HUB intervention model success outlined for Catholic Division board
How the Prince Albert Catholic School Division is responding to students in need was the focus of a presentation to the Board of Education during its regular meeting on Monday, January 23.
Student Services Coordinator Peggy Telfer and Superintendent Charity Dmytruk presented the Student Services HUB model and outlined the department’s work with the HUB.
HUB is a proactive, interagency, interdepartmental team designed to mobilize services for individuals or their families.
“I think you heard the word proactive 50 times in the presentation and I think it’s really important that that’s the role of the hub and we’re grateful for the partnerships with the different organizations to be really proactive and to help people who may be in need of some support,” said Education Director Lorel Trumier.
The hub provides an immediate, coordinated response to mitigate increased risk and reduce harm, crime and victimization. Trumier said the goal is to help students who need support for things that happen outside of school.
“There could be something going on in their life where they need that extra support and we as a school department know that sometimes that impacts the children in the family, or it’s the child themselves who may need more support than we can provide ‘ she explained.
Meetings are held each week at the Prince Albert Police Service Substation downtown. Connections to persons in need of service usually take place on Thursday afternoons.
Partners included both school departments, PAPS, RCMP, Department of Social Services (Child Protection Unit) and Mobile Crisis.
“It just goes to show that this proactive approach can really support people who may need additional help where this inter-departmental collaboration is so valuable,” Trumier said.
Administrators refer to HUB when the issues students are facing are beyond the scope of the school and multiple risk factors indicate the likelihood of some type of harm occurring.
Trumier explained that when Telfer was asked if the offered assistance would be turned down, it was a rare occurrence.
The HUB idea was brought up by former Prince Albert Police Commissioner Dale McFee. Trumier said she’s been around for the full 12 years she’s been directing.
“Dale McFee was then looking to get support from organizations like the school departments and the health department, um, social services, organizations like that to see if there was anything we could do proactively,” she explained.
HUB is for students and families who are not connected to services but are at risk of harm. Referral can also be made for families who have interagency needs that have not been addressed.
The first step in the HUB transfer process is for staff and administration to exhaust all services and connections to mitigate risk. In the second step, the superintendent or commissioner is informed that a referral will be made.
The administration is supported in filling out the transfer form. The recommendation will be saved in a safe place and presented at the next HUB meeting. After the meeting, the administration is convened to discuss the outcome and whether connections have been made.
HUB has a four-file process in the meeting. The first filter is a presentation with no name or identification with the table. It is assigned a case number and if the table agrees, it goes to the next filter.
In filter two, the names and information are shared. In the third filter, information and additional knowledge about the families are shared and then solutions are worked out. The fourth filter involves a discussion by the relevant agencies after the regular HUB meeting.
She said it supports community needs before they can cost more in later stages.
“It’s going to be a lot more complex and a lot harder to be able to support later on,” Trumier said. “Really, it was in the spirit of helping others that this came about and we pioneered it.
“We pioneered this province and it has been expanded across the province. I think we’ve had such good support from our stakeholders at the table with all the ministries there that everyone saw the value. Otherwise it would not have been sustained for the past 12 years,” she explained.
There are currently 14 HUB tables active in the province including Prince Albert, Meadow Lake, Yorkton, Nipawin, La Ronge, Weyburn and others.
The hub model is also known as Community Mobilization Prince Albert Approach and Situation Tables in other jurisdictions.
The response to each transfer is unique depending on the case. Most connections are made through a door knock visit, although some are handled through phone calls. The original agency of the transfer is never revealed to the family.
Families are offered connections and support, including referrals to agencies such as the Food Bank, Mental Health, Catholic Family Services and the Women’s Shelter. Files are not case managed and the aim is to support families on the day the referral is presented. The intention is to connect the family to services and close the new files as soon as possible.
Telfer acts as a substitute at the HUB table and rarely misses meetings, and when she does she sends a replacement
“I think the good work that’s being done in the schools and with Peggy and Charity has been really important to the endeavor,” Trumier said. “We’re constantly growing and learning from it, and supporting others is what we need to do.”
