Partner Resources

Good school attendance helps kids succeed. It is important to instill the importance of regular attendance early in a child’s life. Learn more about the importance of attendance using the infographic below and the links to Attendance Works videos and handouts. Attendance Works offers information, tools and resources to support school success.

Community Collaboratives

Your voice matters!

We want to hear from you!

Community Collaboratives bring providers, community members, caregivers, family members and youth together to most effectively utilize resources and ensure services meet the changing social, emotional, and behavioral needs of children, adolescents and their families. The Collaboratives track service/resource gaps and advocate for system level change. Collaborative meetings are open to everyone in the community. Family, caregiver and youth participation are necessary at every level to align with overarching System of Care values and principles.

Connecticut has 25 Community Collaboratives representing all 169 towns, which means there is one near you! You can become a champion by getting involved at the local, regional or statewide level to impact change around mental and behavioral health. Find your local Collaborative here 

What does Wraparound Care Coordination look like in real life?

This is the story of a family and youth who used Care Coordination, and the positive long-term outcomes they experienced.



A Village



It takes a village to raise a child. This phrase is something that I use often when working with families in Care Coordination. It is meant to be a reminder that as parents, no one should have to go it alone. [...]

When tasked to write an article about a family in Care Coordination, I sat down and thought about all the families I have worked with over the years and said to myself, how do I write about just one? Every single family has impacted my life, how I do my job, how I look at and treat people around me and in all reality, how I try to help the next family. 

So I decided to write about my family.  [...]

Data Stories

Connecting to Care Data Stories are short, easy-to-read reports that tell a story about information collected during the Connecting to Care initiative. They are designed to share data with interested community members, families, youth and professionals to help facilitate a collective understanding of aspects of the network of care. Data Stories are created by The Consultation Center at Yale, our evaluation team for the Connecting to Care grant.

Data Story Highlight: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) - Health Equity Plans

CLAS-sy News

CLAS Cohort and one example of progress, Beacon Health Options 

On September 29, 2022, four Beacon CT staff, along with representatives from seven other organizations, graduated from six months of training in Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards. Developed by the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CLAS standards offer a blueprint for organizations to improve the quality of their care and services, and to address health care disparities.

Beacon CT first began implementing CLAS standards in 2015 while participating in the Connecting to Care CLAS cohort. The Connecting to Care initiative is a statewide effort to blend and integrate all child-serving systems in the state into one Network of Care that serves all children and families equally and effectively. At the same time, it aligns the national CLAS standards with DCF’s statewide racial justice framework.

As graduates of the first cohort of Connecting to Care CLAS Training in 2015, Beacon CT followed the standards’ guidelines by forming its own CLAS Workgroup and developing a Health Equity Plan. 

The Workgroup evolved into Beacon CT’s Diversity Action Team (DAT) in 2019. This group quickly grew in size and scope to address health inequities among people of color revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also sought to address issues arising from the country’s discourse around social justice following George Floyd’s death in 2020. In those first years, the DAT focused on developing leadership, including hiring a full-time Director of Diversity and Community Engagement and introducing programs like “Diversity Dialogues” and “Career Connections.” These bi-monthly sessions allowed staff to explore diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in a safe space.  

With changes in personnel and new methods for demonstrating the program’s impact, it became essential to have DAT leadership undergo CLAS training once again. As a result, the group’s focus will expand to address our members and our communities, exploring areas such as Beacon’s translation and interpreter capabilities and reviewing marketing materials and outreach strategies to ensure cultural and linguistic equity. The Beacon CT DAT team will report on its developments as they unfold.

Congratulations to all the organizations that graduated from the September 2022 CLAS Cohort!

• Beacon Health Options
• Family & Children’s Aid
• Madonna Place, Inc
• SARAH Inc.
• The Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury
• Waterbury Department of Public Health
• West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District
• Yale Child Study Center

If your organization is interested in receiving free assistance and support in developing and/or enhancing a Health Equity plan or training on the National Enhanced CLAS (Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services) Standards, contact Lisa Palazzo lisa.palazzo@beaconhealthoptions.com 

AIM tool

The Assisted Intervention Matching (AIM) Tool is a new resource to help identify the best in-home services to meet a family’s specific intervention needs. Questions guide the user through a decision path that narrows in on best-matched service. The tool now offers decision paths for providers and families/caregivers. 

In the next year, the AIM Tool will be expanded to include clinic-based services and cover different levels of care. 

Special Acknowledgement - Tim Marshall

We want to acknowledge Tim Marshall for his over 35 years of contributing to the vision of Connecticut’s children’s behavioral health system and community work! In his role as Director of the Office of Community Health at the Department of Children and Families, he has moved various parts of the system toward an integrated network of care which equally and effectively serves all children and families. His vision, partnership and collaborative spirit both within the department and with statewide and community partners is evident in many places including at the Children’s Behavioral Health Advisory Committee (CBHAC), the Statewide Council of Community Collaboratives (SCCC), our local Community Collaboratives, the regional Networks of Care, the CT Suicide Advisory Board and other groups and crucial parts of the children's behavioral health system in Connecticut. With 500 balloons, we wish him the best as he concludes his service at the Department of Children and Families and continues systems improvement work via other venues!

Sharing a rephrased quote on the important effort of strengthening communication and collaboration among behavioral health providers, pediatric primary care and schools in support of youth and families. In acknowledgment of the many moving pieces that need to be tested as we improve the system: We're building the plane while we're flying it.

Feeling stressed, anxious, alone?

Let's take care of ourselves and each other!

The Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Committee (CBHAC) meets on the first Friday of the month, from 10am-12pm. The next meeting is December 2, 2022.

CBHAC's mission is to promote and enhance the provision of behavioral health services for all children in Connecticut. Appointed members and community guests attend monthly meetings to address these needs across the state. This committee must submit an annual report that provides recommendations concerning behavioral health service delivery.