Frequently Asked Questions

Bergen's Promise, the designated Care Management Organization (CMO) for Bergen County NJ, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the complex mental health and wellness needs of children up to age 21 with identified emotional and behavioral challenges, substance use issues, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A vital component of the NJ Children's System of Care, the CMO embraces a Wraparound Approach to care management - enhanced by integrated Behavioral Health Home services for medical care coordination for youth with co-occurring behavioral and medical health issues – which strengthens the child's and family's ability to meet life's challenges, and fosters resiliency and hope for a better future. Learn more about us and the way we work with families!

The goal of the organization is to keep "Healthy Families, Safe at Home." Bergen's Promise provides exceptional Wraparound Care Management services to keep youth and families physically and emotionally safe.

Our services are built on the family's strengths and delivered through a strong, coordinated network of community based providers. We strive to provide the highest quality of care that will produce the most positive results for the youth and families we serve.

Yes, as the Care Management Organization (CMO) for Bergen County, Bergen's Promise is only able to serve Bergen County residents. CMOs serving residents within their counties in New Jersey are located in Burlington, Camden, Cape Atlantic, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris/Sussex, Ocean, Passaic, TriCounty (Hunterdon Somerset Warren) and Union to serve the residents within their counties.

There is no limit. A youth and family can call PerformCare as many times as needed up to the youth's 21^st birthday, regardless of prior enrollment(s) in CMO services through Perform Care.

No. Bergen's Promise is a non-profit organization that does not have any legal authority over children and their families. A family's participation in our services is voluntary. We are not authorized to take custody of children or to remove them from the home. In cases of suspected abuse or neglect, we are required to notify the Division of Child Protection and Permanency/DCPP [formerly Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS)].

Supportive counseling and therapy services are available for children experiencing mild to moderate mental health and behavioral concerns through the Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Program (IECMH) within Care Plus NJ. Services are available for children 12 and under residing in Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic county.

https://www.bergenresourcenet.org/search/infant-early-childhood-mental-health-iecmh-care-plus-nj/

Youth are eligible for services up to age 21 with behavioral, emotional, and mental health challenges, substance use issues, and developmental disabilities. We also serve youth who have both a behavioral health challenge and a chronic medical condition.

It does not matter if a youth received our support in the past and graduated from services; if the need for support arises again, parents/guardians, or youth 18 years and older can call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624 and ask for Care Management support.

PerformCare is the single point of entry to access services for mental and/or behavioral health issues, developmental disabilities and/or substance misuse available publicly through the New Jersey's Children's System of Care for youth up to age 21.

Parents or legal guardians call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624 to access services, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Do not hesitate to ask a trusted school representative to assist you in making the call to PerformCare.

PerformCare will conduct an assessment and link the youth and family with the services they need in the most appropriate setting. These services may include: care management, mobile response and stabilization services, a more extensive needs assessment, outpatient services, among other options. PerformCare may authorize Children's Mobile Response Stabilization Services (MRSS) to come your home within one hour of notification to provide face-to-face crisis services. The goal is to stabilize behavior and keep your child at home. Mobile response is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can offer up to eight weeks of stabilization services. In Bergen County, these services are contracted with CarePlusNJ.

There are many guides and brochures available in multiple languages on the Children's System of Care website to help you understand the services available. PeformCare also has a 3 minute video available with Spanish subtitles. There is a new Spanish-language mini-site integrated on the PerformCare website, available at www.performcarenj.org/espanol

These services are provided at no cost to families regardless of income, insurance and immigration status, however families will be asked to provide insurance information if they have it. View additional details about how these services are covered for families. (available in Spanish, Mandarin, Korean and Portuguese).

In case of emergency, call 911.

Yes. Access to services provided under the Children's System of Care (CSOC), such as Care Management Organization (CMO) or Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS), requires you to complete a Medicaid, NJ FamilyCare application. In doing so, your family may be found eligible for Medicaid as secondary insurance, or your child may be approved for state funds that cover the cost of certain behavioral health services to supplement your private insurance benefits. This application is not completed by PerformCare staff, but by the Care Manager or Crisis Mobile Response Worker.   As per state regulations, each family who is involved with Bergen's Promise must complete the NJ FamilyCare application, and accept coverage, if eligible.

