Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMH Provider Meeting Minutes 06-12-20Mental Health Provider Meeting Friday, June 12, 2020 MH 1 6/12/20 MEETING MINUTES Welcome & Introduction Everyone introduced themselves and their agency affiliation. Provider Announcements & Updates ≠ Keystone Behavioral Health Dr. Santiago Garcia Marino will be starting as Keystone Behavioral Health’s newest psychiatrist on June 29th. Dr. Neilay Amin, a psychiatrist from Penn State Hershey Medical Center, will be starting his fellowship and Ann Bell will be returning as nurse practitioner in July. Dr. Garcia Marino and Ann will mostly be seeing adults. Dr. Amin will be seeing various ages to get a rounded outpatient experience for a few months before he starts at Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute (PPI). ≠ TrueNorth Wellness Services TrueNorth Wellness Services will soon be back to operating as usual. Face-to-face meetings had been restricted to certain timeframes but will available during all business hours (8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Fridays) starting June 15th. Crisis is still operating and there are no longer limitations on mobile services. Peer Services and the Base Services Unit (BSU) are available for face-to-face meetings. Telehealth services are offered to individuals who prefer or need them. Precautions such as social distancing, face masks, pre-screening, and temperature checks have been kept in place for individuals coming into the office for outpatient treatment. All chairs have been removed from the waiting room to encourage social distancing and only the individual being seen is allowed in. If someone else is transporting them, they must wait outside or in their vehicle. If a family or child has an appointment, the individuals are asked to wait in their vehicle until staff retrieves them in order to save space in the waiting room. ≠ Pennsylvania Counseling Services (PCS) Family-based sessions are currently taking place in the community but staff are not going into homes. After a county has entered the Green Phase, PCS will continue sessions in the community but will also offer in-home sessions as long as the family is comfortable with this option. Staff will maintain social distancing and wear face masks during sessions. ≠ WellSpan Chambersburg Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) WellSpan is testing all patients for COVID-19 before they come to the BHU. If Crisis determines that a patient needs admission to the BHU, they are sent to a COVID rollout unit to get a swab test. If a negative result is received, the patient can come to the BHU. If a positive result is received, the patient must stay in the rollout unit until testing negative or completing a full fourteen (14) day quarantine. Patients who are positive still receive psychiatric care and see a psychiatrist every day while in the rollout unit. Discharge planning from the rollout unit is the same as it would be from the BHU. This process for BHU admission is expected to continue until further notice. ≠ Occupational Services Inc. (OSI) The OSI SITES program resumed approximately three (3) weeks ago. OSI is slowly bringing individuals back into the program by limiting their attendance and number of days per week. Mental Health Provider Meeting MH 2 6/12/20 Standing Agenda Items ≠ TMCA Update No update at this time. ≠ PerformCare Update PerformCare has released guidance that providers can use to bill for telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) is currently discussing potential changes to telehealth that may take effect in the coming months. PerformCare will continue to update providers if any changes occur. ≠ Provider Spotlight: AHEDD – Sarah Marshall and Karen Price Sarah Marshall, Area Manager of the AHEDD Chambersburg field office, provided an overview of the organization’s referral process and services. The Chambersburg field office covers Franklin/Fulton Counties and certain parts of Cumberland County. Providers may reach out to Sarah for additional information or to set up a more in-depth discussion about connecting individuals to AHEDD’s services. Referrals for AHEDD’s services are typically received at the state level through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) and at the county level through Service Access & Management (SAM), Inc. or another agency. The AHEDD referral form can be emailed, faxed or mailed to the office after it is completed with the individual’s specific information. Individuals may also refer themselves or someone else via the AHEDD website (www.ahedd.org). If an individual inquires about services but does not yet have a case manager or OVR counselor, AHEDD will try to work backwards to identify and get them the appropriate funding. Self-pay is also available for AHEDD’s services if there are no other funding options. AHEDD works with individuals that have any disability to help them find competitive employment in the community based on their interests. The following services are customized to fit each individual’s unique needs:  Pre-employment services help the individual determine which type of employment they are seeking. These services include career exploration, community-based work assessments, and interest profiling.  Job Development services help the individual prepare for the application and interview processes. These services include resume development/fine-tuning, mock interviews, and interview prep.  