Transcript Working with Consumers

Working with Consumers
Communicating effectively and
interacting professionally in order to
inspire confidence in treatment
Who Are Your Community
and Professional Consumers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Youth
Parents
Caseworkers and their Supervisors
Teachers and School Administrators
Therapists
Neighbors
Medical Professionals
What Are Your
Responsibilities to Consumers?
• Regular Communication
• Interact with them in
a professional manner
• Provide treatment to
youth
• Treat the youth as if
they were your own
• Discuss strengths,
concerns and plans to
address concerns
• Fulfill required
assignments
• Provide follow-up
• Model behaviors such
as respect, clear
communication, giving
appropriate feedback
and praise
• Listen and respond to
their feedback
professionally
About Communication…
• Communicate with consumers, not
youth
• Frequency appropriate for
interaction
• In person, phone calls and email
Interpersonal
Communication
• Pleasant, instill confidence
and reassurance
• Feedback should only be
given in person—never by
email and rarely by phone
• Effective Praise!
• Sit down, take the time to
listen to them, do not rush
them
• Show them that they are
part of the treatment
team
• Communicate hope with
phrases such as, “We can
address that by…”, “We
have helped other youth
by…”, “We will continue to
treatment plan and
address this issue.” or
“I’m sure our consultant
has some ideas of things
we can do.”
Phone Communication
• #1—You must be available
• Pleasant! Do not vent to consumers. This does
NOT instill confidence in your abilities to provide
treatment.
• Contact consumers as frequently are you are
supposed to – this shows professionalism.
• Do not communicate a different message then
other Village treatment team members. If the
Village team is not in agreement, a meeting needs
to be held and the consultant speaks for the
team.
• Do speak to consumers before and after the
youth does to prevent manipulation and
triangulation.
Email and other Written
Communication
• This is good for documentation if you have
requested items, are checking back on
assignments or quick positive updates.
• This is NOT good for feedback, updates
of a less positive nature or incident
reports.
• Many people are not good “e-mailers”, they
do not realize that people cannot see their
face, here their voice tones or ask
questions to clarify situations.
General Rules About
Professional Communication
• Rule #1- Do not escalate
your voice tone or make
negative statements.
Remain positive,
professional and
responsive.
• Rule #2 – Talk to the
appropriate people about
the appropriate items.
• Rule #3- Communicate
teams perspective, not
personal perspective.
• Rule # 4- Model
communication skills,
control your emotions, give
appropriate feedback, be
positive, use praise, avoid
sarcasm, etc.
Schools as Consumers
• Teachers are a critical part of youth
treatment.
– Do not side with a youth against them
– Do not tell them how to do their job
• Let your behaviors communicate that
you recognize them as a valuable
member of the team.
School Communication
• School Notes
• Follow-up on School
notes and other
communication
• Immediate follow-up
on concerns
• “Heads up”
communication on
youth out of
instructional control,
planning to run etc.
• Weekly follow-up
• Beginning of Quarter
communication
expectations – this
should be a meeting
in-person
• Parent Teacher
Conferences
• School Meetings
(IEP’s, etc.)
• Intakes
Supporting Your School
Consumers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Respond quickly to needs
Follow-up frequently
Ask advice
Support teacher in meetings
Accompany youth to school
Check on youth during school
Keep youth at home if out of instructional control
and likely to cause problems at school.
• Support teacher if youth is suspended
What to communicate to
schools….and what not to
communicate to schools
• 1. Do communicate or track down needed information for
school records, testing, etc.
• 2. Do discuss issues that have occurred in school setting
• 3. If confidential information is known, get clearance from
treatment team about what should be told, by whom, and to
whom. This should be done in person in most cases.
• 4. Do not vent about other youth, treatment providers, or
other consumers
• 5. Do communicate competence and instill
confidence in abilities to address issues.
How to Communicate with
Parents
• Contact frequently :
Before and After visits
Weekly progress updates
Before and after youth has
contact
To report incident report situations.
AND
To report accomplishments
Again…..
• Be positive
• Model communication skills, do not argue
with parents
• Be respectful and receptive to feedback
• Ask for input or advice
• Communicate confidence in treatment and
treatment team.
