What is JustCare for Kids?
Why does Shelby County need JustCare for Kids?
What is JustCare's mission and purpose?
What makes JustCare for Kids different from other similar organizations?
What has the Collaborative and JustCare for Kids achieved so far?
How is JustCare for Kids currently funded?
JustCare for Kids (JustCare) is the evolution of the Memphis/Shelby County Juvenile Justice Mental/Behavioral Health
Collaborative, comprised of over 30 community and government organizations that came together in June, 2001 to improve
resources for children and youth with mental and behavioral health problems and their families. In early 2004, JustCare
formally become an independent nonprofit organization to implement the Plans of the Collaborative.
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Shelby County has many mental and behavioral health treatment services for children and youth. However, the system through
which they are provided is highly fragmented, presents significant barriers to families, and often does not supply a
family-centered, community-based approach.
Children and youth with mental and behavioral health issues must be treated in the context of their families and communities.
In addition to medical treatment, these children and their families often need social, educational, recreational, physical, and
vocational support. Although Shelby County doesn't have such a system of care today, JustCare is working to change this.
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JustCare's mission is to ensure that Shelby County children and youth 0-18 years of age with mental and behavioral disorders
access appropriate, effective treatment that is family-centered and community-based.
JustCare's purpose is to:
- Identify gaps in services to children and families
- Pursue resources and funding to meet identified needs
- Coordinate a network of providers to effectively utilize resources to fill identified needs
- Pilot needed services that no current providers intend to offer
- Advise or advocate to government and other decision-making entities
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The broad array of organizations participating in and committed to JustCare reflects an understanding that children, youth and
their families need and receive support from providers that are traditionally "silo-ed" between various systems. The governing
structure of JustCare is designed to break down the barriers between child-serving systems to create both a coordinated
delivery system and a unified voice for advocacy in Shelby County. This unique focus on a cross-system approach makes the
organization different, special and critical.
The members of JustCare recognize and respect the fact that not only individual provider organizations but also families
and child-serving systems such as the public schools, juvenile court, Department of Health and Department of Children's
services have a crucial role to play in ensuring that children get the help they need.
Additionally, JustCare has worked closely with organizations that have similar goals, such as the Memphis/Shelby County
Health Summit, to coordinate and avoid duplication of resources.
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Since June, 2001, the Collaborative and/or JustCare has delivered:
- A comprehensive needs assessment reflecting the perspective of executives and front line staff in over thirty organizations
in Shelby County
- A Solutions Requirement Document that details changes in policy and practice needed to establish a comprehensive, evidence-based,
family-centered and community-based continuum of care for children and youth with mental and behavioral health needs and their families
- A Shelby County application for a $6 million federal grant to establish a local system of care for children and youth with
serious emotional disturbances
- Several policy papers on funding of mental and behavioral health services for children and youth that have been requested and
supplied to the Tennessee State Department for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
- An on-line system for documenting barriers to service children and youth with mental and behavioral health needs that has
provided nearly 50 case studies that have identified numerous trends in barriers to access, and their related policy implications
- The development and implementation of a Cultural Strengths assessment that measures the gap between the needs of the mental
health consumers vs. the delivery of the mental health providers. While this study examines the traditional dimensions of cultural
competency vis-à-vis ethnicity and socio-economic factors, it takes a broader perspective by addressing the more specific aspects
of the overall mental health consumer culture. Over 800 employees from 16 organizations have completed self-assessments, with consumer
assessments planned for the second half of 2004
These achievements lay the groundwork for achieving changes in policy and practice that will move Shelby County toward a true
continuum of care for children and youth with mental and behavioral health needs and their families.
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JustCare, and the Collaborative from which it evolved, has been, and will continue to be, sponsored through July, 2004, the
Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County with funds from the federal Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant. Moving
forward, it is intended that JustCare will be funded through a combination of contributions from Operating Board member
organizations and grants from public and private entities. Whenever possible, JustCare will continue to leverage its efforts
by working in partnership with existing local, state and federal agencies with common goals.
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