System of Care Values and Principles

Core Values

1. The system of care should be child centered and family focused, with the needs of the child and family dictating the types and mix of services provided.

2. The system of care should be community based, with the locus of services as well as management and decision making responsibility resting at the community level.

3. The sytem of care should be culturally competent, with agencies, programs, and services that are responsive to the cultural, racial, and ethnic differences of the populations they serve.

Guiding Principles

1. Children with behavioral healthcare needs should have access to a comprehensive array of services that address their physical, emotional, social, and educational needs.

2. Children with behavioral healthcare needs should receive individualized services in accordance with the unique needs and potentials of each child and guided by an individualized service plan.

3. Children with behavioral healthcare needs should receive services within the least restrictive, most normative environment that is clinically appropriate.

4. The families and surrogate families of children with behavioral healthcare needs should be full participants in all aspects of the planning and delivery of services.

5. Children with behavioral healthcare needs should receive services that are integrated, with linkages between child serving agencies and programs and mechanisms for planning, developing, and coodinating services.

6. Children with behavioral healthcare needs should be provided with case management or similar mechanisms to ensure that multiple services are delivered in a coordinated and therapeutic manner and that they can move through the system of services in accordance with their changing needs.

7. Early identification and intervention for children with behavioral healthcare needs should be promoted by the system of care in order to enhance the likelihood of positivie outcomes.

8. Children with behavioral healthcare needs should be ensured smooth transitions to the adult service system as they reach maturity.

9. The rights of children with behavioral healthcare needs should be protected, and effective advocacy efforts for children and adolescents with behavioral healthcare needs should be promoted.

10. Children with behavioral healthcare needs should receive services without regard to race, religion, national origin, sex, physical disability, or other characteristics, and services should be sensitive and responsive to cultural differences and special needs.