After School Programs

December 2006

Q: Our system of care (SOC) is hosting a networking event with our Regional Office of Education. How I can help them understand systems of care and how it might affect their work without overwhelming them with information?

In the course of building partnerships, systems of care administrators will come across many situations in which they need to represent a) the principles of system of care, b) how systems of care work in practice, and c) how the infrastructure and service-delivery changes that a system of care requires will directly impact the work of these potential partners.

This is a critical first step to developing linkages in the community. Yet this task is complicated by the fact that many times, even if you are presenting to a single agency such as a local school district, you may be facing a diverse audience composed of school social workers, guidance counselors, nurses, teachers and other community practitioners.

How do you address the three crucial issues outlined above while targeting your message to a diverse audience in a limited time frame -- perhaps only 5-10 minutes?

TA Partnership Education Resource Specialist Sandy Keenan has developed a template PowerPoint presentation to help communities answer this question. Obviously the information you include would be tailored to the unique characteristics and focus of your community. However, some key questions that you may want to address include:

What is the need for behavioral/emotional support in your community? Numbers can be powerful and persuasive. Use the data you have available to talk about the prevalence of mental health need and the adequacy of existing services. Data from your specific community will be the most effective, but you can also use National data or data from other communities.
Which children and families are your SOC targeting, and why? If your system of care targets a specific population, talk about how that population impacts the work of your potential partner agency. If you are presenting to a school district, is this population particularly prevalent in that district? If not, is this population historically underserved by your community or have a greater incidence of mental health need?
What relationship does your potential partner have with this population? Briefly talk about the impact of behavioral/emotional issues on the school environment. Connect unmet mental/emotional needs with school failure and school behavioral issues.
Why do you think systems of care works for this population? This is another good place to use data. As always when using PowerPoint, remember that data is always more powerful when represented graphically, so use simple charts when possible that provide context and contrast for levels of improvement or numbers of children served.
What are systems of care, anyway? Briefly cover what mental health “systems of care” means, and what values and principles systems of care are founded upon. You may want to spend a little more time on more unfamiliar concepts such as “family-driven” and what that means in practice as outlined in the definition of family-driven care.
How do we build a system of care and who is part of it? Here you might want to cover the key partners and areas included in a system of care (juvenile justice, mental health, child welfare, etc), as well as infrastructure and management elements, which will help give your audience some background in how systems of care principles are operationalized.
What do services look like in a system of care? Touch briefly upon key components of service delivery, such as individualized care plans and wraparound.
What does this mean for your potential partner agency? This is probably the information that your potential partner is going to be most interested in; what changes would embracing a system of care philosophy make in the kind of services that you provide and how you provide those services? What would be the new roles for partnering agency staff and what new skillsets would they need?
What kind of supports and resources can we offer to help you make those changes? Obviously all agencies and individuals need a significant amount of help to successfully change the way they envision, approach and do their work. How can your system of care help provide guidance and support to make that transformation?

To view the sample PowerPoint template, click here.

Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health

Education Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Our system of care (SOC) is hosting a networking event with our Regional Office of Education. How I can help them understand systems of care and how it might affect their work without overwhelming them with information?

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	December 2006 Q: Our system of care (SOC) is hosting a networking event with our Regional Office of Education. How I can help them understand systems of care and how it might affect their work without overwhelming them with information? In the course of building partnerships, systems of care administrators will come across many situations in which they need to represent a) the principles of system of care, b) how systems of care work in practice, and c) how the infrastructure and service-delivery changes that a system of care requires will directly impact the work of these potential partners. This is a critical first step to developing linkages in the community. Yet this task is complicated by the fact that many times, even if you are presenting to a single agency such as a local school district, you may be facing a diverse audience composed of school social workers, guidance counselors, nurses, teachers and other community practitioners. How do you address the three crucial issues outlined above while targeting your message to a diverse audience in a limited time frame -- perhaps only 5-10 minutes? TA Partnership Education Resource Specialist Sandy Keenan has developed a template PowerPoint presentation to help communities answer this question. Obviously the information you include would be tailored to the unique characteristics and focus of your community. However, some key questions that you may want to address include: What is the need for behavioral/emotional support in your community? Numbers can be powerful and persuasive. Use the data you have available to talk about the prevalence of mental health need and the adequacy of existing services. Data from your specific community will be the most effective, but you can also use National data or data from other communities. Which children and families are your SOC targeting, and why? If your system of care targets a specific population, talk about how that population impacts the work of your potential partner agency. If you are presenting to a school district, is this population particularly prevalent in that district? If not, is this population historically underserved by your community or have a greater incidence of mental health need? What relationship does your potential partner have with this population? Briefly talk about the impact of behavioral/emotional issues on the school environment. Connect unmet mental/emotional needs with school failure and school behavioral issues. Why do you think systems of care works for this population? This is another good place to use data. As always when using PowerPoint, remember that data is always more powerful when represented graphically, so use simple charts when possible that provide context and contrast for levels of improvement or numbers of children served. What are systems of care, anyway? Briefly cover what mental health “systems of care” means, and what values and principles systems of care are founded upon. You may want to spend a little more time on more unfamiliar concepts such as “family-driven” and what that means in practice as outlined in the definition of family-driven care. How do we build a system of care and who is part of it? Here you might want to cover the key partners and areas included in a system of care (juvenile justice, mental health, child welfare, etc), as well as infrastructure and management elements, which will help give your audience some background in how systems of care principles are operationalized. What do services look like in a system of care? Touch briefly upon key components of service delivery, such as individualized care plans and wraparound. What does this mean for your potential partner agency? This is probably the information that your potential partner is going to be most interested in; what changes would embracing a system of care philosophy make in the kind of services that you provide and how you provide those services? What would be the new roles for partnering agency staff and what new skillsets would they need? What kind of supports and resources can we offer to help you make those changes? Obviously all agencies and individuals need a significant amount of help to successfully change the way they envision, approach and do their work. How can your system of care help provide guidance and support to make that transformation? To view the sample PowerPoint template, click here.