Families F.I.R.S.T.

Introduction and Mission

Visinet, Inc.'s Families F.I.R.S.T. (Family's Individualized Recovery and Safety Team) mission is to help families discover their strengths and learn to resolve crises independently. The program empowers families to take ownership and engage in re-establishing harmony within their home. The array of services will be an integrated, innovative, family-centered model developed from evidenced based and promising practice research that will empower families to be involved with their own recovery. This will be achieved by a coordinated team of professionals that will facilitate, partner, assist and mentor the family in being their own leader and decision-maker while receiving services.

Families F.I.R.S.T. Model

The Families F.I.R.S.T. model will be delivered primarily in the home and designed to prevent the unnecessary out-of-home placement of children while promoting healthier family functioning and maintaining family stabilization. The mission of Families F.I.R.S.T. is a direct correlation to the function and purpose of the Child Family Services Review (CFSR) outcomes that DHHS-CFS is required to meet within their system. Therefore, the following principles have been adopted as our main focal points to emphasize the partnership that will exist between Families F.I.R.S.T. and DHHS-CFS:

• To promote the safety and well-being of children and their families
• To preserve family unity where children's safety can be supported
• To maintain permanency for children
• To empower families to achieve or sustain independence and self sufficiency
• To ensure the safe and successful reunification of children back with families
• To ensure movement to appropriate levels of services as quickly as possible

Summary

The Families F.I.R.S.T. team will help families in crisis to access services effectively and efficiently; in addition, the team will respond to children and families immediately, compassionately, and productively to assess for the safest, most nurturing and least restrictive environment.  The team will recognize and preserve the dignity of the families they serve and will work cooperatively with the community. 

Family's F.I.R.S.T. unique approach is to provide each family with a professional team that is crossed trained in the service array (when appropriate and possible) that has the ability to provide a seamless service model that will enable the family to maintain their child's safety and their family's well-being.  In meeting this mission, services will be provided in alignment with Children and Family Services (CFS) goal of: "Providing services with the least disruption, for only as long as necessary, resulting in improved families, in safe more prosperous communities.

Service Description for Service #1 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.'s In-Home Safety Services will provide direct supervision of the children at all times when the parent or caregiver who is or may be responsible for the safety concern is present. The Families F.I.R.S.T. team member will be responsible for the direct service provision of In-Home Safety Services. The Family Assistant and/or Partner will be available to provide In-Home Safety Services in accordance with family need as identified within the family Safety Plan, to include service provision 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.

Model

Families F.I.R.S.T. team members will be available to respond to new and existing families within a two hour time frame, thus, meeting them at the time where opportunity for change is most optimal. Given that the primary responsibility within the In-Home Safety Services portion of the service array is supervision and monitoring of the Safety Plan, In-Home Safety Services will be provided utilizing the Wraparound Model in conjunction with the Florida Supervised Visitation Training standards.

Summary

ACTION for Child Protection recommends utilizing the Protective Capacity Assessment to assist in the ongoing evaluation of the caregiver?s protective capacity. This assessment is described as more a process than an evaluation and is implemented collaboratively with the caregivers. The Protective Capacity Assessment focuses on addressing Behavioral, Cognitive and Emotional Protective capacities.

Implementation of the Safety Plan monitoring components and evaluation of protective capacity by the Family Assistant will assist DHHS-CFS and the assigned PSW in obtaining information necessary to make case related decisions, including assisting the family and the team in determining the effectiveness of the Safety Plan. It also provides direction for the family, PSW, and team members in the creation of the family driven service plan.

The implementation of the training curriculum in combination with the Evidence Based Practice Model (Wraparound) will be the responsibility of the Family Partner and/or Assistant to provide the necessary level of supervision, as identified in the Safety Plan, within the family home.
Building on the Florida Supervised Visitation training, Families F.I.R.S.T. will be adding a component to ensure staff utilizes a strength-based approach to service delivery. This focus emphasizes the need to:

• Establish rapport with the family
• Act as a family advocate
• Be empathetic to the family?s issues
• Take part in the family's daily activities.

