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The ImpacT DIfference

J u n e

www.impactsystemofcare.org

w o r d s o f i m p A c tImpact is a partnership of child- and family-serving agencies working together with youth and families to provide coordinated services for children with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED). Impact strives to build and enhance home- and community-based services for young people, believing that a child with SED will become most successful in a fully supported home setting.

m O r e a r T I c L e S

Impact Promotes Stronger Partnerships Youth Present Powerful Messages for Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day

Impact Recognizes Partners as Shining StarsAnnual Family Appreciation Picnic is August 29

fAmilies receive respect from impAct service providersYouth and caregivers alike give Impact System of Care service providers consistently high marks for treating them with respect.

These findings are based on data collected through the Longitudinal Outcomes Study (LOS) conducted from February 2007 through December 10, 2010. Impact youth and caregivers who voluntarily participate in the national study are asked a series of questions every six months to determine if the initiative’s desired outcomes are being reached.

The respect question is an indicator of Outcome 5: A unified, family driven, youth guided, and culturally and linguistically competent System of Care for children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) and their families. Youth and caregivers are asked to rate on a five-point scale their satisfaction with providers’ respect for beliefs and traditions.

• At the six-month interview, most caregivers (91 percent) and youth (80 percent) agree or strongly agree that providers treated them with respect. At the 12-month interview, this increased to 97 percent for caregivers and remained steady at 80 percent for youth.

• At the 18-month interview, 91 percent of caregivers and 90 percent of youth report that providers treated them with respect. At the 24-month interview, 89 percent of caregivers and 87 percent of youth report that providers treated them with respect.

• At the 30-month interview, 100 percent of caregivers and 90 percent of youth report that providers treated them with respect.

Percentage of caregivers and youth who say they agree or strongly agree. Source: Longitudinal Outcomes Study

91%

80%6 m

onths

12 months

18 months

24 months

97%

80%

91%

90%

89%

87%

Caregiver Reponses

30 months

100%

90%youth responses

satisfaction with providers’ respect for beliefs and traditions

Impact Part of Two Workshops at the National SOC ConferenceImpact has received national recognition for its work and has regularly made presentations at the national conference. As the initiative wraps up its sixth year, Project Director Matt Wojack will share lessons learned along with representatives from three other nationally recognized SOC sites.

This July 2011 National System of Care (SOC) Conference in Chicago session will focus on the struggles and pitfalls communities have encountered. The goal is to underscore that on the road to success, it is common to hit speed bumps and occasionally take a U-turn.

Also, the Impact Speak Your Mind Youth Council’s proposal to present at the Chicago conference was accepted. Sintenesha King will represent the Council as the youth presenter.

During the workshop, participants will learn ways to engage and incorporate youth on several different levels in a System of Care initiative. Participants will also learn how to develop a youth council and how youth in Impact have been actively involved in that process. The workings of Impact’s Speak Your Mind Youth Council and Speak Up Speak Out: Youth Speaker’s Bureau will be highlighted.

The presentation will also address the many venues in which youth have been able to share their voices and serve as active participants within the Impact System of Care.

visit www.impactsystemofcare.org for a current calendar of

impact meetings and events.

youth and families are encouraged to participate.

A c c e s s i b l e A n d H i g H - Q u A l i t y s e r v i c e sA c c e s s i b l e A n d

H i g H - Q u A l i t y s e r v i c e s

A c c e s s i b l e A n d H i g H - Q u A l i t y s e r v i c e s

One of the top goals of Impact System of Care is to ensure that families receive “seamless and integrated treatments” and a comprehensive array of community-based intervention that is appropriate and individualized.

Encompassed within this vision is the knowledge that partner agencies should work together to keep children within their community, thus giving each child the best chance for success. Agency collaboration is central to this process.

Ingham County is comprised of numerous agencies, partners and providers that all work diligently to meet the vision and goals of our System of Care. Various efforts to this end are and have been taking place throughout the past several years. Coordination and collaboration of services underlies them all.

Success continues to be seen as partnerships between Community Mental Health (CMH)

Children’s Services, St. Vincent Catholic Charities (STVCC), and Child and Family Services (CFS) are strengthened. These agencies have shared responsibilities in many ways as they assist children and support families. Both STVCC and CFS have allowed CMH the opportunity to, among other things, attend staff meetings, provide and disseminate information, share brief trainings, and ultimately work together as members of a community team.

Mental Health Therapist Heidi Schafer, of St. Vincent Catholic Charities, has had several experiences with Impact.

“One of the most helpful pieces of this process happens when different agencies combine resources … or join resources in order to fill gaps (in service),” she said.

When multiple agencies join together and work toward a common family goal, they are able to use the different strengths and

unique supports of each agency to assist families. It is precisely this level of partnership that has been central to the success of Impact.

