from family to family, person to person, situation to situation. Success can mean eliminating violence in the home, consistently attending school, or completing chores at home.

When we start working with a family, we collaborate with the family to set goals. For each goal we develop what we call measurable objectives. These objectives are set to be realistic and obtainable, breaking the goals down into small steps. We revisit these objectives at least every 90 days. Everyone on the team has intervention strategies identified to achieve these steps.

The plan also includes discharge criteria, which describes what it will look like when they are no longer in need of services. We use an instrument called the CASII (Child and Adolescent Service Intensity Instrument) to determine what level of care is appropriate. This helps determine when services can be scaled back, or when different kinds of supports should be put in place.

When families are ready to transition out of our services, we plan and prepare in advance to ensure the right supports are in place. We anticipate together what possible obstacles may arise, and work with families on feeling confidant managing crises, accessing resources, and utilizing the tools they possess.