Expanding Services – Providing New Hope
We are proud to announce that New Hope is expanding services to include community-based services for youth and families during and after their treatment in our PRTF. This new service called, The Bridge Program, gives us the ability to formally and therapeutically engage with families in their community during and after treatment in our PRTF. Thank you to our valued partners in North Carolina: Vaya Health, Partners Health Management and Alliance Health.
See press release below:
10/24/22
Transforming Residential Services: New Hope and North Carolina MCOs launch new initiative
Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTF) are the highest level of residential treatment that a young person can receive. This service is for youth who have tried multiple other levels of care and been unable to achieve safety and stability with those interventions. One of the most challenging dynamics faced by youth in residential services is being disconnected from their family and community system, as they live in the PRTF 24/7, sometimes for up to several months at a time. The research is clear that the pathway towards the best long-term outcomes for residential treatment for youth is increasing parent/family engagement in the process.
New Hope, located in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has been providing PRTF services for nearly three decades. New Hope takes youth from all across the country, many hailing from North Carolina. New Hope sees firsthand what happens when families are not actively engaged in the PRTF treatment process and what occurs when a youth experiences a positive treatment outcome but returns to a family that has not changed at all. This is a recipe for recidivism back into residential programs and a waste of time and resources. It is time to end that cycle.
New Hope, in partnership with Vaya Health, Alliance Health and Partners Health Management, is launching a new initiative called The Bridge Program. The Bridge Program will employ mental health professionals across North Carolina to work with the parents/family of each youth who is in New Hope’s PRTF. While the youth is receiving treatment in the PRTF, the parent/family will simultaneously be receiving intensive support in their home in preparation for the youth to eventually return home. That same professional, what is being called a Transition Specialist, will then continue to work with the family up to 90 days post-discharge from PRTF. They will serve as the “bridge” between the PRTF and home that is currently missing in our system of care. They will help ensure that the entire family system is making changes during the PRTF process and not just the youth. This represents a complete paradigm shift in how residential treatment has historically operated and we believe that it will dramatically improve long-term outcomes for youth and families.
Matt Simon, COO at New Hope, couldn’t hold back his excitement about the new program. “I am beyond thrilled that this program is launching with the support of our forward-thinking managed cared partners. All too often, we view mental health issues through an individual lens and believe that the child needs to be “fixed”. This couldn’t be more wrong. It’s also not about blaming parents/guardians. It’s about a lasting change process happening with the entire family system, and this program is going to do just that. This program has the potential to completely change how residential services are provided.”
Alliance CEO Rob Robinson added that, “the Bridge Program is just one example of Alliance Health’s goals of increasing the number of children remaining safely in their own home and communities and improving the health and well-being of them and their families. Transitions from treatment back to home and community can be a vulnerable time for children and their families. Providing this intensive transition support significantly improves their resilience. The program also meets the expectations of North Carolina’s Children and Families Specialty Plan and the recommendations of the Child Welfare and Family Well-Being Transformation Team’s Transforming Child Welfare and Family Well-Being Together Action Plan .”
In addition to better outcomes for youth and families, New Hope and the MCO’s strongly believe that this will save the State Medicaid system significant dollars. This program should be able to reduce overall length of stays in a PRTF, and prepare more youth to step down directly home instead of stepping down to other, more costly, levels of residential care. And of course, this program is expected to reduce the likelihood of readmission to psychiatric hospitals or back to residential treatment. This program represents the best of what happens when providers and payers come together to solution complex issues – it becomes a win for families and a win for the state. “The Bridge Program exemplifies the integrated approach that Vaya has championed for years,” said Brian Ingraham, President and CEO of Vaya Health. “Innovative programs that focus on whole person care—and in this case whole family care—are the backbone of Vaya’s Behavioral Health and I/DD Tailored Plan, which we look forward to launching as part of NC Medicaid Managed Care in April.”
Beth Lackey, Senior Director of Provider Network for Partners Health Management, had this to say, “Partners believes in working with providers to support their work in transitioning children back to our communities to improve lives and strengthen communities. This program will support that mission and support the children and families in the State of NC with strong aftercare support to enhance their success in the community.”
New Hope has been a champion for the highest needs youth and family in the country for decades. New Hope will continue to find opportunities to establish creative and robust private/public partnerships to ensure that all youth and families are able to live well and experience their full potential. The Bridge program officially launches in November, 2022.
For information about The Bridge program or New Hope in general, visit www.newhopetreatment.com or call 1-800-776-6482. For more information about Vaya Health, visit www.vayahealth.com, Partners Health Management, visit www.partnersbhm.com or Alliance Health, visit https://www.alliancehealthplan.org/.
