The Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) was designed so that children living out of their home would be provided the most appropriate placement in committed nurturing resource (foster) homes. Services and supports will be tailored based on each child’s needs. All of these services and supports fall into 6 Core Services: mental health, transition support upon entry, educational/physical/behavioral/extracurricular support, transition to adulthood support, permanency support, and Indian child services.
The Trinity Youth Services (TYS) team, along with our resource (foster) families, will directly provide the core services and support to children, Non-Minor Dependents (NMD) and their families, fulfilling the requirements of the CCR.
Previously we outlined the fifth Core Service, Permanency Support Services. This month we will look at Indian Child Services.
When serving Native American children, Trinity Youth Services will ensure they receive all the core services and support in accordance to the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act.
These services will be in the best interest of the children including culturally appropriate, child-centered practices that respect Native American history, culture, retention of tribal membership, and connection to the tribal community and traditions. Trinity Youth Services resource parents are trained to participate in cultural activities with all children on a monthly basis.
This concludes our series on Core Services. Check back next time when we discuss Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Jackie Jakob, Foster Care and Adoptions Director
Having over 20 years’ experience, Jackie currently oversees Trinity Youth Services’ operations of foster care and adoptions programs throughout Southern California and in Houston, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in law and society from University of California Santa Barbara, a master’s degree in social work from California State University Long Beach and recently became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband and two children attending various baseball, softball and judo meets. She is on the parent board for a judo dojo and is one of the troop leaders for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Additionally, she really enjoys running half marathons and aims to run 4 to 5 races each year.
Tel: 909.825.5588 | Email: info@trinityys.org
The Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) was designed so that children living out of their home would be provided the most appropriate placement in committed nurturing resource (foster) homes. Services and supports will be tailored based on each child’s needs. All of these services and supports fall into 6 Core Services: mental health, transition support upon entry, educational/physical/behavioral/extracurricular support, transition to adulthood support, permanency support, and Native American child services.
The Trinity Youth Services (TYS) team, along with our resource (foster) families, will directly provide the core services and support to children, Non-Minor Dependents (NMD) and their families, fulfilling the requirements of the CCR.
Last month we outlined the fourth core services, Transition to Adulthood Support. This month we will look at Permanency Support Services.
This core service is critical to all children in out of home care. The primary goal is to find a permanent home for each child so that they do not continue to grow up in foster care. Biological family is always the first choice to provide permanency, but when this option is not possible, resource parents step in to provide a permanent home.
TYS’s mission is “helping children and families create a better future.” We achieve this by assisting in reunification services including transporting to and monitoring family visitation. TYS also is an active participant in the Child and Family Team Meetings. TYS ensures that children are assessed and receive mental health services to assist in stabilizing and achieving permanency. TYS also provides appropriate assessment and matching for children and youth to achieve permanency. Additionally, our team supports all efforts to reunify or achieve adoption or guardianship and efforts to maintain or establish relationships with parents, siblings, extended family members, tribes, or others important to the child or youth, as appropriate.
Check back next month for our final blog on core services, which will focus on Native American child services.
Jackie Jakob, Foster Care and Adoptions Director
Having over 20 years’ experience, Jackie currently oversees Trinity Youth Services’ operations of foster care and adoptions programs throughout Southern California and in Houston, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in law and society from University of California Santa Barbara, a master’s degree in social work from California State University Long Beach and recently became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband and two children attending various baseball, softball and judo meets. She is on the parent board for a judo dojo and is one of the troop leaders for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Additionally, she really enjoys running half marathons and aims to run 4 to 5 races each year.
Tel: 909.825.5588 | Email: info@trinityys.org
The Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) was designed so that children living out of their home would be provided the most appropriate placement in committed nurturing resource (foster) homes. Services and supports will be tailored based on each child’s needs. All of these services and supports fall into 6 Core Services: mental health, transition support upon entry, educational/physical/behavioral/extracurricular support, transition to adulthood support, permanency support, and Native American child services.
The Trinity Youth Services (TYS) team, along with our resource (foster) families, will directly provide the core services and support to children, Non-Minor Dependents (NMD) and their families, fulfilling the requirements of the CCR.
