News Release
November 15, 2005For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Tina Clark, APR
Director of Development & Community Relations
207-784-4110 x 158
tclark@tcmhs.org
TCMHS Develops Coordinated Care System
BRIDGTON/OXFORD/FARMINGTON/RUMFORD –
Children with serious emotional disturbances and their families often face a bewildering maze of services available through schools, communities, health care providers, counseling agencies, law enforcement, just to name a few. Getting connected with the right ones at the right time and learning how they can work together can be one of their toughest challenges.
Beginning in 2006, Tri-County Mental Health Services will lead the way in creating a more coordinated system, improving early identification and providing the most effective treatment for these children and their families. Family and youth will have a central role in the development and implementation of the project.
Funded with a $9 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), TCMHS and its partner the Maine Department of Health & Human Services will build an integrated system of care. The project, titled "A Trauma-Informed System of Care for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances in Maine" will service the areas of Androscoggin, Franklin, Oxford, and Northern Cumberland Counties over the next six years and serve as a model for the state and nation.
The project will focus on ensuring that families find "no wrong door" to treatment services, and that barriers to care are removed. There will be special emphasis on more effectively addressing the needs of vulnerable and high risk groups, and young people who have experienced trauma.
Tri-County Mental Health Services is Maine's most comprehensive agency dealing with the psychological and social well-being of children, adults, and elders. TCMHS serves over 6,000 individuals each year with innovative programs and services addressing mental health, substance abuse, mental retardation/developmental disabilities, autism, and more. Its philosophy of building toward recovery and sensitivity to traumatic experiences of consumers gives hope to individuals, families, and communities in Androscoggin, Northern Cumberland, Franklin and Oxford counties.