Benchmarks is excited to announce that another Cabarrus County Department of Human Services Child Welfare Division team will be joining the Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) project! This will make Cabarrus the first county to have both their Permanency Planning and In-Home Family Services (IHFS) teams onboarded into the project during the same project year. The Benchmarks SAP project is a process in which children ages four and over who enter Permanency Planning or IHFS receive a timely trauma screen, which identifies a child’s need for a trauma assessment. The SAP project utilizes the Trauma-intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessments (TiCCAs) with the goal of increasing a child’s likelihood to receive the treatment necessary to reach their full potential. This treatment goes beyond just mental and behavioral health; holistic recommendations are made with respect to the child’s social, emotional, and environmental needs in mind. The Standardized Assessment Protocol includes partnership between local DSS offices, health plans, and local mental and behavioral health providers.
In-Home Family Services staff are trained in trauma-informed care via the National Child Traumatic Stress Network’s (NCTSN) “Trauma Training for the Child Welfare Professional.” This entails onboarding facilitators within the team, who will then offer training in the future. Along with the IHFS staff, we have onboarded the Standard Plans (health plans that offer integrated physical health, pharmacy, care coordination and basic behavioral health services) into the project. The SAP goal is that every youth over age four that comes in to IHFS and screens positive for trauma can receive a TiCCA, regardless of which health plan they are enrolled in. Our data shows that about 95% of youth entering IHFS are covered by the Standard Plans, so it is critical that the plans are a part of the SAP Leadership Teams and project work that is happening at the local level. The Standard Plans’ participants have received Leadership Team training and have begun attending our monthly Leadership and Partners Team meetings.
Some of the outcomes that we see when youth receive TiCCAs early include more appropriate diagnoses which focus on their history and are more than just behavior management strategies. The hope is that by offering TiCCAs to families in IHFS, the families will receive the most holistic recommendations and supports for children and families, that will enable them to maintain their child in their home, and not have to utilize higher levels of care in the mental health system. Children in IHFS who receive a TiCCA are less likely to be placed in a Psychiatric Residential Treatment facility, which is the highest, most restrictive, and most expensive level of care. Also, children being able to stay in their standard health plan leads to a decrease in Medicaid cost. Furthermore, those who receive TiCCA assessments and must access the Emergency Room for behavioral health needs post-assessment, do not require as many units to be billed in the Emergency Room, further saving Medicaid costs. Also, holistic TiCCA recommendations may assist in preventing future foster care placement. If children and families receive this wraparound support early on, the child welfare system can prevent further trauma and instability for the child and family, which will allow them to thrive in their homes and their own communities.
Throughout the life of the Cabarrus SAP project, Benchmarks’ goal is to establish sustainability processes for both Cabarrus Child Welfare Division teams so that this work will continue once Benchmarks exits in 2024. We are so excited to get things started for In-Home Family Services and look forward to positive impacts on the children and families they serve!
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