PrairieCare was recognized as the Healthy Community Partner Award recipient at the Headway Emotional Health Services 2017 fall Community Conversation. Headway and PrairieCare enjoy a unique partnership that is centered on client care and expertise.
“Partnerships between organizations that are competitors are rare but in this case, both organizations
put clients first and focus on working together to meet the needs of adolescents and families that are
significant challenges due to serious mental health concerns,” says PrairieCare COO Todd Archbold.
Headway CEO Pat Dale explained that PrairieCare provides inpatient and intensive partial hospitalization supports for adolescents. The issues that require intensive intervention can disrupt the adolescents’ ability to learn and function is an academic environment. Headway’s Day Treatment program provides integrated academic and therapeutic support, he said. It also incorporates family therapy and family meetings to ensure that supports are being built and strengthened for a return to traditional educational settings, he added.
“The PrairieCare and Headway partnership allows for the coordination of care and the ability for the
families to step up or step down to the appropriate level of care,” says Dale. “You can’t find another partnership like ours that provides the client-focused care.”
The partnership with PrairieCare allows students who have been in intensive services to step down to a
program that is complementary to the services they are coming from. At times when students in Day
Treatment experience mental health issues that require them to seek intensive interventions, they can
move to PrairieCare with the same kind of shared supports.
Both programs partner with Intermediate District 287 for academic services. This shared partnership
allows for coordinated transfers when it comes to academic skills and needs.
“As we move forward we are continuously discussing opportunities for our community-based services
to coordinate services for children and adults who are stepping down into a less restrictive but supportive set of services,” says Dale.
The Headway Healthy Community Partner Award recognizes an individual or organization who exhibits
outstanding cooperation and partnership with Headway in advancing health in our community, with a
particular focus on outcomes that strengthen emotional and mental health.
