April Edition 2010 - New York Nonprofit Press

April 2010 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 11
Adult Services
BCS offers a wide range of employment
programs for individuals with disabilities.
less clinical, but no less important. BBCS
Homemakers are in-house teachers and role
models for troubled parents whose children
are at risk of foster care placement.
Unlike home health aides who primarily
do hands-on work with the elderly,
homemakers work with the family as a
whole, explains Marilyn Millien-Harris,
Director of Homemaking for BBCS. “We
have to teach and train the parent on child
care, parenting and better home management
skills,” she says.
Parents in Homemaking cases may
have physical or mental health challenges,
making these cases infinitely more complex.
“Mostly it has to do with parenting
issues or a mother’s physical or mental inability
to keep a clean home,” says Millien-
Harris. “We’ve gone into homes with piles
of dirty dishes and laundry that hasn’t been
done for a month.”
Homemakers are also another line of defense
in terms of child safety. “They receive
training every year in terms of how to ensure
safety in the home,” says Millien-Harris.
“They are mandated reporters. If they see
anything that may signify neglect or abuse
they have a responsibility to report it.”
Homemakers typically work in the
home of fragile families for a minimum of
20 hours per week – and up to 24/7 in particularly
troubled cases. “We have two or
three cases where the parent has cognitive
delays and ACS doesn’t trust the mother’s
judgment,” says Millien-Harris.
All Homemaking cases are referred by
ACS, which lately has been cutting back.
BBCS currently has just over 100 homemakers
and serves an estimated 175 families
annually.
A year and one half ago, BBCS expanded
its work with troubled youth to include
a partnership with the NYC Department
of Education on the development of a
“Transfer School” for “over age and under
credited” students. DOE provides the education
and BBCS provides the counseling
and support services to help students deal
with the non-academic challenges which
hindered their prior educational progress.
“Our counselors help them deal with their
personal issues and make sure that family
dynamics do not interfere with their capacity
to learn,” says Goodman. “We will do
whatever it takes to help them succeed.
We’ll call them up in the morning and make
sure they are up and on their way to school.
We work with parents to get them involved
in a positive way.”
BBCS’ third and largest “bucket” of
services is targeted at fostering self sufficiency
for adults, many of whom live with
disabilities or other significant challenges.
“We serve people with psychiatric disabilities,
people with developmental disabilities
and others,” says Leslie Klein, Director of
Adult Rehabilitation Services.
In terms of services for those with
psychiatric disabilities, BBCS offers two
clubhouse programs, continuing day treatment,
supported employment, an adolescent
employment and education program, transitional
living and an enclaves in industry
program.
Klein is particularly excited about the
growing focus on rehabilitation and recovery.
“In the past, the focus was primarily on
reducing symptoms,” she explains. “These
days, the focus is on gaining or regaining
life roles, helping people to set and achieve
goals that are personally relevant to them.”
Goals include learning job skills, finding
employment and living independently.
BBCS’ two clubhouse programs – perhaps
the most recovery-focused of all programs
for individuals with mental illness
– have been repeatedly certified by the International
Center for Clubhouse Development
(ICCD). “These are wonderful programs,”
says Klein. “I am always amazed when I
see the changes and growth in clubhouse
members.”
Metro Club in downtown Brooklyn and
the East New York Clubhouse each have approximately
150 members who effectively
run the programming with BBCS’ support
and supervision. The next challenge will be
a transition to the Office of Mental Health’s
Personalized Recovery Oriented Services
(PROS) licensing model which opens the
door to much needed Medicaid funding, but
adds record keeping, documentation and
billing complications – as well as the danger
of a potential shift in culture associated with
a medical model program. “We are starting
with Metro Club,” says Klein. “We opted to
be in the first group in the hope that we will
learn to do the model well.”
BBCS is actively involved in cutting
edge research on the most effective ways to
deliver psychiatric rehabilitation services.
“We are just coming off a three-year project
with researchers from Dartmouth University
on the effectiveness of combining Cognitive
Remediation and Supported Employment,”
says Klein. Now the agency is beginning
a second three-year study which will look
at the impact of adding Illness Management
and Recovery as a third coordinated component
to this combination of treatments.
“They haven’t published the results of the
first study yet, but I think they saw a positive
correlation. With the third element, they are
hoping to do even better,” says Klein.
BBCS offers a broad range of similarly
targeted services for individuals with developmental
disabilities, including day habilitation,
pre-vocational training, a sheltered
workshop and supported employment. “We
have recreation, residential rehabilitation
and Medicaid service coordination,” says
Klein.
One exciting new initiative is a residential
program in which 12 consumers with
developmental disabilities, who had been
BBCS continued on page 12
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