Project ABC

Our Policy Summit, like all Project ABC activities, was firmly rooted in the concept and practice of Family Driven Care. Close to 20% of the participants at the summit were family members, but family voice did not start there. Prior to any summit planning, Project ABC families were asked to participate in family forums and give guidance to the issues and topics that would be addressed.

The family forums were conducted in English and Spanish and their purpose was 1) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the service systems serving the families of young children (age 0-5) with mental health needs, as perceived by the families, and 2) to identify strategies to improve these systems. The forums were co-facilitated by Project ABC Key Family Contacts and clinical staff. The participants represented both parents who have experienced referral to DCFS and foster parents/relative caregivers.

Families discussed their experiences working with various service systems including: DCFS, Department of Mental Health, Project ABC, Regional Centers, special education programs, and others. They reported positives such as good support from some of the systems and positive relationships with individual workers. They also shared negative experiences such as confusing and slow systems, staff who were disrespectful, insensitive or unhelpful, and high staff turnover. Families shared their recommendations which included: better, more current resources, more prevention services, better communication between agencies/systems and better trained, more sensitive staff. It is also important to note that our English speaking families are receiving significantly more services than our Spanish speaking families.

Our families made it clear that the quality of the relationship with staff significantly influenced their perception of the quality of the help and service they received. In summary, families are asking for more help, better help and help that is available sooner. We want to thank our families for their thoughtful, honest and helpful input into our policy work.

Fran D. Goldfarb, MA, CHES
Key Family Contact, Project ABC