Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Building The Foundation For The Family Options Project, Joanne Nicholson, Kathleen Biebel, Valerie Williams, Karen Albert

Joanne Nicholson

This article describes how the long-standing partnership between Employment Options, Inc., a psychosocial rehabilitation agency in Marlborough, MA, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School's (UMMS) Center for Mental Health Services Research led to the development of the Family Options program.

The Family Networks Implementation Study, Susan Maciolek, Joanne Nicholson, Nicole Dube, Jodi Adams, Bernice Gershenson

Joanne Nicholson

Family Networks is a comprehensive system transformation initiative to redesign and integrate traditional categorical services across Massachusetts into local systems of care for children, youth, and families served by the child welfare system. The Family Networks Implementation Study, a partnership between the Massachusetts Department of Social Services and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is a two-year study of the process of implementing local systems of care that began in January 2007, and will continue through December 2008. Presented at the 21th Annual Research Conference. A System of Care for Children’s Mental Health: Expanding the Research Base. Tampa, Florida, February …

Using Organizational Data To Create The Essential Context For System Transformation In Child Welfare, William Deveney, Joanne Nicholson

Joanne Nicholson

The Massachusetts Department of Social Services (MA/DSS) has 29 area offices organized in 6 regions; 74,651 consumers (39,913 are children < 18 years of age); 10,863 children and youth in placement; and 3,400 employees (FY2005; 2nd quarter).

A comprehensive system transformation initiative is underway, to shift from the traditional “adversarial” child protective model, and translate the core values of “child-driven,” “family-centered,” “community-focused,” “strength-based,” “committed to diversity/ cultural competence,” and committed to continuous learning” into an active child welfare agenda. The “learning organization” is the guiding framework.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) is an interactive, iterative, participatory process that reflects change in organizational values, and catalyzes and guides improvements in policy and practice. Data drive CQI, obtained as framed …

The Massachusetts Family Networks Implementation Study, Susan Maciolek, Joanne Nicholson, Jodi Adams, Bernice Gershenson, Katherine Woolsey, Brenda Warren

Joanne Nicholson

Family Networks is a comprehensive systems transformation initiative to redesign and integrate traditional categorical services across the Commonwealth into local systems of care for children, youth, and families served by the child welfare system. The Family Networks Implementation Study, a partnership between the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (MA/DSS) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is a two-year study of the process of implementing local systems of care that began in January 2007, and will continue through December 2008. Findings from the Family Networks Implementation Study will inform MA/DSS strategic planning, system refinements, and the Family Networks outcomes evaluation. …

Parents With Severe Mental Illness And Their Children: The Need For Human Services Integration, Andrea Blanch, Joanne Nicholson, J. Purcell

Joanne Nicholson

Citation: Blanch, A., Nicholson, J. & Purcell, J. (1998) Parents with severe mental illness and their children: The need for human services integration. In Levin, B.L., Blanch, A.K. and Jennings, A. (Eds.) Women’s mental health services: A public health perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. ISBN 076190509X, 9780761905097.

Parents With A Mental Illness And Implementation Of The Adoption And Safe Families Act, Barbara Friesen, Joanne Nicholson, Katharine Kaplan, Phyllis Solomon

Joanne Nicholson

Citation: Friesen, B.J., Nicholson, J., Kaplan, K., & Solomon, P. (2009) Parents with a mental illness and implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act. In Golden, O., & Macomber, J. Eds.) Intentions and results: A look back at the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, Center for the Study of Social Policy, pp. 102-114. This paper examines how implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) may affect families in which a parent has a mental illness. We present evidence that such parents may suffer discrimination when the psychiatric diagnosis alone leads to an assumption …

The Invisible Children's Project: Key Ingredients Of An Intervention For Parents With Mental Illness, Beth Hinden, Kathleen Biebel, Joanne Nicholson, Liz Mehnert

Joanne Nicholson

This study used a collective case study design to identify key ingredients of the Invisible Children's Project, an intervention program for families in which a parent has a mental illness. Data were obtained from interviews with parents and service providers, and from family file records. Qualitative analyses were used to generate hypotheses regarding key ingredients and targeted outcomes, and to develop a testable intervention model. Key ingredients were defined as core processes, essential services, and mediators. Strong convergence across parents and providers suggested core processes defined by family-centered, strengths-based, emotionally supportive, and comprehensive approaches; essential services including family case management, …

Responding To Depression In Parents, Joanne Nicholson, Jonathan Clayfield

Joanne Nicholson

Pediatric professionals may naturally view themselves as gatekeepers or facilitators of access to mental health services for children, but may not see themselves as the first line of "defense" for parents with mental health issues. However, about two thirds of women who meet criteria for affective disorders, and slightly more than half of the men who do, are parents. Given that the average age of onset for affective disorders is several years after the birth of first children, parental depression may initially come to the attention of pediatric providers, the most likely professionals with whom parents have contact prior to …

Implementation Challenges In Wrapping Interventions Around Families Living With Parental Mental Illness, Joanne Nicholson, Beth Hinden, Joan Mikula, Kathleen Biebel, Valerie Williams, Katherine Woolsey, Elizabeth Aaker

Joanne Nicholson

Citation: Hinden,B., Mikula, J., Nicholson, J., Bieble, K., Williams, V., Woolsey, K., & Aaker, E. (2008). Implementation Challenges in Wrapping Interventions Around Families with Parental Mental Illness. In C. Newman, C. Liberton, K. Kutash, and R/ Friedman (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th Annual Research Conference, A System of Care for Children’s Mental Health: Expanding the Research Base. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, Florida Mental Health Institute, Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health.

Summary: Parental mental illness challenges service providers in adult mental health, child welfare and children’s mental health systems of care. This presentation describes the development …