While historically the Department of Family and Protective Services has been ill perceived as an entity not supportive of thriving families, the Department is moving into a new phase of its history with the inclusion of strategically led behavioral health initiatives that are undergirded by an integrated care philosophy. Often times care in today’s behavioral health system is fragmented requiring those seeking help for their care to tend to their needs by seeking help within a system that is rife with provider shortages, limited payer sources and distressed continuity in overall care. Receipt of care or programming developed by a Biodyne trained clinician offers a person-centered, wholistic approach to helping those in need. This is particularly important for youth who come into care with DFPS as historically placement challenges have exacerbated behavioral health care access issues.
What sets the Department aside today from its yesterday approach is the inclusion of programming that is informed by practices such as family voice and youth voice and diversion efforts offering programs that encourage coordination of care amongst all the providers in a youth and/or caregiver’s life. Other strategies are to create a first line of support that increases the probability of stability for a youth potentially improving the trajectory of their lives. This is being actualized via the efforts of a newly formed division in DFPS led by a Biodyne clinician in training and in collaboration with other key stakeholders within DFPS as well as other state agency partners. This sets the work done within the Department apart from historical efforts in that this role is unique in the history of Texas’s child welfare system. The inclusion of this role has been lauded by many external stakeholders as a significant point in time in the history of the department in which important progress may be made.
As I move forward in this role and laying the foundation for the future in the role of Chief Strategist for Behavioral Health, I intend to use my training as Doctor of Behavioral Health candidate to infuse key training elements related to trauma, integrated care and innovation to move the needle forward in diminishing negative outcomes for youth in care and laying the foundation for a better, brighter tomorrow for those youth.
Behavioral Health In Action 