Bergen's Promise, Inc., as the Care Management Organization of Bergen County, works through the Children's System of Care (CSOC) under the New Jersey Department  of Children and Families (DCF). As Care Management services are not covered under any private insurance plans, State regulations require that all youth entering Bergen's Promise obtain appropriate supplementary insurance. This additional coverage will have no effect on your private insurance or other  services that you are receiving.

Bergen's Promise does not charge your family a fee. Services are available to the family in a cost effective manner and without regard to income level, insurance status, languages spoken, immigration status, or involvement with other systems. Your Care Manager will work with your Child and Family Team to maximize the use of low cost, in-network and free sustainable resources. 

The "Wraparound" approach is a unique model of care for youth experiencing serious mental health or behavioral challenges that is able to keep children in their homes and communities, producing better outcomes at lower cost. Wraparound puts the child or youth and family at the center. With support from a team of professionals and natural supports, the family's ideas and perspectives on what they need and what will be helpful drive all of the work in Wraparound.

The young person and their family members work with a Wraparound facilitator to build their Wraparound team, which can include the family's friends and people from the wider community, as well as providers of services and supports. With the help of the Wraparound team, the family and young person take the lead in deciding team vision and goals, and in developing a plan of care that incorporates a combination of services, informal supports and community based resources that will help them achieve their goals and vision, as well as a plan for graduation. Team members work together to put the plan into action, monitor how well it's working, and make changes as needed.  Person-centered language is used in the Wraparound Approach as our choice of words matter in creating a stigma-free environment for youth and families.

Based on our extensive experience working with families since 2002, the most important ingredient to success is the development of the Child and Family Team. This wrapping of services around families helps them cope with issues in their everyday lives, and/or better manage the emotional, behavioral, substance, developmental or intellectual condition they are living with.

NO. Care Managers and other Care Management Organization staff are not Advocates. Care Managers are supports for the family and facilitate the  development of the Child Family Team over time.  They also link families to in-community supports as well as help develop an individual service plan for the youth and family.   For more information regarding the role of a Care Manager.

When a Care Manager is invited to attend an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting, they are guests at the meeting and will only offer valuable insights, updates, and information regarding the relevant in-home services and supports offered by the NJ Children’s System of Care.

Families usually work with Bergen's Promise for 6-12 months based on their individual needs. Approximately every 60 days, your Child and Family Team (CFT) will meet to evaluate progress and update the graduation date.

Thanks to community partners, we have two bilingual presentations explaining the services of the NJ Children's System of Care and BergenResourceNet.org, the mobile friendly, online resource portal for Bergen County.

1. Bilingual Spanish presentation for parents as a post-Back to School Night event was recorded in partnership with Palisades Park School District.

2. Bilingual Korean presentation for parents

as part of an Autism Seminar Series was recorded in partnership with the Korean Community Center and Bergen County Special Child Health Services.

3.  Bergen's Promise website is translatable!   Click the American flag icon in the upper right corner of the screen (above FAQs on the menu bar).  You will have options to choose from multiple languages. You would need to follow  the same steps to convert back to English. IMPORTANT NOTE: this will not translate any linked documents or embedded videos.   

4.  A simple 'how to' document with screenshots:  5 Steps--How to Turn On Auto-translate Close Captions for languages than English in YouTube videos

There are many guides and brochures available in multiple languages on the Children's System of Care website.

Your assigned Care Manager will meet with your child up to twice per month dependent upon individualized service needs. This contact is called a face to face meeting. Face to face timeframes and activities are individualized to ensure that rapport is maintained within the team.

NJ Children's System of Care (CSOC) behavioral health and substance use services are available to all families who are New Jersey residents, regardless of citizenship status or documentation status.  

However, according to 22NJ regulation, only New Jersey residents who are U.S. citizens or permanent alien residents (green card holders) can qualify to receive certain services for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.  Families or caregivers of undocumented individuals are encouraged to contact PerformCare to discuss potential service options.

In addition to bi-weekly face to face contact with your child, a minimum of one weekly conversation between you and your Care Manager is required. We encourage you to contact your Care Manager as often as needed, especially during times of crisis. This will help to keep the team up to date and to continue to build rapport.

