Foundations Counseling
Why are you nominating this team?
"I am nominating the Foundations team for Outstanding Team of the Year because our jobs are so multi-dimensional and our consultants wear SO MANY different hats; from consultation, to case management, to advocacy, to counseling, to substance use testing, to family support, to office therapist for our colleagues at DCYF! Being a Clinical Consultant alongside DCYF is so rewarding, but there are a lot of parts to the job that I didn't mention, that people don't see.
Like working with a parent who wants to get sober and wants badly to reunify, but can't make the necessary changes within 12 months. Or supporting a mom or dad post-termination of parental rights, helping them process the aftermath. Or working with a client who has such significant cognitive deficits, that they simply cannot parent independently and can't grasp their own limitations or why they can't reunify. Or what it's like to support a parent through the process of realizing that they don't want to reunify, or don't think it's in their child's best interest to be with them, and instead surrender their rights. I didn't mention working with the adolescents involved with juvenile justice whose parents introduced them to illicit substances...kids whose parents have provided them with drugs or alcohol...kids who would rather violate probation and reside in a controlled environment then go home...or the kids who send screenshots of conversations with their parents who berate them.
I haven't spoken about how difficult it is to work within a system that feels like it's working against your client, more often than not or the lack of resources. I haven't spoken about what it's like to lose a client who had so much potential to be a great mom, but had one last 'slip'. And, I haven't mentioned how hard it can be to walk the line between DCYF and a client and maintain confidentiality for both.
As mentioned though, this work is also really rewarding. Like when the mom or dad you've been working with for a year finally reunifies! Or when the client that's had positive urine screens for the last 3 months finally has a negative! Or when you get to celebrate a client maintaining a year of sobriety! It is so rewarding when you're able to support DCYF AND the client at the same time, whether during a team meeting or a home visit, in court, giving a urine screen, or helping to intervene in the midst of a crisis.
I haven't even touched on the challenges of working independently and across the state in rural areas. Or how cohesive a team needs to be to be able to do this successfully. Or how critical it is to have strong leadership at the top to even develop a team of this caliber. Our jobs aren't just jobs. The work we do at Foundations Counseling is a specialty. I am nominating our team because every single day looks different but every single day we come to work ready for anything! And, when you have to expect the unexpected from day to day--that is work worth celebrating!"
Biography:
I was hired as an MLADC Consultant for Foundations Counseling in August 2020. Two years later, I was promoted to Clinical Supervisor. Two years after that, we promoted another Consultant to Clinical Supervisor, who would oversee the Adolescent Expansion of our company. Today, the job title "MLADC Consultant" has expanded to Clinical Consultant; and our team, of what was at one time less than 10, has grown to 17, which includes a Medical Director, a part-time Program Manager, and 3 adolescent specialists!!
The Foundations team works state-wide to support the substance dependent population who are involved with DCYF and Juvenile Justice. There is one consultant in every DHHS district office throughout the state, with the exception of some offices that also house an Adolescent Specialist Consultant, specific to JJ. The mission of Foundations is to reduce the barriers to effective treatment by offering clinical services to our clients including home visits, telehealth appointments, community appointments, and assistance with clinical case management. The other parts of our job include providing daily consultation to DCYF regarding substance use and mental health; as well as providing substance use testing throughout the state and consultation to DCYF about interpreting the results.
Foundations Counseling works to prevent families from being court-involved; and we partner with clients who are court-involved to support them towards reunification with their children. We also work to prevent court involvement for the adolescent population involved with JJ and/or support kids who are court involved. In addition, we provide a lot of family support and education.