Service Coordination
Mechanism Executive Summary
Since its inception in the early nineties, the Ohio Family & Children First Initiative has been a catalyst for bringing community agencies together to coordinate and streamline services for those families and children needing or seeking assistance. Erie Counties first Service Coordination Mechanism was written in 2006. In 2010 a committee comprised of members of the FCF, the County Board of Devlopmental Disabilities, Juvenile Court and Job's & Family Services reviewed the plan and updated it. This updated plan was presented to the FCF Funding Priorities Committee and then the full Council and approved for submission to the State in June 2010. (See attached Resolution).
This Coordination Mechanism shall serve as a guiding document for coordination of services when a child is referred to the council for assistance. With adopting this mechanism the Council will strive to ensure that:
- Services are delivered using a family-centered, community based approach.
- Services are responsive to the cultural, racial and ethnic differences of the population being served.
- Service outcomes are evaluated.
- Available funding resources are fully utilized or integrated.
- Wraparound services and community supports are utilized.
- Specialized treatment for difficult-to-serve populations and evidence-based treatment services are encouraged.
- Most importantly, families are given a voice in decision-making for their children.
The Family & Children First Council in Erie County has focused on multi-need youth as its target population for Service Coordination. In order for any agency or family seeking service coordination they must contact Cindy Franketti at Erie County Juvenile Court (419) 627-7782. An initial assessment of a family’s needs will be made by the Wraparound Service Supervisor. This assessment will determine the eligibility and Level of Service Coordination needed and a referral will be made to the appropriate agency/community resource.
- Level One: A Service Coordination referral is those parents who are not involved in multiple agencies, yet are seeking services that they are having difficulty accessing through one agency. Level One Service Coordination families will be referred to an appropriate agency for assistance prior to Wraparound being considered as an option.
- Level Two: A Level Two referral is those children who are already multisystem involved. A wraparound referral form will be filled out and processed for initiation of Wraparound services.
- Level Three: If the needs of the family cannot be met through already existing collaborative efforts, the need to form a Family Team for Wraparound will be evaluated and initiated if appropriate. The referral will then be assigned a Wraparound Team Facilitator and Team Support Specialist. Our County utilizes the four Phases of High Fidelity Wraparound to meet the needs of those families who need a high level of Services Coordination.
When eligible for High Fidelity Wraparound Services, the Wraparound Supervisor will assign a Team Facilitator. The Team Facilitator will work with the family on determining the team membership, setting up meetings and doing a family strengths, needs and cultural discovery assessment. The Facilitator will also initiate all Releases of Information to protect the family's confidentiality. The Team will work with the family on formulating an Individualized Family Service Coordination Plan to be initiated within the county.
The FCF Service Coordinator will be responsible for tracking all Service Coordination Plans initiated in the county and will regularly report to the Wraparound Management Response Team on progress and statistics for evaluation.
When a child & families Individualized Family Service Coordination Plan, which has been developed by their team, has identified needs in which cannot be funded through any other community funding options, the request for funding will be presented to the FCF Director for review of appropriateness and final approval.
Erie County will utilize out-of-home placement only after families are provided the range of community-based therapeutic/supportive services and those services are deemed inadequate by the Family Team to provide a reasonable level of safety and well being for the child and family, or when an emergency exists, which requires immediate intervention. With the implementation of Service Coordination, Wraparound and the formation of Family Teams, it is envisioned that any recommendation for a non-emergency out-of-home placement of a child would originate from the Family Team of that child.
The Wraparound Management Response Team will review the cases of children who have been placed out-of-home and are involved in Wraparound. This team will monitor each child's progress and the implementation of the plan for reintegration back into the community as developed by the Family Team.
The FCF Council shall inform parents and/or custodians of their rights to use the dispute resolution process as described in the Service Coordination Mechanism. Parents or custodian shall use existing local agency grievance procedures to address disputes involving an agency not involved with the service coordination plan. The dispute resolution process shall address conflicts that arise in three distinct situations: the family is in disagreement with one agency; the family is in disagreement with the service plan; or one agency is in disagreement with another agency or the service plan. FCFC of Erie County shall assure that there is a process, through the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), for complaint resolution that includes mediation and civil hearing procedures for parents of children birth to three who have a developmental delay or diagnosed disability. Parents of children birth to three determined to be eligible for HMG services shall be informed of their rights annually, at a minimum, throughout the time the child is receiving HMG services. Parents of children enrolled in HMG who are involved with the Home Visiting component of HBM shall follow the dispute resolution process as outlined in the Service Coordination Mechanism.
Through the Family Team process and the Wraparound Management Response Team, outcomes for Service Coordination will be measured and evaluated. Evaluation procedures will include Consumer satisfaction surveys. There will be ongoing input from families during the planning, implementation and evaluation process developed to measure results and key indicators of progress through informal and formal meetings.
In the above outlined procedures there are areas, which will need continued strengthening and attention. These include:
- Community-wide access to the Family Team process.
- Extensive internal systems information and education regarding the process and procedures; this would include cross system training.
- Community information and education regarding the process and procedures, which assures access to non-system involved children and families.
Ongoing and aggressive efforts at community education will be needed in order to assure awareness and access to the process, particularly for those children and families who may not be currently involved in any of the systems, but are in need of support. Our county will provide agencies with ongoing training opportunities on Service Coordination and Wraparound.
Continuous feedback of service gaps will be forwarded to the Administrative Level for review, attention and program/services development.
This plan will be reviewed annually for needed revisions as it is viewed by our Council as a “work in progress”. The Family & Children First Council will be provided with monthly updates on the process and it’s progress.
The above is a "Summary" of the Service Coordination Mechanism. The Full Service Coordination Mechanism (PDF, 104KB) is available for viewing and downloading.
