Lurie Children’s Hospital and Community Partners to Help Children and Families Navigate Medical and Social Service Resources

Federally funded All Hands Health Network will launch in January 2022 to improve children’s health in Chicago’s Belmont-Cragin and North Austin communities 

 

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, as the lead organization of the new federally funded initiative called All Hands Health Network, has partnered with Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4), Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI) and CareAdvisors to provide medical and social service coordination and helpline to children and families living in Belmont-Cragin and North Austin communities (zip codes 60639, 60651). The program will begin helping families in January 2022. 

All Hands Health Network, in partnership with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, brings together local pediatricians, specialists, behavioral health providers, social service and community organizations and institutions to respond to the medical and social needs of children and their families. The aim is to offer greater and more convenient access to services, in order to improve health outcomes for children in these communities. 

“Families might face daunting hurdles when trying to find medical, behavioral and social services for their children,” said Matthew M. Davis, MD, MAPP, Chair of the Department of Medicine at Lurie Children’s, Executive Vice-President and Chief Community Health Transformation Officer at the Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities at Lurie Children’s and Chair of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “The challenges of navigating the system and accessing help when it is needed contribute to health inequities in youth living in under-resourced communities. Through our collaboration, we can help children receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.” 

As an integrated network, the new program will offer better communication and coordination between different agencies and providers, focus on early identification of children’s physical, behavioral and social issues, reduce the need for emergency care and hospitalization due to delayed care, prevent duplication of services, and strive to improve the health and well-being of children and their families. 

"We are excited to help with the development of a clinically-integrated social care network to support the Integrated Care for Kids model," said CareAdvisors Chief Executive Officer Chris Gay.  

CareAdvisors provides a social care management platform for hospitals, health plans and community-based organizations. Working with All Hands Health Network, the organization will offer families resource navigation, including help with applications for public benefits. 

"We are thrilled at the opportunity to partner with Lurie Children’s and All Hands Health Network to provide the degree of wrap-around service delivery and community-based care coordination that these west side communities deserve,” said Patrick Dombrowski, LCSW, Chief Clinical Officer of C4. “The scope of this program has the promise to improve the lives of youth in these communities by fundamentally addressing issues around engagement and ensuring a preventative approach to identifying family and youth needs.” 

C4 is a community mental health agency serving West and North Chicago. The agency provides intensive community-based services to youth and adults, as well as traditional and community-based outpatient therapy. In addition to longer term treatment, it offers 24/7 crisis response, stabilization, and prevention services for youth and adults. C4 has long been committed to the neighborhoods of Humboldt Park and Austin, and to the greater west side.  

“Lutheran Social Services of Illinois is very excited to be partnering with Lurie Children’s to bring Service Integration Coordinators to children and families living in the 60639 zip code,” said Karah Kohler, MSW, LCSW, Associate Executive Director - Coordinated Community Mental Health Care at LSSI. “The work of these coordinators will be so valuable to families who have a need for services, but don’t know where to go or who to turn to. Since the Service Integration Coordinator will be the main point of contact for the family, they will always have someone in their corner ready, willing and able to help.” 

Serving Illinois since 1867, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI.org) is a nonprofit social service organization of the three Illinois synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). LSSI is one of the largest statewide social service providers. The organization provides critical programs for Illinois residents including foster care, mental health services, alcohol and drug treatment, affordable senior housing, residential programs for people with developmental disabilities, and services that help families who have been impacted by incarceration. LSSI is accredited by the Council on Accreditation.  

All Hands Health Network (AllHandsHealthNetwork.org) is supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $6 million in 2021 with 0 percentage financed with nongovernmental sources. The contents of this release are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CMS, HHS or the U.S. Government. 

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. It is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Last year, the hospital served more than 220,000 children from 48 states and 49 countries. Over half of patients are insured by Medicaid.