Often children and youth come to the attention of the Division of Protection and Permanency (DPP) or the courts because of unmet behavioral health needs. Having a robust and effective “system of care” helps to ensure that children and transition-age youth and their families with, or at risk of developing, behavioral health needs have access to a spectrum of community-based services and supports. To be effective, the system of care is organized into a coordinated network, builds meaningful partnerships with families and youth, and addresses their cultural and linguistic needs to help them to function better at home, in school, in the community, and throughout life. To achieve the goal of having an effective system of care in every community, the state has created a State Interagency Council for Services and Supports to Children and Transition-Age Youth (SIAC), as well as Regional Interagency Councils (RIACs).
The SIAC makes recommendations annually to the Governor and the state legislature regarding the system of care for children and transition-age youth with or at risk of behavioral health needs. The SIAC also directs each RIAC to operate as the regional locus of accountability for the system of care and to participate in Family Accountability, Intervention, and Response (FAIR) teams. The SIAC meets at least monthly, provides guidance to the RIACs, and works to develop a comprehensive array of services and supports to meet the behavioral health needs of children and transition-age youth.
RIACs also work to develop and support a comprehensive and robust system of care at the regional level. There are eighteen (18) RIACs across the state. Members of each RIAC represent community mental health centers, the courts, special education, parents of children with behavioral health needs, transition age youth, the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), the Department for Juvenile Justice (DJJ), Family Resource Youth Service Centers (FRYSC), Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, local health departments, and other agencies that provide services to children and transition age youth with behavioral health needs.
RIACs conduct regional system of care needs assessment, planning, coordinate system-level continuous quality improvement, identify and develop system of care expansion opportunities, promote awareness of the system of care, initiate and adopt interagency agreements as needed for providing services and supports to children and transition-age youth, advise the SIAC regarding the system of care within the region, and participate in FAIR teams. Local interagency councils (LIAC) for the system of care may be formed by the RIAC to advance the mission and goals of the RIAC at the community level.
Each judicial district has a FAIR team, which includes representation from the RIAC and/or LIAC, as well as a representative of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (Cabinet/CHFS). The purpose of the FAIR team is to develop enhanced case management plans and opportunities for services for children referred to the team by the courts. Each team is led by a court-designated worker from within the judicial circuit or district. Referrals to the team from the court-designated worker involve cases in which a child has failed to appear for a preliminary intake inquiry, declined to enter into a diversion agreement, or failed to complete the terms of the agreement and status offense cases. After reviewing the referrals previously made for the youth and family, any identified barriers to service completion, and determining other services that may be appropriate, the team may:
- Refer the case back to the court-designated worker (CDW) to take further action as recommended by the team;
- Make a referral to DCBS to investigate suspected dependency, neglect, or abuse; or
- Advise the CDW to refer the case to the county attorney if the team has no further recommendations to offer.