It is imperative that the Family Partner and/or Assistant view and interact with the family as partners.  The addition of the Family Partner and/ or Assistant to the home environment will serve to have an immediate effect on the stabilization of the family and through observation, will demonstrate the ability to engage with the family to assist in controlling the danger or threat of danger necessitating the implementation of the Safety Plan.

Building Skills in High-Risk Families Phases I & II will be an integral part of the in-home safety services.  Important facets and concepts within this evidence based practiced will emphasize identifying family strengths, increasing and building on strengths and assessing the family's agenda, beliefs, roles, and structure.  This non-change model will emphasize safety while at the same time will identify reinforce and shape families existing strengths.  Other guiding principles of the adaptation of this model will assimilate the principles for building relationships and defusing crisis situations with families.  These include:

• Understanding and respecting the family's beliefs and values
• Recognizing the family members as experts
• Showing support for and being empathetic to the family
• Building on strengths and praising
• Providing concrete services
• Using the family's "lingo"
• Knowing when and how to self-disclose
• Effectively using intervention techniques
• Reframing hopelessness into hopefulness
• Normalizing a family's situation and child's behaviors
• Using humor
• Understand and adapting interpersonal behaviors.
• While monitoring the effectiveness of the Safety Plan within the home, staff will document and identify family strengths and areas of concern related to parent/child interaction.  Such documentation will provide information sufficient to further define how safety threats are manifested within the home, to identify what further and/or alternative safety management actions may be appropriate for the family, and efforts made to identify and secure an informal protective capacity person.

Service Description for Service #2 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.'s Home Supported Safety Services (23:59) will provide time limited services within a licensed foster home (Family Mentor), licensed facility, or the Children's Respite Care Center (Eastern Service Area) for behavioral health, medically fragile and developmentally disabled children for a portion of the day, as identified in the family Safety Plan. These services will provide support to the child or family when there is an identified safety concern.

Model

Skill acquisition and early childhood activities will be provided as appropriate based on behavioral and developmental need of the child. Services provided within the Home Supported Safety Services will be in accordance with the Wraparound Model and adapt skills through Homebuilders® Model with associated intervention techniques described within the Building Skills in High-Risk Families; Strategies for the Home-Based Practitioner and will be directly reflective of the child and families individualized needs.

Summary

A collaborative process between the family and the Family Facilitator will be utilized to identify an appropriate location of service specific to the need of the child and family. Locations for the Home Supported Safety Services will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year and easily accessible.

Skill identification will be determined in conjunction with the family utilizing information compiled during family assessment and engagement. Family/individual behavior strengths will be identified, placed into the relevant social context and then broken down into individualized skills which can be enhanced. Skill acquisition activities may be related to numerous facets of the child and/or family's life including education, employment daily living, peer relations, community engagement and/or physical and mental health. Families will decide and select what skills and individualized approaches will be used.

For children who are school-age, the team will ensure that the child remains within his/her home school and will work with the child and family to maintain the child's educational stability during utilization of the Home Supported Safety Services. Staff will provide transportation to and from the child's school (within a 25 mile radius) during the time that Home-Support Safety Services are being utilized. These services will be coordinated by the Families F.I.R.S.T. School Liaison.

Family Mentors will partner with the parents to support generalization of skill acquisition into their home environment and to assist with problem solving any further areas of concern. Family team meetings will be held on a regular basis to enhance the flow of communication, establish a forum for ongoing planning, and to provide parents the opportunity to review family progress.

Service Description for Service #3 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.’s Families F.I.R.S.T. will utilize a Family Engagement process throughout the service array beginning at case inception. Family Engagement will begin with the process of assessment and will extend throughout the family’s involvement with Families F.I.R.S.T.

Model

In keeping with the Wraparound Model and Family Centered Practice, all family members, including non-custodial parents, will be involved when possible. This service will be provided in a flexible manner with accommodations given to the family’s schedule. Alternative methods will be utilized when family or team members cannot be physically present for meetings. Optional meeting methods may include but are not limited to: email correspondence, use of web cams, telephone conferencing, and video conferencing.

