TA Network

Read our newest publication, Improving the Use of Psychotropic Medication for Youth in Residential Treatment Facilities. This critical report highlights the results of a three-year Quality Collaboration involving nine residential treatment facilities from across the U.S. The Collaborative facilitated the development of site-specific quality improvement goals to assure appropriate utilization of psychotropic medication during residential interventions. The outcomes of this study provide best practices for the field.

A skilled workforce is one of the cornerstones of a sustainable system of care. Successful human resource development requires individual accountability, effective organizational structures and operations, good leadership, and a supportive policy and funding context. With such conditions in place, staff in a full range of roles – clinicians and other direct service providers; peer support workers; care coordinators; supervisors; policymakers; administrators; evaluators; system partners; and stakeholders – are more likely to learn and demonstrate skills relevant to their role in supporting children, youth and young adults with behavioral health needs and their families.

Implementation science identifies many drivers that produce a competent workforce including: strategic staff selection procedures; effective, skills-based training; regular, structured, and data-informed supervision and coaching; and measurement and feedback of staff performance, service quality, fidelity and outcomes. To accomplish these things, facilitative administration, decision support data systems, and system interventions are also necessary.

How Youth Partners Can Collaborate with Family Partners in Wraparound

This pair of documents provides guidance on building productive working relationships between youth partners and family partners on Wraparound teams. The peer practice brief describes methods of collaboration and tips for addressing common challenges, and provides scenarios for practicing the material during staff training or coaching. The accompanying study guide provides answers to questions introduced in the practice brief scenarios.  

Download the Practice Brief

Download the Study Guide

Important areas we address as part of this work include:

Clinical Best Practices: Highlighting evidence based practices, and best practices in screening, assessment and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders.

Early Psychosis: Broadening awareness of effective implementation strategies, current core practices and philosophies, and the role of early psychosis programs in enhancing systems of care.

Mental Health Fact Sheets for Caregivers and Youth: Increasing the understanding of caregivers and young adults around specific clinical diagnoses.

Monitoring and Oversight of Psychotropic Medications: Improving the use of psychotropic medications with children, youth and young adults.

Trauma-Informed Care: Supporting understanding of its relevance in research, policy, practice, and organizational structures.

Wraparound: Guiding and measuring effective implementation and practice of quality Wraparound care planning.

Workforce: Ensuring effective training and supervision and promoting quality standards for Wraparound workforce.