• Allow us to invite your school to join the team. Schools are invaluable members of the CFT regardless of whether or not your child has an Individualized Education Plan or 504 plan, andwhether or not your child has behavioral or academic concerns. If your child is thriving and successful in the school environment, the Child and Family Team members should share those techniques and strategies to replicate them in the home. If your child receives specialized services through the school such as physical, occupational, speech therapy, these can be replicated and utilized in the home.
• Allow us to communicate with your child's pediatrician regarding your care.
• Notify your Care Manager if your child is hospitalized for mental health reasons and allow your Care Manager to speak to the hospital regarding smooth discharge planning and transition home.
• If your child is receiving a higher level of care at an intensive outpatient program or partial hospitalization program, allow your Care Manager to collaborate with the program staff to facilitate smooth transition back to in-home services.
• Ask your Care Manager about adding a Parent Partner from the Family Support Organization of Bergen County to your Child and Family Team. Parent partners are invaluable support for caregivers. Each Parent Partner has raised a child with special needs and is very helpful to explain the services as well as identify useful community resources.
• In-home clinicians should be a good fit and meet the needs of your youth and family.
• Ask your Care Manager for a meeting when needed.
• Identify convenient locations and times.
• Identify additional people to join your team to support you and your family.
• Encourage your child's participation in treatment services.
• Let us know if your child's plan needs to be changed to better address your needs:

Please sign the hospital's Release Form so that the hospital staff can contact your Care Manager and/or your child's school. This will ensure the Child and Family Team collaboration and communication continues through your child's stay in the hospital. It will also help the team to plan a seamless transition once your child is discharged.

The Behavioral Health Home (BHH) provides our children and families with integrated care oftheir chronic behavioral and medical health needs. Behavioral Health Home services utilize a holistic philosophy to integrate physical and behavioral health care management in order to build a person-centered system of care. Youth will receive the traditional Wraparound care management services for emotional/behavioral health, intellectual/developmental disabilities, or substance abuse issues with the addition of an enhanced health care management component.

Eligible youth must have NJ Medicaid/NJ Family Care, a behavioral health challenge and a specific chronic medical condition.

Here's a short video introduction to our BHH program from one of our Health & Wellness Educators and Youth (For Non-English speakers, click the CC button at the bottom of the video)

If your child is presently receiving Care Management supports from Bergen's Promise and you would like to see if your child is eligible for the integrated medical care coordination through our Behavioral Health Home,take one minute to click and complete the eligibility form.

If you are eligible for BHH, a highly trained Nurse or Wellness Educator will be added to the youth's Child and Family Team with the goal of ensuring the youth:

• Retains a primary care provider and attend regular well-child visits
• Receives early periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment for chronic conditions
• Assists youth/family with hospitalization and follow-up post discharge
• Obtains appropriate metabolic monitoring for psychotropic medications
• Receives coordination of services between medical and behavioral health providers

It can be hard to navigate the health care system and sort through medical information online. We encourage families to use tools like:

1. Ask Me 3® to improve their communication with healthcare providers. Click here to access Ask Me 3® in multiple languages from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.Ask Me 3® is an educational program that encourages patients and families to ask three specific questions of their providers to better understand their health conditions and what they need to do to stay healthy.

• What is my main problem?
• What do I need to do?
• Why is it important for me to do this?

Designed by health literacy experts, Ask Me 3® is intended to help patients become more active members of their health care team, and provide a critical platform to improve communications between patients, families, and health care professionals

2. My Health Passport A health advocacy tool available from the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, My Health Passport is designed to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to share critical health information that might be needed for inpatient hospital/clinic visits. During these circumstances, an individual will interact with several health care professionals who might not be very familiar with providing care to someone with IDD. My Health Passport is an effort to overcome such barriers to optimal care, by providing pertinent and easily accessible information regarding that individual's unique support needs. The My Health Passport is available in English, Spanish and Chinese from the FCIC website

To find reliable and understandable health information online, we suggest that you to refer to research-based sources including MedlinePlus.gov and KidsHealth.org.

PerformCare is the single point of entry to access services for mental and/or behavioral health issues, developmental disabilities and/or substance misuse available publicly through the New Jersey's Children's System of Care for youth up to age 21.

