This information is from the Systems of Care SAMHSA website. The link is at the end of the article.

Origin of the Project

The federally funded Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services Program for Children and Their Families is supported by a number of technical assistance, evaluation, research and training centers. Leaders from these projects, representatives from the funded communities, and staff from the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch of the Center for Mental Health Services, comprise the Council for Collaboration and Coordination which is known generally as the CCC¹. At its Spring meeting in 2004, the CCC recognized the need for a clear definition of the term “family-driven” for use by systems of care and asked the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health to take the lead in developing one. Trina W. Osher, Director of Policy & Research for the Federation was assigned the task and David Osher, Managing Research Scientist at AIR and a Federation member was asked to contribute his time as a partner in the work. Activities were supported by Gary Blau, Chief, Child, Adolescent and Family Branch through his participation and with funds from the Branch.

Need for a Definition of Family Driven Care

The President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health issued its report Achieving the Promise in 2003. Goal 2 of that report envisions a transformed services system in which “mental health care is consumer and family driven.” In its explanation for including this recommendation, the Commission stated that, “Consumers and families told the Commission that having hope and the opportunity to regain control of their lives was vital to their recovery.” The report cited research validating that hope and self-determination are important factors contributing to recovery. The Commissioners stated emphatically that families “must stand at the center of the system of care” and the needs of children, youth, and families must “drive the care and services that are provided.” The report does not define family driven but includes five recommendations that indicate the scope of what they had in mind. The five recommendations were:

1. Develop an individualized plan of care for every adult with a serious mental illness and child with a serious emotional disturbance. 2. Involve consumers and families fully in orienting the mental health system toward recovery. 3. Align relevant Federal programs to improve access and accountability for mental health services. 4. Create a Comprehensive State Mental Health Plan. 5. Protect and enhance the rights of people with mental illnesses.

Why Promote Family-Driven Care?

The experiences of families, youth consumers, and family oriented practitioners echo the findings and recommendations of the New Freedom Commission report. They know that when families are fully engaged and have an influential voice in decisions making the outcomes are better.

Families know what works for them and it therefore makes sense that they drive service delivery decisions. Their experience is holistic, not segmented by disciplines or service systems, and grounded in the challenges they face all day and every day. They know their own limitations and the environmental constraints they face. They also know their and their child’s strengths. Families can keep track of change in how they or their child are doing on a daily basis or how a program, agency, or system is performing over time. And, perhaps most importantly, without family comfort and buy-in, children and youth do not participate in services. In the public advocacy arena, family voices have credibility and their passion and persistence are necessary to achieve and to sustain transformation.

Their experience is holistic and grounded in the challenges they face every day. They know their own limitations and the environmental constraints they face. Families can keep track of change in how they or their child are doing on a daily basis or how a program, agency, or system is performing over time. And, perhaps most importantly, without family comfort and buy-in, children and youth do not participate in services. In the public advocacy arena, family voices have credibility and their passion and persistence are necessary to achieve and to sustain transformation.

For programs, agencies, and systems to provide family-driven care, there must be a paradigm shift, and there must be administrative support to change behaviors and relationships. Everyone, families and providers alike, needs help to view the decision making process differently, to act and interact in new ways, to feel comfortable with shared responsibility for decision making; and to own and believe in a family-driven as the right way of working together. Developing, promoting, and supporting a commonly accepted definition of family-driven is a necessary step toward making this paradigm shift.http://systemsofcare.samhsa.gov/headermenus/familydriven.aspx