June 27, 2013 9-11am
Individualized Alternative Programs-A Response to High Activity Adolescents
Redefining residential treatment has become necessary for successful outcomes in the current system of care.  In order to meet the needs of higher acuity, more difficult to serve youth, the Children’s Foundation of Mid-America has developed the Individualized Alternative Program (IAP). The impetus for this type of programming has arisen from the growing number of children in care with severe emotional disturbances. 

Techniques such as behavior modification and reward systems are increasingly struggling to be successful with youth who suffer from trauma, recurring depression, and reactive attachment related problems.  The IAP program is not simply residential care, but a program of specialized intervention in which the youth are treated for their specific emotional disorder or mental illness along with being transitioned into independent living by working with other agencies to identify supports and long term resources, including aftercare.

Our primary treatment model is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). DBT is an evidenced based practice, stemming from Cognitive Behavioral therapy that is focused on teaching the client to manage dysregulated emotions, tolerate distressful emotions and situations as well as how to maintain healthy non-abusive relationships.  This model is based on research and practice by Marsha Linehan. (eg. Linehan, Armstrong, Suarez, Alllmon & Heard, 1991; Linehan et al., 1999). In the practice of residential DBT with adolescents at CFMA, there are 3 concurrent modes of treatment. These include individual therapy, DBT group, and 24 hour skills coaching by staff as needed.  The treatment consult team also meets weekly to learn and practice skills and staff clients. Family therapy is also part of the DBT continuum, along with a DBT group just for parents or caregivers. Ongoing weekly training is also given to front line staff.

Clients in the IAP programs also participate in individualized educational plans that meet their unique learning needs .CFMA works very closely with the local schools to help implement the individualized education plan, including sending staff to school with the client, or working with the client on home based schooling if necessary. 

The IAP programs are truly “residential without walls”. Clients are regularly provided with the opportunity to work at jobs where they can be successful or volunteer. CFMA has very productive relationships with vocational counselors and employers in the area that will work with our staff to find an educational or employment fit for our clients.

Collaboration with local agencies has proven invaluable to the wrap around success of the IAP model. From the initial referral through to after care, partnering agencies participate in treatment planning and follow up with the clients.

As an aftercare component, clients are assigned mentors during their residential stay who are a  part of their treatment plan. The mentor follows the clients after discharge and for as long as necessary, reporting regularly back to the team. The mentor role is especially critical for the older adolescents who will need to continue to establish skills for living independently.

Traditional residential treatment as we have known it for so many years has become outdated and ineffective. In order to have success with more severely disturbed adolescents, the service delivery system must acclimate clinically in order to accommodate the chronic trauma and attachment issues that are more consistently present in the children that we are dedicated to serve.

Speaker: Anita Kiessling-Caver MSW LCSW

Masters of Clinical Social Work—University of Missouri- Columbia, Bachelor of Arts, English Literature, Licensed in Missouri since 1996

Regional Vice-President, Central Region Children’s Foundation of Mid-America, Clinical and administrative oversight of intensive adolescent residential program and outpatient clinic. Clinical consult to other regions

Program development and design based on evidence based clinical practices, including dialectical behavioral therapy milieu implementation

Adjunct Instructor UMC School of Social Work Classes taught have been Addictions Treatment and Human Behavior

Past Experience: Counseling and Addictions Treatment Coordinator, University Behavioral Health, University of Missouri Healthcare

Outpatient Program Director, Family Counseling Center of Missouri, Inc.

Clinical Director,  Family Counseling Center, Cedar Ridge, Men’s residential drug and alcohol treatment center.  Included development of contract compliant programs. Clinic Coordinator, Family Counseling Center Jefferson City clinic. Hospice Social Worker, Randolph County Health Department. Masters Level Therapist, Family Counseling Center of Mo Inc.

Moderator:

Neal Sternberg M.S.C.J.A. , 38 years professional experience in residential and youth services, Neal received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology from Ohio University, completed additional graduate work in Urban Studies Public Administration at Akron University, and received his Masters in Criminal Justice Administration from San Diego State University. Neal began working as a camp counselor in 1966 and has worked with kids and youth programs without much of a break since. Work in Probation, Mental Health, and Residential Treatment Centers throughout his career. 28+ years as an Executive Director/Administrator with Victor Treatment Centers, a multifaceted residential, school, and out-patient Mental Health Programs for Mentally-ill youth serving kids and families.

Neal currently is the principle with Sternberg Consulting, providing expert witness services, program assessment and evaluation, strategic planning, client outcomes development, a variety of training, restraint and seclusion reduction, assisting with the development of youth guided parent driven models of care, providing  client incident investigation, and child advocacy.