Summary

During the assessment process the Families F.I.R.S.T. Facilitator will meet with the family to complete a genogram and ecomap to provide the family and team with a visual “snapshot” of their family and support systems. The creation of these items will allow for the initial establishment of a positive, mutually beneficial, working relationship between the family and program.

Staff involved in the Families F.I.R.S.T. program will have a true investment and commitment to the family in assisting them in meeting their identified goals. Families F.I.R.S.T. has researched tools utilized for the effective creation of genograms and ecomaps and has determined that the program that has already been adopted by Visinet, Wonder Ware, is a highly successful method of creating genograms and ecomaps that can be easily understood, electronically transmitted and consistent in the utilization of psycho-social symbols. In addition, this software can be easily updated and recreated when changes in family systems occur.

Service Description for Service #4 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.’s Residential Safety Services will be provided by Families F.I.R.S.T. in a licensed facility when children cannot be safely maintained in their home for a specific period of time. Families F.I.R.S.T. contends that traditional residential-based facilities have historically provided family-centered services; therefore, within this service array, Families F.I.R.S.T. has chosen to create a facility that will provide multiple services and also accentuate a Family-Centered Practice. This facility will be named, The Family Learning Center (FLC). The multi-purpose of the FLC will not only provide the Residential Safety Services but also serve as a resource center for information and services—both formal and informal, a place for safe parent-child interactions to be held and for Home Supported Safety Services (23:59). Visinet, Inc. has existing facilities for the FLC’s in each service area. Youth Emergency Services (Y.E.S.) will also be a subcontractor for additional beds for youth ages 13-18 in the Eastern Service Area in the event there is a greater need for Residential Safety Services. Visinet, Inc. also has a letter of intent from Boys Town in the Central Service Area to fulfill the requirement of Residential Safety Services should there be a need for increased referrals for this service.

Model

Skill acquisition and early childhood activities will be provided as appropriate based on behavioral and developmental need of the child. Services provided within the Residential Safety Services will be in accordance with the Wraparound Model and adapt skills through Homebuilders® Model with associated intervention techniques described within the Building Skills in High-Risk Families; Strategies for the Home-Based Practitioner and will be directly reflective of the child and families individualized needs.

Summary

Skill identification will be determined in conjunction with the family utilizing information compiled during family assessment and engagement. Family/individual behavior strengths will be identified, placed into the relevant social context and then broken down into individualized skills which can be enhanced. Skill acquisition activities may be related to numerous facets of the child and/or family’s life including education, employment daily living, peer relations, community engagement and/or physical and mental health. Families will decide and select what skills and individualized approaches will be used.

For children who are school-age, the team will ensure that the child remains within his/her home school and will work with the child and family to maintain the child’s educational stability during utilization of the Residential Safety Services. Staff will provide transportation to and from the child’s school (within a 25 mile radius) during the time that Residential Safety Services are being utilized. These services will be coordinated by the Families F.I.R.S.T. School Liaison.

Family and PSW involvement is crucial to the effectiveness of the Residential Safety Services; therefore, additional supports will be utilized in conjunction with this time limited service. We intend for the length of this service to last no more than 14 days.

Service Description for Service #5 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.’s Intensive Family Preservation services utilizes an adaptation of the Homebuilders® model. Families F.I.R.S.T. promotes that the Homebuilders® Model fits well with both the Florida Supervised Visitation Training and Building Skills in High-Risk Families skill application in theory, approach, and content, thus the combination of programs provides for an eclectic approach to service delivery allowing for seamless transition from one program to the other. Building Skills in High-Risk Families was based on the Homebuilders® (Model Peterson, J.L., Kohrt, P. E., Shadoin, L. M. Authier, K.J. (1995)).

Model

Families F.I.R.S.T. chose to adapt Homebuilders® because of its programmatic design to effect change throughout the family system by encouraging improvement in family functioning, communication and behavior management as well as providing for skill acquisition in the areas of positive parenting, life skills and community engagement. In order to ensure program compliance with CFS standards as well as model fidelity, Families F.I.R.S.T.’s IFP program will respond to referrals within 24 hours. The program will accept referrals 7 days a week and 365 days a year.

