Crystal Blanton, LCSW - IHBS Program Spotlight

Lincoln IHBS Program Spotlight

Crystal Blanton, LCSW

IHBS Program Manager

I am the Program Manager of Lincoln's Intensive Home Based Services (IHBS) program that serves children and families in Contra Costa County. As a part of the services offered to children who are impacted by the foster care and child welfare system, we get to work with amazing children with some of the most challenging stories while they are working to stabilize in their placements. Most of the children or youth in our program have been subjected to multiple placement changes in a short period of time and experienced the direct harm of being removed from their parents care. Whether in the process of reunification, living in a foster home, or being placed in a group home, these foster youth have a plethora of experiences that have made placement a challenge.

Despite the circumstances and associated traumas of many of the children and families we serve, we get to work with some of the most resilient, creative, talented, and amazing individuals. These children show an amazing snapshot of what is possible when we least expect it to be and when supports are focused in positive ways.

The idea of infinite possibilities inspires me to work with others. Working with children and families is one of the most important opportunities to impact systemic cycles of poverty, disenfranchisement, and hopelessness. I always feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of a process that has the power to shift the narrative that a child or family has been managing. Through this work we see such a strong desire to thrive despite the speedbumps and roadblocks on an individual's path; and we get to reaffirm and reinforce the strength that is often ignored within society. That is so inspiring for me as a social worker.

One of my favorite success stories is directly with the Intensive Home Based Services work with a youth that struggled with services and had been operating within the child welfare system since a young age. Despite multiple challenges in navigating community-based services and multiple placement changes, she formed a strong connection with her IHBS provider and began the process of re-learning how to build trust in her support team. By the end of her time in the program, she was living in her own place, utilizing multiple services, taking classes, and engaging in creative art projects. This particular experience reinforced that client-centered, compassionate, and relational based engagement has the ability to redesign and rebuild bridges.

The Intensive Home Based Services team at Lincoln Families is a diverse, skilled, and dedicated group of folks. Their level of commitment to the growth and wellness of our kids and families inspires me greatly, and it demonstrates that connection is one of our greatest tools in this work. I am most proud of our racial diversity and how that positively impacts those we work with to have people who look like them. To have a team of people that encompass multiple intersections of diversity is not common within the mental health field. Currently, the team is 84% people of color and 33% of IHBS staff are bilingual Spanish speaking. Most importantly I feel like the IHBS team is 100% heart.