Working with Difficult
Parents
•
•
•
Manipulative Parents
Unwilling parents
Parents who are angry
at State
• Parents in Denial
• Parents with own
Mental Health Issues
• Know –it- All Parents
• Divorced Parents or
Divided Parents
• Alternative lifestyle
parents
• Supervised Contact
parents
• Disengaged parents
Ideas on Making Parents
Part of Team:
What Would You Want if it
Were YOUR Child in
Treatment?
Educate – not Criticize
• How can you educate a parent rather
then criticize a parent or other
consumer?
Working with
Caseworkers
1. Contact frequently – weekly updates required
2. Contact in a timely manner on other items such
as injuries, serious behaviors, other concerns
3. Communicate professionally
4. Communicate teams perceptions with
confidence.
5. Do not discuss problems, discuss solutions
(Otherwise caseworkers think you are asking
them for a solution…which is generally what?)
6. Support your caseworkers verbally
What can you do so that
consumers see you as….
• Pleasant to interact with
• Professional in your interactions with
them
• Responsive to their needs
• Effective in providing treatment
• Concerned about the youth and their
progress
YESS and Kearns Homes
•
Coordination of services between the Kearns group homes and the
YESS programs in the Granite School district recognize the
following:
1. The Kearns group homes serve NOJOS level four youth with sex
specific issues and appropriate for a community-based school setting.
2. The YESS program uses a transition model to move youth from more
structured school settings to less structured settings such as
mainstream classrooms. They will provide Kearns group home YESS
youth with similar monitoring and supervision as provided to other
students in the program.
3. The Kearns group homes and the YESS classrooms work together to
communicate concerning youth behavior so that academic and school
behavior issues are effectively addressed.
YESS and Kearns Homes
4. The Kearns group home therapists will evaluate and
communicate safety concerns and risk issues to the group
home consultant. The group home consultant will communicate
those issues to the YESS classrooms.
5. The Kearns group home consultant may address increase risk
by having youth remain home from school or have Family
Teachers/Associate Family Teachers attend some or all of
school with the youth demonstrating increased risk.
6. The YESS program is not an “extension” of the Kearns group
home treatment program and has its own motivation system to
reward and address behavior. The Kearns group home program
will support the YESS program with rewards, consequences and
teaching to address academic and treatment issues which arise
in the school setting.
YESS and Kearns Homes
7. When communicating with the YESS program staff, the
Kearns group home Family Teachers/Associate Family
Teachers, therapist and consultant may express
concerns or issues. However, these concerns must be
focused on our plan of how we will address these
expressed concerns or issues. We will not make
suggestions or recommendations to YESS program staff
on how to address youth issues at school.
8. Confidential information, such as potential placement
changes or severe behavior, should not be communicated
to the YESS program staff unless the consultant
determines that it is necessary. If there is a safety
risk that has not been addressed the youth should
remain home from school until it is addressed.
YESS and Kearns Homes
• Utah Youth Village will implement the following to
address safety risk issues for Kearns group home
youth attending school in the Granite District:
1. Each youth from the Kearns group homes will have a
short written risk assessment stating the youth is
appropriate for a community-based school setting.
2. Youth Village will continue to receive daily school notes
and school communication with information on academic
progress, school behavior and reports of other school
behavior.
YESS and Kearns Homes
3. When Kearns group home youth engage in
behavior that is a concern to the Family
Teachers/Associate Family Teachers,
therapist or consultant they will do one of the
following based on the severity of the concern:
a. Attend school with the youth during a specific
period of the academic day or all day.
b. Have the youth remain home from school.
c. Remove the child permanently from the YESS
program and place him in an alternate school setting
such as day treatment.
YESS and Kearns Homes
4. If a youth has a potential change in risk level,
the Kearns group home therapist will conduct a
risk assessment and provide the results of that
assessment in writing to the YESS program,
Steve Kaelin, before the youth goes back to
school. The risk assessment would be
necessary after any sexual acting out in the
school setting or any time sexual behaviors
have been brought to the attention of the
school staff.
Conclusion
By doing these things we can help our
youth succeed and make group home
life less stressful, more pleasant and
easier to manage.
Working with Consumers
Communicating effectively and
interacting professionally in order to
inspire confidence in treatment
This training presentation is available for download at:
www.utahparenting.org
© 2007 Utah Youth Village.