Conclusion
Above all, said participants, all state and local officials engaged in designing
and implementing interagency systems of care for children who need mental health
services must be willing to be flexible, to work at these issues over a considerable
period of time, to be critical of their own agency’s role and policies,
and to engage and work with families and youth in design, implementation and
oversight of the system. According to officials interviewed for this study,
successful programs:
- ensure that the child’s needs drive program and
funding, not the other way around;
- make certain that each child and family
has a single service plan;
- blend and/or braid funding;
- use significant federal resources in
a manner that supports the system’s
goals;
- create new services to ensure that all essential child and
family needs can be met;
- establish a range of performance measures and
standards that make systems focus on outcomes;
- engage in continuous quality
improvement;
- keep senior policymakers informed and engaged to enable the
successful adoption of sustainable reforms around the state.
Those who are
engaged in these processes report substantial rewards.
It has been the most
exciting thing I have ever worked on. (State child welfare official)
|
