Family and Youth Assistance Network
Project Description:
For over two years, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (AR DHS) led a major systems change initiative to improve and create a System of Care for children with severe emotional disturbance and their families. Arkansas Act 1593 of 2007 creates a Children?s Behavioral Health Care Commission to advance a System of Care that is: family-driven, child-centered and youth-guided, including family participation at all levels of the services system; community-based, with decision-making responsibility and management at the regional and local levels; and culturally competent, with agencies, programs and services responsive to the cultural and individual differences of the populations they serve.
In October 2007, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (AR DHS) was awarded a three-year Person-Centered Planning (PCP) grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which served as a critical opportunity to advance System of Care efforts by:
1) Defining and implementing a Person-centered planning process for children and youth with emotional disturbance and their families;
2) Developing training tools and mechanisms to implement the chosen process and model, appropriately tailored to the needs of families and communities; and
3) Creating the family and youth support infrastructure (through the Family and Youth Assistance Network, or FYAN) to ensure supports and services are aligned and developed according to the express strengths, needs, and desires of children, youth and their caregivers.
4) Developing a Comprehensive Community-based Resource Directory, administered by the FYAN, which will complement the PCP process by helping gain a more comprehensive picture of the availability of or gaps in informal and formal supports across Arkansas communities.
The state agency enlisted the UCEDD to administer the entire project through a sub-contract.
Keyword(s):
Mental Illness, Person-centered Planning, Advocacy, Family Support
Core Function(s):
Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Health-Related Activities, Quality of Life
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN, Legislators/Policy Makers, General Public
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Urban, Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
State
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
