Youth Villages opened in 1986, and now provides children’s mental health services across 24 states in over 100 locations. They take pride in increasing positive outcomes for the children and families who participate in their services. In 2018, they reported 88% of the children they previously served are living successfully at home with their families 12 months after completing their programs! Youth Villages offers various programs for children and families involved with foster care. They strive to support both the child and the family to heal and support reunification.
The Standardized Assessment Protocol lifted off in six North Carolina counties in the summer of 2019 with the task of partnering private providers with the local DSSes to administer trauma assessments for youth in foster care. When beginning this project, Benchmarks and DSSes knew one thing for certain--finding a trauma-informed and trauma-practicing group of providers would be vital to first assess children for trauma and then to link the applicable children to the services they need. Youth Villages is one of the three private provider organizations that were selected to participate in this project. In a notable commitment to the project, they have partnered with two separate Local Management Entities- Managed Care Organizations while participating in SAP. This partnership has provided access to a Trauma Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment, or “TiCCA”, for foster children across multiple counties. Youth Villages has been a remarkable partner throughout this process. They have shown immense flexibility in working with other provider agencies and the Department of Social Services. They have maintained a child-centered mindset to ensure the youth in foster care are receiving quality trauma assessments.
Recently, Youth Villages saw their first set of children start on the SAP pathway, meaning their clinicians assessed the children using Benchmarks’ Trauma Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment, which encourages providing trauma-informed diagnoses. Along with receiving those diagnoses, the children have been linked to services that align with their individual needs. Receiving the appropriate diagnosis is extremely important for the children being assessed. Many children receive assessments that may not always reflect the impact that trauma has had on the child, resulting in misdiagnoses. When a child receives an appropriate diagnosis, taking their trauma history into account, the clinician can refer the child for the best available trauma-informed treatment to meet their specific needs. Youth Villages has been phenomenal in doing this by providing top-quality assessments, making trauma-informed recommendations, and advocating for each individual child, the clinicians at Youth Villages have carved a pathway of success within the project. Youth Villages has worked diligently in their communication with the social workers from Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin counties. They have ensured that the children have access to the TiCCA by offering the assessments on location (pre-CoVID), as well as adapting to offer the assessment virtually due to the concerns regarding the pandemic.
When asked about their desire to participate in the Standardized Assessment Protocol, Kristin Sheridan, a Clinical Team Leader, stated “At Youth Villages, our goal when working with children is not only to work individually with a child but to comprehensively target all systems involved, to effectively make a positive change. This project provided the opportunity for us to generalize those values on a professional level by becoming part of an enhanced collaboration, building relationships, and developing partnerships with others that serve various roles to children with traumatic experiences. This project focused on the pertinence of improving clinical assessment to better understand the impact of trauma, and etiology of a child’s behaviors. This understanding is imperative when determining the best plan to support, advocate, and treat a child who is overcoming a traumatic experience. We are extremely proud to be a part of this project as we continue to diligently work toward our mission to help children and families live successfully. “
It is exciting to work alongside such an accomplished group of mental health professionals, who are focused on the best trauma-focused mental health care for the most vulnerable children and families. By doing this, Youth Villages is creating strong futures for North Carolina’s families.
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