When people find out where I work, they usually say something like, “Oooooh, that must be great to feel good about where you work.”
It is. And I do feel great – it’s the greatest job I’ve ever had. In fact, if you were to say this to me, you would be toast. Meaning, I would talk for longer than you’d probably like about how great LSI is.
Well, today I’m fawning a little extra on LSI. I’ve been working on some projects around our new program on our residential treatment campuses. It’s called Family Guided Group Care, and it’s something not many, if any, Iowa agencies are doing. And certainly not to this extent.
Family Guided Group Care adds components to residential treatment for children that are not covered by reimbursement. The crazy thing about that is that everyone knows it makes treatment more successful. So, you’ve got something that makes the treatment of youth successful, but no one can pay for it. Well, at LSI we believe that it’s too important not to provide, and the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust based in Muscatine, Iowa agreed.
Residential treatment for kids is highly structured mental health care that is delivered 24/7 to kids age 5-18. Our professionals help kids overcome significant trauma and mental health barriers. These kids have endured things in their life that many adults just couldn’t handle, and although our humble staff wouldn’t admit it, they are often lifelines for the kids.
When kids leave our campus, it’s tough for everyone. While a kid may have made amazing progress while in treatment, they’re leaving a highly structured environment and 24-hour care by professionals. The family/guardian that they return home to is most likely not a mental health professional, and can’t be expected to maintain what the child had while in care.
That’s where this program comes in.
LSI’s Family Guided Group Care is centered around the fact that meaningful family involvement in treatment gets better results. So we’re adding:
- Family Team Meetings at intake. This is cool – it gathers important people in the kid’s life together to unearth their strengths, and what can be done to help them. All from people who know the child best. Naturally, this helps LSI prepare the best treatment plan.
- Home visits within 45 days of intake. An LSI therapist visits the child’s home to encourage family involvement and process the child’s home environment, which again makes a better informed treatment plan, and an even better plan for transitioning home.
- In-home services during home visits. LSI provides 24-hour support and intervention services to families when the child leaves our campus for a home visit.
- Family engagement weekends. LSI brings families to our campuses and we use evidence-based curriculum to provide intensive training and support for parents/guardians to help the child succeed at home. Families also have the opportunity to meet other families who are having similar experiences, which has proven to be a considerable benefit. LSI assists with family transportation and lodging costs.
- Family training events. Family fun days and skill building/strengthening training bring families together for an enjoyable and educational experience.
- Aftercare services. After a child is discharged, LSI makes follow-up calls to the home, visits the home and responds to crisis calls.
While we started family engagement and home visits on a small scale a few years ago, this new program provides the framework for measuring outcomes and showcasing the success of these program components. Most importantly, it gives us the opportunity to offer these services to all our kids and families. That means better results for the kids, the families and the state of Iowa’s child welfare initiatives.
Hopefully the success of this program will help underscore the importance of funding these services. Imagine if you went to get a pair of glasses, and all you got to hold the frames together were simple plastic pins. The screws for keeping frames together cost $5,000 each. Sure, your glasses help you see, but as soon as those plastic pins slip out, it doesn’t matter how great the lenses are – you need them to stay on your head! But understandably, your insurance company isn’t going to shell out $10,000 for 2 screws to hold your glasses on. Where do you start?!
Thanks to the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, who, like LSI, believes that this program is too important to Iowa kids and families to leave on the table.