Families F.I.R.S.T.’s adaptation of Homebuilders® will utilize the key program elements of Homebuilders® that are designed to facilitate success. These key elements are:

• Intervention at the crisis point
• Treatment in the natural setting
• Accessibility and responsiveness
• Intensity
• Research-based interventions
• Flexibility

This model provides for intensive, in-home crisis intervention, counseling and life-skills education for families who have children at risk of being placed out of the home. Interventions within this model are clearly designed to maintain children safely in their homes and prevent the unnecessary separation of families.

In line with Homebuilders®, the Families F.I.R.S.T. program will require small case loads—with no more than four families receiving IFP services on a caseload simultaneously. Interventions and skill acquisition will take place in the family’s home and other natural environments that are determined safe for the children.

Homebuilders® provides for both intensive family preservation as well as intensive reunification services to children and families. Family F.I.R.S.T.’s Model believes that it can also act as a stabilization program for families. Therefore, Homebuilders® can easily be assimilated with Building Skills in High-Risk Families thus allowing for intervention both with families new to DHHS-CFS and for families currently involved. Families F.I.R.S.T. will implement Homebuilders® concepts that utilize short-term, intensive family-based interventions for both the preservation and reunification components.

Summary

Standards and components for Homebuilders® and Building Skills in High Risk Families are consistent in nature, thus making training for and implementation of both components consistent and seamless. Families that begin with in-home safety and that are utilizing Phase I & Phase II of Building Skills in High Risk Families may need to transition to IFP. If this occurs, the family will have significant components that include building relationships, family engagement and family assessment completed before starting the IFP process. Families F.I.R.S.T.’s implementation of IFP will emphasize Homebuilders® seven principles of service provision:

• Children Need Families
• The Safety of the Child Comes First
• Crisis Presents Opportunities for Change
• Limit the Issues to be Addressed
• Family Members Probably Care About Each Other
• Family Members Are Doing the Best They Can
• The Power for Change Lies Within the Family

Families F.I.R.S.T. will utilize Homebuilders® concepts as its major foundation as a change service within the array of its model. Families F.I.R.S.T. will also assimilate and accommodate skills acquisition sets as its major menu of interventions with parents and children. Families will have a significant involvement in selecting the intervention and specific strategies to acquire knowledge, comprehension and application of these skills.

Major skill sets will include, but are not limited to:

• Child Behavior Management
• Child Development/Forming Age Appropriate Expectations
• Communication
• Conflict, Fight and Violence
• Disabilities and Illness
• Emotion Management
• Household Management
  Job Skills
• Problem Solving
• Relationships
• Rational Emotive Therapy
• Safety
• Increasing Independence
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Service Description for Service #6 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.’s Families F.I.R.S.T. will provide Family Support Services within the family home to assist children and parents or caretakers in the acquisition and development of skills. Skills of focus for children will include daily living and pro-social skills. Focus areas for parents and/or caretakers will emphasize parent participation in the selection of skills and interventions to be used. Families F.I.R.S.T. intention of using this seamless model will incorporate the above skill sets illustrated within Intensive Family Preservation in addition to skills and concepts promoted by Building Skills in High-Risk Families. In this manner, families will be taught consistent skills and approaches from wherever they are in the service array.

An additional benefit from combining and incorporating skill sets between Homebuilders® and Building Skills in High-Risk Families is that it also can be applied to youth who are adjudicated as delinquents or status offenders to increase and enhance the youth’s pro-social skills. Furthermore, the Wraparound Model and the Building Skills in High-Risk Families supports building upon strengths identified within the family by providing the necessary skill acquisition to ensure safety permanency and well being of children in the family, home and community.

Model

Families F.I.R.S.T. will utilize the first two phases of Building Skills in High-Risk Families; Strategies for the Home-Based Practitioner. This program identifies that families are all unique in their skills and abilities.

• Phase I-Focuses on identifying the family’s strengths, building relationships and assessing potential safety threats within the family’s agenda.
• Phase II-Focuses on building on identified strengths within the family’s agenda; showing families how they can improve on existing skills; and assessing safety issues.

