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C-SPOA What is the Children's System of Care?

Caring for youth is what System of Care is all about. 

Who are "our youth"? They are children and youth with emotional and behavioral challenges. They are young people who are not defined by their diagnosis but must learn to function day-to-day despite of it. They have personal strengths, ideas to share and dreams of achieving great things, like graduating from college, becoming a writer, getting a job, being a good parent, and more.

System of Care Values

  • Youth Guided
  • Family Driven
  • Trauma Informed
  • Cultural & Linguistic Competence
  • Community Based
  • Best Practice Oriented

Dig a little deeper into the core values of Erie County’s System of Care. These values weave through everything Erie County does and aspires to achieve throughout a System of Care in children’s mental health. 

Youth Guided

Young people have the right to be empowered, educated on the issues, and given a decision-making role in the care of their own lives as well as the policies and procedures governing the care of all youth in the community, state, and nation.

Instead of viewing youth as simply “recipients of services”, youth are empowered and given support to find their voice and express their ideas and opinions during the service planning process and throughout treatment. Youth, along with their family members, define their goals and determine what “success" means to them.

Family Driven

Family-driven means families have a primary decision making role in the care of their own children as well as the policies and procedures governing care for all children in their community, state, tribe, territory and nation. (source: National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health)

Erie County’s System of Care has moved away from the traditional philosophy, which viewed mental health and other service providers as the sole “experts” of a youth’s care, and instead recognizes the inherent value and insights a family member has with regard to what is “right” and “good” for their child and family when developing a service plan. 

It also means that the family, along with the youth, have a voice in defining what “successful” outcomes are for their child and family.

Trauma Informed

Being trauma-informed means having a basic understanding of how trauma impacts the life of an individual seeking services. Trauma-informed systems, organizations, programs, and services are based on an understanding of the vulnerabilities or triggers of trauma survivors that traditional service delivery approaches may (unknowingly) aggravate, and seek to improve these services and programs so they can become more supportive and avoid re-traumatization.

It recognizes the need to work in a collaborative way with family, youth, community, friends, and with human services agencies in a manner that will empower consumers.

Cultural & Linguistic Competence (CLC)

Simply defined as a respect for and acceptance of difference in others. This includes, but is not limited to, respect for and understanding of ethnic, racial, cultural, religious, and other groups, as well as their histories, beliefs, languages, and value systems and having (or building) the capacity to expand on this knowledge and integrate it into all areas – policies, organizational structures, staffing, interventions, financing, and evaluation of results.

Where there used to be a “one size fits all” approach to interventions, therapies, and treatments, emphasis is placed on getting to know the youth and the family on a deeper level (building a trusting relationship) and within the context of their environment and their background. 

Community-Based

Defined as having mental health and related services and supports based within the family’s neighborhood and community. This includes services and supports that might be considered “non-traditional” services, such as music lessons at a neighbor’s home as a form of music therapy. Having services and supports in a family’s neighborhood recognizes that families and youth do better when they’re in a familiar environment.

Best Practice Oriented

Best practices help ensure a high quality of care that not only focuses on better youth and family outcomes but also looks at the process and infrastructure that get us there.  

Being best practice oriented also means being proactive in searching for new and better ways of doing things and sharing those findings with the broader System of Care community, partners, and stakeholders.