What is a Family Connections Program?

What is a Family Connections Program?

An Overview of a New Service Approach Being Developed by the Bay

Area Residentially Based Services Consortium

The Challenge

• To better meet the needs of those children and youth who’s challenging behaviors and disrupted family relationships now still result in a cascade of multiple placements, despite the availability of intensive home and community services through wraparound, therapeutic behavioral services and intensive treatment foster care

The BAC Family Connections Program Overview, August 14, 2009 2

The Response• To stop the cascade of placements at the beginning• By providing a safe and stable short term residential

component in a family connections center where program staff can help children or youth and their families:– Understand the driving forces behind the big behaviors

and family disruptions– Develop strategies for living together safely and effectively– Practice those strategies both on site at the family

connections center and at home and in the community– Receive the support and services needed to complete the

adjustments required to maintain their new life strategies after the child or youth has returned home.


What’s Different• The way group homes are used now for residential

treatment is to try a placement at one facility, and if the strategies used there don’t work, move the child or youth to another one

• The problem with searching in this manner is that each move further shreds the already limited ability of the child or youth to form and sustain positive attachments

• Family Connections Programs are designed to be able to change intervention strategies without having to move children

• They are like Mayo Clinics for families with complex needs


What’s in an FCP?• There are four primary components in an FCP:

– A residential component that maintains a safe and stable milieu for children and youth who are generating big behaviors related to the disruption of their family relationships

– A family connections component that uses a multi-disciplinary, family-centered process to work with children or youth and their families or primary adult caregivers to understand and address the driving forces behind the behaviors and disruptions

– A mobile family support component that can help children, youth and families transfer the insights and skills they develop in the family connections center out into their homes and communities

– A clinical assessment and treatment component that can help children youth and families better understand and respond to specific psycho-social and neurobiological factors affecting child and youth behaviors and family relationship disruptions


What’s the FCP Process?

• The 4 steps of the FCP process are designed to produce 4 products:

Process Steps ProductsEngagement and Assessment

Answers and Understanding

Plan Development Strategies and ActionsPlan Implementation and Modification

Learning, Changes and Adjustments

Transition Stability and Maintenance


What Services Are Included?• A Family Connections Program provides a hub from which a

rich array of support and services can be accessed• Each child or youth and family brings with them a different

set of strengths, needs, culture and preferences• For this reasons each response by the FCP must be uniquely

assembled from the available options• The service team and the family have to know, understand

and trust one another to effectively match help with needs• The core services for identifying and executing this match

are contained within the FCP• The extended array of options is available directly, or

through subcontracts and referrals made by the FCP service team


Bringing Everything Together

FCP Core Components

Family Support Team

Residential Resource

Clinical Assessment &

Treatment

Family Connection

Activities

Day Treatment

Intensive Treatment Foster Care

Functional Family

Therapy

Multi-Systemic Therapy

Therapeutic Behavioral

Services

Wraparound

Parent Effectiveness

Training

Crisis Stabilization

Mobile Crisis Services

Building Social

Support

Family Finding and Engagement

Family Resource Centers

The core components of a Family Connections Program includes the Family Support Team, The Family Connections Activities, the Residential Resource, and the Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services. Examples of the array of support and treatment service options that can be provided directly, by subcontract or through referral are arranged around the core components.

FCP Service and Support Options

8

Family Connections Programs and Permanency

• Sometimes when children and youth have challenging behaviors and family disruptions that place them on the brink of a life course of multiple placements and detachment, it is unclear where and with whom their best opportunity for achieving safety, permanency and well-being can be achieved.

• Traditionally, this challenge has been addressed through trying out multiple living arrangements

• As an alternative in these circumstances, the FCP will be a crucible where permanency issues can be evaluated and resolved, including questions related to concurrent planning and parental capacity while maintaining a family-centered focus

• The core question driving permanency resolution is “What and who does this child or youth, with her or his complex of strengths, needs and preferences, need in order to achieve permanency, safety and well-being?”


BAC RBS System Flow Chart

Primary CM selects FCP as

an option

IPC authorizes FCP

enrollment

Child and family matched with

appropriate FCP

Begin Family Engagement, Establish FST.

Parallel Comm. Services

Stabilization and assessment in

Residential Component

FST Facilitator Builds Strengths/

Needs/ Goals Inventory

Convene FST develop Unified

Plan of Care

Clinical Care Unit completes

assessment

MH Clinician prepares

individual MH treatment plan

Implement Unified Plan

of care

FST monitors and documents services and

progress, reports to court and

IAPRC, adjusts plans, moves to

transition

Gradual and supported transition to a stable and resilient family and community connection supported by directly accessed formal, informal and natural resources

Refe

rral

and

In

take

Impl

emen

tatio

nCl

osur

e

FTM used in CW., Probation Officer, in

JJ, or MH Case Manager

Authorization follows Consortium

Criteria and Protocols

Referrals coordinated via the

BAC Coordinator

CW and JJ placements must be

pursuant to ct. order


Bay Area Consortium Organizational ChartBAC Executive Committee:

4 County Mental Health Directors4 County Child Welfare Directors

4 Provider Executive Directors

BAC Coordinating Committee:4 County Mental Health Leads Youth Advocacy Representative4 County Child Welfare Leads Family Advocacy Representative4 Provider Leads Educational LiaisonsJuvenile Probation Liaisons Community Service Agency Liaisons

Coordinating Committee Support:•BAC Coordinator•Local Implementation Coordinators•RBS Consultants

4 County Interagency Placement Committees

4 Family Connections Programs

3 Executive Co-Chairs

3 CC Co-Chairs


The BAC Network of Resource Connections

Within 2 years of operation, the BAC will consist of a network of 4 FCPs serving

approximately 100 children or youth and their families. Each FCP will have a capacity of 25

enrollees. Each county will contract or arrange for from 10 to 55 enrollments at any given

time.


Documents

What is a Family Connections Program?