FAST Family Access & Support
All families experience good and bad times. Most can move beyond the problems. Occasionally, however, family members become stuck in a pattern that is damaging to the entire family. Therapy is helping, but somehow, your problems get the better of you.
FAST is an innovative, short term and exciting partnership between United Parents and Ventura County Behavioral Health (VCBH). It is designed to help families overcome chronically occurring problems which result in serious crisis.
Your therapist will refer you to FAST and a Parent Partner will contact you. A Parent Partner is a parent who combines their own life experience raising a child with mental, emotional or behavioral issues with on-going trainings in areas that help highly stressed families move towards a more peaceful, functional home. They consult with your therapist so everyone works together.
This service is designed to help your family identify what is working well, where the problems keep coming up, the reasons why, and brainstorm new strategies and ideas that can break the cycle of crisis.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?
- To work hard
- Think creatively toward solutions
- Be practical
- Have realistic expectations
- Expect Improvements
- Be involvedCreate more peace at home
- Create more peace at home
- Create a better family life
Parent Partners
1. If you feel the need for this service, ask your VCBH therapist for a referral.
2. We will call you for an appointment.
3. We will come to your home, meet you and your family to discuss your hopes, concerns and expectations.
4. With your permission, we will coordinate goals with your clinician.
5. You choose a day and time when we can meet regularly with all members of the family.
6. We (all of us) begin to form an action plan—one everyone can start to use immediately.
7. We will introduce you to, and go with you, to meet resources that will continue to support you after FAST leaves.
8. We are action oriented & dedicated to helping families reach their goals.
9. We are respectful, honest with you, creative, and professional.
Parent Partners are para-professionals, clinically supervised, who’s most important value is that they’ve raised a child with a mental, emotional and/or behavioral disorder.
They know about frustration, being blamed, losing hope, losing patience-all the challenges that go with raising special needs kids.
Their formal training is on-going, beginning with a State Certified Wraparound program to reinforce the importance of family focused, strength based strategies. Parent Partners receive training on mental illnesses, treatments, therapies, non-violent crisis prevention, specific parenting skills, Special Education, Probation, Foster/Kinship systems, and on-going compliance with HIPAA. Some Parent Partners meet the MediCal standard of Mental Health Associate or Mental Health Rehabilitation Specialist.
Our Parent Partners also have specific trainings in Grief, Domestic Violence, and Recovery, to name a few.
Parent Partners work with the family’s therapist to enhance treatment outcomes with practical solutions in the home.
Additional Supports
On Going
- Daily Telephone Support
- Educational Advocacy
- Parenting Workshops & Discussion
- In-home Follow Up
- Transitional Age Youth Referrals (TAY)
- Open Library
HAT (Home Access Triage)
This line is for non-critical emergencies. It is for support when you really need to talk to someone and the office is closed. It is to talk to someone, or have your child talk to someone, before behaviors escalate to a crisis. It is 24/7. If it is busy, someone will call you back. 805 551 0472.
In the event of a crisis, call CIRT (Children’s Intensive Response Team) @ 866 431 2478 or 911.
Monthly Support Groups
There are gatherings of families throughout the county that meet to discuss the challenges of raising children with special needs.
Call United Parents to find a location near you @ 805 384 1555.