The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) held a Building Bridges Summit June 14–17, 2006.
The intent of the summit was to better integrate and link residential and community services and support, thereby creating a clearer picture of the role residential care plays in a full continuum of services. Gary M. Blau, Chief, Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA, was responsible for spearheading the summit. Participants included residential and community-based service providers, leaders from national organizations, and youth and family leaders. CWLA President and CEO Shay Bilchik, and Lloyd Bullard, Director of Residential Services and Cultural Competence, participated in the planning and development of the Building Bridges Summit. A number of CWLA’s public and private member agency representatives participated in the meeting (see list of invitees).
Meeting Outcome Statement and Preliminary Draft of the Joint Resolution of common purpose, shared principles, values and practices .
Meeting Outcomes Statement June 30, 2006
A group of leaders in the field of children’s mental health met in Omaha, Nebraska, June
14–17, 2006, to better integrate and link residential (out-of-home) and community
services and supports. Participants in this summit included residential and community
based service providers, leaders from national organizations, and youth and family
leaders. The group engaged in extensive dialogue and learned from each other’s
perspectives and experiences, and ultimately developed a joint resolution of common
purpose, shared principles, values and practices. The joint resolution envisions a
comprehensive, family-driven and youth-guided array of culturally competent and
community-based services and supports, organized in an integrated system in which
families, youth, providers, advocates, and policymakers share responsibility and
accountability for the care and treatment of children and youth with mental health needs
and their families.
The meeting and the joint resolution represent a new level of unity, partnership, and
collaboration among these constituencies. Members of the group will be working to
finalize the consensus document by mid-summer 2006. The group also agreed to develop
a multifaceted strategy to promote the implementation of the joint resolution in policy
and practice across the country. This activity is evidence of important, critical new
partnerships, and demonstrates a strong commitment to transforming children’s mental
health in America.
Joint Resolution to Advance a Statement of Shared Core Principles
Preliminary Draft June 30, 2006
PREAMBLE
An exciting and significant step toward transforming the children’s mental health system
occurred at the recent Building Bridges Summit in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 14–17,
2006. In order to address historical tensions between residential and community based
service providers and systems, a group of leaders in children’s mental health met to better
integrate and link residential (out-of-home) and community services and supports.
Chosen because of their range of experience and depth of knowledge, as well as their
personal commitment to ensuring services that are respectful, empowering, and effective,
the summit participants included residential and community service providers, family
members, youth, national and state policymakers, system of care council members, tribal
representatives, and representatives of national associations related to children’s mental
health and residential care.
The purpose of the summit was to
• establish defined areas of consensus, related to values, philosophies, and
services;
• develop a joint statement about the importance of creating a comprehensive
service array for children, youth, and families, inclusive of residential and out-
of-home treatment settings as part of the entire range of services;
• identify emerging best practices in linking residential and community
services;
• set the stage for strengthening relationships and promoting consensus
building; and
• create action steps for the future.
To a large degree, the summit accomplished these goals. Participants were able to
dialogue and learn from each other’s perspectives and experiences. Presentations
highlighted positive outcomes from integrating residential and system of care services.
The youth and family voice was powerful and provided leadership in helping to establish the emerging vision. A particular accomplishment was that a joint resolution of common purpose, shared principles, values, and practices was developed. The resolution identifies
an urgent need for transformation and envisions a comprehensive, family-driven and
youth-guided array of culturally competent and community-based services and supports,
organized in an integrated system in which families, youth, providers, advocates, and
policymakers share responsibility and accountability for the care and treatment of
children and youth with mental health needs and their families. Participants believe that
actualizing this vision will yield a more efficient service delivery system, more effective
and appropriate services to children, youth, and families, better use of resources, and
improved outcomes.
The meeting and joint resolution represent a new level of unity, partnership, and
collaboration among the constituencies. The group agreed to develop a multifaceted
strategy to promote the implementation of the joint resolution in policy and practice across the country. Meeting participants hope the principles, values, and practices will be adopted and implemented by organizations, local communities, state and national associations, states, and the federal government. The summit and follow-up plans are
evidence of important, critical new partnerships, and demonstrate a strong commitment to
transforming children’s mental health care in America.
RESOLUTION
Whereas,
Children, youth, and families should live a full life, where they experience love, joy,
learning, health, hope, and safety, and are able to reach their full potential;
Whereas,
Children, youth, and families should have access to a comprehensive array of appropriate
mental health services that includes promotion and prevention, early intervention,
community-based services and supports, including settings that provide 24-hour
treatment, both short- and long-term care;
Whereas,
Children and youth who have mental health needs, and their families, are often served by
other child-serving systems, including child welfare, substance abuse, juvenile justice,
education, health, and developmental disabilities; and
Whereas,
There is a sense of urgency to transform and improve mental health service delivery
because children, youth, and families deserve to have their mental health needs addressed
now.
Be it therefore now resolved that the undersigned agree to establish a partnership
and a commitment to a core set of principles. Further, we agree to follow these
principles and practices in our work and daily lives, and to promote them in our
activities.
Specifically, we agree to:
Core Values
• Demonstrate, in word and deed, the utmost respect for children, youth, and
families and one another, and create an environment that values cultural
differences, listening, and learning from each other.