These two phases will be adapted and capable of being utilized in all service arrays of the Families F.I.R.S.T.’s Model. It also emphasizes family engagement, a strength-based approach to teaching skills to families and children and allows families to not feel threatened and reduces resistance to services. During these two phases, the team can focus on assessment of the family, identifying and building on their strengths and building relationships. When the team is able to utilize this approach, they can identify and stay focused on the family’s agenda, values and beliefs for the remainder of their involvement with the family. These two phases also emphasize family-centered practice of building upon family’s already existing strengths.

Summary

The Building Skills in High-Risk Families program incorporates cultural competency, family engagement and the integration of informal support systems (i.e., immediate and extended family members, friends, community associations) into its training components. Specific training components include:

• Cultural and Family Differences
• Community Resources and Networking
• Family Assessment
• Building Relationships
• Detecting Child Abuse and Neglect
• Intervention Techniques
• Active Listening
• Exploration
• Effective Praise
• Metaphors
• Circular Refocusing
• Criticism by Suggestion
• Reframing
• Role Playing
• Confrontation
• Mediation and Contracting
• Crisis Intervention
• Perceiving Opportunities to Teach
• Identifying and Building on Strengths

Service Description for Service #7 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.’s Visitation/Supervision services can be viewed as two separate services. Visitation services are designed to facilitate contact and supervise interactions between parents and children as part of the Safety Plan and/or court order when a child has been placed outside of the home. Supervision services are designed to control and manage safety when a child has not been removed from the home. Supervision may also occur in the child’s school, placement, or other appropriate location should safety need to be controlled or managed in these settings as well. Supervision/Visitation services may be utilized to allow for a child’s participation in significant family events.

Model

The Florida Supervised Visitation Training allows for integration of the DHHS-CFS Safety Model and compliments the Safety Assessment process. The Florida Visitation Training provides competency based blocks which address the issues that may present themselves in the family’s individualized Safety Plan. Competency based training blocks include:

• The Impact of Child Physical and Sexual Abuse
• The Impact of Domestic Violence
• The Impact of Parental Substance Abuse
• The Impact of Parental Mental Illness
• The Impact of Parental Chronic Illness and Developmental Disability
• Working with the Court
• Practice Skills for Visit Monitors
• Guidelines for Visit Monitors: Intake, Monitoring Visits, and Terminating Visits
• Working with Culturally Diverse Families

Training centered on these areas allows for the provision of in-home supervision of children and families who have been identified as in need of this service in order to assure child safety and to assist the parent(s) in regaining a functional role as parents.

The Florida Supervised Visitation Training allows for a careful decrease in services as appropriate as well as for transition from formal to informal supports as the safety risks that were initially identified decrease. One allowance for service titration and transition is evidenced by the Florida Supervised Visitation Training guiding principle that “Supervised contact is not a long-term solution to a family’s problems.” The short-term goal is to enable an ongoing relationship between the parent and child by impartially observing their contact in a safe, healthy, and structured environment. “The long-term goal is to facilitate unsupervised visitation in most cases and establish less structured supervision, where possible in the remaining cases.”

Summary

The Florida Supervised Visitation Training outlines the purposes for Supervised Visitation, which is utilized both in Visitation/Supervision and In-Home Safety Services, as vital:

• To prevent child abuse;
• To reduce the potential for harm to victims of domestic violence and the children;
• To help build safe and healthy relationships between parents and children;
• To provide written factual information regarding supervised contact;
• To assist parents with juvenile dependency case plan compliance; and
• To facilitate reunification, where appropriate.

Application of the Florida Supervised Visitation standards in Visitation and Supervision practices drive the implementation of an immediate safety intervention system which relies on the collection and analysis of information specific to the presenting safety risk of the family. It allows for consistent monitoring of the family’s Safety Plan and evaluation of the caregiver’s protective capacity. It also allows for discovery of who families are and what they are already capable of doing, thus providing a more realistic and functional picture for protective capacity assessment.

