A system of care is a network of supports and community-based services geared towards meeting the challenges of children and youth with serious mental health needs and their families. Together with the families and youth, this network helps to build on children' and families' strengths, and also addressing each person's cultural and linguistic needs.


Goals of System of Care:

• To allow children and youth to remain within their natural surroundings

• To encourage a healthy well-being by ensuring services are child centered, family focused and needs driven

• To integrate family involvement at all levels of service planning and delivery

• To create the processes, policies, relationships and structures to enable success

• To promote community based services as well as management and decision-making responsibility, resting at the community level

• To foster cultural competence within agencies, programs, and services that are responsive to the cultural, racial, and ethnic differences of the populations served

Explore the SAMHSA website here