Tagged With "standardized"

Like many of you, we have had to learn (and quickly might I add) to adapt our work to remote working needs. In doing this we have had to work closely with our partners to not just keep the work we do in our cross-system projects afloat…but to thrive as well. With new partners engaging in the work we do throughout COVID, we have really honed in our skills for conducting trainings virtually. Below we share what we call “lessons learned” on how to improve the virtual learning experiences of...

Every year our Benchmarks Center for Quality Improvement (CQi) team carefully selects books for our team to read as a part of our “book club”. The goal of this book club is to increase our team’s knowledge, expertise, and understanding of the systems and individuals we aim to serve through our work throughout the state. Last week, staff wrapped up the club book “The Impossible Imperative: Navigating the Competing Principles of Child Protection” written by Jill Duerr Berrick. We know when...

For those who may not be aware, July 1, 2021, North Carolina (NC) launched a large transformation within its Medicaid program, referred to as Medicaid Transformation. Prior to this transformation, Medicaid recipients’ physical and behavioral health needs were handled as separate issues because of “ how” and “ where” funds were managed. For recipients, this separation often resulted in service dis-cohesion for those with co-morbidities or co-occurring mental and physical health needs. Since...

The question posed in the title is one that Benchmarks’ project managers and coordinators hear often during our implementation work within our state’s social services and mental health agencies. As busy as our mental health clinicians are, why would we want them to spend more time completing a battery of measures for children and families that need to get into services as quickly as possible? Isn’t it better to get their basic comprehensive clinical assessment completed quickly and start...

Over the last year Benchmarks’ Center for Quality Integration (CQi) staff have been working through leadership training using the Brené Brown Daring to Lead book. Unlike many books on leadership, Brené tackles the concept through the lens of vulnerability and courage. Both are notions which do not typically come to mind when most people think about leadership. While the book does touch on concepts like effective supervision and management techniques, the foundations are grounded in helping...

SPARC Programs & Services provides children and family mental health services in a variety of locations across North Carolina, from the Piedmont to the Western areas of the state. SPARC has become the most recent private provider to have clinicians trained to administer the Benchmarks’ Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) Trauma-Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment (TiCCA) to children over the age of 4 entering foster care. SPARC was selected by the Burke and Rutherford SAP...

This month, for our partner spotlight, Benchmarks’ Center for Quality Integration (CQi) is highlighting our partners at WellCare of North Carolina, one of the five Managed Care Organizations selected to provide statewide healthcare coverage to NC Medicaid recipients through Standard Plans. Standard Plans offer physical and mental/behavioral health coverage to individuals experiencing mild to moderate behavioral health concerns. WellCare works to provide its beneficiaries with access to...

One of the hardest things to do in project management is to define goals and objectives for your project. While it seems like a relatively simple task, clarifying goals and objectives that directly tie to the identified problems can be particularly difficult in the beginning stages of a project. This can especially be the case in health and human service-related fields where the aims of projects are often to solve complex issues that are compounded by systemic and political barriers. Due to...

Children’s Homes of Cleveland County (CHCC) has advocated for youth to receive superb care through their participation in Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE). However, now that the Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) is also growing, and more clinicians are needed, they are expanding their commitment to trauma-informed care. Benchmarks’ Standardized Assessment Protocol aims to link children over the age of 4 in foster care and In-Home Family Services to Trauma-intensive...