The North Carolina Family Assessment (NCFA) scale provides a specific section to rate family interactions. Families F.I.R.S.T. will use this scale to provide data to the State. The NCFA Scale specifically rates the following sections in regards to family interactions:

• Overall family interactions
• Bonding with child(ren)
• Expectations of the child(ren)
• Mutual support within the family
• Relationship between parent and caregivers

Service Description for Service #8 of the Service Array

The goal of Visinet, Inc.’s Electronic Monitoring/Global Positioning System (EM/GPS) Program is to provide a cost-effective, non-residential and community based service for juvenile offenders which establishes juvenile accountability. The purpose of the EM program is to provide structure with the proper amount of supervision so that the public is protected, and treatment and services can be provided.

Model

Families F.I.R.S.T. will provide EM/GPS as part of its Safety and In-Home Services array when ordered by DHHS-CFS.. Family Partners and/or Family Assistants will be responsible for providing the service provision for the youth within this program and will remain compliant with the Wraparound Model.

Summary

Electronic Monitoring is an effective option when paired with treatment and/or programming that meets the needs of the juvenile. It is a viable option that gives additional structure and supervision of a juvenile while maintaining the protection of the community, with less cost than secure custody options. However, used alone, EM services themselves have to the contrary shown no evidence of being a further deterrent from engaging in future criminal behavior once the youth is no longer being monitored.

The program proposes solely to use Electronic Monitoring services as an enhancement when combined with other services for the juvenile and their family (i.e., when combined with Tracker Services or Family Support for Juveniles). Although EM provides for increased accountability in the supervision of the youth, it cannot be relied upon to be the only deterrent.

The EM service through the Families F.I.R.S.T. will utilize GPS monitoring systems. GPS technology is used to track the whereabouts of the client throughout the community. There are two types of GPS devices that will be utilized in the performance of this contract: Active GPS and Passive GPS. Active GPS is near real-time GPS data from satellites and is reported immediately to staff. GPS data can be accessed via a secure website as it happens. Passive GPS data is collected and stored throughout the day and reported after the client arrives home and places the device in a docking station connected to their home phone line. The data is reported at that time and can be reviewed by staff via a secure website. Both types of devices plot locations on a map, so staff can review them.

Both types of devices, active and passive, utilize an ankle bracelet design. Data collected include travel speed and direction, time, and date. Exclusion zones are created; therefore, staff may be notified if the client enters the zones. Staff would then contact the client to let them know that they are in a restricted area. Police officers may be notified/dispatched as well if needed. Cell phone technology built into the devices is used to communicate the GPS data to the monitoring center.  GPS allows for the monitoring of clients that may otherwise be required to be detained in more restrictive environments, which is consistent with Families F.I.R.S.T. Wraparound Model, to maintain youth in the least restrictive capacity.

The Electronic Monitoring Program provides several benefits to participants and their families. These benefits include:

• The ability to be supervised in the least restrictive manner in lieu of detainment
• The ability to participate in community-based services in order to implement treatment in a timely manner
  The ability to receive assistance towards rehabilitation within the home environment, where continued success in demonstrating more socially acceptable behavior is the ultimate challenge.

GPS Monitoring, when used in an urban area where cellular coverage is comprehensive, provides an excellent safety tool for community supervision.

Staff who have youth on EM services strive to go beyond mere supervision and community-based surveillance. The Family Partner or Family Assistant works towards engaging the juvenile and the family, and toward assisting them in accessing services which promote a positive change in their lives.
Families F.I.R.S.T. currently has staff that have been trained and certified on the use, installation, monitoring, software and response to EM violations. Efforts will be made to utilize the same staff for multiple service provision to ensure continuity; therefore the team member providing the EM services should be the same staff providing Family Support and Tracking Services.

During the first two weeks on EM services youth will be expected to be at home except for when attending school or other appointments /activities approved by the Family Team. After two-weeks, youth who are able to demonstrate compliance with the EM Program will be eligible for an extended curfew and more free time. This process of incentives will continue until the youth is able to be discharged from EM Services (approximately 60 days). A family team meeting will be held to discuss the appropriateness of discharging the youth from this service.

Youth will be terminated from EM services if:

• They abscond
• Purposefully damage the EM equipment
• Are detained
• Continuously fail to abide by the terms of their EM parameters

Research has shown that EM services loses its effectiveness after 90 days, therefore, no youth, unless data is demonstrating significant improvements to prove otherwise, should receive more than one 30-day extension on EM after they have completed their initial 60 days.

