February 9, 2011
Dear Coordinated System of Care Stakeholders,
You are invited to attend a Town Hall meeting presented by Louisiana's four state child and family serving agencies, where you will receive information about a new approach to providing services to children who are at risk of out-of-home placement due to significant behavioral health challenges. These meetings will allow us to share with you, our stakeholders, information about CSOC, and allow you to ask us questions, share your comments and learn more about the community application. The schedule of statewide meetings is below.
The Departments of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Health and Hospitals (DHH), Education (DoE) and the Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ) have worked together for over a year to build the Coordinated System of Care - CSOC.
CSOC is an evidence-based approach, part of a national movement, designed to develop family-driven and youth-guided care, keep children at home, in school, and out of the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. An important CSOC goal is to reduce the number of highly restrictive out-of-home placements through creation and maintenance of coordinated and effective community-based services.
Louisiana's at-risk children and their families currently face a fragmented service delivery model that lacks coordination, is often inadequate to meet their needs and is usually difficult to navigate. CSOC will create partnerships with public and private service providers that target children, youth and their families, in a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary system of services.
We have reached the implementation stage of the project and are scheduled to begin phase-in of communities in October 2011. The application for communities wishing to become a first-site implementer will be released shortly. Interested parties in the selected community may later apply to become the local wraparound agency.
Visit our website at www.dcfs.la.gov/CSoC to learn more about CSOC, its administrative structure, ideal service array, and the application process for selecting initial implementation sites.
Thank you,
| Sec. Ruth Johnson Dept. of Children and Family Services |
Dep. Sec. Mary Livers Office of Juvenile Justice |
Supt. Paul Pastorek Dept of Education |
Sec. Bruce Greenstein Dept of Health and Hospitals |
CSOC Town Hall Meetings
| Lake Charles Region February 17, 2011 1:30pm - 3:30pm Lake Charles Regional DCFS Office 4250 Fifth Ave. Lake Charles, LA 70607 (parking available behind bldg) |
Lafayette Region February 18, 2011 9:00 am - 11:30 am Immaculata Center Auditorium 1408 Carmel Dr. Lafayette, LA |
| Shreveport Region February 22, 2011 2:00pm - 4:00 pm Northwest Supports & Services Center 5401 Shed Rd. Bossier City, LA 71111 (in the theater) |
Monroe Region February 23, 2011 2:30pm - 4:00pm ULM Conference Center University Library - 7th Floor 700 University Ave. Monroe, LA |
| Thibodaux Region February 24, 2011 1:00pm - 3:00pm Nicholls State University LeBijou Theater - Student Union Bldg 104 Ellendale Drive Thibodaux, LA 70310 Look for designated parking area or parking at Student Union |
Orleans Region February 28, 2011 1:30pm - 3:30pm Holy Angels Community Center 3500 St Claude St. New Orleans, LA 70117 |
| Covington Region February 28, 2011 9:00am - 11:00am St Tammany Parish Council Building 21490 Koop Dr. Mandeville, LA |
Alexandria Region March 2, 2011 1:00 - 3:00pm Alexandria City Hall Bldg 915 3rd St. Alexandria, LA 71301 |
| Baton Rouge Region March 3, 2011 2:00 to 4:00 pm Louisiana Resource Center for Educators 5550 Florida Blvd. Baton Rouge. LA 70806 |