Last month we outlined the third core services, educational/physical/behavioral/extracurricular supports. This month we will look at transition to adulthood support.
This core service is critical to our older youth in care. Think back to when you were 18. Were you ready to live on your own with no support whatsoever? Extended foster care changed policies so that youth could stay in foster care through the age of 21 years old, allowing four more years of preparation time for the youth to be successful as adults. During this extended time in foster care, the NMDs must meet certain criteria to remain eligible for services. For example, they must be in school or working.
TYS is committed to supporting children and Non-Minor Dependents in achieving a successful adulthood. A huge part of this support comes from resource families opening their homes to teens and making them part of the family. Treatment Foster Care Social Workers (TFCSWs) along with the resource parents work closely together to provide educational and employment support to the youth by assisting in job search, support in completing job applications and providing the youth the opportunity to visit local colleges.
TFCSW will assist in the implementation of the Transitional Independent Living Plan (TILP) by working directly with the youth on achieving goals set within the plan. Youth will participate in independent living skills groups. Additionally, TYS will assist youth in establishing lifelong connections by assisting the youth find and connect with family and/or nonrelated family members.
In my next blog, I will discuss permanency support. This topic dives into the important support offered to TYS youth as the agency and families strive to achieve a permanent environment for children in foster care, either through reunification or adoption.
Jackie Jakob, Foster Care and Adoptions Director
Having over 20 years’ experience, Jackie currently oversees Trinity Youth Services’ operations of foster care and adoptions programs throughout Southern California and in Houston, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in law and society from University of California Santa Barbara, a master’s degree in social work from California State University Long Beach and recently became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband and two children attending various baseball, softball and judo meets. She is on the parent board for a judo dojo and is one of the troop leaders for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Additionally, she really enjoys running half marathons and aims to run 4 to 5 races each year.
Tel: 909.825.5588 | Email: info@trinityys.org
The Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) was designed so that children living out of their home would be provided the most appropriate placement in committed nurturing resource (foster) homes. Services and supports will be tailored based on each child’s needs. All of these services and supports fall into 6 Core Services: mental health, transition support upon entry, educational/physical/behavioral/extracurricular support, transition to adulthood support, permanency support, and Native American child services.
The Trinity Youth Services (TYS) team, along with our resource (foster) families, will directly provide the core services and support to children, Non-minor Dependents (NMD) and their families, fulfilling the requirements of the CCR.
Last month we outlined the second core services, transition support services and what that entails. This month we will look at educational, physical, behavioral, and extracurricular support. This core service covers a wide range of items that will help each child feel more “normal” in foster care.
Educational
TYS will ensure that resource parents enroll school-aged children within three school days. The Treatment Foster Care Social Worker (TFCSW) will assist the resource parent if the school does not enroll the child immediately. TYS will ensure that children have access to the same academic resources as other students. TYS will ensure that if a child is struggling in school, the TFCSW along with the Child and Family Team will request that the school hold a Student Study Team (SST) meeting and/or an assessment for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The TFCSW will ensure that tutoring services are received, if needed. The TFCSW will assist youth in vocational and/or college preparatory tasks. The TFCSW will ensure that children and youth are receiving life skills training by the resource parents.
Physical, Behavioral, & Mental Health
The TFCSW will ensure that resource parents obtain all medical, dental, behavioral, and mental health services that the child needs with set time frames. The TFCSW will ensure that all children and youth have support and advocacy with respect to prompt and culturally sensitive interventions when being bullied for any reason, such as physical characteristics, foster care status, sexual orientation/gender identity expression (SOGIE), race/ethnicity, or age. Resource parents and the TFCSW are to work closely together to serve the needs of the children. Whenever there is a concern or question the resource parent should be notifying their assigned TFCSW.
