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Listed below are a few examples of successful cross-systems practices.
The NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) and the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) recently announced a comprehensive solution to address the chronic need for community-based mental health alternatives in Brooklyn for children and their families, and the lack of intensive residential treatment in New York City for court-involved youth with mental health problems.
This plan will:
This investment is made possible through the reconfiguration of OMH services and the shift of OMH and OCFS resources. This expansion is responsive to the goals of New York State's Children's Plan. The Children's Plan was developed with input from thousands of New Yorkers and endorsed by all of New York's child-serving agencies. It recommends the proactive involvement of all stakeholders to intervene earlier, improve access to care, shift resources toward community-based services and improve the quality of service provision and delivery. Learn more about this exciting OMH/OCFS collaborative effort.
Nationally recognized practices for school success are being piloted in New York State through an initiative known as the Promise Zones. Promise Zones are a framework and not a specific prescription to create learning environments that engage students so that they are on-task and ready to learn. Promise Zones include three major components:
Promise Zones are one of the many cross-system initiatives of The Children's Plan. In recognition of the multiple and complex needs of children and their families, representatives from education, health, labor, child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health, substance use, and community stakeholders from not-for profits and philanthropic organizations invested in children are all at the table devoted to building a model for success. Supporting these efforts is the Council on Children and Families and its Executive Director Deborah Benson, who states “Promise Zones reflect the intent of The Children's Plan and the cross-systems commitments made by state agency commissioners, together with youth and families, over the past three years. As we forge ahead trying to find better ways to help children achieve improved outcomes in school and in everyday life, we look to partnerships like Promise Zones as opportunities to engage schools and communities toward changing the life course for children and youth. We trust that our collective investments in planning and services will create model approaches and inspire other communities to take the actions necessary to help all children flourish and achieve their dreams.”
For more information on the NYS Promise Zones, please view the attached synopsis of the Promise Zones.
The NYS Children's Plan includes the goal to "create infrastructures and funding mechanisms to support meaningful family and youth participation in planning and policy making and the improvement of service systems at the provider, local and state levels." To achieve this goal the NYS Office of Mental Health funds YOUTH POWER! to enhance their statewide structure through regional cross-systems youth peer positions.
"In its first 3 years, Kids Oneida has fulfilled its original vision of creating and effectively implementing a value-based integrated community-based system of care for children and families in Oneida County."
(Mt. Sinai Report)
Beginning in the mid-80’s, Oneida County Department of Social Services and Mental Health began to consider ways in which out-of-home placements of children with serious emotional disturbances could be decreased. Workgroups comprised of consumers, providers and major stakeholders explored various service models that would address these concerns. In 1996, Kids Oneida was awarded a prestigious Robert Wood Johnson grant to be used as seed money for the start-up of the program. Integrated Community Alternative Network (ICAN), a non-profit care management entity, was established in 1997 to operate the program, Kids Oneida. In 1998, a decade after the first discussions were initiated, Kids Oneida began full operation when it was licensed by the NYS Office of Mental Health as an Article 31 (Parts 587/588) outpatient clinic with a number of waiver provisions. In 2007, ICAN’s name was changed to Kids Oneida, Inc. It continues to be funded through a number of sources including the Oneida County Department of Social Services, Medicaid and individualized service only contracts.
Kids Oneida serves high-risk children with multi-system needs. It has the funding flexibility to support and promote the Wraparound philosophy of care. It has strengthened its core goals of being a value based program with a focus on outcomes, family empowerment and cost.
To date, Kids Oneida has been closely watched given the uniqueness of its design and its potential as a model for replication. It has had three comprehensive evaluations by nationally recognized organizations with very positive results.
Some of the key features of Kids Oneida are:
For more information on Kids Oneida, please visit www.kidsoneida.org .