MDHHS rolling out new teaming and support model in Macomb County next month

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) On Wednesday, the launch of a brand new Youngsters Companies Administration (CSA) Teaming and Help Mannequin introduced.

It’s the first system of its variety in the USA and Macomb County will likely be one of many first communities to roll it out, from April.

“I’m so captivated with this new initiative,” stated MDHHS director Elizabeth Hertel, and famous that the brand new mannequin was impressed by a slim have a look at the prevailing system that has been round for hundreds of years.

What will we ask of our case staff?

Why do we’ve such a giant turnover?

What can we do to raised assist them?

These had been a number of the questions that led to the adjustments that passed off.

“We do not do that as a pilot program,” stated Hertel. “As soon as we began speaking to workers all through the state about what we might do higher, they had been very enthusiastic to provide their enter.”

The present system could be very tense.

A workers individual of Child Protective Services (CPS) is assigned to a household and works independently throughout the complete course of, in order that that worker holds on to all administrative duties across the case, relatively than concentrating on the assist and a spotlight the household wants.

“The brand new mannequin groups that varied workers, together with case staff, financial assist workers, supervisors, to work collectively to assist the wants of the kids and households,” stated Hertel, and famous that it’s similar to healthcare professionals to serve collectively to serve the wants of their affected person. “We rebuild the system to raised serve communities and residents, along with our workers who should take care of excessive percentages of burnout and workers turnover.”

Does this imply including extra case staff to cowl the load?

“It could actually each be,” stated Hertel.

The brand new mannequin is designed to make use of the sources that they’ve simpler and sooner or later if extra assets are wanted that may additionally occur.

Hertel stated with the brand new group mannequin, workers may have clear, completely different roles and steering about partnership expectations about how they will provide assist to households from the second they enter the kids’s welfare system. Caseworkers additionally obtain extra assist in the case of administrative duties and assets for the household that covers the whole lot, from instructional and financial must medical insurance and transport. This may allow CSA workers to supply additional assist to deal with complicated conditions, to each enhance the worker expertise and to cut back gross sales whereas retaining continuity for households.

The group mannequin is predicted:

• Improve the shared determination -making and enchancment of the alternatives for studying figures -based studying.

• Assist enhance the everlasting velocity for households, scale back the switch throughout the little one welfare system and to extend the soundness for youngsters.

• Construct a standard set of neighborhood assist sources and navigators to strengthen the idea for lengthy -term assist.

This transformation within the system corresponds to the Hold Youngsters Protected Motion agenda of the division, which focuses on prevention, intervention, stability, effectively -being and workforce. Since 2023, the Keep children safe action agenda Has included greater than 20 protocols and coverage to enhance the security and well-being of Michigan kids. The agenda has been developed in the midst of greater than 4 years and depends on finest practices in kids’s welfare and connects the division to the best requirements within the nation.

Along with Macomb County, different cohorts from MDHHS workplaces to implement the brand new mannequin in April, Allegan and Barry, Sanilac and St. Clair, Saginaw, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Leelanau embrace the provinces. A rollout of the complete state is deliberate for the start of 2026.

“The CSA group mannequin creates a chance to enhance assist for our workers and the assist for our households. As a MDHHS chief we always assess alternatives with an answer foundation and this variation will result in higher outcomes for our workforce and can proceed to prioritize preserving kids secure, ”stated Tishara Worth, director MDHHS Macomb County.