Once a community identifies a need for clinical or treatment services in behavioral health, organizations can begin planning the service. Planning precedes delivery and evaluation of services, but does not stop once delivery begins. Planning involves making preliminary decisions about the type of outcomes you are going to track as well as creating capacity to deliver the service. Plans are tested through service delivery - the measurement of appropriate outcomes helps determine where adjustments in plans and service delivery need to be made.
- Complete needs assessment to determine which service(s) is needed in the community
- Determine if your organization has the infrastructure needed to support the delivery of clinical services
- Decide which service(s) the organization will develop and the populations that will be served. It is helpful to go through a simplified checklist to help the organization focus on the decisions that need to be considered when planning the clinical service(s) they will develop.
- Create meaningful ways to incorporate the voice of consumers and their families in your planning and ongoing evaluation of service delivery
- Develop policies and procedures that will guide the service delivery. Don't start from scratch - reach out to organizations currently providing a similar service to find out what works and what doesn't.