August 9, 2013-

Managing Transformational Offerings

The focus of this webinar will be on strategy to shift from service management to transformation management.   Although our existing system is current organized and financed as a service delivery system, an increasing number of policy makers are recognizing the fundamental error of this approach.  Accordingly the systems are beginning to rethink the system as one that is intended to give children, youth and families an opportunity to change their lives in fundamental ways.   Rethinking residential treatment as a transformational offering is a key strategy for success in this coming paradigm shift.    Basics of developing and implementing the management of changes processes will be presented and discussed.

Speaker:  John Lyons Ph.D.

In 2008, John S. Lyons, Ph.D. became the first Endowed Chair of Child and Youth Mental Health on the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Ottawa and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.  Prior to that, he was a Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the founding Director of the Mental Health Services and Policy Program.  He has published nearly 200 peer reviewed articles and six books, including Redressing the Emperor:  Improving our children’s public mental health service system and his latest Communimetrics:  A communication theory of measurement for human service enterprises.   He has developed and implemented outcomes management tools, such as the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia.  He actively works at the interface between mental healthcare, child welfare, youth justice, and education. 

Moderator:

Neal Sternberg M.S.C.J.A. , 38 years professional experience in residential and youth services, Neal received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology from Ohio University, completed additional graduate work in Urban Studies Public Administration at Akron University, and received his Masters in Criminal Justice Administration from San Diego State University. Neal began working as a camp counselor in 1966 and has worked with kids and youth programs without much of a break since. Work in Probation, Mental Health, and Residential Treatment Centers throughout his career. 28+ years as an Executive Director/Administrator with Victor Treatment Centers, a multifaceted residential, school, and out-patient Mental Health Programs for Mentally-ill youth serving kids and families.

Neal currently is the principle with Sternberg Consulting, providing expert witness services, program assessment and evaluation, strategic planning, client outcomes development, a variety of training, restraint and seclusion reduction, assisting with the development of youth guided parent driven models of care, providing  client incident investigation, and child advocacy.

October 17, 2013

Creating the Environment for Positive Self-Advocacy

This webinar, delivered by an alumna of the foster care and mental health systems, discusses what young people need and what adults can do to ensure that young people have a safe and productive environment to learn to advocate for themselves in their own case planning. The presenter discusses what positive self-advocacy is, what this looks like in both a negative and a positive light, and how adults can partner with young people to ensure that self-advocacy is recognized and developed in a positive manner. The Trauma Informed Method of Engagement is also discussed as a contextual model for this youth-adult relationship.

Presenter: Lacy Kendrick Burk, M.S. Executive Director - Youth M.O.V.E. National lacykendrick@gmail.com

Lacy serves as Executive Director of Youth MOVE National.  Ms. Kendrick and her five younger siblings were placed in foster care when she was age 15, and she spent six years in foster care. She aged out at 21 and is currently undergoing adoption proceedings with her long time foster parents.  

After serving as a youth consultant, Lacy Kendrick joined the staff of the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development in October 2008 where she worked with youth and adults around issues concerning youth engagement and served as the lead for the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) project. She has served on several boards addressing adoption and foster care issues, including the Missouri State Youth Advisory Board, the ABA-Bar Empowerment Project National Advisory Board and the Multicultural Advisory Committee for the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Adoption. Ms. Kendrick Burk also recently joined the youth committee of the International Foster Care Organization. Her focus areas include youth engagement in systems change, youth adult partnerships, youth leadership development, and evaluation.  

Ms. Kendrick Burk obtained her Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology at Missouri State University and her Master's in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Organizational Psychology at William Carey University, where she is also pursuing her Master's in Business Administration.  Ms. Kendrick continues to advocate for positive outcomes for older foster youth.

Moderator:

Neal Sternberg M.S.C.J.A. , 38 years professional experience in residential and youth services, Neal received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology from Ohio University, completed additional graduate work in Urban Studies Public Administration at Akron University, and received his Masters in Criminal Justice Administration from San Diego State University. Neal began working as a camp counselor in 1966 and has worked with kids and youth programs without much of a break since. Work in Probation, Mental Health, and Residential Treatment Centers throughout his career. 28+ years as an Executive Director/Administrator with Victor Treatment Centers, a multifaceted residential, school, and out-patient Mental Health Programs for Mentally-ill youth serving kids and families.

Neal currently is the principle with Sternberg Consulting, providing expert witness services, program assessment and evaluation, strategic planning, client outcomes development, a variety of training, restraint and seclusion reduction, assisting with the development of youth guided parent driven models of care, providing  client incident investigation, and child advocacy.

December 2013

Practical uses of data in your agency

AACRC Research Committee

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Email anovotny@alliance1.org to register or call 414-359-6548