Our Services

• Contract Management and Financial Services
• Service Quality and System Development - Adult
• Service Quality and System Development - Child/Family
• Evaluation and Services Research
• Cultural and Linguistic Competence
• Program and Project Management

Service Quality and System Development –
Child and Family Services

Providing Innovative Solutions in Human Services Delivery

Leaders within the behavioral health and human services fields are increasingly looking for ways to improve services for children and families – and to take best advantage of scarce resources to support this goal.

Some common questions include:

• How can services for children and families be structured to improve outcomes and reduce costs in key areas – such as reducing out-of-home placements?
• What models have been proven effective elsewhere and how can they be adapted for local use?
• How can I support the collaboration and integration needed to improve efficiency, quality and outcomes for families receiving services across multiple systems?

CCSI’s Child and Family Services team leverages its unique combination of clinical expertise, practical experience in program design and implementation, and access to specialized resources to help local government, provider agencies, and other customers assess service quality and effectiveness and to design and deliver innovative and integrated services for children and families. Working closely with leadership within the Monroe County Office of Mental Health and customers across New York State and beyond, CCSI has supported the development and implementation of a number of innovative program models.

Our Staff

As a key component of CCSI’s work on behalf of the Monroe County Office of Mental Health, Jody Levison-Johnson oversees the monitoring of all publicly funded mental health programs for children and families within Monroe County. Jody also serves as the Technical Assistance Coordinator for Monroe County ACCESS, the County's initiative to develop an integrated system of care for children and youth with emotional and behavioral challenges and their families. In addition to her work for MCOMH, she is the Project Manager for the Youth & Family Partnership project, a cross-systems integrated care coordination program for children and families involved with the child welfare, juvenile justice and mental health systems, and the Family Access and Connection Team (FACT), a cross-systems integrated entry point to care for children with emotional behavioral challenges and their families. In addition to her significant work on behalf of Monroe County, Jody provides technical assistance to customers across the country in the area of child and family services and systems of care. She is an experienced facilitator and has successfully led several multi-stakeholder planning, implementation, and continuous quality improvement initiatives. Jody has chaired or participated in several national workgroups and committees focused on improving the design and delivery of services for children and families. Most recently, Jody was asked to serve on the Building Bridges Steering Committee, a national initiative focused on the effective integration of residential and community-based care and to chair the Technical Assistance and Quality Improvement Committee for the Council on Collaboration and Coordination, the advisory team that supports the national system of care initiative. Jody received her bachelor's degree in Psychology with an allied field in Anthropology from the University of Rochester and her Master's of Social Work from Syracuse University with a concentration in family mental health.

Jody Levison-Johnson, LCSW Director

Examples of Our Work

• The Youth and Family Partnership Program (YFP)

  The Youth and Family Partnership Program (YFP)

  Since 2002, CCSI has supported the Monroe County Department of Human Services-Division of Child and Family Services, the Office of Mental Health and the Monroe County Office of Probation-Community Corrections in the development and ongoing management of the YFP. YFP is an innovative approach to meeting the needs of families and youth who have a mental health diagnosis and have been involved with the juvenile justice system with a likely disposition of out-of-home placement. The program employs a cross-system approach to service planning and delivery, with Care Coordinators providing the essential mental health case management and child welfare case worker functions. Probation staff members are part of the YFP Team and are integrally involved in the process, ensuring coordination and improving efficiency for youth and their families.

  YFP staff members develop and implement individualized plans of care using a strengths-based, wraparound approach. Staff members receive ongoing training and support in the principles and practices of Care Coordination and Wraparound, an approach that empowers children and families to achieve success in their homes and communities and reduce dependence and reliance on the formalized system.

  Key components of this approach include:

  • Formation of a child and family team that includes informal/community supports and formal service providers;
  • Engaging families as decision-making partners in the entire process; and
  • Creating individualized service plans that mobilize available strengths to meet identified needs.

  CCSI supports to this innovative program have included: planning and implementation, ongoing management, training in cultural and linguistic competence and independent evaluation through the Evaluation and Services Research team. Outcomes to date have been positive, including significant reductions in out-of-home placement among participating youth, improvement in key areas of functioning, and positive perceptions among youth and families about the program’s ability to make a difference.

• Wyoming SAGE Initiative

  Wyoming SAGE Initiative

  In 2007, CCSI began work to support the Wyoming SAGE Initiative, a SAMHSA-funded system of care community in the state of Wyoming. CCSI staff and consultants have supported the efforts of the State Policy Team, State Administrative Grant Team and the SAGE West and East pilot sites in launching this initiative.

  Work to date has focused on:

  • Developing the effective infrastructure needed to support system transformation;
  • Roll-out of systems of care and wraparound statewide; and
  • Discussion of continuous quality improvement processes to support SAGE in assessing progress towards transformation goals

Related Reports and Publications

• Using Data for Continuous Quality Improvement in an Integrated Setting
• Strategies for Performance Measurement, Quality Improvement and Financing Services