Program

Bereavement and Trauma Services

Working to integrate losses and traumatic events into the fabric of one's life, the program provides a safe and supportive atmosphere that promotes the expression of feelings, and the development of personal and family strengths. From assessment to intervention through individual, family or group modalities we use mind and body work to process bereavement, suicide and other traumatic grief, sexual and physical abuse and victims of/or witnesses to domestic violence. Professional and community workshops are also available, in our efforts to raise community awareness and to promote prevention.

Coordinated Children's Services Initiative (CCSI)

The Coordinated Children's Services Initiative (CCSI) is a statewide initiative to assure comprehensive, non-duplicated services to children and youth being served in multiple systems at risk of residential placement in at least one of these systems. CCSI is an interagency approach to serving children and their families. Through collaborative efforts with all major child-serving systems, needs of the individual child, as well as those of the target population as a whole, are addressed.

In Nassau County, the CCSI Program works directly with some of these youth and their families with the goals of reducing the rate of residential placement and optimizing their functioning in the community. CCSI is one of several SPOA (Single Point of Accountability) services operating for high-risk children and youth, and is accessed through the county's SPOA process. A single Universal Referral form is used to refer a child to CCSI (and any other SPOA service). A screening committee consisting of representatives from each of the SPOA agencies reviews each referral and determines appropriate disposition. If SPOA eligible, families are able to access Family Support meetings bi-weekly and Family Advocate services. If a youth is not eligible for CCSI direct services, the SPOA team, in partnership with the family, makes appropriate alternative linkages.

The target populations served by CCSI are children and youth between 5-17 years of age who reside in Nassau County and are receiving an intensive level of services from at least two systems (i.e. mental health, education, social services and probation) and are at risk of placement and/or long-term hospitalization in at least one of the systems. Referrals to CCSI emanate from the Mental Health System, Probation Department, Department of Social Services and Education System.

The CCSI Program currently has the capacity to service 24 youth and their families, through the efforts of two clinical social workers. One worker addresses the needs of the youth in the general target population, while the other specifically targets youth being referred from the Probation Department and/or involved in the Nassau County Probation system.

CCSI provides intensive care coordination; family-driven, strengths-based service planning, advocacy/trouble-shooting, and parenting skills training. CCSI uses an Individualized Care approach focusing on the child and family's strengths allowing the family to make decisions about what services are needed. A variety of support services are available to assist the family in helping their child function successfully while living in the community.

Goals of CCSI include the following: 1- reduction in out-of-home placements for at-risk youth, 2- formal collaboration between Nassau County agencies and families, 3-development of a more flexible, needs-driven service system, 4- identification of barriers to effective collaboration and 5- open communication between local and state agencies.

Family Advocate Program

The Family Advocate Program, North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center's service for high risk, seriously emotionally disturbed children and youth, offers support services to the families of these troubled youngsters. The Family Advocate Program, under the supervision of the CCSI (Coordinated Children's Service Initiative) Coordinator provides family support to families who have children with serious emotional disturbances. All families that encounter SPOA (Single Point Of Accountability) process are entitled and eligible for family support. Parents whose children are enrolled in the Coordinated Children's Service Initiative Program (CCSI), the Clinical Care Coordination Team (CCCT), or the FEGS Case Management Program are eligible for the Family Advocate Program services. The program is staffed by 4 Family Advocates, all of whom are parents of youth with social, emotional and/or behavioral disorders who have first-hand experience with the issues facing parents trying to negotiate the various child-serving systems in Nassau County in effort to secure appropriate services for their children.
The program offers both individual and group support to families. Family Advocates become part of a "team" working with a specific family, and offer support to the family throughout the process of planning for, and procuring, services. Parent Support Groups meet every other week to provide peer support to parents dealing with the day in and day out frustrations and challenges they encounter in their daily lives with their children, provide a psycho-educational forum for parenting skills, and other relevant trainings and presentations. A child group is run at the same time to provide respite to parents and give the children an opportunity to improve social skills while engaging in an activity. A Teen RAP group for older adolescents is also run by a Parent Advocate in response to a need parents expressed for a place for older adolescents to discuss relevant issues such as transitional plans, peer pressures, vocations and advocacy.

In addition, Family Advocates play an active role in numerous agency, local planning and Inter Agency meetings, to help insure that the parent voice is part of any discussion regarding seriously emotionally disturbed children and youth. The Parent Advocates now participate in the newly formed Nassau County Family Support Coalition and the Nassau County Children's Mental Health Advocacy Committee. There is also a parent advocate represented at SPOA screening meetings for all high-end in-home services and for residential services.

The Goals of Family Advocate Program include the following: 1- To empower parents to become strong advocates for their children, 2- To provide information to families about child-serving systems, 3- To help families learn how to successfully navigate service systems, 4- T o provide intensive support to parents on an as needed basis, 5- To have families develop more natural support systems.

Hispanic Family Life Program

Focused on students and parents in the Westbury public schools, where over one-third of the 3,200 students identify themselves as Hispanic, children and adolescents in the program attend group meetings and are also able to receive one-on-one counseling if necessary. Meetings for the parents are held twice a month for 1 ½ hours with a variety of organizations providing workshops to help parents understand their child's development, education, and social adjustment. Parents are also provided with information about immigration, health issues, parenting skills, and other resources to help their adjustment to this community. Other topics that are discussed include drug and alcohol abuse, gang membership, violence, and immigration issues. The goal of these meetings is to help strengthen the parents' involvement in their children's schools and education, and their ability to provide emotional support to their children.

