3.  Overview of Local Teams

                                 i.             Local Teams

Mechanisms are needed at both the organizational and system level to support front line staff from multiple organizations to coordinate and/or integrate their work with children in child and family teams.  The CTN Implementation Reference Group is the system level mechanism, and Local Teams are the mechanism at the organizational level, to bring staff and supervisors from community agencies and schools together locally.

What are the local teams?

• A geographical pool of like-minded peers who share common goals for children, youth and families
• A ‘community of practice’ that needs to know what each other knows
• A local context for implementing both Child and Family teams and the system level policies of the Network
• a locally-managed system of care focusing on subsets of children with high level of needs
• a framework to bring organizations together within a domain and establish common working practices
• Local teams focus on values, culture, practice and knowledge, while child and family teams focus on tasks, goals, and timelines in the single plans of care of individual children, youth and families

What are the functions of the local teams?

• To oversee/clarify the elements and roles of a local collaborative system of care
• To create a local culture of shared values and goals
• To create a working climate of ongoing dialogue and support for each other in coordinating and collaborating to serve children and families with significant or complex needs
• To monitor a mutual accountability for implementing best practice and agreed upon model of delivery
• To support improvement in quality through training, educating and mentoring
• Collaborative problem-solving and conflict resolution
• Address policy issues that cut across agencies and affect child and family teams in the geographical area
• Identify local issues that require a system level response from the Network

What outcomes do we hope the local teams will achieve

• Increased collaboration among agencies partnering locally
• Increased supportive and adaptive relationships
• Reduced duplication of effort
• Increased staff satisfaction and reduced burn out
• Increased capacity of child and family teams to set single plan of care and achieve goals
• Increased family empowerment and quality of life

Characteristics

Local teams are not ‘teams’ in the traditional definition, but are intended to be:

• Informal
• Inclusive and fluid membership, according to needs and issues
• Local uniqueness
• Respect for both interdependence and when dependence not warranted
• Shared language, repertoire, routines, tools, resources
• Has existing options for facilitating work together – co-locations, existing teams (e.g. EI, Compass), clinics
• Lead but not managed
• Focus on knowledge, practice, quality, collaboration and communication

How will the teams evolve?

• Building initial awareness
• Who is our local team (do we have an EI or a Compass team already)
• Find common ground (team building)
• Determine functions the team will perform in CTN implementation
• Identify strengths, skills and gaps
• Identify or develop some shared routines (e.g. meetings, training)
• Problem-solving

• Coalescing
• Developing a practice model and performance indicators, policies, process
• Establish a training plan and initiate learning, coaching
• Ongoing dialogue, problem-solving, team-building
• Support joint structures for screening, assessment, child & family teams for various sub-sets of kids/families with complex needs

• Mature and Active
• Build capacity for core and specialty services and service coordination
• Continue to develop integrated practices
• Evaluate team functioning
• Extend linkages and functioning with other local teams
• Streamline practices

                               ii.             How will the Local Teams Work

Local Team Facilitators

Each Local Team will have a part-time facilitator to support it in its role and functions.  The job description for the facilitators is outlined on the next page:

Definition Local Team leaders facilitate and support integrated planning, assessment and service delivery in the local team, and represent their geographical team at the network level.   Role and Responsibilities -          facilitates/coordinates/leads/supports geographical or specialty team: o        to develop a cohesive working environment and effective team processes (planning, decision-making) that support the integrated working of multiple organizations in a family-centred approach to service delivery o        To guide the planning and collaborative participation of all stakeholders in development of child and family teams, single plans of care to meet practice standards for the team   -          key informant re local team capacity and gaps o        monitors the local team waitlist and discusses challenges and needs with the clinical director o        identifies waitlist and caseload patterns, including the complexity of referrals and the intensity of the rehabilitation required   -          primary communications, documentation and problem-solving link between CTN Clinical and Access Directors and local teams   -          local team space oversight; o        monitors equipment utilization and sources out purchasing requirements   -          tracks educational needs of the local team and arranges local continuing educational opportunities o        orient new local team members o        plays a role in training and support for the clinical guidelines/practice model   -          represents local team at system level, working closely with the CTN Clinical Directors and other team leaders to facilitate access and reduce duplication across the network   -          contact for specialty services   The local or specialty team leader does not: -          manage or supervise staff -          assume accountability for local team -          assign responsibility or resources   Skills and Characteristics: It is preferred for the  local team leader to have a  minimum of 5 years experience in a related role, with experience across the preschool and school age population. -          models the values and beliefs of the integrated model, including respect for all team members and families -          Professional human services background and experience with children with multiple disabilities -          is a skilled facilitator, negotiator and communicator -          has some experience with coordination between agencies and/or sectors -          has a broad knowledge base of the local stakeholders and some experience with self-directed teams -          comfortable with change management and conflict resolution   Key processes and tools The local team leaders are supported in their role, within this integrated model of service delivery, by the following: -          Coordinated access mechanism and service navigators -          common practices and guidelines for service coordination, child and family teams -          clinical software application that provides an electronic client record and supports the single plan of care -          CTN communication tools -          local team space equipped to support activities of the local team -          clinical directors -          CTN research and evaluation framework that assists the team in identifying its strengths and guides development

 

A process for selecting Local Team Facilitators has been undertaken as agreed by the Reference Implementation Group.  The following candidates have been selected:

                            iii.             Local Team Sites

What is the geographical make up of the Local Teams?

• These areas may split halfway to another team
• Several areas will have cross-border connections with other areas

                            iv.             Managing Relationships and Accountability

Working in a collaborative environment with partners requires clarity about who is accountable to whom for what.  There needs to be a clear distinction between the employer-employee relationship between staff and their home organization, and the mutual accountability we share as members of the Network, and local teams. 

This table sets out the parameters for these accountabilities: