Traditionally, families have relied on multiple agencies operating independently of each other for services. Unfortunately, this disconnection of agencies and services often causes families to become frustrated in their effort to access help, often resulting in families losing hope in the process. This is the sad reality for many families in need of service. The Systems of Care model requires a transformation in services and service delivery, which brings services and providers together in a collaborative network to better serve families in the least restrictive and most accessible environment.
The Solution:
The Systems of Hope model utilizes the Wraparound process, which follows a series of steps to help children and their families plan their course and reach their goals. Care Teams (Care Coordinator paired with a Parent Partner) meet with families and their children for Discovery of their strengths and challenges to create a plan of care, which serves as the family’s roadmap. It is our role to assist the entire family, rather than an individual. Systems of Hope focuses on the family’s strengths and uses both traditional (e.g. traditional therapy) and non-traditional (e.g. Equestrian Therapy) methods of service.
Care coordinators work very closely with youth and families to provide advocacy and coordination of services to achieve total empowerment for the youth & family in the community. Care coordinators utilize their resource expertise utilizing traditional and nontraditional community services or supports. Care coordinators also work very closely with the parent partners to identify youth & family strengths used to create individualized care plans. The care teams (care coordinator & parent partner) work together to ensure all of the needs of the youth, and family are met.
Parent Partners work with families to identify their natural resources and learn how to navigate systems to ensure the needs of their child are met. Parent Partners have personal experience as caregivers of children who have been diagnosed with a mental illness, and they can support families and provide guidance drawing from their own experiences. Families benefit from having a peer involved in the development of an individual care plan for their children because Parent Partners can provide non-traditional support such as attending ARD meetings with families, helping them find appropriate housing and utilizing flex-funds to secure other needed services and household necessities.
Flex Funds enables Systems of Hope to assist families experiencing financial difficulties. Flexible funds can assist with respite, after school care, school uniforms, temporary utility assistance and more.
