Jimmy's Story: How The Y Helped A Family In Need

Jimmy was acting out of character when he became increasingly angry at his parents, to the point of wielding a knife at them. His mother was terrified and felt helpless, as this was not anything they had ever experienced before. Jimmy’s mother was referred to the Children’s Crisis Outreach Response System (CCORS), where she received immediate help and advice on how to mediate the situation.

As a team, CCORS helped the family to identify and understand triggers and warning signs that led to Jimmy’s behavior. They created a safety plan, providing coaching on effective coping skills, and worked with Jimmy to create a 1 to 10 scale to help him identify how he is feeling.

The family adopted the scale system, and saw right away that his escalations were becoming less and less frequent. Jimmy and his parents met with a doctor, who provided him with a medical treatment plan based on his behavior.

Jimmy’s mother shared, “There are rare points throughout life that someone comes into your life and leaves a forever mark on your path and changes it for the better, you have done that for us when we really needed it.”

The Children’s Crisis Outreach Response System (CCORS) serves families in crisis throughout King County. This program operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Within two hours of experiencing crisis (family conflict, emotional or behavioral problems), a team of trained specialists will meet families at their location to help deescalate the situation at hand.

This program serves all young people up to age 18 who reside in King County. CCORS aims to keep families strong and connected, and to provide in-the-moment solutions to help families be safe, successful and happy.