Brightside for Families & Children

 

Home Based Services

Family Stabilization Team and Community Support Program

Family Stabilization Team and Community Support Program offer in-home support and follow up for children and families who have been participants in inpatient psychiatric care, and require additional support.  Bilingual, Spanish speaking staff are available.  For more information click on: Family Stabilization Program

Family Stabilization Team

Family Stabilization Team Clinicians provide innovative, home-based post-acute follow-up service designed to integrate the youth and stabilize the family. This service can also be used to prevent the need to enter higher levels of care. Services offered by the Family Stabilization Team (FST) will be brief, intensive, solution-oriented and designed to meet the individual needs of the family. They include:

Skill Building - behavior management and modification including communication/listening skills and "I-Messages;" home management skills including structure, routines, rules, nutrition and keeping appointments; decision making; advocacy; negotiation; anger management; coping techniques; and values clarification.

Education - topics may include substance abuse; community resources; sexuality; sexually transmitted diseases; and suicide prevention.

Crisis Intervention - 24-hour coverage available to de-escalate potentially harmful, out of control or violent situations.

Treatment Planning and Coordination - goals and action plans developed jointly by the family and FST and coordinated by the FST in conjunction with other service providers.
Clinicians - specializing in Family System Therapy parent/child communication; parenting strategies for various mental health child disorders; behavior modification strategies; teen alcoholism and substance abuse; and helping families through periods of transitions including loss and grief, divorce and relocation, etc.

Modeling - positive parenting and communication; prevention strategies; respect for all living things; a love of life, self and others; structure and discipline, and laughter, humor and fun.

Parenting - setting limits and boundaries; understanding child development and its relation to parental expectations; alternative forms of discipline; choices and consequences; exploration and expression of feelings.

Service Provider Coordination/Consultation - FST Teams will schedule meetings with other professionals involved with families, to clarify roles of medical, mental health, school and social services, to facilitate communication between the family and service providers.

Service Referral and Linkages - referrals to other clinicians, treatment groups, recreation and tutoring.

Helping Families Understand Family System Dynamics - understanding of their own family structure, organization, roles and boundaries.

Eligibility
Children in need of greater in-home support than what can be offered through typical once-a-week outpatient therapy, to stabilize a child from escalating to a possible out-of-home placement (i.e. hospital, foster placement, residential placement).

Referrals
Accepted from schools; therapists; pediatricians; community providers; also from families directly.

Community Support Program Services

Community Support Program Services may include advocacy, coordination of treatment, outreach, assistance with basic needs, skill building and facilitating linkages with community and natural support systems. The program is available to provide outreach and wraparound services to children and adolescents. CSP is designed to be a short-term transitional service with the goal of assisting members and their families to locate the resources needed to live successfully within the community.

CSP is frequently a step-down service from FST if the goals from FST have not been completed.

CSP can accept direct referrals from the community if the child is not in a state of mental health crises, and the primary goal is case management of community services/programs.

Bilingual, Spanish speaking staff available.

Contacts

For Further Information
For an appointment or more information, please call 413-788-7366.

Contact Information:
Maria H. Zygmont, Director
Phone: 413-827-4279
Email: maria.zygmont@sphs.com