BC-SCORES Family Coordinator is available to answer any questions your family may have. Please call Terri Swansonat (724) 512-0107 or email him at tswanson@aaud.org.
We are empowering children, youth, and families, who are experiencing mental health, by encouraging families to understand what they need to become independent in their communities. Several training classes and workshops are now available throughout the county to help families become educated and informed.
Parents and youth have a voice within Beaver County’s System of Care. We listen to the ideas, suggestions, and recommendations of our parents and youth, who are currently or have been enrolled in services through BC-SCORES.
Parents are Partners in this process:
· Parents, as well as any one providing services to their child and family, work as a Team identifying the strengths and needs of the child and family and taking part in the decisions regarding the care their child receives.
· Parents play a key role in the treatment of their child. They take an active role in participating in all areas of care.
· Parents assist in developing the plan of care that is appropriate for their child and their family.
What are natural supports?
Natural supports are services that are available to families that exist in the community. These supports are derived from:
Faith-based communities:
Many faith-based communities offer a host of supports that families can use to help address some of the needs of the family (i.e. counseling, mentors, youth group involvement, distribution of clothes, food, furniture, tutors, youth activities, community involvement, friendship, support, etc.).
Community-based supports:
Many of the community centers and after-school programs provide valuable support to families in various areas. They can assist families with locating economical summer camp programs, which could serve as daycare for some youth; after-school programs have activities for youth, where assistance to some families is needed for them to work past normal school hours; many youth services are provided in after-school programs.
Family supports:
Sometimes families do not recognize the level of supports they have within their own families or network of friends. By utilizing their own supports help to provide strength to the family and, particularly, to the parents. Often, family members will provide help when asked and many families have created extended families, where more supports are available to help parent in their daily lives. Additionally, there are family support centers located throughout Beaver County, where parents can meet to discuss some of their experiences with other parents who understand their situation.
When a family utilizes natural supports, they rely less on formal supports and this empowers families to take an active role in determining creative solutions to address their family needs. However, sometimes formal supports are needed and families need help with addressing their family’s needs.
What are formal supports?
We classify formal supports as paid supports, where services are provided by an agency. Agencies that provide formal supports include:
· Department of Social Services
· Department of Mental Health
· Juvenile Justice
· Health Services (medical treatment)
· Mentors
· Education and Schools
These are formal supports, because you must go through an agency to access services within these formal agencies. When accessing these agencies, there is paperwork that must be filled out, a criteria of qualification is followed, and sometimes not all families qualify for the services they want.
These types of services involve many people in the family's life; and, when a family applies to these different agencies separately, the services they receive are not coordinated, but are administered by a strict guideline set by federal, state, and county governments.
Initially, when a family is enrolled in the System of Care, some formal supports are provided with an emphasis on gradually moving from formal supports to natural supports over time.
Now, in an integrated model of service implementation, the youth and family would have one plan of care that they will develop. The family would be in the driver’s seat and actively participate in determining what that plan of care will be for their family.
They will also participate in the development and approval of that plan of care, while working with a trained, skilled facilitator, who will help them create this plan of care. The facilitator is called a case manager. It is important to note that the process is a process for the integration of services to help families stay together, identify their strengths, and address their needs.