Community Care Program
The Community Care Plan is a wrap-around concept based model that brings in all social service agencies to wrap-around a family. The power of the agencies sitting around the table with a family alone is amazing to see. It also helps us work with each other and know of what the plan is for the family. The services that have signed on with us are Dr. C.W. Wiebe Medical Centre, Winkler Police Service, Child & Family Services, Employment and Income Assistance, Genesis House, Garden Valley School Division and Eden Health Care Services. We also ask the family to bring in their natural supports to help them implement their plan. We have one family in the program and we are meeting on a monthly basis. The feedback from the participant so far is that they feel super supported. It is a person-centred model which gives the family all the power to choose their path, the agencies support the path with no shame/no blame. In its infancy we are seeing the impact of wrap-around in the family.
What is Community Care Plan?
What it’s about
- Looking beyond the behaviours and finding the reasons for the behaviour, then coming together to create a plan and support the client in working through that plan.
- Agencies working more effectively, together in a positive way.
- Building trust between agencies and clients.
- Looking at the client, the accused, the student from a different perspective and having them see more than the social worker who took their kids away, the cop who arrested them or the principal who kicked them out of school.
What it’s not about
- Taking over any agency’s mandate
- Cutting people a break or avoiding responsibility.
Instead, it’s about accountability for all involved, in a respectful way.
Values of Community Care Program
Person-Centered. That means that the team works WITH the individual or family to understand strengths, and to understand what is important TO and FOR the individual/family. The team works with the individual/family to make plans that have balance between what is important TO and FOR the individual/family.
Voluntary. Families/Individuals learn about how the teams work, what supports teams might be able to provide, and are part of decision making about information sharing and confidentiality. They are also informed about the situations in which paid supporters are required to report safety concerns. People who have a Community Care Program are invited to identify the natural and paid supporters in their lives to work together to understand their vision and goals. The team works together to make plans for support. Team members might include a relative, a pastor, a social worker, a police officer, a public health nurse, a friend, and so on.
Collaborative. People who are referred to the Community Care Program are involved with 3 or more agencies. Team members (including the person/family) bring their knowledge, skills, and gifts to the planning process. Team members listen to understand what is important to the person/family, and they share what they can contribute to the planning process. They work with each other and the person/family during and in between meeting times to make and follow plans that are based on what’s important to and for the person/family.
Structured & Safe. Support Teams meet about once a month. In between meetings, everyone follows up on the plan and keeps in touch with the person/family. Meetings have a facilitator and a note taker, and use structured processes to make sure that the family has a voice and choice in the planning. The team collaborates to understand what is most important to the person/family for long-term goal setting and short term planning, and collaborates to identify the most urgent issues that need to be addressed.
