	Pregnancy Support Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PS 4: Service Planning and Monitoring

Individuals participate in the development and ongoing review of service plans that are the basis for delivery of appropriate services and support.

PS 4.01

A service plan is developed within an appropriate timeframe with the full participation of the service recipient, and expedited service planning is available when crisis or urgent need is identified.

Interpretation: Service planning is to be conducted so that the service recipient retains as much personal responsibility and self-determination as possible and desired. Individuals with limited ability in making independent choices can receive help with making or learning to make decisions. When the service recipient is a minor, or an adult under the care of a guardian, the organization should follow applicable state laws or regulations requiring involvement or consent of service recipients’ legal guardians.

PS 4.02

The service plan is based on the assessment and includes:

agreed upon goals, desired outcomes, and timeframes for achieving them;
services and supports to be provided and by whom; and
the service recipient’s signature.

PS 4.03

During service planning the organization explains:

available options;
how the organization can support the achievement of desired outcomes; and
the benefits, alternatives, and risks or consequences of planned services.

PS 4.04

Individuals are helped to explore the potential benefits and any concerns about involving family members and significant others, including the birth father, in service planning and provision.

PS 4.05

When the individual wishes and it is appropriate, family members and significant others, including the birth father, are invited to participate in case conferences and advised of ongoing progress.

Interpretation: The organization can facilitate the participation of family and significant others by, for example, helping arrange transportation or including them in scheduling decisions.

PS 4.06

The provider and service recipient regularly review progress toward achievement of agreed upon goals and sign revisions to service goals and plans.

PS 4.07

The provider and a supervisor, or a clinical, service, or peer team, review the case at designated milestones during the pregnancy to assess:

service plan implementation;
progress toward achieving goals and desired outcomes; and
the continuing appropriateness of the agreed upon goals.

Interpretation: Experienced providers may conduct reviews of their own cases. In such cases, the provider’s supervisor reviews a sample of the provider’s evaluations as per the requirements of the standard.

The organization will define what constitutes a milestone during the pregnancy. Timeframes for service plan review should be adjusted depending upon issues and needs of persons receiving services, and the frequency and intensity of services provided. When providing Pregnancy Options Counseling or Birth Options Counseling, timeframes for service plan review should be adjusted to reflect the length of time counseling services are offered.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Individuals who participate in Pregnancy Support Services learn about parenthood, make informed decisions about their pregnancies, stay healthy, and pursue their educational and vocational goals.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	SERVICE PLAN A written plan of action based on the assessment of consumer needs and strengths that identifies problems, sets goals, and describes a strategy for achieving those goals and engaging in joint problem solving with the consumer. Also known as a "treatment plan".


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	LEGAL GUARDIAN A person who has legal responsibility for the care and management of a person incapable of administering his/her own affairs. In the case of a minor child, the guardian is charged with the legal responsibility for the care and management of the child and of the minor child's estate.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	SERVICE GOALS Broad, issue-oriented statements that reflect the realistic achievements to be accomplished in the short or long term. Goals are achieved through the accomplishment of specific quantifiable objectives.


	CLINICAL The study, assessment, and diagnosis of the client situation followed by direct treatment to help the client achieve prescribed goals.


	APPROPRIATENESS The degree to which a particular service, placement, treatment, intervention, or activity is: best suited to an individual's needs; not excessive, unduly intrusive, or restrictive; anticipated to be effective in achieving the desired and specified outcomes; and adequate or sufficient in quantity to address the problem.


	SAMPLE A portion or representative percentage of a greater whole.


	PREGNANCY OPTIONS COUNSELING Counseling services designed to help pregnant individuals make decisions about all possible options for a pregnancy including and not limited to parenting, adoption or other transfer of custody, and termination. See also BIRTH OPTIONS COUNSELING.


	EVALUATION The review and assessment of organizational operations, programs and services.


	BIRTH OPTIONS COUNSELING Counseling services designed to help pregnant individuals make decisions about options for birth, including and not limited to parenting and adoption or other transfer of custody. Organizations providing Birth Options Counseling do not provide information and counseling about pregnancy termination. See also PREGNANCY OPTIONS COUNSELING.