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The mission of the Door County Partnership for Children and Families reads as follows: The Door County Partnership for Children and Families together with our partner organizations, is dedicated to connecting people to resources through a family-centered approach in order to achieve social emotional well-being and school success. 2
The primary focus of Community Connections is to foster social emotional well-being and school success of Door County youth by connecting families in accessing benefits and services that could meet their needs. The secondary objectives are to help families build capacity and sustainability and to build a network of parent leaders to encourage a family-driven approach throughout Door County. 3
Community Connections is a peer support service that offers no cost, voluntary, community based short term support to families. The approach used is family driven, strengths based and culturally sensitive. Definitions: Family Driven means Families make all the decisions. The Community Connector will only offer support and resource information to the family so they can make the most informed decision that they can for themselves. A strengths based approach is a collaborative process between the family being supported and those supporting them that draws on the family member’s strengths and assets. The term ‘strength’ refers to different elements that help or enable the family member(s) to deal with challenges in life in general and in meeting their needs and achieving their desired outcomes in particular. These elements include; their personal resources, abilities, skills, knowledge, potential, etc. Their social network and its resources, abilities, skills, etc. Community resources, also known as ‘social capital’ and/or ‘universal resources’. 4
“A strengths - based approach to care, support and inclusion says let’s look first at what people can do with their skills and their resources and what can the people around them do in their relationships and their communities. People need to be seen as more than just their care needs – they need to be experts and in charge of their own lives.” Alex Fox, chief executive of the charity Shared Lives Shared Lives Plus is the UK network for family-based and small-scale ways of supporting elderly community members and adults with disabilities. Being culturally sensitive means remaining aware that cultural differences and similarities between people exist without assigning them a value – positive or negative, better or worse, right or wrong. Definitions sources: Family- Driven: Vermont Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health; Parent / Professional Advocacy League http://www.vffcmh.org/wp-content/themes/childrens-non- profit/images/ATT00205.pdf [slide #16] Strengths-Based: Social Care Institute for Excellence https://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/assessment-and- eligibility/strengths-based-approach/what-is-a-strengths-based-approach.asp Culturally Sensitive: Red-Shoe Movement http://redshoemovement.com/what-is-cultural-sensitivity 4
The Community Connector reports to the Door County Partnership for Children and Families Coordinator. They are a paraprofessional with lived experience, they have received support from Door County service providers, they know how to advocate for their own family and they reside in Door County. 5
We recognize in order for children to have social emotional well-being and school success, families need to feel supported and empowered. So, to make sure families in our community feel supported, Community Connections will offer a peer relationship with a Community Connector who will refer families to community resources, attend appointments if need be. For families that may not meet eligibility for existing community programs we will also offer to assist families in identifying formal and informal supports and also offer to assist families with setting their own goals and mentoring them on how to achieve those goals. To ensure families feel empowered the Community Connector will model how to navigate services, model how to be an advocate for their family, encourage family leadership and encourage community engagement. 6
Community Connections eligible families reside in Door County and do not currently have an open Child Protective Services case. We will accept self-referrals, peer referrals, school referrals, agency and organization referrals. Definition: Peer Referral - A referral from someone who is a current informal support for the family and is acting, with permission, on the family’s behalf. 7
This graphic depicts the relationship between Community Connections, supported families and service providers. 8
Upon initial referral, the Community Connector will make initial contact with the family and set up a face-to-face meeting in a trusted public place. At the Family Engagement Meeting, the Community Connector will explain what Community Connections is all about and what their role is. If the family would like to proceed to the next step then the Community Connector will gather the family’s household information, the family’s current supports and the family’s current needs. Based upon the conversation and the information provided, the Community Connector will offer referral services and / or an offer to proceed with a Family Achievement Plan. It is up to the family as to what they would prefer to do next. They could decide to be referred to a Community Service Provider, proceed with scheduling an appointment to begin work with the Community Connector on a Family Achievement Plan, or they may decide not to proceed at all. 9
At the engagement meeting the family has decided to continue with a Family Achievement Plan. The Family Achievement Plan will be collaboratively developed by the family and connector. The Connector will not make any decisions regarding the plan but merely offer information necessary to make those decisions. The plan will consist of goals and resources to meet those goals. Execution of the plan will consist of assisting the family in connecting with applicable resources and service providers and attending appointments and / or meetings with the family per their request. The connector will meet the family at appointments and / or meetings. If the family requires transportation assistance the connector will connect them with transportation services. 10
When the family demonstrates self-sufficiency and verbally agrees or requests to transition out of services, the Connector will schedule a family closure session. At the closure session, the family will be asked to complete a Family Closure Survey and asked if they would be willing to volunteer in some capacity for the Partnership (if they do not already) and if they are willing to leave a testimonial and/or share a personal success story with us. 11
The Community Connector will follow-up with the family 3 months and 6 months (or as deemed appropriate) after the family closure session to check how life is going for the family and if any services or additional supports are needed. 12
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