Extracurricular
Part of normalizing the children’s experience in foster care is to get them involved in activities or groups either at school or in the community. Schools have a variety of clubs children can join—choir, art club, or sports. In the community, there are various recreational activities—swimming, baseball, softball, or Girl or Boy Scouts. Resource parent must include the children in making the choice of what type of activity interests them. Being involved in such activities helps the children feel connected to other people and make friends with other children with similar interests. Many communities offer short classes through their parks and recreation departments, this is an inexpensive way to expose your children to a variety of activities.
My next blog will cover transition to adulthood support. This topic dives into the important support offered to TYS youth as they obtain independence.
Jackie Jakob, Foster Care and Adoptions Director
Having over 20 years’ experience, Jackie currently oversees Trinity Youth Services’ operations of foster care and adoptions programs throughout Southern California and in Houston, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in law and society from University of California Santa Barbara, a master’s degree in social work from California State University Long Beach and recently became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband and two children attending various baseball, softball and judo meets. She is on the parent board for a judo dojo and is one of the troop leaders for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Additionally, she really enjoys running half marathons and aims to run 4 to 5 races each year.
Tel: 909.825.5588 | Email: info@trinityys.org
The Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) was designed so that children living out of their home would be provided the most appropriate placement in committed nurturing foster homes. Services and supports will be tailored, based on each child’s needs. All of these services and supports fall into 6 Core Services: mental health, transition support upon entry, educational/physical/behavioral/extracurricular support, transition to adulthood support, permanency support, and Native American child services.
The Trinity Youth Services (TYS) team, along with our foster/resource families, will directly provide the core services and support to children, Non-minor Dependents (NMD) and their families fulfilling the requirements of CCR.
Last month we outlined the first core services: specialty mental health services, and how TYS will provide that service. This month we will look at transition support services. Transition support services focus on initial entry and when a placement changes for a child.
TYS Treatment Foster Care Social Workers (TFCSW) along with the Child and Family Team (CFT) will develop a permanency goal upon entry and when a placement changes, and will determine what services are needed to support the family through permanency. A permanency goal will either be reunification, adoption or guardianship. The CFT must include the child, resource parents, biological family, County Social Workers and any other identified support of the child. The TFCSW will prepare the child and the resource parent on what to expect at a CFT meeting and will encourage the child to voice their needs to the team. Each CFT meeting will be unique and based on the needs of the child and family. At that time, a case plan will be developed. Each member of the team may be tasked to be responsible for items of the plan.
Upon initial entry into placement, TYS works directly with resource parents and the biological family to coordinate visitation as directed by the court order. Visitation services, including monitoring and transportation to and from visits, are the responsibility of the resource parents and agency.
In the event of a placement change, the TCFSW will explain the need for the change in an age appropriate manner. If appropriate, the youth will have a say in the change of placement. When a youth is known to be transferring from another agency, TYS will work with the other agency to ensure the transition is smooth. TYS will request and provide all records of the youth including, but not limited to, medical and educational records.
TYS will also assist the child in family finding in order to locate family members or other supportive adults that may be willing to provide permanency.
TYS will provide resource parents with temporary care to assist in stabilizing and maintaining placement.
Stay tuned for my next blog, which will cover educational/physical/behavioral/extracurricular support. This topic delves into the important support offered to TYS children in their everyday lives.
Jackie Jakob, Foster Care and Adoptions Director
Having over 20 years’ experience, Jackie currently oversees Trinity Youth Services’ operations of foster care and adoptions programs throughout Southern California and in Houston, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in law and society from University of California Santa Barbara, a master’s degree in social work from California State University Long Beach and recently became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband and two children attending various baseball, softball and judo meets. She is on the parent board for a judo dojo and is one of the troop leaders for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Additionally, she really enjoys running half marathons and aims to run 4 to 5 races each year.
Tel: 909.825.5588 | Email: info@trinityys.org
The Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) was designed so that children living out of their home would be provided the most appropriate placement in committed nurturing foster homes. Services and supports will be tailored based on each child’s needs. All of these services and supports fall into 6 Core Services: mental health, transition support upon entry, educational/physical/behavioral/extracurricular support, transition to adulthood support, permanency support, and Native American child services.