An important part of the Hispanic Family Life Program is Help Each Other. The goals of this program are to provide academic assistance, increase grades and attendance, and foster adaptation to the school environment. This initiative pairs recently arrived immigrant youth with more-settled immigrant youth who have been regular members of the program. These "mentors" provide the new students with guidance, tutoring, language help and friendship, enabling them to make a positive adjustment to their new surroundings.

The Hispanic Family Life Program has experienced great success in helping youth with their emotional development, personal skills, and career opportunities.

The Leeds Place - Serving Young People

Our highly trained staff is involved in providing direct services and prevention programs, community education, and advocacy. Mental health services are offered to children of all ages. After an initial assessment, individual, family and group therapy and/or psychiatric evaluations are provided based on need. Our extensive chemical dependency treatment provides services to adolescent substance abusers and their families including significant others ages 6-21. This program offers a range of individual, group, and family counseling geared to the needs of the individual.

Support services including educational tutoring are available to all clients. Professional services are also available in Spanish and Haitian Creole. The Leeds Place also offers a number of prevention programs specifically targeted to the demographic needs of our community. The Haitian Outreach Project, Hispanic Family Life, and Good Beginnings for Babies (for teen moms) as well as a number of programs servicing the Westbury school system operate out of The Place. The Turnabout Family-Based Foster Treatment Program for highly at-risk children is another unique and necessary program.

Workshops for youth and their parents are provided to community groups, in the schools, and in the workplace. Our highly trained staff is available to speak on a broad range of topics dealing with children, youth, and families.

The Marks Family Right from the Start 0-3+ Center - Early Childhood Services

The Marks Family Right from the Start 0-3+ Center - Early Childhood Services
The Marks Family Right from the Start 0-3+ Center is a comprehensive early childhood center that offers clinical, diagnostic, evaluative and treatment services for children, birth through six, and their families. Our multidisciplinary staff offers Early Intervention Evaluations for children birth through three, Committee on Preschool Evaluations for children three to five, and independent psychological and psychiatric evaluations for all children through first grade.

Our staff are skilled in helping children and families manage the challenging issues of developmental delays, divorce, loss and trauma, as well as the more typical issues of parent child relationships such as tantrums, discipline, sibling rivalry and toilet training. The Right from the Start team offers individual, family and couples counseling as well as specialized early childhood play therapy and social skills groups. Our parenting programs, Parenting 101 and Family Matters, are open to the community and provide information and support to families with young children.

Single Parent Action Network

SPAN, which began over 20 years at NSC&FGC, is dedicated to meeting the multiple needs of parents, their children, and their extended families, while they are being impacted by the crises of separation and divorce. Through an integrated approach to service provision, this specific population receives the direct clinical and community outreach efforts most warranted based on their "at risk" needs. While each family and individual is unique, SPAN focuses on psychological issues, finances, legal problems, logistical issues, childcare for working parents, and a host of other aspects of daily life that can compromise family survival and coping.

Program Goals

• To provide group services and individual and family consults as needed, to assist adequate parenting, enhance self esteem/self confidence and to reduce emotional isolation during this vulnerable time of multiple transitions.
• Community outreach and consultation education through local schools, businesses, and houses of worship, upon request.
• To provide psycho-education community meetings each month during at which time a speaker with specific expertise can address both the general and specific questions and concerns of single parent families.

The Training and Consultation Institute

Now more than ever, the professional education and mental health communities are challenged to access the burgeoning research and literature emerging on child and family development. Practitioners in many specialties need to enhance and extend their clinical skills and knowledge base. In addition, parents are eager to find trustworthy information that can help guide them as they raise their families. An increasingly sophisticated workplace is paying more attention to the varied needs of their employees and so doing, reaching out to the professionals in the mental health field for their expertise. In response to the increased awareness of the role of the mental health practitioner in addressing issues in our community, North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center is expanding our training and consultation services to assure the community greater access to these important services. Our enhanced Training and Consultation Institute has the following objectives:

• To enhance the professional community's understanding of the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children and adolescents.
• To increase the professional community's repertoire of the specialized clinical and practice skills used in working with children, adolescents and their parents.
• To provide resources and consultation to community-based programs that respond to the social and emotional needs of children, adolescents, and their families.
• To enhance awareness of personal development, organizational and group dynamics in the workplace.
• To provide education, support and information to parents to help assure healthy families

Turnabout Family Based Treatment Program

Turnabout Family Based Treatment Program utilizes a therapeutic foster parent model for meeting the needs of children with serious emotional and behavioral challenges. The program offers an alternative to more restrictive setting to kids who, despite many efforts such as counseling, hospitalizations, and other services, cannot be adequately cared for at home. Placement is voluntary and the goal, wherever possible, is reunification. Turnabout emphasizes a team approach where the Turnabout child or adolescent, the parent or guardian, the Turnabout Master's level staff and the Professional Foster "Treatment Family" all work together to provide the child/adolescent with the greatest opportunity to prosper.

Wilderness Program

Adolescent groups for youth at risk. Groups meet on Saturdays and travel by van to State and County Parks where they spend a full day hiking on challenging trails. Groups are supervised and led by social workers and adults experienced in wilderness skills. The wilderness setting and challenging nature of the outdoor activities promote group membership and communication, enhanced self esteem, self confidence and mastery of social skills. All applicants must be engaged in mental health treatment.