A federal system of care strategic expansion planning grant was awarded by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to Indiana’s System of Care Partners, which includes:
- Indiana Family & Social Service Administration, Division of Mental Health & Addiction
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI Indiana)
- Indiana Department of Child Services
The one-year duration grant provides Indiana with the resources to develop a strategic SOC expansion plan for the state that is geared at assisting the development and sustainment of local SOC governance structures to improve the access to and quality of integrated behavioral health services for youth and families. The strategic SOC expansion plan is scheduled to be completed at the end of state fiscal year 2014.
One piece of Change Matrix’s work with Indiana’s System of Care (INSOC) has been to provide input and guidance as they developed their disparities impact statement. Like many other states, Indiana was in the beginning stages of this work. We worked with their team to identify subpopulations vulnerable to disparities and existing sources of national and state level data. Through a brief survey of administrators, providers and family members, we also collected additional information on the existence of strategic plans and activities to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities, and the utilization of cultural outreach and engagement strategies by key organizations. This information helped the team begin to frame a statement of their current status.
Through the use of a logic model, the INSOC team articulated the outcomes the state wished to see as part of their work to address disparities. They identified four main objectives, including additional data gathering to assess access, services, and outcomes and recruiting and hiring bilingual and multicultural stakeholders. The logic model includes proposed activities and output to reach their expected outcomes. As the Indiana team continues its work, this tool will help guide their progress.