Parents or legal guardians call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624 to access services, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Do not hesitate to ask a trusted school representative to assist you in making the call to PerformCare.

PerformCare will conduct an assessment and link the youth and family with the services they need in the most appropriate setting. These services may include: care management, mobile response and stabilization services, a more extensive needs assessment, outpatient services, among other options. PerformCare may authorize Children's Mobile Response Stabilization Services (MRSS) to come your home within one hour of notification to provide face-to-face crisis services. The goal is to stabilize behavior and keep your child at home. Mobile response is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can offer up to eight weeks of stabilization services. In Bergen County, these services are contracted with CarePlusNJ.

There are many guides and brochures available in multiple languages on the Children's System of Care website to help you understand the services available. PeformCare also has a 3 minute video available with Spanish subtitles. There is a new Spanish-language mini-site integrated on the PerformCare website, available at www.performcarenj.org/espanol

These services are provided at no cost to families regardless of income, insurance and immigration status, however families will be asked to provide insurance information if they have it. View additional details about how these services are covered for families. (available in Spanish, Mandarin, Korean and Portuguese).

In case of emergency, call 911.

Thanks to community partners, we have two bilingual presentations explaining the services of the NJ Children's System of Care and BergenResourceNet.org, the mobile friendly, online resource portal for Bergen County.

1. Bilingual Spanish presentation for parents as a post-Back to School Night event was recorded in partnership with Palisades Park School District.

2. Bilingual Korean presentation for parents

as part of an Autism Seminar Series was recorded in partnership with the Korean Community Center and Bergen County Special Child Health Services.

3.  Bergen's Promise website is translatable!   Click the American flag icon in the upper right corner of the screen (above FAQs on the menu bar).  You will have options to choose from multiple languages. You would need to follow  the same steps to convert back to English. IMPORTANT NOTE: this will not translate any linked documents or embedded videos.   

4.  A simple 'how to' document with screenshots:  5 Steps--How to Turn On Auto-translate Close Captions for languages than English in YouTube videos

There are many guides and brochures available in multiple languages on the Children's System of Care website.

NJ Children's System of Care (CSOC) behavioral health and substance use services are available to all families who are New Jersey residents, regardless of citizenship status or documentation status.  

However, according to 22NJ regulation, only New Jersey residents who are U.S. citizens or permanent alien residents (green card holders) can qualify to receive certain services for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.  Families or caregivers of undocumented individuals are encouraged to contact PerformCare to discuss potential service options.

It can be hard to navigate the health care system and sort through medical information online. We encourage families to use tools like:

1. Ask Me 3® to improve their communication with healthcare providers. Click here to access Ask Me 3® in multiple languages from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.Ask Me 3® is an educational program that encourages patients and families to ask three specific questions of their providers to better understand their health conditions and what they need to do to stay healthy.

• What is my main problem?
• What do I need to do?
• Why is it important for me to do this?

Designed by health literacy experts, Ask Me 3® is intended to help patients become more active members of their health care team, and provide a critical platform to improve communications between patients, families, and health care professionals

2. My Health Passport A health advocacy tool available from the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, My Health Passport is designed to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to share critical health information that might be needed for inpatient hospital/clinic visits. During these circumstances, an individual will interact with several health care professionals who might not be very familiar with providing care to someone with IDD. My Health Passport is an effort to overcome such barriers to optimal care, by providing pertinent and easily accessible information regarding that individual's unique support needs. The My Health Passport is available in English, Spanish and Chinese from the FCIC website

To find reliable and understandable health information online, we suggest that you to refer to research-based sources including MedlinePlus.gov and KidsHealth.org.

An important part of early intervention services is assisting children and families to leave early intervention in the most helpful way possible. This process is called transition. When a child is two years old, transition information will be offered to the parents to begin planning for services and supports that might be needed when the child turns three. As a child approaches three years of age, the service coordinator will help with transition from early intervention to a preschool program and/or other support services that the child and family may need. Families of children 3 and older can receive referrals for assistance from Project Child Find. Call 800-322-8174 for more information.

Services for older children are typically provided through the local school district. If there are intense behavioral and/or mental health needs, the parent may consider calling PerformCare 1-877-652-7624 regarding transition into the New Jersey Children's System of Care.

