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Local Care Team Administration (Wicomico County) Annual

How much: Number of unique referrals received by the LCT during the reporting period (Annual)

Current Value

10

FY 2024

Definition

Line Bar

Story Behind the Curve

The Local Care Team is the product of a new statewide intiative by the Governor's Office for Children to create multi agency teams in each county.  The LCT was created to help families receive the support and services that they need to help their children who have intensive emotional and behavioral needs.  Parents are invited to be a part of the discussions with a focus on their most pressing concerns.  Children who are at risk for out-of-home placement are a priority of the Local Care Team.  The Wicomico County Local Care Team meets once a month, on the first Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Partners

Our community partners include Wicomico County Local Management Board, Wicomico County Departments of Social Services and Juvenile Services, Wicomico County Health Department and Behavioral Health Authority, Wicomico County Public Schools, Eastern Shore Regional Office for Developmental Disabilities Administration and Division of Rehabilitation Services, Maryland Coalition for Families, Wrap Around Maryland, The Child and Family Center, Eastern Shore Mobile Crisis Team, PRMC, Eastern Shore Psychological Services, and Children's Choice. Members of our partner agencies have attended our meetings, made referrals, and participated in discussion and an exchange of information and resources about our respective programs.

What Works

The Wicomico County Local Care Team has been receiving regular referrals for case discussions at our monthly team meetings.  Our Coordinator has been networking with community agencies and attending community events to increase awareness of the Local Care Team as a resource for families. Team members have shown an excellent attendance record in our first six months with agencies sending a team member or proxy to each meeting.  

Action Plan

The LCT Coordinator plans to continue to network with local agencies and community partners to increase awareness of the mission and purpose of the Local Care Team in order to increase referrals and help everyone understand the function and benefits of the Local Care Team.  Our Coordinator is also working on building a very thorough collection of updated information about local resources and programs that can help families, so that we can always have ideas and information to pass on to families who may not be aware of what programs exist or how to access them.  Another goal of our Coordinator is to create a Satisfaction Survey to be used by parents/guardians and partner agencies to get feedback regarding their experience with our process and meetings so that we might continually improve the services that we offer and work to better meet the needs of the families in our county. 

Data Discussion

The Coordinator was not hired until the beginning of February 2018 and we did not have any cases referred for Case Discussions until our meeting in April 2018.  We also had to reschedule three cases scheduled for discussion, one was due the parent not being able to attend due to illness of a child, one was due to the primary agency case worker not being able to attend due to court (child was in custody of the agency), and one was due to the case being scheduled for discussion in the Multi D meeting due to CPS/DSS becoming involved.  Additionally, a lot of time was spent initially on developing program policies, procedures, and paperwork as well as focusing on networking, referrals, and cases. 

Measurement Tool Used

The tools used for our data collection so far include our sign in sheets for meetings and case discussions, and our case discussion notes and minutes from meetings.  The Coordinator also follows up with parents and agencies by phone to get feedback after the meetings and to make sure that recommendations are understood and being followed and resources are able to be accessed.  Coordinator keeps detailed paper records of notes from phone calls and e-mails from all case related communications. 

Research Agenda

Clear Impact Suite is an easy-to-use, web-based software platform that helps your staff collaborate with external stakeholders and community partners by utilizing the combination of data collection, performance reporting, and program planning.

Scorecard Container Measure Action Actual Value Target Value Tag S A m/d/yy m/d/yyyy