Provider Conversation: Mental Health Treatment Services for Youth (0-21)
Details: As a valued mental health treatment provider serving youth in Winnebago and/or Boone County, we are inviting you to a critical community conversation focused on youth mental health treatment services (age 0-21). Mental health providers plan to gather and discuss the current youth mental health treatment model to identify what is working well and share ideas for needed improvements. The group will work together to create a vision of an optimal youth mental health treatment model.
The goal of this work is to establish area best practices with a focus on improving the mental health treatment system as a whole for all area youth and their families or caretakers. The Youth Mental Health System of Care (YMHSOC) planning group will gather your valuable input to develop creative and solution-focused ideas to create an optimal system that works better for all. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Part of this conversation will focus on sharing the goal of reshaping our mental health provider Community of Practice by introducing you to the YMHSOC Community Support Systems Framework and to provide networking opportunities.
Please join us, and please share this invitation with peers and other mental health providers. You can visit www.ymhsoc.org to learn more about the work of the Youth Mental Health System of Care. Email the event organizer, NICNE, at bcallahan@niu.edu with questions.
NOTE: This is the first of several conversations which will take place across the next year. Future conversations will take a deep dive into other service areas included in the scope of the CSS Framework (see image in event header). Watch for future invitations or email Billie Callahan to be added to the group contact list. A conversation around crisis response services will be held this Winter and a conversation around wraparound supports will be held in Spring 2023.
About the Youth Mental Health System of Care (YMHSOC): In 2018, a community planning team worked in collaboration to submit a grant proposal to the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation to improve the youth mental health system of care in Winnebago and Boone Counties. This team included representatives from Rosecrance, Youth Services Network, Children’s Home and Aid, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Winnebago County Health Department, Rockford Regional Health Council, Crusader Community Health, MercyHealth, Carrie Lynn Children’s Center, Rockford Public Schools, Easterseals Metropolitan Chicago, and the 17th Judicial Circuit Court. The team was one of eight finalists but did not receive this grant. The team continued to meet, engage in preplanning work, and pursue future funding opportunities. In 2020, the group received a 4-year planning and implementation grant from the Children’s Mental Health Foundation with a targeted focus on deep engagement of people with lived experience, heighted collaboration and coordinated care among partners, and community-based organizations through the creation of a professionals Community of Practice, and capacity building for mental health service providers through workforce development and training. Our mission is to create a coordinated and comprehensive system of care addressing the mental health needs of children and adolescents in Winnebago and Boone Counties. Our vision is to see a comprehensive, coordinated, equitable, and evidence-based youth mental health system of care affordable and accessible for all children, youth, and adults ages 0-21 in Winnebago and Boone Counties.
About NICNE: The Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence (NICNE) has been strengthening nonprofits since August 2004 by providing capacity building, training, technical assistance, resource support and initiative leadership to nonprofit organizations in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. NICNE believes in investing in people and organizations that make communities in our area safer, healthier and more vibrant. We do so by providing training opportunities, which help nonprofits successfully achieve their missions. As the region’s primary resource for nonprofit capacity and movement building, NICNE encourages collaboration and best practices that result in a strong, vibrant nonprofit sector to demonstrating significant social impact. NICNE Mission: Promote, model and grow innovation, excellence and social impact.
Please email questions to Associate Director Billie Callahan at bcallahan@niu.edu.
