Region 3

Coalition Partners

Region 3 Family Leadership Partners have been drawn together by the
 common vision of empowering and supporting caregivers of children with
 mental health needs. These include many non-profit, publicly funded,
 organizations or initiatives (focused projects of established social
 service agencies) including Department of Human Services - multiple
 departments,  Department of Family and Community Support, Department of
 Children and Family Services, Strengthening Families, Local school
 districts and/or school building administrators, individuals of all 
educational background wanting to invest in CMH system simplification.
 Our main goal is to raise awareness and value for family voice with 
regard to mental health services for children, along with support and
 mentoring of families accessing services.

Regional Plan 

Region 3 Family Leadership Partners have identified a two-fold 
strategic plan. 1) Build, sustain, and continually recruit members for a 
regional partnership team consisting of CMH family representatives and 
youth as well as representatives from the provider perspective of the
 CMH service system. 2) Build, sustain, and accommodate the needs of
 families through multiple family/school/community coalitions. These
 coalitions will need their community's cultural and beliefs imbedded in 
the foundation and growth of that particular coalition. Our goal is not
 to create a free-standing entity, but simply to link and encourage
 collaboration amongst each communities current service systems
 
The regional team approved their strategic plan in November of 2009 having identified two main goals: 1) To build and support a regional partnership team for a collaborative CMH framework of care. 2) To build and support multi-site family/school/community coalitions to empower families as change agents at the local level. As the collaboration between providers and families continued, 9 possible sites for establishing family driven community sites were identified.

1. Thomosboro, IL – DMH in schools grant site
2. Ford/Iroquois County – Local Area Network Team @ CRCC
3. Champaign, IL –SAMSA Access Initiative
4. Bloomington, IL - Parent Support Groups Existing
5. Pekin, IL - DMH in schools grant site
6. Creve Coeur, IL - DMH in schools grant site
7. Peoria, IL (2) - Greely School (BD) & Northern Peoria Area
8. Rock Island, IL - DMH in schools grant site

Key Activities
Three phases of family leadership & support services have been implemented for future regional work. With more sites than originally planned, it has become imperative that each Families Advocating for Collaborative Teams (FACT)© site have multiple agency support for longevity of the group. Kevin McClure, as regional coordinator, has the responsibility to prioritize sites by their commitment and then to provide training and ongoing support for family leaders with the goal of self - sustainability of each location.

PHASES of FACT Development:

1. Introduction of Possible Collaborative Services to a local group
2. Planning, PR, & Launch of Training
3. On-Going support and Training
4. Community Outreach and Action
5. Sustainability and Longevity Planning

Region 3 Contact Information:

Bio: As required by the ICMHP initiative, Kevin McClure is a parent who has navigated the CMH system on behalf of one of his own children. Mr. McClure has the additional insight from within the system as an experienced CMH provider. Kevin’s heartfelt passion is to empower families to navigate the CMH system so that their child(ren) may receive the overall care and support during the time that they may need mental health services.