Lorri Love, case manager with CFS, has been involved with many Impact cases. She has several stories of successful outcomes and feels that all of her cases could benefit from community teams.

“It’s all about communication,” she said. “The team meets together, hears the same information and ultimately has a greater ability to support the family.”

This type of coordination and collaboration allows the System of Care to focus on the strengths of varying agencies; aids in the facilitation of goal and resource sharing; and ultimately helps to create a more seamless system of service and support to families.

impAct promotes stronger pArtnersHips By Dave Cooper, Mental Health Therapist

– Randy Schaefer Ingham County Commissioner

“The cooperaTion and collaboraTion imbedded in the impact System of care

initiative unifieS the fragmented system,

keeps costs reasonable, and

enhanceS the quality of life for ingham

county youth and their families.”

youtH note cArds AvAilAble At Jolly JAvANote cards featuring paintings created by Ingham County youth are for sale at the Jolly Java in the Community Mental Health Authority building at 812 E. Jolly Road in Lansing.

The paintings were created in recognition of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day. Explanations of the paintings are included on the backs of the colorful cards.

The packet of six note cards is the second set produced to raise funds for youth activities. The note cards also are available from Impact; contact LouKesha Lee at (517) 346-8108 or leelo@ceicmh.org.

A powerful skit presented by Ingham County youth was the highlight of Impact’s fourth annual Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day event.

In the skit, the youth explained the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis, including bullying, divorce, thoughts of suicide, cutting, teen pregnancy, homelessness, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, failing in school and sexual assault. The youth also made statements regarding what their past was like and how Impact services have helped them to overcome barriers and improve their lives.

The participants said it felt good to let people know that youth with mental health challenges are affected differently than those without mental health challenges. The youth said that through the skit they were able to integrate their mental health challenges into the situations that youth face every day.

The audience was impressed with the amount of work that the youth put into the event and the huge impact of the messages

they shared. One attendee said she had no idea that youth were facing all of those issues.

The event included the unveiling of the 2011–2012 traveling youth art show, a speech by former Michigan State University and NFL running back Todd “T.J.” Duckett, and the presentation of an appreciation award to Community Mental Health Children’s Services Director Al Way.

The theme of the May 3 event at Pattengill Middle School was “Mental Illness . . . No Longer a Restraint.” The audience included more than 60 people representing the Department of Human Services, Ingham County Circuit Court Family Division, Association for Children’s Mental Health, Community Mental Health, MSU Extension, the Lansing and Holt school districts, families and youth of Ingham County, and other supporters.

A huge thank-you to the Lansing School District, Reach Studio Art Center, our partner agencies and of course, the youth and families of Ingham County.

youtH present powerful messAges for cHildren’s mentAl HeAltH AwAreness dAyBy Jessica Leese, Youth Engagement Specialist

• Family-Driven• Youth-Guided • Accessible and High-Quality Services

• Culturally and Linguistically Competent Services

• Individualized Care

• Coordinated Care• Collaborative CareimpAct

vAlues

Impact System of Care5303 S. Cedar Street, Bldg. 2 Lansing, MI 48911millerm2@ceicmh.org 517-346-9597www.impactsystemofcare.org

impAct recognizes pArtners As sHining stArsThe Impact System of Care staff created a Shining Star Award to recognize individuals at partner agencies who go the extra mile to advance the initiative. Award winners are nominated based on the recommendations of the recipient from the previous month.

The monthly award consists of a traveling trophy and notebook, in which peers write words of praise and encouragement.

The most recent recipients were:

• April – Tracy Hufnagel, Scheduling Clerk Ingham County Circuit Court – Family Division

• May – Mary Stewart-Thornton, Protective Services Worker Ingham County Department of Human Services

Mark Your Calendars

www.impactsystemofcare.org

Ingham County’s System of Care5303 S. Cedar Street, Building 2 Lansing, MI 48911-3800

AnnuAl fAmily AppreciAtion picnic is August 29Impact Family Council’s fifth Annual Family Appreciation Picnic will be held from 11:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Monday, August 29, in the Red Tail Pavilion of Hawk Island Park.

The day will be packed with family and youth activities, including volleyball, kickball, football, swimming and games. Impact will provide the beverages, hot dogs, paper plates and cups. Families are asked to bring a dish to pass, swimsuits and towels.

For more information and/or to register, contact Tiffiany Leischner at 517-346-8158 or acmhtiffiany@sbcglobal.net. Registration is required by August 14.

Impact offers two daytime Family Council meetings each month at 838 Louisa St., Suite B, Lansing, MI 48911. The days and times are:

• First Tuesday of each month, 10 a.m. until noon. Upcoming dates are July 5 and August 2.

• Second Thursday of each month, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Upcoming dates are July 14 and August 11.

Families report that the Impact Family Council is a safe place to share ideas, experiences, successes and challenges they are having as families.

Calendar information is available anytime at www.impactsystemofcare.org.