• Create approaches to ensure that no family has to relinquish custody of their child to obtain mental health services and that mental health parity is recognized.
• Espouse a model for 24-hour treatment that is multiservice; takes a holistic view
of each child, youth ,and family, incorporating physical health, spiritual health,
intellectual pursuits, social engagement, and emotional health; and creates access
to a broad array of services and supports.
• Commit to developing or enhancing community-based services that are necessary
to decrease the need for 24-hour treatment settings or that facilitate the transition
from 24-hour treatment to community-based service settings.
• Recognize the value of relationship-based approaches and use them in all aspects
of care.
Family Driven and Youth Guided
• Create and advance a philosophy that the commitment to a child, youth, and family is ongoing, does not allow for a premature discharge, strives to provide long-term continuity, supports transitions, and incorporates a “whatever it takes” and “never give up” attitude to providing help and support.
• Embrace the concept of family-driven and youth-guided care so youth and families are integral partners in service delivery decisions and agency functioning, including having roles of significance on agency boards and committees.
• Ensure that children, youth, and families feel safe and nurtured and have a sense of belonging, and that children and youth have a developmentally appropriate role in their care and in creating rules, regulations, and policies.
• Ensure that sibling bonds are maintained and that assistance to siblings be
incorporated into treatment plans as indicated.
• Commit to finding ways to ensure that children and youth grow up in families. If
a youth requires treatment in a 24-hour treatment setting, it is important that this
occurs only for a period of time that is necessary, and, for whatever period of
time, it is understood that this represents a young person’s home, and there is a
need to create a home-like environment in which activities are “normalized” and
family members have open access to the facility.
Cultural and Linguistic Competence
• Develop plans and implement services that value culture, spirituality, and
religion, and provide opportunities for children, youth, and families to use their
native language and indigenous healing practices.
• Develop strategies to reduce the overrepresentation of children of color in both restrictive and nonrestrictive settings, and the disparity in outcomes. Clinical Excellence and Quality Standards •
•Provide the highest quality of care that is based on clinical excellence, is trauma
informed, uses the latest research evidence, and emphasizes continuous quality
improvement that uses data and feedback to advance the goals of improving
services.
• Determine and identify service approaches that are most appropriate for children
and youth, what treatment settings should be used, and for how long.
• Develop behavior support techniques that are positive, strive to eliminate coercion
and coercive interventions, use only medications that are clinically appropriate,
and do not take away basic rights, including visits between families and children.
• Ensure all treatment services are licensed and regulated by appropriate agencies,
and that monitoring is accomplished by well-trained individuals (including
families and professionals) whose values are consistent with these principles.
• Hold all providers and systems accountable for actions and outcomes. If
something doesn’t reflect quality, doesn’t work, or doesn’t embrace the values of
the field, it cannot be maintained.
Accessibility and Community Involvement
• Provide services to children and youth within close proximity to families, or
provide strategies to ensure distance issues are adequately and appropriately
addressed.
• Participate in the local community and with other child-serving agencies to
improve coordination and access schools and recreational opportunities, and to
create a presence in families, schools, and community providers.
Transition from Youth to Adulthood
• Provide coordination and assistance as a young person transitions to adulthood.
• Ensure that transitions to and from 24-hour treatment is addressed as a component of the service model, including the preparation for treatment and coordination
with post-treatment discharge.
• Ensure life-skills practice and training are required in all service-delivery models
and that education/vocation services are a critical focus.
Effective Workforce Development
• Ensure the work force is competent, receives regular, ongoing training and
supervision, is well-compensated, and reflects the diversity of the population
being served.
Assessment, Evaluation, and Continuous Quality Improvement
• Develop universal outcomes that measure the effectiveness of services.
• Obtain and provide the highest quality assessment that drives services so that
meaningful individualized plans for every child, youth, and family are developed
and implemented, and to ensure that these plans include a significant focus on
child, youth, and family strengths—and are culturally competent.
• Conduct research and evaluation, including follow-up, post-discharge data
collection to determine the effectiveness of services on relevant outcomes, such as
success in education and work settings, recidivism in mental health and other
child serving systems, and social connectedness.
In addressing the principles espoused in this joint position, the undersigned
recognize the fiscal complexities and realities in providing services. Therefore, we
further agree to:
• Commit to working together to identify resources that support the goals, values
and principles in this statement, including strategies to support flexible funds and
waivers for home- and community-based services (e.g., in-home support services,
respite care, and mentorship).
• Commit to creating a balance in funding and capacity between community-based
services and 24-hour treatment that acknowledges the importance of having a
comprehensive array of services and supports and strives to ensure there are
enough resources in the community to promote appropriate placements and
facilitates timely discharge.
• Create incentives for community services and supports and 24-hour treatment to
rebalance, reallocate, reengineer, and ultimately reinvest, in services to allow for
youth and family choice and that focus on effective services that create the most
positive outcomes.
Please contact the office of Gary M. Blau, PhD, Chief, Child and Adolescent Family
Branch of the Center for Mental Health Services at 240/276-1921, or via e-mail at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, to convey your support or request additional information.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
