Families Plus
- Grant Period: 2015-2018
- Program Representative Interviewed: Brenda K. Holland, Ph.D., Executive Director of Families Plus
- Location: Delta County, Colorado
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Program Overview: Families Plus consists of
four agencies: a mental health specialty clinic, a hospital network, a primary care facility, and a safety
net provider. Families Plus uses wraparound services to assist children with complex needs from families
with limited resources using a collaborative approach. The program established the Families Plus Mental
Health Mentoring Model which uses motivational interviewing to identify the patient's goals and needs, and
then assigns the child a mentoring family. The program's clinical staff also offer cognitive
behavioral therapy and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy.
Families Plus has been successful due to a variety of factors, including the work of a volunteer consultant, Dr. John VanDenBerg. The program's success can also be attributed to strong relationships with various businesses and organizations in the Delta County area, including Doughty Steel & Machine, Inc. and Delta United Methodist Church. Families Plus has expanded their capacity to serve more children, and they were the first group in the area to integrate behavioral health into a medical clinic. The program also developed an online training manual for the Families Plus Mental Health Mentoring Model for mental health professionals and peer specialists.