Yellowstone County Kids Management Authority Local interagency body with decision-making authority at a policy level; authority to commit resources and make decisions about services to children in Yellowstone County.
Children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders, and their families, access a comprehensive array of services that address their physical, emotional, social, and educational needs.
To improve and develop community-based services for children and adolescents with serious mental health needs and their families, based on a child-centered, family focused, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary approach that includes integrated care coordination and service delivery.
Develop a comprehensive and integrated delivery system; providing care and treatment for Yellowstone County’s most resource intensive, high-risk, multi-agency children and their families.
A system of care is about partnership—a partnership made up of service providers, families, teachers, and others who care for a child. Together, the team develops an individualized care plan that builds on the unique strengths of each child and each family. This customized plan is always implemented in a way that is consistent with the family’s culture and language.
In a system of care, mental health, education, child welfare, juvenile justice, and other agencies work together to ensure that children with mental, emotional, and behavioral problems and their families have access to the services and supports they need to succeed. These services and supports may include evaluation services, outpatient treatment, emergency services, case management, intensive home-based services, day treatment, respite care, therapeutic foster care, and informal supports such as faith-based, neighborhood organizations.
Systems of care are developed on the premise that most mental health needs of children, adolescents, and their families can be met within their home, school, and community environments. These systems are also developed around the principles of being child-centered, family-driven, strength-based, and culturally competent and involving interagency collaboration.
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The Yellowstone County KMA is a multilevel system of interagency collaboration, which separates client-level functions from system-level functions.
Client-level
Utilizing an existing statutory team, the Interdisciplinary Child Information Team (CIT), joined by family and individuals involved with a particular child, serves as the child-specific team used to develop individualized care plans for youth and their families. The inclusion of parents as full partners is essential for an individualized service approach. The care plan developed by the team generally is holistic, addressing all life domains.
System-level
If funding, program, or policy problems impede the design or implementation of the plan, the case is referred to a higher level interagency team – the KMA. The KMA is responsible for case review as well as system-level issues such as improving local services, addressing and resolving policy and funding barriers, and improving interagency collaboration. Based on a system management team model, the KMA is made up of representatives with decision-making authority from core child-serving agencies and parents focused on child health.
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- Ron Walters
- Juvenile Probation - 13th Judicial District
- Kevin Frank
- Regional Administrator - CFSD
- Walt Wagenhals
- Program Officer - CMHB
- Suzn Gehring
- Regional Mgr. - Developmental Disabilities Program
- Monica Witten
- Director of Special Services - Billings Public Schools
- Sandra Lippy
- Chemical Dependency Coordinator Mental Health Center,
Journey Recovery Program - Vonda Nicholson
- Reg. Care Coordinator - First Health Services of Montana
- Dennis Moore
- Executive Director - PLUK
- Shawn Byrne
- Director - Community Based Services, YBGR
- Barbara Hogg
- Parent
- Marilyn Euler
- Parent
- Bill Snell
- Cultural Consultant