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Welcome! Who we are?The Children’s Partnership meets the complex needs of children and youth with serious emotional disturbances in Travis County by maintaining a collaborative system of care comprised of community partners.  A service plan, unique to each child and youth, assists families in navigating the system of care.  This plan is based upon family needs and preferences and has an ultimate goal of preventing out-of-home placement.   The Children’s Partnership’s community partners include four school districts, the mental health authority, the child welfare system, Health and Human Services, the juvenile justice system and Casey Family Programs. Based on longstanding relationships bolstered by formal written agreements, the collaborative approach maximizes resources, prevents duplication of efforts, and provides a continuum of care for children and youth involved with multiple systems.  In this way, The Children’s Partnership is able to cost-effectively provide the supports and services that meet families’ changing needs in a timely manner.   The Children’s Partnership unites resources so children with complex needs can live successfully with their families in the community.

HOW WE HAVE GROWN The Children's Partnership is in its eleventh year of serving families in Central Texas .  With the help of our staff, network providers, partner agencies and the community-at-large, The Children's Partnership has grown significantly. Our rate of growth reflects the need for collaborative, community-based care for children with mental health needs and their families.  Over one hundred providers now participate in The Children's Partnership's Provider Network. The Children's Partnership is part of a national and statewide movement to enhance the children's mental health care system. This national movement is striving to create a collaborative system that will allow families and providers to coordinate traditional and non-traditional services for each child with complex mental health needs.

 

HOW DOES THE PARTNERSHIP WORK?
WHY ARE WE HERE?
WHAT DOES THE CHILDREN'S PARTNERSHIP ACCOMPLISH?
WHO ARE OUR PARTNERS?

 

HOW DOES THE PARTNERSHIP WORK?
The Children's Partnership unites and coordinates local resources to maintain a system of care in Travis County - a system that works hand-in-hand with families, focusing on the unique strengths of each child and embracing the unique values and culture of each family. The system of care allows local organizations to work in teams- with families as critical partners- to provide a full range of services to children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances. This team strives to meet the unique needs of each young person and his or her family in or near their home.

WHY ARE WE HERE?

  • 1 of every 5 children will need mental health care services during their life
  • 1 of every 10 children will suffer from serious emotional disturbances · Research shows that 2/3 of our children do not receive the care they need 
  • Without care, mental health problems in children can lead to school failure, alcohol or other drug abuse, family discord, violence, or even suicide. 

Families need help to know when, where and how to get the care their children may need. That's where The Children's Partnership comes in. When mental health care providers work together as partners to participate in a family focused system of care, families can utilize the resources in their community most effectively. The Children's Partnership envisions an involved community where families, schools, churches, neighborhood organizations and service providers work together to keep kids healthy in the Central Texas community.

WHAT DOES THE CHILDREN'S PARTNERSHIP ACCOMPLISH?
The Children's Partnership works to :

  • Create a multi-agency team process that identifies children's mental health care needs and coordinates funding.
  • Use a family driven, youth guided, culturally competent, community based approach to care for assisting children and youth with mental health care needs and their families
  • Use individualized planning and non-traditional, community based services for children involved in The Children's Partnership
  • Provide assessment tools to determine a child's service needs based on empirical data
  • Decrease duplication of services between child and youth serving systems
  • Provide a pre- and post- placement system of care based on a nationally recognized model of service delivery (the Wraparound process) to children and youth with complex needs
  • Provide families access to a provider network comprised of county-wide agencies, individuals and organizations that offer traditional and non-traditional services
  • Provide evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of services provided and funded with public revenue
  • Use one management structure and efficient care coordination strategies to integrate revenue and enable public funds to go further (federal, state and local).

WHO ARE OUR PARTNERS?
The Children's Partnership in Travis County is affiliated with the Texas Integrated Funding Initiative at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The Children's Partnership's local partners include parents and agency representatives from child serving agencies and organizations including:

  • Austin Travis County Integral Care (Formerly Austin Travis County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center)
  • www.atcmhmr.com

 
Copyright © 2010 The Children's Partnership