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Aftercare, not an After Thought

It has become clear that many of us in our profession believe strongly in aftercare and supporting the whole family through the various transitions our families' experience. Vive has been asked by many professionals to bring more awareness and education to the importance of aftercare programming. In order to facilitate a discussion regarding transitions and aftercare, we will use this blog site to assist in the dialogue. We invite you to join, share your perspective, and be part of the conversation on transitions and aftercare.

The following entry builds off of a panel discussion that took place at NATSAP a few weeks ago.

"Aftercare can no longer be an after thought." Success for families increases when professionals work together to support the whole family throughout the many transitions of out-of-home placements in preparation for the final transition of returning to one's real world.

Throughout the conference there were many conversations with both panel members and the audience discussing the question, "How do we make aftercare more of a priority?" Some thoughts on this are:
* Continue talking about it with your colleagues.
* Challenge each other in conversations to look at our programming, look at our systems, and look at our business plans.
* Explore how we place value on family systems work.
* Explore how our case loads impact our ability to work with the whole family and the next program.
* Determine if our fee structures take into consideration the additional resources needed to work with the family to support healthy transitions.
* Look for ways to help families reserve some resources for aftercare, whether that is through bundling aftercare support into an educational loan on the front end of treatment, or creating foundations for families to tap into for this important next and final step in the continuum of care.

It can be a challenge to introduce a new idea and establish a new way of approaching how we do things as an industry. Communication is the agent of change. As professionals, we engage in healthy debate in order to influence positive change. So let's dialogue!

Below you will find the themes that emerged during the panel discussion. Please, share your comments.

How can Educational Consultants position aftercare so families commit to this process?

Transitions between Programs
Good communication does happen between programs but it is very hit and miss. This needs to become a "best practice" across the profession.

* For example, during the students last week at Aspiro students are allowed to see the web site of the next placement and even talk to the intake director or therapist at the new school. This seems to improve the student "buy in" to their next placement AND improves communication between programs so good information is not lost.

* When possible, a therapist will provide transportation to the next program. This decreases the anxiety for the student when they are with someone they know and it allows a face to face meeting with the new therapist to transfer the info and establish an on-going relationship.

Family Reunification
If the main goal for most families is "Reunification" then, as an industry, we must do a better job of working with complete "Family Systems".
* Major obstacles to this are:
* Logistics of spending time with the family because of distance.
* Specific focus of the program allocates all resources towards this area of expertise and treatment:
* Possible solution to consider: Collaborating with aftercare programs, whose specific area of expertise is supporting the whole family in the home environment, in order to allow for a parallel treatment process DURING and AFTER residential treatment.

The whole family needs support during any transition. Whether a student is returning home or striking out on their own, parents experience a large amount of anxiety. The more support parents receive from professionals during these transitions, the more success the young person will experience.

Aiding the development of relationship rich environments. From wilderness to aftercare it was clear; the power of our profession is our ability to create healthy relationships with students and families. There were many models represented both on the panel and in the audience, and each one established that developing healthy relationships with all key stakeholders during the transition is a key element to a success.

Posted by Michael Behmer on March 6, 2008 11:47 AM | Permalink

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So many parents feel so positive about their young person's progress in a therapeutic program and see such a different young person after treatment that they mistakenly think their child is ready for a transition without any major "bumps" in the road. Once a adolescent does hit a bump, all the old fears and dysfunctional ways of handling poor choices are stirred back up. Parents run the real risk of reacting to bumps or minor relapses in a way that sets the adolescent further back! Aftercare parental support gives parents real time practical advice and helps them to regulate their own emotions. Knowing something intellectually is quite different from the emotional pull when your young person pushes your buttons as only your own child can! Having a parent coach is essential!

Posted by Louise Slater | March 7, 2008 12:03 PM

Posted on March 7, 2008 12:03

Thank you Vive for the opportunity to join you on a panel discussion where I know we have a mutual passion. Transition and Aftercare!

Over the years I've seen a growing awareness by program professionals, consultants, and parents themselves of the importance of aftercare. That's gratifying! However there is still a considerable distance to go.

Weather programs provide these kinds of services themselves, or refer to others to support families, educating parents on the full journey of treatment, including the need for substantial aftercare (teens needing out-of-home treatment generally need a parallel level of support coming home), at the beginning of the treatment journey, is the key. Parents who understand this important component of treatment will generally find a way to include it.

Unfortunately the challenge and the decision of whether to see aftercare as a essential part of the process comes when money is running low. Hold on though because based on our experience and upon the research, the final phase (good aftercare) just may be the greatest opportunity available to programs and families to increase the long-term success of teens following treatment!

Posted by Tim Thayne | March 26, 2008 5:29 PM

Posted on March 26, 2008 17:29