PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring Conference

Building Collaboration Building Collaboration and Partnership among and Partnership among Agency DepartmentsAgency Departments

Presented By:

Wendy Shapiro, M.A., Director of Children’s Mental Health Case Management, Lenape Valley Foundation

Krisanna Ghadiri, LCSW, Director Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services, Lenape Valley Foundation

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In 2009, Bucks County Behavioral Health Rehabilitative Services were negatively impacted by changes in service and reimbursement allowances. In response, Lenape Valley Foundation shifted focus towards greater intra-agency collaboration among its children’s services with the objective being improvement of service response, delivery, quality, and effectiveness of treatment. Positive collaboration began once a foundation of partnership principals were established; establishment of trust, shared vision, patience, shared risks and costs, balance of power, and benefits for all.

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Learning Objectives

• The individual will gain understanding of the need/benefits, for establishment of partnership principals; collaboration NOT competition.

• The individual will gain understanding how to establish partnership principals unique to their agency/department needs.

• The individual will gain understanding of “how” to move beyond talking partnership principals, towards working the partnership principals.

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“Two positions within your department are being dissolved…”• How it started

• Immediate impact– Loss of position(s)/staff turnover– Disruption od service delivery– Self preservation vs.

families/agency/department– Diminished staff morale– Fiscal impact– Diminished trust– Where to start?

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Moving Towards Collaboration NOT Competition• Recognition of the need to work

together in a different way/ The buy-in– Fiscal benefits for all– Improvement in overall service delivery– Reduce redundancy

• Documentation• Services’• Treatment• Supervision• Work smarter, not harder

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Let’s Develop Fundamental Partnership Principals

• PRINICIPAL: Establish Trust– Move from “competitors” to partners– Neither department caused the upheaval– Historical working relationship a plus,

something to build upon– Increase transparency; planning together– Say what we mean, do as we say– Share decision making powers– Respect for the operating

procedures/regulations of the other– Communicate often and with

purpose/physical move of departments

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Principal: Shared Vision• The whole is bigger than the individual: Lenape Valley

Foundations’ mission is our mission• More similarities than differences; identify

commonalities among departments– Both service children and their families– Both provide mobile services – Funds derive from the same source– Some regulations are similar

• The buy-in, “What’s in it for me?”– Consider impact upon frontline staff

• Work load; shared responsibilities means it is not all on you

• Schedules and staffing needs• Flexibility required from all• Collaboration + more energy/less burnout• Feeling good about outcomes

– Fiscal benefits for all• Revenue and expenditures

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Principal: Patience

• Rome was not built in a day– Prioritize– Planning takes time– Too many changes too often– “Change” is the reality– Do the homework– Demonstrate effective leadership/accept

and move on

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Principal: Shared Risks And Costs

•Not just dollars and cents

•Respect fiscal issues of each

•Get creative by being collaborative

•Again, what is redundant?

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Principal: Balance of Power

• “Am I going to lose my job?”

• Demands of effective collaboration

– Too many chiefs, not enough………who’s in charge?

– All positions are equally important

– Commit to equity in shared leadership and decision making

• Create process that respects equity and leadership

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Principal: Benefits For All

•Revenue will grow due to competent service delivery

•Expenditures will decrease due to lack of redundancy

•Staff retention

•REALLY???????????

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Conclusion

The Good the Bad…………Are we there yet?