Watch a video to hear how parents in Early Intervention successfully transition to the Children's System of Care.

If you find yourself in one or more of these situations:

• You're struggling with your child's challenging behavior in their natural environment, e.g., home, child care.
• Your child is demonstrating challenging behavior in social settings with peers, e.g., excessive hitting, biting and/or temper tantrums.
• A friend, teacher or other trusted adult has expressed concerns about your child's social, emotional or physical development.
• Your child shows aggression towards others.
• Your child's refusal to comply with verbal and/or nonverbal prompts or requests is causing disruption among family members.
• Your child's challenging behaviors is negatively impacting your family's overall quality of life, e.g., family vacations, community outings, daily routines, faith based activities.
• Your child experienced a major loss or change in family dynamics (e.g., death, divorce, relocation), or perhaps a traumatic event and is not adjusting well.
• You're struggling to meet the needs or behaviors of your child who is living with a developmental or intellectual disability.

Call PerformCare, the single point of entry to services of the New Jersey Children's System of Care at 1-877-652-7624, 24 hours/day, 7 days per week.

No diagnosis is needed to receive a referral for services through the NJ Children's System of Care. A diagnosis may be rendered in future assessments to help identify the specific therapeutic needs of your child.

Learn more about the Intellectual and Developmental Disability services available through the NJ Children's System of Care (CSOC).   See also NJ Children's System of Care Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services handout.    There are additional resources available in multiple languages through the same website.  This information may also be shared with families as a resource for in-home services upon leaving Early Intervention.

• DD Eligibility.If your child is under 18, complete the application to determine eligibility for developmental disability (DD) services. The application is available on the family page of the NJ Children's System of Care website.
• Family Support Services (FSS) 
• Respite
• Assistive Technology
• Camps

See the FAQs for youth and families about all these services on the PerformCare website.

Learn more about each of these categories. This information may be shared with families as a resource for in-home services upon leaving Early Intervention.

• Intensive In-Home Services - Clinical/Therapeutic (IIH-C/T) - How is this different than intensive in community services?
• Intensive In-Home Services - Behavioral (IIH-ABA) - If my child receives ABA services in school then isn't this automatic?
• Individual Support Services (ISS) - How is this different from a Home Health Aide?
• If your child is under 18, complete the application to determine eligibility for developmental disability (DD) services. The application is available on the family page of the NJ Children's System of Care website.
• Resources after school graduation
• Over age 18, NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities is responsible for determining eligibility for DD service
• Services over age 21 (linkage to DDD services)

The acronyms, abbreviations, and the services themselves can be quite confusing to caregivers and professionals from other industries.  You can access the following glossaries to improve understanding:

• Frequently Used CSOC Acronyms (PDF) 
• PerformCare Glossary - See a list of service definitions and other terms used in the System of Care.
• LGBTQIA+ Common Terminology

As the video on the linked page explains, applying for eligibility for developmental disability (DD) services through PerformCare allows your family to apply for additional Family Support Services (FSS) such as:

• Respite
• Assistive technology
• Camp
• Educational Advocacy
• Environmental Modifications (e.g., handicapped accessible bathroom, adaptations for vehicles, etc).
  
  • See/print the handout that provides an overview of these services
    
  • You can access and submit the DD Eligibility Determination Application through the secure Cyber Family portal        PerformCare suggests that you submit eligibility applications for New Jersey Children’s System of Care intellectual and developmental disability services through the CYBER Family Portal.
    Online applications process faster at this time. Please do not use smartphones or tablets to fill out the application because you may lose data.
    ***Please note that the CYBER Family Portal only supports Microsoft Edge at this time.
    
    *Applications on behalf of individuals who are 18 years or older must be submitted to the Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD).  The Children's System of Care will honor determinations of eligibility and provide developmentally disability services made by DDD for individuals between the ages of 18 and 21.     

There are also local resources available to assist you in completing the application for developmental disability services. The CAPE Resource Center assists Bergen County families. 

IMPORTANT NOTE regarding DD eligibility for undocumented youth:
According to 22NJ regulation, only New Jersey residents who are U.S. citizens or permanent alien residents (green card holders) can qualify to receive certain services for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Families or caregivers of undocumented individuals are encouraged to contact PerformCare to discuss potential service options.

