BEHAVIORAL SERVICES OF LOUISIANA

is the state-wide Family Support Organization (FSO). We provide: 1) Parent Support and Training; and 2) Youth Support and Training which are two of the specialized services for youth enrolled in Louisiana’s Coordinated System of Care (CSoC). Services shall be delivered face-to-face with the majority occurring in community locations.  Services may be provided on an individual basis or in a group setting.

Your Wraparound Facilitator will conduct monthly Child and Family Team meetings (CFT) where you, the family and youth, will be given the voice to be able to let your needs and wants known and the choice of what services you will and will not receive.

All of Behavioral Services of Louisiana’s staff are drug-screened, background-checked and trained to provide one of the following services:

PARENT SUPPORT AND TRAINING

This service connects families with people who are caregivers of children with similar challenges.  Parent Support staff provide assistance to families and help families develop skills.  Parent Support staff also provide information and education to families and help families connect with other community providers.

This involves:

• Assisting the family in the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary to understand and address the specific needs of the eligible child/youth in relation to their mental illness/addictive disorder and treatment; development and enhancement of the family’s specific problem-solving skills, coping mechanisms and strategies for the child’s/youth’s symptom/behavior management;
• Assisting the family in understanding various requirements of the waiver process, such as the crisis/safety plan and plan of care (POC) process;
• Training on understanding the child’s diagnoses;
• Understanding service options offered by service providers and assisting with understanding policies, procedures and regulations that impact the child with mental illness/addictive disorder concerns while living in the community (e.g., training on system navigation and Medicaid interaction with other child-serving systems); and

YOUTH SUPPORT AND TRAINING

Young people who have been involved in behavioral health services or other child-serving systems in the past provide support, mentoring, coaching and skill development to children and youth enrolled in CSoC.  This service works with the child or youth at home and in community locations and supports the development of new skills and abilities.

Components:

• Helping the child/youth to develop a network for information and support from others who have been through similar experiences;
• Assisting the child/youth to regain the ability to make independent choices and take a proactive role in treatment, including discussing questions or concerns with their clinician about medications, diagnoses or treatment;
• Assisting the child/youth to identify, and effectively respond to or avoid, identified precursors or triggers that maintain or increase functional impairments; and
• Assisting the child/youth with the ability to address and reduce the following behaviors, reducing reliance on YST over time: rebellious behavior, early initiation of antisocial behavior (e.g., early initiation of drug use, shoplifting, truancy), attitudes favorable toward drug use (including perceived risks of drug use), antisocial behaviors toward peers, contact with friends who use drugs, gang involvement and intentions to use drugs.