By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
“With so much discussion regarding possible budget cuts, we are working very hard to keep family services strong in Aroostook County — keeping kids safe and with their families,” stated Trish Niedorowski, who has served as executive director of Wings for Children and Families for the past 10 years. With offices located at 14 Carroll Street in Caribou, Wings is an agency which helps to coordinate individuals with other service providers to meet identified needs for the youth and family. “We want to offer hope to families that there are still agencies providing supports for their children across our State.”
Aroostook Republican photo/Barb Scott
Wings for Children and Families, the single stand alone case management agency in the State, provides case management services to families, assisting them in connecting with service providers that will help meet the needs of their child. Members of the Wings team are, from left: Jenny Dow, Training and Administrative Coordinator; Trish Niedorowski, Executive Director; and Barbara Murray, Clinical Supervisor. In back is Chris McLaughlin, Clinical Director.
Wings is a non-profit agency providing quality case management services to families. Wings case managers assist families in navigating the multiple systems around them, including supports for complex medical needs, serious emotional disturbances, developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities or issues with substance abuse. Case managers work with families to help maintain youth safely at home and in their community. The agency works with youth from birth through 20 years of age.
“We do not provide all of the services in the plan,” said Niedorowski. “In addition to referring to formal supports, we also identify a family’s natural support system, something that is effective long after a paid service is provided. These natural supports can include grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, schools and churches. This help from extended families works to support and foster positive communications,” she added.
As they help families navigate through the network of available service providers, case managers work to maintain stability while providing families “with a voice and a choice.” Using a process known as Wraparound, case managers partner with families to identify the strengths of the child and their family and community; create a child and family team, identify options that will keep the child in their own home and community and develop an individualized support plan to help meet a child’s unmet needs; while providing coordination and monitoring of services for the child/family.
Wings intake coordinators are parents of children with special needs who are all too familiar with the initial overwhelming challenge of seeking the proper services needed for a child. When contacting Wings for Children and Families, calls are received in the Bangor office, which accepts referrals for the counties they serve including Aroostook, Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis and Washington. Established in 1995, Wings is celebrating 15 years of service in Maine, with 38 agency case managers, providing case management services to an estimated 700 families within their coverage area. In the past year, Wings has expanded services to York and Cumberland counties (with an office in Saco) and is in the process of opening a satellite office in East Millinocket to offer more support to families in Northern Penobscot and Southern Aroostook counties.
When Wings is contacted either by a parent or another referral source, “Our job is to meet with the family, offering support and a planning process to meet their child’s needs,” said Niedorowski. “We have to all (case worker, adults and child) work together. We work to assess and prioritize all the needs the family may have and then build a support team who will work with the child/family to meet their goals.” Most importantly, parents and their children are involved in all aspects of planning and decision-making. Case management services are funded by MaineCare through a contract with The Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Behavioral Health Services.
Niedorowski also said that Wings for Children and Families in Caribou is organizing what she called a “Parents Night Out” which will provide an opportunity for parents of special needs children to meet/speak with others who are dealing with some of the same issues. It will also be a chance for parents to offer insight into what they feel is needed in their community. More information will be made available about Parents Night Out via the Wings for Children & Families Facebook page.
For more information regarding Wings for Children and Families and case management services, please call toll free at 1-800-823-2988.
