Understanding Systems of Care

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) provides an excellent description of what systems of care are and why they are needed.

What Are Systems of Care?

A system of care is a wide range of mental health and related services and supports organized to work together to provide care. It is designed to help a child or adolescent with serious emotional disturbances, with the involvement of his or her family, get the services they need in or near their home and community. In systems of care, local, public and private organizations work in teams to plan and implement a tailored set of services for each individual child's physical, emotional, social, educational, and family needs. Teams include family advocates and many consist of representatives from mental health, health, education, child welfare, juvenile justice, vocational counseling, recreation, substance abuse, or other organizations (see following graphic on "Components of Systems of Care") . Teams find and build upon the strengths of a child and his or her family, rather than focusing solely on their problems. Teams work with individual families - including the children - and with other caregivers as partners when developing a plan for the child and when making decisions affecting his or her care.

Circle Around Families hold the values and ideals stated below as elements to guide the process to develop a system of care for children's mental health.

Core Values

1. The Circle Around Families - system of care is child-centered and family focused, with the needs of the child and family dictating the type of services.
2. Circle Around Families is a community-based system of care with the management and operation of services in the heart of East Chicago, Hammond and Gary communities.
3. Circle Around Families' system of care is culturally competent with staff, programs and services responsive to the cultural, racial and ethnic differences of the communities we serve.

Guiding Principles

1. We believe children with emotional disturbances should have access to any array of comprehensive services, which address the child's physical, emotional, social, cultural, spiritual and educational needs.
2. All services for children with emotional disturbances shall be individualized catering to the individual's strengths and needs.
3. Children with emotional disturbances should receive services within the least restrictive of environments, if clinically appropriate.
4. Family or surrogate family participation in their children's planning and delivery of services is a key component.
5. Children with emotional disturbances shall receive multi-agency collaborative services, which are integrated and coordinated with the child's physical, cultural, emotional, social and educational needs. Such collaborations will not only bring importance to identifying needs and planning services, but also in developing, funding, and operating services.
6. Case management services shall be provided to ensure that multiple services are delivered in a coordinated and therapeutic manner. All services shall be provided in a flexible manner as the child and families' needs evolve and develop.
7. Early identification and intervention for children with emotional disturbances is necessary to enhance the likelihood of positive outcome within this system of care.
8. Circle Around Families will assist in facilitating the transition of services for the child with emotional disturbances into the adult service system as the child reaches maturity.
9. Effective advocacy for the child and the family is promoted and the rights of the child are protected.
10. Services are sensitive and responsive to the child's cultural differences and special needs. Children receive services regardless of race, religion, national origin, sex, physical disability or other characteristics.

Operational Characteristics

• Shared governance
• Shared outcomes
• Traditional and non-traditional services and supports
• Centralized gateway to services
• Interagency/family service planning teams
• Interagency/family service monitoring teams
• Cross-agency case management or care coordination
• Blended or pooled funding
• Cross-agency management information systems