The Trinity Youth Services (TYS) team, along with our foster/resource families, will directly provide the core services and support to children, Non-minor Dependents (NMD) and their families fulfilling the requirements of CCR.
In this blog, we will outline the first Core Services, Specialty Mental Health Services, and how TYS will provide that service.
Trinity Youth Services is contracted with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LADMH) as well as San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health (SBDBH) to provide an array of Specialty Mental Health Services including: Individual/Family Therapy, Collateral Interventions, Medication Support, Therapeutic Behavior Services (TBS), In Home Behavior Support, and Targeted Case Management. These services are delivered by therapists meeting the requirements of each County’s contracts and the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. TYS therapists are trained in Evidence-Based Practices and Outcome Measures designed to meet the needs of the children served.
Assessment
Each child receives a comprehensive assessment upon intake to determine the appropriate course of treatment involving therapy, medication, school, recreation, reunification with family, or transitional housing. Once the assessment is completed, a treatment plan is developed with the Child and Family Team (CFT) to determine goals intended to reduce symptoms, improve behavior, and improve interactions with family and other areas of concern. The primary goal is to return each child to his/her family whenever this is possible and appropriate, to a lower level of placement, or to another permanent placement such as adoption.
Individual Treatment
Each child who meets medical necessity receives individual therapy on a weekly basis, provided by a highly-qualified therapist. Therapy is conducted in English, or efforts are made to secure staff to assist in providing services in the most comfortable language for the child, along with appropriate cultural competency and humility. Sessions can address a multitude of presenting problems, including those relating to trauma, anger, victimization, substance abuse, and mood disorders (anxiety, depression, etc.). Therapists are able to utilize several Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) that fit the specific challenges of each child, and they will monitor progress with accompanying outcome measures.
Family Therapy and Family Reunification
Family plays a very important role in successful treatment. Every effort is made by the CFT to ensure family contact/participation, including assistance with transportation or language barriers. This will be accomplished under the guidelines of the Core Practice Model through Child Family Team Meetings (CFTM). Family therapy occurs at least monthly or more often as needed.
Evidence-Based Practices
All children are assessed to determine the best course of treatment to address their mental health needs. In addition to the standard therapeutic methods for which clinicians are routinely trained, Trinity offers three other Evidence-Based Practices designed to address a variety of complex mental health issues:
- Seeking Safety: Seeking Safety is a trauma informed model focusing on developing alternative functional coping skills. It also addresses topics related to anger management, substance abuse and prevention. Seeking Safety, while used in Individual Therapy as appropriate, is also the group model for Anger Management and Drug Prevention;
- Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TFCBT): TFCBT is an individual, short-term treatment that involves individual and joint sessions with the child and parent. The goal of TFCBT is to help address the bio-psychosocial needs of the child and sharing their trauma narrative with their parents or primary caregivers. Some TYS therapists are similarly trained in Individual Cognitive Behavior Therapy (I-CBT);
- Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP): This approach allows the clinicians to adapt treatment to scenarios where children have more than one problem area. This approach uses research studies, tracks progress, and implements multiple interventions best suited to the individual child.
Medication Support
Psychiatric evaluations are initially conducted by a licensed psychiatrist to determine if medications are needed and to provide further diagnostic information to the assessing therapist. If medications are prescribed, the child attends follow up psychiatric visits at least monthly, or as often as needed as determined by the treating doctor. When medication is not necessary/prescribed, children may continue psychiatric care if referred for specific issues or needs.
Stay tuned for my next blog, which will cover transition support. This topic dives into the important support offered to TYS children as they enter foster care.
Jackie Jakob, Foster Care and Adoptions Director
Having over 20 years’ experience, Jackie currently oversees Trinity Youth Services’ operations of foster care and adoptions programs throughout Southern California and in Houston, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in law and society from University of California Santa Barbara, a master’s degree in social work from California State University Long Beach and recently became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband and two children attending various baseball, softball and judo meets. She is on the parent board for a judo dojo and is one of the troop leaders for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Additionally, she really enjoys running half marathons and aims to run 4 to 5 races each year.
Tel: 909.825.5588 | Email: info@trinityys.org
