Team IMPACT has more than 15 clinically trained staff members who guide our program and all those in it. From the very first call with Team IMPACT to match up, throughout the two years in the program and beyond, we ensure all participants are in good hands.
Team IMPACT is built on a clinical foundation with a goal to create an environment of camaraderie and a sense of belonging for children and families, encouraging resilience, empowerment, socialization, and health promotion.
Children and teams are matched after completing a comprehensive assessment and orientation process with an Intake Coordinator and Match-Up Specialist. Throughout our program, Case Managers work with each family to identify goals for their child’s participation and provide guidance and coaching to the team to make these goals a reality. Team IMPACT isn’t a one-day photo op or meet-and-greet. Our matches become true members of the team.
Case Managers — Masters-level social workers (MSWs) or certified child life specialists (CCLSs) — provide two years of active and consistent support, supervision, and assistance to all participants.
Each relationship starts with the Case Manager understanding each family — their child’s diagnosis, the challenges they’ve faced, and how a mentoring relationship might provide benefits. From there, Case Managers create a personalized ‘game plan’ of social-emotional goals that are tailored to the specific needs of each child. In addition to providing clinical support, Case Managers participate in creating moments of pure joy for the children in our program, like attending games, having teammates attend birthday parties and school events, or video chatting during clinic visits and hospital admissions.
Case Managers routinely assess the quality of each match, based on four domains – communication, connection, goals, and expectations. The weight of each domain varies based on the match phase and the level of impact that they have on the quality of the relationship. For instance, the frequency and consistency of communication is critical at the beginning of a match, while we expect that interpersonal connectedness will grow as the match progresses throughout the two-year timeframe.
The Intake Coordinator is the first point of contact for new families signing up for Team IMPACT and completes a comprehensive intake and psychosocial assessment to determine eligibility for participation.
The Match-Up Specialist is focused on stewarding families and teams through the on-boarding and match-up process. They are the first point of contact for interested teams and assess the team’s capacity to fully participate in Team IMPACT. Their focus is on identifying the appropriate team for each child and family and ensuring that both the family and team are fully prepared to begin their relationship.
Case Managers guide the relationships between families and their teams, providing clinical care, psychoeducation, and therapeutic support at every stage of the Team IMPACT journey.
The Case Manager is the main point of contact that ensures this community of mentors is able to support their teammate and their family when they need it most.
"Child life is not just about the child but is about supporting the entire family, and Team IMPACT gave me the opportunity to make all those things happen."
"At Team IMPACT, we get to work with multiple populations all at once - it's about building ongoing therapeutic relationships."
“I’ve always been drawn to the idea that a community can get you through the tough times. Finding this incredible nonprofit where a team can become a community for a child who needs one has been amazing.”
Team IMPACT is certified as in Inclusive Mentoring Practices through the National Disability Mentoring Coalition (NDMC).
To obtain this organizational certification, Team IMPACT staff completed over 20 hours of online coursework and attended live webinars. Staff received training in a wide range of topics including the various models and definitions of disability; ableism and inclusion; disability rights and the ADA; Universal Design; and inclusive language and communication.
