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April 23, 2008

New PA Institute to Target Wraparound Services

The Children’s Bureau in the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has been working with the University of Pittsburgh and its community partners to develop, implement, and manage the Pennsylvania Youth and Family Training institute. This Institute is the next phase in the evolution of the children’s behavioral health movement in Pennsylvania. It builds upon the work of the former CASSP Institute, and will be the centerpiece of the OMHSAS effort to transform the Pennsylvania's Children's Behavioral Health System. The Institute will provide training, technical assistance, and monitoring to engage and empower youth and their families in the treatment and recovery process.

The Institute has been assembling an Advisory Board composed of equal representation of youth, families, and professionals. Shannon Fagan became the Executive Director on March 3, 2008. The Institute, in conjunction with the Children’s Bureau, has been working with counties and behavioral health managed care organizations to identify several counties to serve as “early implementers” of youth and family teams, utilizing the High Fidelity Wraparound practice model. This is a specific approach that is evidence based and will have fidelity to the national researched program - www.rtc.pdx.edu/nwi.

The Institute will be training facilitators in counties to run wraparound meetings – meetings at which the family and child's strengths and needs will be discussed.  Natural resources will be identified and used – for example, ensuring a child is on the local soft ball team if that is strength.

In the future, these facilitators should be funded through Medical Assistance, which has occurred in other states.