“We are a network of resources and services as well as a forum for advocacy and education aimed towards empowering youth and families within our community”
Family Support Services Division
Monthly Meeting
December 2 nd , 2015
In attendance: Lisa Baker, Parent; Gina Beebe, OEC/Family Support Services; Ebony Brown, ValueOptions/AFCAMP; Cathy Calway, DDS; Chris Damato, DDS;
Linda Dewey, Somers Public Schools, Caitlyn Dion, CHR; Angela Frame, DDS-Autism Unit; Kaitlin Grout, Growing Potential Services; Fahnaa King, CHR;
Stephanie Landon, The Village; Ginny Lawless, CHR; Penny Lemery, CHR; Janice Lepage, Wheeler Clinic; Sherry Lewton, East Granby Schools; Manuel
Maldonado, FAVOR; Ann McAdams, WECC; Cali McGinn, Suffield Public Schools; Joann Moriarty, Rockville LIST; Leslie Offenbach, Suffield Youth Services;
Lori O’Neil, Suffield Public Schools; Tokuji Okamoto, ValueOptions; Lisa Palazzo, ValueOptions; Lynn Peck, CHR; Lis Phillips, Advocates Lis; Robin Powell,
CHR; Diane Reynolds, NCCC Admin/Parent; Haydee Rivera, CSSD/Judicial; Rolanda Rivera, CHR; Malika Robledo, DCF; Tracy Roche, FRC; Melissa Saunders,
Creative Interventions; Sara Senft, CT Behavioral Partnership; Marcy Taliceo, Growing Potential Services; Doriana Vicedomini, NCCC Chair/Parent; Jillian Webber,
The Village; Lynn Webber, The Village; Ashley Wilson, CHR
1. Welcome and Introductions

Thank you to Lori O’Neil, Suffield Public Schools, for providing the refreshments.

Thank you to Diane Reynolds, NCCC Admin/Parent, for providing the copies.

Thank you to Manuel Maldonado, FAVOR, bringing the projector and laptop for our speaker.
2. Approval of Prior Month Meeting Minutes

The November meeting minutes were reviewed and approved.
3. Care Giver / Provider Gaps, Concerns, Information, Trends, Successes

Kaitlin Grout, Growing Potential Services, questioned transportation for after school programs (in the
Enfield area). For HUSKY there is LogistiCare which is OK but for others there are no options especially for children ages 4 -10.
Recommendations: Magic Carpet, connect with Senior Center for senior who has time to provide rides, connect to families to create car pools, Granby Transportation Activity Program (TAP) 860-264-6131,
ITN North Central Connecticut 860-758-7833 www.itnnorthcentralct.org/ , Uber www.uber.com/cities/connecticut ,
Vernon Grandparent Program.
4. Care Coordination Needs / CHR Reporting

No Care Coordination Needs / CHR Reporting at this time.
5. CBHAC/CAAC Update
 CBHAC, Children’s Behavioral Health Advisory Committee
On Friday, December 5 th there was a combined Statewide Collaborative / CBHAC meeting.

CAAC, Connecticut Autism Action Coalition
The 2016 Autism Awareness Day at the Capital will be on April 6 th . That is the regular date of the
Collaborative meeting and we ask members to join us at the Capital to show support for those with Autism.
1

6. Speaker Presentations

- DCF Caregiver Support Team, Robin Powell, Clinical Program Director,
Falinda King, Supervisor for the Hartford Team, Ashley Wilson Supervisor for the Manchester team
Exhibit 1
The DCF Caregiver Support Team is an in home program for kinship and foster families. They support family’s needs which can include trauma and changing roles for grandparents, working with DCF, help with doctor’s appointments, behavior modification, connect to community (natural or provider), etc. It can last 6 months for kinships and 3 months for others.
They service all the towns in DCF region 4 and take their referrals from DCF. Their main focus is to maintain placement.

o
, Melissa
Sauders, Creative Interventions
Exhibit 2 www.creativeinterventions.net/
Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBA) is part of a behavior intervention plan that spans across home and school. The goal of the FBA assessment is observing the patterns of behavior and the frequently occurring antecedent. From a Behavior Analys ts’ perspective a behavior occurs because it is being reinforced so in the absence of reinforcement the behavior will decrease. A FBA observes individual
2

o reinforcers and allows for the development of effective treatments. It is imperative for collaboration between the school staff (all who work with the child – teacher, special ed teacher, para, school psychologist, speech, OT, etc) and the family. There should be no more than 3 behaviors in the behavior plan unless they are connected.
Start by addressing a focused individual behavior.