PerformCare determines the clinical level of service needed based on the services requested by your Child and Family Team (CFT) to address your child's identified needs, along with clinical documentation from the school and/or medical provider.

These services may include:

Intensive In-Home Therapy–Clinical (IIH C/T)

This is individual and family therapy for children and families that need to stabilize in home stressors. These may include challenges with: emotional regulation, parent-sibling relationship needs. Youth may learn coping skills, self expression and more positive, alternative ways to get needs met without becoming explosive in behavior.

Individual Support Services (ISS)

Students that are DD-eligible with IIH-Clinical therapists may also have Individual Support Services (ISS) put in place as well for behavior and activity of daily living (ADL) skill training. These services may benefit youth that exhibit task avoidance such as: oppositional and noncompliance in completing daily routine activities like eating, dressed, hygiene and toileting skills. These services are most beneficial for fostering independence in the youth.

Youth with more severe behavioral needs

Intensive In-Home Behavioral Support Services (IIH/B)

IIH-Behavioral services utilize applied behavior analysis (ABA) to address dangerous or harmful behaviors that the youth uses when unable to communicate their needs. If this service is started, a provider certified as either a Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA), Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBA) would be identified to complete a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and create a Behavioral Support Plan (BSP). These two assessments will determine the number of hours per week of services authorized by PerformCare for your child.

Behavioral Health Home (BHH):

Click to learn more about the integrated medical care component and to determine if your child meets eligibility criteria which is based on qualifying diagnosis in conjunction with NJ Family Care medical coverage.

The principles and methods of behavior analysis have been applied effectively in many circumstances to develop a wide range of skills in learners with or without disabilities. Families may sometimes mistakenly believe that ABA services are needed for their child's progress. ABA services are specific interventions for:

• Behaviors that may threaten the health or safety of the child or others
• Behaviors that may inhibit a child from learning or acquiring new skills
• Behavior disorders that may be a barrier to their ability to remain in the least restrictive setting and/or limit their ability to participate in family and community life and
• Absence of developmentally appropriate adaptive, social or functional skills

Want to learn more? Check out the Austim Speaks ABA Guide for Families!

Managed Care Organization (MCO):

“Effective April 1, 2020, NJ FamilyCare Medicaid will reimburse Medicaid-enrolled Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy providers for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) treatment services, including behavior identification assessments, supporting assessments, adaptive behavior treatment, individual and group, and family adaptive behavior treatment.”

Should your child have medical insurance through New Jersey Family Care Medicaid (NJFC) please visit https://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dmahs/news/ebhb.html

No. Youth who qualify for the Managed Long Term Supports and Services (MLTSS) and the DDD Community Care Waiver cannot be simultaneously enrolled with the Care Management Organization.

No, Family Support Partners (FSP’s) are parents and or caregivers themselves who have raised a child with special needs and therefore have first hand knowledge from experience.  They also have received extensive training about the special education laws in the State of NJ. They act as a support and advisor to the parents who have a child with special education needs.

Thanks to community partners, we have two bilingual presentations explaining the services of the NJ Children's System of Care and BergenResourceNet.org, the mobile friendly, online resource portal for Bergen County.

1. Bilingual Spanish presentation for parents as a post-Back to School Night event was recorded in partnership with Palisades Park School District.

2. Bilingual Korean presentation for parents

as part of an Autism Seminar Series was recorded in partnership with the Korean Community Center and Bergen County Special Child Health Services.

3.  Bergen's Promise website is translatable!   Click the American flag icon in the upper right corner of the screen (above FAQs on the menu bar).  You will have options to choose from multiple languages. You would need to follow  the same steps to convert back to English. IMPORTANT NOTE: this will not translate any linked documents or embedded videos.   

4.  A simple 'how to' document with screenshots:  5 Steps--How to Turn On Auto-translate Close Captions for languages than English in YouTube videos

There are many guides and brochures available in multiple languages on the Children's System of Care website.

NJ Children's System of Care (CSOC) behavioral health and substance use services are available to all families who are New Jersey residents, regardless of citizenship status or documentation status.  

