VOL 1 - Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice - American ...

Promising Practices in Children’s Mental Health
Systems of Care - 1998 Series
It Started With A University Partnership
In 1994, the Pitt County Area Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse
Program developed relationships with several faculty members from East Carolina University. This was
based on a history of consultations and student field placements through the School of Social Work,
Department of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, and the
School of Nursing. The Pitt County Mental Health Center, along with the Edgecombe/Nash Mental Health
Center spearheaded the implementation of the PEN-PAL grant. The inclusion of the Department of Social
Services, Juvenile Justice, Public Health Department, Public Schools, and community organizations, along
with East Carolina University, started the partnership that would make the creation of a system of care
possible. This was the beginning of what North Carolina calls the Public Academic Liaison.
The Pitt, Edgecombe, Nash Public Academic Liaison (PEN-PAL) project is a federal grant
awarded by the Center for Mental Health Services. The PEN-PAL grant site built in a strong
university training partnership from the start. East Carolina University in Greenville, North
Carolina, is responsible for training and supervising providers in implementing system of care
principles. They developed both pre-service and in-service programs to accomplish these tasks.
Pre-service training is offered by a cross-disciplinary faculty team called the East Carolina
University Social Sciences Training Consortium; a partnership between faculty in the departments of
Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy, Nursing, and Social Work. The Consortium integrates
system of care principles and practices into their graduate and undergraduate curricula. The
Consortium ensures a family voice and presence in its classes through a contract with WE CARE.
WE CARE recruits, trains, and supports family members to work as Parents in Residence and
collaborate with Consortium faculty in curriculum development, curriculum review, and/or teaching
in these courses.
In-service training for providers and families in the PEN-PAL Project is offered by the East
Carolina University, Training and Technical Assistance Resource Center. The Resource Center is
operated as a partnership between the School of Education and the Department of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry. The Resource Center subcontracts with a training consulting company to
organize and facilitate training teams. In-service training is provided by a collaborative team of
family members, service providers from the surrounding community, faculty members, and a
facilitator. The training team structure and presentations model parent/professional collaboration for
trainees.
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Volume I: New Roles for Families