Connecticut hiring parent groups for kids’ mental health outreach
Connecticut hiring parent groups for kids’ mental health outreach
As part of a cutting-edge program to improve mental health services for children, Connecticut has awarded a $665,000 grant to a diverse coalition of parent- advocacy groups so they can do outreach and provide support to families who apply for mental health services through local provider networks.
Karen Anderson, Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) director of mental health, tells State Health Watch the state’s KidCare program is being rolled out in response to complaints that the state was not adequately providing services as seen through waiting lists and reports that children were not receiving services they needed. In a review of how much was being spent and on what, it was determined that the state was spending more than $200 million a year on mental health services for children, but most of that money was going to inpatient care and relatively little for community-based services.
When informed of the situation, Ms. Anderson says, legislators charged the agency with finding a different way to provide services. And that led them to join the national trend toward community-based services and local systems of care. As part of that trend, parents are being brought into the process, viewed as an integral part of the treatment process.
Ms. Anderson says that while the agency has always supported the notion of parent involvement, it now is taking it much further by funding the parent networks. "It makes sense to offer parents choices and ask what they think will work," she says. "But we’re taking it even further. We’re committed to ensuring parent involvement in planning for system reform through advisory committees and work groups. Our children’s behavioral health advisory committee has 51% parent membership. We realize that if we don’t have the support of the parents, we won’t get this program."
Kristine Ragaglia, Department of Children and Families commissioner, has spearheaded the move to increase parent involvement, Ms. Anderson says.
At the center
Ms. Ragaglia says family involvement in the design and implementation of KidCare "has been essential from the very beginning. A family knows their child best. Sometimes caregivers and service providers overlook that fact. KidCare places the family at the center of the system."
The $665,000 grant went to the Family Advocacy Organization for Children’s Mental Health (FAVOR), which is made up of four advocacy groups — National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) of Connecticut, African Caribbean American Parent Support Group, Padres Abiendo Puertas, and Families United for Children’s Mental Health. Half the grant money is being used to pay for 10 full-time professional family advocates to work with families across the state.
Lorna Grivois, a parent of a son with mental health issues, who has completed training as a family advocate, told the Hartford Courant the state system has been "a maze. So many parents don’t know where to turn when something happens to their child. They’re frozen. It’s easier to talk to a parent than to a psychologist or a DCF staff person. And there’s so many things out there that if parents knew about them, they wouldn’t be so alone and their children wouldn’t be suffering as they do."
Padres Abiendo program manager Georgina Felix, another family advocate, tells State Health Watch that her goal is to help families who already are involved in care and also to prevent the use of residential placements as much as possible. "We’ll identify community service providers and invite them to get involved. And we’ll let the families know what services are available in their communities. We’re going to try to help the families with whatever they need."
Felix says that language barriers have made it very difficult for people to access care and navigate the system. "People need to understand how the system works and what their rights are. When you sign papers you can compromise yourself. The department provides a lot of services, but people don’t understand how the system works. We try to provide that type of support and training to parents about how to make the system work for them.
"I don’t think the Department of Children and Families has been intentionally not providing the right services. Parents just haven’t been able to understand how the system works. Through KidCare, there’s more money available to help bring providers to the table."
A local spokesperson for NAMI tells State Health Watch that her group is "very excited about the grant. It’s one of the first diverse multicultural collaboratives of its kind in the state. We think the department is interested in making this a successful program, and their support has been fabulous."
DCF Systems of Care Program supervisor Susan Smith tells State Health Watch there has been a conscious effort to ensure a diverse consortium and bring in under-represented parents. The state, she says, is working as part of the KidCare effort to get mobile crisis units up and running, improve care coordination, and increase the number of extended day treatment beds available.
Parent reaction continues to be mixed, Anderson reports, as problems arise and are solved. Parents felt they had been left out of some important decisions, and were quick to let the agency know. "We’re working to resolve problems as they arise because we know that the more you involve the families, the greater allies they become."
[Contact Ms. Anderson and Ms. Smith at (860) 550-6683, Ms. Felix at (860) 297-4391, and NAMI Connecticut at (800) 215-3021.]
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