However, according to 22NJ regulation, only New Jersey residents who are U.S. citizens or permanent alien residents (green card holders) can qualify to receive certain services for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.  Families or caregivers of undocumented individuals are encouraged to contact PerformCare to discuss potential service options.

It can be hard to navigate the health care system and sort through medical information online. We encourage families to use tools like:

1. Ask Me 3® to improve their communication with healthcare providers. Click here to access Ask Me 3® in multiple languages from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.Ask Me 3® is an educational program that encourages patients and families to ask three specific questions of their providers to better understand their health conditions and what they need to do to stay healthy.

• What is my main problem?
• What do I need to do?
• Why is it important for me to do this?

Designed by health literacy experts, Ask Me 3® is intended to help patients become more active members of their health care team, and provide a critical platform to improve communications between patients, families, and health care professionals

2. My Health Passport A health advocacy tool available from the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, My Health Passport is designed to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to share critical health information that might be needed for inpatient hospital/clinic visits. During these circumstances, an individual will interact with several health care professionals who might not be very familiar with providing care to someone with IDD. My Health Passport is an effort to overcome such barriers to optimal care, by providing pertinent and easily accessible information regarding that individual's unique support needs. The My Health Passport is available in English, Spanish and Chinese from the FCIC website

To find reliable and understandable health information online, we suggest that you to refer to research-based sources including MedlinePlus.gov and KidsHealth.org.

Learn more about the Intellectual and Developmental Disability services available through the NJ Children's System of Care (CSOC).   See also NJ Children's System of Care Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services handout.    There are additional resources available in multiple languages through the same website.  This information may also be shared with families as a resource for in-home services upon leaving Early Intervention.

• DD Eligibility.If your child is under 18, complete the application to determine eligibility for developmental disability (DD) services. The application is available on the family page of the NJ Children's System of Care website.
• Family Support Services (FSS) 
• Respite
• Assistive Technology
• Camps

See the FAQs for youth and families about all these services on the PerformCare website.

Learn more about each of these categories. This information may be shared with families as a resource for in-home services upon leaving Early Intervention.

• Intensive In-Home Services - Clinical/Therapeutic (IIH-C/T) - How is this different than intensive in community services?
• Intensive In-Home Services - Behavioral (IIH-ABA) - If my child receives ABA services in school then isn't this automatic?
• Individual Support Services (ISS) - How is this different from a Home Health Aide?
• If your child is under 18, complete the application to determine eligibility for developmental disability (DD) services. The application is available on the family page of the NJ Children's System of Care website.
• Resources after school graduation
• Over age 18, NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities is responsible for determining eligibility for DD service
• Services over age 21 (linkage to DDD services)

The benefits of having your school on your Child and Family Team (CFT):

1. Schools are invaluable members of the CFT regardless of whether or not your child has an Individualized Education Plan or 504 plan, or whether or not your child has behavioral or academic concerns.
2. Your Care Manager will collaborate with your youth's Child Study Team, if applicable.
3. Regardless of whether or not your child has behavioral or academic concerns at school, having the school involved on the Child and Family Team enables the use of successful strategies and supports in the classroom to be carried over successfully to manage behaviors at home. Once you give your Care Manager permission to invite your child's school to be an active member of your Child and Family team, you will be empoweredthrough the effective, regular communication and strength of the relationship among your CFT members. A team working together to support the needs of your child and help to sustain progress. View the Parent's Rights in Special Education guidebook (PRISE)

A helpful resource for planning to transition your young adult out of the K-12 school system to adult services is available through the NJ Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDD).This timeline outlines the steps to gain access to DDD services and supports you need to take to ensure a smooth transition. This timeline includes the following four steps:

1. Ensure Medicaid eligibility. See the Medicaid Documents Verification Checklist found under Fact Sheets
2. Ensure DDD eligibility.
3. Complete the New Jersey Comprehensive Assessment Tool (NJ CAT).
4. Select a Support Coordination Agency by either searching your county ResourceNet by the phrase "Support Coordination" or using the State provider search tool

These steps are outlined in greater detail on the timeline handout linked above. Please note that the first three steps can be completed when the student is between 18 and 21 years of age.

