YOUTH CARE COORDINATION
(YCC)
What is YCC?
Youth Care Coordination (also referred to as case management) is a service provided in addition to therapy that supports children, adolescents, and transitional aged youth with serious mental health disorders with gaining access to needed medical, mental health, social, educational, and other services. The primary goal of of this program is to connect clients with needed services, including medical, social, educational, mental health, housing, insurance, employment, financial, and other services to support successful functioning in our communities.
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Care Coordination is a collaborative process which empowers families to achieve positive outcomes through a structured, family-centered approach by providing support in the community and reducing the likelihood of out-of-home placement and referral to a higher level of care. Youth care coordinators help families plan the services they need, link them to the services, coordinate the services, and monitor how the children and families are responding to services. Additionally, skills training is provided to children, along with their families and caregivers to help them manage their own symptoms and behavior independently.
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What Will We Do?
Our Youth Care Coordinators assist youth with learning to follow household rules, increase desired behaviors in school, and interact more positively with others, while managing the symptoms of diagnoses. Consistent team meetings assist families with collaborating with appropriate service providers to identify the youth’s strengths and needs, discuss goals for treatment, and navigate the healthcare system. Services are offered through various levels of care (LOC) depending on the severity of the youth’s needs. A formal assessment is conducted by our team of qualified case managers by working with the youth’s family, support team, service providers, and other agencies to create an individualized care plan based on specific needs and strengths. Those plans are reviewed periodically and amended as necessary to indicate and build upon the youth’s growth and challenges. This increases individual feelings of recovery, independence, and the confidence to use those learned tools to manage the symptoms of their illness.
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The Care Coordination program also includes emergency and crisis support and advocacy services. Our case managers help ensure that every youth in our program has the personalized services and supports they need to thrive in the communities they call home.
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Where will services take place?
This depends on you or your child's needs and the setting where those needs could best be met. Sometimes our visits will be one-on-one at your home, school, work or other community setting.
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What are the Eligibility Requirements?
Level I – General (must meet at least 2)
A. Youth is not linked to behavioral health services, health coverage, or medical services.
B. Youth lacks basic supports for education, income, shelter or food.
C. Youth is transitioning from one level of intensity to another level of intensity of services.
D. Youth needs care coordination services to obtain and maintain community-based treatment and services.
E. Youth is currently enrolled in Level II or III Care Coordination services and has stabilized to the point that Level I is most appropriate
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Level II – Moderate (must meet at least 3)
A. Youth is not linked to behavioral health services, health insurance, or medical services.
B. Youth lacks basic supports for education, income, food, or transportation.
C. Youth is homeless or at risk of homelessness
D. Youth is transitioning from one level of intensity to another level of intensity of services including transitioning out of the following services:
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Inpatient psychiatric or substance use services
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RTC
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1915(i) services under COMAR 10.09.89
E. Due to multiple behavioral health stressors within the past 12 months, the youth has a history of:
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Psychiatric Hospitalizations, or
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Repeated visits or admissions to:
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Emergency room psychiatric units
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Crisis beds
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Inpatient psychiatric units
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F. Youth needs care coordination services to obtain and maintain community-based treatment and services;
G. Youth is currently enrolled in Level III Care Coordination services and has stabilized to the point that Level II is most appropriate
H. Youth is enrolled in Level I Care Coordination services and has experienced one of the following adverse childhood experiences during the preceding six months:
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Emotional, physical, or sexual abuse
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Emotional or physical neglect
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Significant family disruption or stressors
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Level III – Intensive
(must meet the below criteria and submit CON documents outlined in I-IX below)
The youth has a behavioral health disorder amenable to active clinical treatment, resulting from a face-to-face psychosocial assessment by a licensed mental health professional Children ages 0 - 5 must receive a score of 3 on the Early Childhood Services Intensity Instrument (ECSII). Children ages 0 - 5 who have a score of 3 or 4 on the ESCII must meet one of the following criteria:
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Be referred directly from an Inpatient or day hospital unit
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Primary care provider (PCP)
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Outpatient psychiatric facility
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Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Consultation program in daycare
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Head Start program; Judy Hoyer Center; or
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Home visiting program; or
If living in the community, must have
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1 or more psychiatric inpatient or day hospitalizations
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ER visits
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exhibit severe aggression
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display dangerous behavior
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been suspended from school or childcare setting
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display emotional or behavioral disturbance prohibiting their care by anyone other than their primary caregiver
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at risk of out-of-home placement or placement disruption
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have severe temper tantrums that place the child or family members at risk of harm
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have trauma exposures and other adverse life events
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or at risk of family-related risk factors including safety, parent-child relational conflict, and poor health and developmental outcomes in the past 12 months
Youth ages 6 - 21 must receive a score of 3 or higher on the Child and Adolescent Service Intensity Instrument (CASII). Youth ages 6 -21 whose CASII scores fall between 3-5 must meet one of the following criteria:
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Be transitioning from a residential treatment center; or
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Be living in the community and Have any combination of 2 or more inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations or emergency room visits in the past 12 months; or
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Have been in an RTC within the past 90 days
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