Providing much-needed connections for families

How First Point Care Navigation helps families.

First Point Care Navigation call centers provide a stigma-free, convenient way for people to seek help for nonemergency situations.¹ Family support counselors help caregivers connect to community-based resources and navigate the children’s behavioral health system of care. Youth and families who most need this type of support can take advantage of the upstream access to services that the call center offers.

 

First Point Care Navigation

First Point Care Navigation is a new Carelon Behavioral Health offering that helps families connect to evidence-based programs as well as additional community-based supports and interventions.

The program launched with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. It supports the initial implementation phase of the Connecticut Family First Prevention Services Act plan.

 

What the program accomplishes

“The program empowers families, connects them to the supports they need, and can reduce their reliance on the child welfare system,” says Andrea Goetz, Executive Director, Connecticut Child and Family Division, Carelon Behavioral Health.

 

How First Point Care Navigation works

Anyone can call the statewide toll-free number and connect with an intake counselor. The program provides tiered interventions. “We individualize the care based on each family’s needs. We connect families to the support that is available regardless of insurance,” says Isaih Scales, Project Leader, Carelon Behavioral Health.

First Point Care Navigation typically works with families on a six- to nine-month time frame. “This program uses the holistic wraparound model of care, which centers around a family’s needs and their priorities. We work with a family to develop their care plan, listening to what’s important to them and understanding their family goals,” says Scales. “We discuss their home life and what their community is like. We develop an individualized plan using the family’s strengths. We engage the family, working with them weekly until they can manage their care plan themselves and reach their goals as a family.”

 

What is unique about First Point Care Navigation program

Goetz explains the program’s differentiators. “Families often come to us without a solid support structure. They don’t know where to turn for supports, and depending on the issues they are facing, they may not know what they need. They know they need help.”

She emphasizes how families’ behavioral health needs have escalated since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Families now drive the conversation about their priorities. In our program, they work with the care coordinator to create the vision for their care plan. The coordinator then brings all providers together.”

Scales says that the program highlights a whole-health approach. “It’s about helping families connect to a wide variety of interconnected programs. A family might have housing issues, mental health challenges, problems getting groceries, or need laptops for school. They may need to live in a safer environment so that the child can do better academically. The youth may need an after-school program. A parent may need help obtaining employment, learning about resources outside of the home, inpatient programs, or psychiatric residential programs. There are a variety of ways in which families need and can get support. We take an integrated approach.”

 

How First Point Care Navigation creates a solution

“We offer a combination of programs focusing solely on families’ needs. We concentrate on proven interventions that are successful in helping families remain out of the child welfare system,” says Goetz. “Ultimately, many families are facing similar issues and the default response has been to use the welfare system. If we can help empower families to take advantage of the many resources available to them and reduce their reliance on the overburdened child welfare system, then that is a huge benefit to everybody involved."