Summer 2009

Magellan, Montgomery County Implement Family Focused Solution Based Services (FFSBS)

In the ongoing interest of Magellan and Montgomery County’s commitment to cross-system collaboration, together we have implemented a new service called Family Focused Solution Based Services (FFSBS). Typically used for families involved with the child welfare system due to issues of abuse or neglect, FFSBS assists in preserving the family through both counseling and skill-building. FFSBS also works cooperatively with the involved child welfare systems to identify any unmet family support needs in order to improve the overall stability of the home environment and prevent out-of-home placement for children and adolescents.

The service is delivered jointly by mental health agencies and providers who historically provided child welfare-funded services to children in their homes (SCOH), allowing the families to have one team in their home delivering both mental health and child welfare services. This makes life simpler for the families and supports the single-case plan concept.    

Magellan and Montgomery County also are delivering a pilot program in the Abington School District through the FFSBS service, called “School Wide Positive Behavioral Support.” The goal of the pilot is to prevent youth from needing higher levels of care, and it allows treatment to be delivered in the home and at school, as needed, for those children not involved with child welfare.