When a youth is placed on EM Services, the program will clearly specify to the client the programmatic expectations, including, for example, school attendance, timely curfews, alcohol and drug abstinence, and contraband prohibitions, and the client will be provided with a statement of procedures used to monitor these conditions and consequences for non-compliance.

Service Description for Service #9 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.’s Families F.I.R.S.T. will provide Tracker services as follow-up on a youth’s daily activities. This follow-up will occur primarily outside of the family home to ensure compliance with the rules of behavior outlined by their parent/caregiver or by their Conditions of Liberty or case plan. This service will be available to youth who are adjudicated as delinquents/status offenders. Although the services will occur mainly outside of the family home, Families F.I.R.S.T. staff will uphold the Wraparound Model by maintaining a family-centered; strengths based approach while providing services to the youth in their community. Staff identified to provide services within this program will also be familiar to the family as their Family Partner or Assistant.

Model

The Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) Model, endorsed by the United States Department of Justice, provides the philosophical ground for many current approaches to juvenile offender programming. BARJ emphasizes that responses to delinquency must ensure public safety and offender accountability, while at the same time supporting offenders to develop competencies that will help them become productive, law-abiding adults.

Summary

The goal of the Tracker program will be to increase a youth’s protective factors through effective interventions. The program, in addition to mere follow-up with their school regarding academic performance, will attempt to assist youth with developing:

• Positive social orientation
• Good relations with their parents
• Positive attitude and commitment towards school
• Increased performance in academic achievement
• Friendships and activities with non-delinquent friends

Researchers have found that programs implemented in the community are significantly more likely to reduce recidivism than are programs implemented in residential settings. A 2002 report on California’s Repeat Offender Prevention Program (ROPP) showed that participants involved in Tracker type programs showed significant improvements in school attendance and academic achievement and were more likely to complete restitution and community service obligations, tested positive for drugs less often, and were less likely to recidivate for new offenses.

Families F.I.R.S.T Tracker Program will include coordination and oversight of a youth’s educational and rehabilitative services, facilitation of community service and restitution completion, drug-testing, in-home support and supervision of the offender, with or without electronic monitoring.
For youth involved in the Tracker Program, assessments at intake will be completed to determine the youth’s needs to ensure that they receive the appropriate services. These same assessments will be administered at discharge to measure a youth’s increase in protective factors (improved academic performance, problem-solving skills, etc).

Family F.I.R.S.T.’s staff will serve as a positive role model and assist youth in making positive life choices. Staff will meet with clients at school and home, and will assist clients in meeting restitution and community service goals. As needed and part of the Tracker Program, staff will assist with transporting youth to and/or from counseling sessions, work detail, and community service destinations.

For those youth requiring a higher level of supervision or who have presented with substance abuse issues, staff will perform drug screens and monitor youth on electronic monitoring devices. Trackers assigned to the program will assure that the youth is meeting their curfew, that they are attending school on a regular basis and will be responsible for contacts with the youth’s school and employer.

Based on a youth’s YLS/CMI score, youth will be placed into one of three Tracker levels that will dictate the amount of face-to-face contact. Youth who are assigned to a Very High Level of service may also be a youth who is required to be placed on Electronic Monitoring and subject to more frequent drug-testing and screening requirements.

Level 1: (For Initial YLS/CMI score Very High)
Minimum of five face-to-face contacts per week, scheduled and unannounced
Daily phone contact
Contact with parent/guardian at least three times per week.
Minimum of three school/employer contacts (if applicable)
Daily curfew check, via phone or in person
Possible EM oversight.

Level 2: (For Initial YLS/CMI score of High)
Minimum of four face-to-face contacts per week, scheduled and unannounced, with phone contact on days the youth is not seen
Contact with parent/guardian at least twice per week
Minimum of two school/employer contacts (if applicable)
Curfew checks at least five of seven nights.

Level 1 (For Initial YLS/CMI score of Moderate)
Minimum of three face-to-face contacts per week, scheduled and unannounced, with phone contact on the other two days where face-to-face does not occur.
Contact with parent/guardian at least once per week.
Minimum of one school/employer contacts (if applicable)
Random curfew checks (minimum of three) during the week.

