Urgent Access / Educational Success
Urgent Access is voluntary program to achieve the goal of preventing placement of children into a higher level of care. This specialized program was created between the Erie County Department of Mental health and Erie County Department of Social Services to provide short-term intervention (30 to 120 days on average) to provide special supports to the family and access to a Family Help Center Care Coordinator 24 hours day. Services are primarily home-based, family driven and strength focused.
Educational Success specializes in services to children with excessive school absences with Family Court involvement for possible Educational Neglect. It is the intent of this program to break through to success in the youth’s educational experience, offering a positive, proactive, intensive service for youth and their parents. Length of services are from 6 to 9 months.
Youth with severe behavioral health issues have avoided emergency room visits, hospitalization and residential treatment through community care coordination services in these programs.
Phone Follow-Up Services
When the caller leaves his/her phone number, one of our social workers calls him/her back, usually within 24 hours, to reassess the presenting problem, reiterate program options, follow-up on a referral, or to encourage a home visit to anyone who may have declined one during the initial call.
Intensive Home-Based Services (IHBS)
Intensive services are provided to families identified by Erie County Department of Social Services as being in severe crisis and at immediate risk of out-of-home placement of their children. Families are usually experiencing multiple problems related to child safety and well being.
Our Intensive program provides each family with “whatever it takes” services to restore the healthy functioning of the whole family. Based on the nationally recognized Home Builders Model, our Case Workers maintain small caseloads to ensure that each family receives up to 15 hours of direct intervention weekly, accommodating the availability of the family. Case Workers engage with families within two to four hours of referral and are provided 24/7 crisis response to ensure immediate access to support.
I have been given the opportunity to keep my family united. Without their services and programs, my family would have been further from unification.”
Amanda R.
Family Help Center
PARENT
High Fidelity Wraparound Services
Family Help Center High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) Preventive Services is a strength-based, family-driven team planning process. The primary mission of HFW is to promote a family’s stability, competency, and self-sufficiency in order to support youth/children to remain in their home and community. Utilizing a culturally competent strength based and needs driven Child & Family Team (CFT) process, families are assisted in developing and organizing supports, services, and resources in order to achieve their goals, vision, and self-sufficiency. The goal of Wraparound is to develop skills and supports that empower the youth/children and family to effectively meet their own needs and live successfully in their community. Families receive two to four hours of home-based intervention and services bi-weekly for 6 to 12 months. Referrals for HFW are from an Intake Team composed of Erie County Mental Health and Social Services Staff. Primary referral sources include, but are not limited to, the Erie County Department of Social Services, local residential treatment programs, various mental health service providers, and the juvenile justice system within Erie County.