Define & prioritize target behavior (most interfering)

Access function through data collection

Develop hypothesis about the function

Design behavior support plan

Implement plan

Evaluate and modify plan as needed
Once there is a hypothesis to eliminate behavior they need to come up with preventative strategies, replacement behaviors, reactive behaviors, and a crisis plan. It is ongoing based on what is observed.
It is important to be clear how long techniques will be in place before it is looked at again.
Suffield has been awarded a Grant from DDS to work with 5 students in the Middle School with significant behavioral, mental health issues. Creative Interventions will be working directly with the students for behavioral assessments/plans.
, Kali McGinn, Suffield Public
School PBIS Specialist
ABA and PBIS are connected – ABA is more individualized and PBIS is for each school as a whole.
Suffield is building capacity to bring PBIS to all its schools. Expectations for positive and negative behavior is applied to a larger group scope. Through training of staff and capacity they hope to eliminate the smaller/trigger problems. Training extends to teachers, paras, lunch duty people, after school staff, etc. There is periodic training and monthly PLC (professional learning community) meetings.
Suffield uses academic tier interventions - SRBI (Scientific Research-Based Interventions). Tier I is universal, Tier II is provides help for children who need more support than they are receiving from the general curriculum., Tier III is individual instruction, behavior instruction.
PBIS targets about 80% of the school population with universal support. Each school has a framework. They use a common language, have school wide behavior lesson plans and school wide reinforcement and reaction lesson plans. The younger grades focus on Respect, Respond,
Kindness and older grades include Safety. It is an evidence based behavior intervention which teaches expectations – ex in the school hallway, lunch room, bathroom. They have small group reinforcement if needed. o
, Kaitlin
Grout, Marcy Taliceo
Exhibit 3 www.growingpotentialservices.com/
3

Growing Potential Services focuses on mental health, behavioral programs in schools and home along with after school programs using evidence based therapies. They offer 4 programs (taken from their website):
1. Outpatient: Outpatient treatment programs provide an array of services that include, but are not limited to, individual, group and family counseling, and education. These programs offer comprehensive and coordinated diagnostic, clinical and educational services that may vary in intensity level according to the needs of the individual served.
2. In Home Behavioral Services: Our In-Home Behavioral Services team can help you to change your child's behavior for the better. A qualified behavior specialists or BCBA will work with you and others in your child’s life to develop effective ways to change these behaviors. Our team of specialists will work with you and you to identify the function of the behavior and develop an individualized intervention for change.
3. Educational Advocate: If you need someone to help you advocate for your childs needs in the school system, our education advocate is here to help.
4. Therapeutic Kids Program: Therapeutic and educational in nature, this program was developed to allow children a safe and nurturing environment to learn and grow. This structured after school program is designed to foster the current skills of each child while introducing and developing upon new ones. This program is overseen by licensed therapists as well as BCBA's.
New programs that will be starting are Trauma Focus CBT programs for children and adults and EDT
(extended day treatment) through DCF.
7. NCCC Business

Update of Collaborative dates for 2016 – Please mark your calendars.
January 6 July 6
August 3 – no meeting February 3
March 2
April 6 – Autism Awareness Day at the Capital
September 7
October 5
May 4
June 1
November 2
December 7

Continue Brainstorm for 2016 Speaker Topics and Assign to Months
Exhibit 4
NCCC Topic and Speaker Schedule 2016.docx
8. General Announcements

No General Announcements at this time.
9. Adjournment
Next Meeting Topic: Alternative Behavioral Treatments
January 6 th , 2016
9:00am-12:00pm
Saint Francis Care Medical Office Building
7 Elm Street, Enfield, CT
Community Room Suite 301 – 3 rd Floor
The following minutes respectively submitted by Diane Reynolds, Collaborative Admin.
4

5

6

7

8