A youth’s compliance will be reviewed every two weeks to discuss the appropriateness of their current level and the ability to transition down to the next level (or to a higher level if needed).

Service Description for Service #10 of the Service Array

Drug Screening and Testing (DST) of offenders is an extremely important component of “what works.” Treatment is the key to prevention, but first, the offender in need of treatment must be identified. DST can be an effective supervision tool in closely monitoring the behavior of offenders and can possibly deter future drug use and criminal behavior.

Model

The drug testing program through Families F.I.R.S.T. will follow all of the United States Health & Human Services standards and requirements for a collection site. All verification of testing is done through a laboratory that is SAMHSA approved. The collection sites require that staff follow a strict set of compliance and chain of custody in the handling of all testing. Families F.I.R.S.T. will adopt the procedures as outlined by SAMHSA.

Summary

Collectively, our agencies present with over four years of experience in providing drug screening services. The DST through Families F.I.R.S.T will utilize the 10-Panel I-CUP which tests for the following:

• Cocaine
• Amphetamine
• Methamphetamine
• Marijuana (THC)
• Opiates
• Phencyclidine
• Barbiturates
• Benzodiazepine
• Methadone
• Ecstasy

Drug screening will include a combination of home and site options as requested by CFS. All youth assigned for screening will be assigned to have both scheduled and random drug screens. Site-based drug screens will be available at multiple locations to accommodate youth which is in alignment with our Wraparound Model.
Upon enrollment and referral to the DST Program, youth will be randomly assigned a reporting color. Youth are responsible for making contact with the agency to determine which color is being called that day for a random drug screen. CFS will be notified in the event that a youth fails to report for their drug screen.

For validity of testing results, Families F.I.R.S.T. requires the addition of a Medical Review Officer (MRO), a person who is a licensed physician and responsible for receiving and reviewing laboratory results generated by a collection site’s drug testing program and evaluating medical explanations for certain drug test results.

Service Description for Service #11 of the Service Array

Visinet, Inc.’s Respite services are designed to establish short-term intervention or temporary relief to parents and children. This will be provided by either an informal support person identified by the family and approved by DHHS-CFS, by a licensed foster parent who has been identified as a mentor for the family team, or by CRCC for child(ren) who may require the specialized assistance from a nurse or unique caregiver due to his/her behavioral health, medically fragile or developmental disability. Families F.I.R.S.T. will encourage the use of informal supports for the use of respite whenever possible. If the family does not have an identified informal support system, the Family Mentor (foster parent) will provide this service.

Model

In compliance with Wraparound, the family will have the opportunity to approve the planned respite opportunities given the family-driven principle. The Family Mentor, already having an existing connection with the family as a member of the team, will be able to fulfill this role. The respite provider will be able to assume responsibility for the child and provide a structure similar to that of the family as well as adhering to the established parental rules and guidelines in regard to the child.

Summary

Respite services may be provided in two capacities. The first option would be planned respite. Families will be able to access planned respite up to twelve times per year (the year will begin when the youth initially receives their first authorized respite event) (16 hour maximum per occurrence). The Family Facilitator will work collaboratively with the family to determine the necessity, the frequency, and the location of the planned respite.

The second option in which respite services may be utilized is crisis respite. Crisis respite will provide services to a child and family for up to 72 hours when a situation has arisen in which a child and family would benefit from a brief period of time to calm down, establish and initiate a plan to reduce the likelihood of the crisis reoccurring and take any necessary steps to implement the plan.

At inception of the case, a plan for implementation and utilization for crisis respite will be established so that if this service is needed it is immediately available to the family. Ideally, the identified informal support network will be accessible when a crisis occurs. Crisis respite services may also be provided by the identified Family Mentor.

The Family Mentor or informal respite provider will also meet with the family upon the return of the child to allow for re-engagement following the respite stay. During the period of re-engagement the Family Mentor will communicate with the parents, the skill and/or behavioral focus implemented and the outcomes achieved during the respite period. The family team will review the existing safety plan to ensure that the plan is effective and will continue to meet the safety needs and protective capacity of the family.