There is a free resource available online from The Arc of New Jersey for families with a loved one who has both an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) and a complex severe behavioral health condition.  This handbook, titled "An Enhanced Family Support Crisis Handbook: A Behavioral Health Wellness Toolkit," includes:

A. Introduction
B. What is Mental Health Wellness?
C. What is Complex Severe Behavior Health Condition (CSBHS)?
D. Range of Services that Address Complex Severe Behavioral Health Conditions
E. Crisis Assessment
F. What to do in the Event of a Crisis
G. After the Crisis is Over
H. Planning for the Future
I. Special Topics in Behavioral Health
J. Emerging Issues
K. Appendices

It is the Children’s System of Care’s philosophy that youth are best served at home and in their communities. Out-of-Home treatment is considered as a last resort option and is sought after having exhausted a community plan. 

After all in-home, and community-based treatment options have been exhausted, an out of home referral through a call to PerformCare may be appropriate.  

If your child has already been connected to a local Care Management Organization (CMO), the decision to pursue out of home treatment will be decided upon by the Child and Family Team (CFT) and ultimately determined by PerformCare.

The acronyms, abbreviations, and the services themselves can be quite confusing to caregivers and professionals from other industries.  You can access the following glossaries to improve understanding:

• Frequently Used CSOC Acronyms (PDF) 
• PerformCare Glossary - See a list of service definitions and other terms used in the System of Care.
• LGBTQIA+ Common Terminology

The Wraparound Model of Care is based on wrapping a team of community and natural supports around the youth and family, empowering them to improve quality in all life domains, such as social, emotional and financial domains of life (which are often affected by the use of substances for a youth and their family). Additionally, the Wraparound Model of Care values youth & family voice and choice and the development of an individualized service plan, which leads to increased empowerment and self-direction of youth and families regarding their treatment process.

Wraparound compliments the treatment of substance use disorders, while also promoting sustained recovery due to an increased level of community-based support through interventions such as:

• Improving parenting skills to promote prevention
• Increasing appropriate social outlets
• Increased care coordination to assure appropriate treatment is accessed

Some youth that have a substance use disorder may be eligible for the addition of a health and wellness counselor and/or a nurse from our Behavioral Health Home team to further focus on all dimensions of wellness.

Call PerformCare 1-877-652-7624 the contracted system administrator for the NJ Children's System of Care to determine eligibility for services.

Appropriate assessment is the first step in obtaining the right treatment. Youth authorized for a BioPsychoSocial (BPS assessment) through PerformCare are also able to receive a substance use screening as part of the assessment, when indicated. PerformCare utilizes the ASAM (American Society of Addiction Medicine) criteria for making clinical decisions about what type of service is most appropriate. These decisions are made by Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselors (LCADCs) with appropriate specialized training. The Children's System of Care has contracts with youth-serving Substance Treatment Providers throughout the State that can provide this level of care at no cost to you.

If your youth is admitted to one of the contracted facilities, your youth and family are also linked with a care manager and receive wraparound services. Similarly, if your youth is already receiving support from Bergen's Promise, and you now suspect may be misusing substances, we encourage you to bring this to the attention of your Care Manager. Although the mission of Bergen's Promise, Inc. is to keep u201chealthy families, safe at home,u201d we recognize that residential or inpatient levels of care are required due to substance use.

The NJ Children's System of Care (CSOC) offers an array of substance use treatment services including withdrawal management, outpatient, intensive outpatient, partial care, short-term residential and long-term residential, including those for co-occurring behavioral health/substance use treatment needs. Services are authorized WITHOUT regard to income, private health insurance, or eligibility for Medicaid/NJ. For questions or to access these services, call the PerformCare 24 hour, toll-free Access line: 1-877-652-7624.

The CSOC contracted treatment providers allow 'walk ins' for immediate access to services. If an adolescent/young adult refer themselves, the providers will assess and acknowledge whether the youth's current situation 'fits' the level of care offered by the facility. If so, they may do an admission and contact PerformCare (the contracted system administrator for the Children's System of Care) to request that the Care Management Organization, Bergen's Promise, open to begin care coordination for that youth and family. Click here to go to the BergenResourceNet page to view the list of contracted substance treatment providers.

The answer should be the first paragraph content on the inside left top of the page including up to the Accessing Services with the PC # View the Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Use Treatment Services brochure of the NJ Children's System of Care.