Family Support Services provided directly to youth emphasizes improvement, the acquisition of social and relationship skills, and the use of appropriate coping mechanisms to navigate social relationships and civic interactions.
Family Support Services are utilized to provide skill development, acquisition, and establish informal and formal supports for children and families. Family Support Specialists provide services to the family in their natural environments which may include home, school, and the community. Family Support Services train families on the use of appropriate coping skills, appropriate discipline, or other specific interventions under the direction of a Family Permanency Specialist. Family Support Services focus on providing parents/caregivers training on the use of positive social praise, coaching of child-directed interactions, and introduction of parent-directed activities to include daily living activities such as bedtime rituals, toilet training, curfew, consequences, and chores.
Omni provides Intensive Family Preservation (IFP) services in several areas of Nebraska. IFP is a team approach service that provides therapeutic and skill-building interventions within the home. Families referred may have severe mental health issues, abuse or neglect issues, or youth with serious emotional and behavioral disturbances. The major goal of this program is to prevent an out-of-home placement of the youth to reunify families and stabilize placement. Omni provides this service to preserve the family’s integrity and prevent unnecessary out-of-home placements, to put adolescents and their families in touch with community resources for long term outside support, and to strengthen the family’s coping skills and capacity to function effectively in the community after treatment is completed.
Intensive Family Preservation therapists meet with the family in its environment which may include home, school, day care, and community. Crisis assistance through consultation and problem solving is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
An Intensive Family Preservation team consists of an LMHP (Licensed Mental Health Practitioner) or PLMHP (Provisional Licensed Mental Health Practitioner) and a Skill Builder with a Bachelor’s degree.
The initial weeks of IFP service comprises of evaluation and assessment of family strengths and needs, safety planning, and gathering information while building a working relationship with the family. Middle weeks of service are for training, education, and coaching the individualized services. The final weeks of service are for review of the material taught, developing community supports, working on any clinical issues, relapse prevention, planning to address future issues, and generalization of skills to the various social and civic circumstances the family will encounter in the future.
Intensive Family Preservation services are available through consultation and problem solving 24 hours per day, 7 days a week while the family is receiving services.
The IFP therapist and case manager will determine the frequency and duration of family visits. The focus is based on needs for therapeutic services.
Intensive Family Preservation referrals come from the Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services or the Office of Probation. Referrals are made for abuse/neglect, family relationship problems, parenting skills, or issues arising under the jurisdiction of the Office of Juvenile Services (OJS) such as juvenile delinquency, truancy, etc. IFP can be referred to assist foster families and biological families. Families referred for IFP are at significant risk for having children removed from the home due to neglect or abuse, and frequently are experiencing problems and challenges to family unity or reunification after separation.
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Kate earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work in 2012 from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. where she also gained experience serving as a family support specialist with families in crisis and later with a non-profit agency providing case management and therapeutic services to survivors of domestic violence. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln in 2009. She began at Omni in 2012 working as an Intensive Treatment Mobility therapist, focused on behavioral modification and developmental disabilities. Kate is currently Omni’s Director of Intensive In-Home Services, providing guidance to teams in assessing risk and developing intervention plans based on family strengths, in order to support family reunification and preservation.