On-site and Off-site Employment Support services help the individual with job coaching after they have found employment. The setting in which these services are provided will depend on the individual’s preferences. AHEDD and its partner employers in the community work together to resolve any issues that are identified during job coaching and improve the individual’s experience. The goal of all parties is to keep the individual employed. Karen Price, Work Incentive Counselor, provided an overview of AHEDD’s Work Incentive Counseling services which are also known as Benefits Counseling. Work Incentive Counseling services help beneficiaries who receive either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Social Security Insurance (SSI) to learn more about how having income from a job will affect their benefits. Many individuals initially believe misinformation that they cannot work due to receiving SSDI or SSI. In many cases, individuals can work and still receive their benefits. Work Incentive Counselors communicate directly with Social Security to get relevant information on the individual’s Mental Health Provider Meeting MH 3 6/12/20 situation and then provide them a detailed explanation of how a paycheck will specifically impact their benefits. Certain individuals want to work full-time so they are self-sufficient and no longer receive benefits while others want to keep their benefits. The Work Incentive Counselor’s primary role is to facilitate a relationship between beneficiaries and Social Security. They help explain the meaning of correspondence from Social Security to individuals and assist them with reaching out to ask questions or responding with necessary information. Ultimately, individuals use the information they are given to make their own choices about types of employment to pursue and how much they are willing to work. The Work Incentive Counselor also provides accurate information on how employment will affect the beneficiary’s Medicare or Medicaid eligibility. AHEDD accepts referrals that are exclusively for Benefits Counseling if an individual is already working but still has questions about their SSDI or SSI. The AHEDD website features many resources, success stories, and more information about the organization and its services. AHEDD is also active on Twitter and Facebook. The most recent AHEDD Annual Report along with additional documents and a brochure describing services will be included as handouts with this meeting’s minutes. County Announcements/Information ≠ Reports due since our last MH Provider Meeting:  Appendix A for upcoming fiscal year  Budget Packets (to include Budget/Rate Letter, Staff Roster, Unit Assumptions, and Budget Narrative for upcoming fiscal year – if appropriate)  Quarterly Report of Expenditures (January – March) ≠ Reports due prior to our next MH Provider Meeting:  Audited Financial report (calendar year ending December 31st)  Audit engagement/extension letter (FY ending June 30th)  Progress report on outcomes in Appendix A  Quarterly Report of Expenditures (April – June)  Salary Review (for FY ending June 30th)  Property purchased/property leased report (FY ending June 30th)  Fixed assets purchased with MH/IDD/EI funds (FY ending June 30th) ≠ Psychiatric Admissions Reporting Overview (handout): Comparing January – March 2020 with January – March 2019 – Jim Gilbert The number of individuals being hospitalized has tended to ebb and flow. There were a few more admissions in 2020 compared to the same quarter in 2019. The average length of stay for adults was longer in 2020 while the length of stay for children was shorter. The numbers of individuals with two or more admissions during the quarter in 2019 and 2020 were also noted. The following Danville State Hospital updates were mentioned:  The bed cap remains at five (5). Current census is eight (8).  There was one (1) discharge in May that will be reflected on the next quarter’s report. One (1) individual is currently approaching discharge and will possibly be ready in July.  There are three (3) individuals on the waiting list. One (1) individual has been on the waiting list since December and is tentatively scheduled to be admitted next week. Bed availability and other factors contributed to the delay. Mental Health Provider Meeting MH 4 6/12/20 ≠ County Staffing Updates – Stacey Brookens A Fiscal Officer and the CASSP Coordinator are still on furlough. They will hopefully be returning to work soon but Human Resources has not yet provided a specific date. Erin Nye has been attending all CASSP meetings and related activities. MH/IDD/EI’s remaining Fiscal Officer and a Fiscal Supervisor have been covering all fiscal related tasks. An individual accepted the Administrative Officer position just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but has not been able to be brought on board yet. MH/IDD/EI is attempting to schedule their start date by the middle of the summer or sooner. The MH Program Specialists and most other MH/IDD/EI staff are continuing to work remotely for now. Staff periodically come into the office to get materials. The County has not yet provided a specific date when all staff will return to the office. When a directive has been received to return to the office, staff will come back in a gradual fade-in of two (2) or three (3) on-site at a time for alternating days and/or weeks. No significant issues have been reported with remote work and staff continue to have access to the information they need. ≠ Human Services Block Grant Plan – Cori Seilhamer MH/IDD/EI and other County staff are in the process of drafting separate Human Services Block Grant Plans for Franklin and Fulton Counties. Providers are encouraged to offer their feedback, suggestions, and ideas for inclusion in the Block Grant Plans. The plans are requesting specific details on any needs and/or strengths of the following special populations:  Older adults ages sixty (60) and above  Adults ages eighteen (18) to fifty-nine (59)  Transitioning youth ages eighteen (18) to twenty-six (26)  Children under age eighteen (18)  Individuals transitioning from the state hospitals  Individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders  Veterans  LGBTQI individuals  Racial, ethnic, or linguistic minorities including individuals with limited English proficiency  Any other special populations that can be identified in the community The Block Grant Plans will document strengths that are happening in the community, available services, and existing needs for each special population. The plans must also identify three (3) to five (5) priorities for the service system to work towards during the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Past priorities have included suicide prevention, data collection, reentry from the criminal justice system, and health literacy. The draft plans will be due on June 22nd. Two (2) public hearings will follow to present the completed drafts and allow community members an opportunity to offer feedback. Kelly Goshen asked Cori if Franklin County’s current draft plan contained any proposals to expand the co-responder program and continue suicide prevention activities. Cori observed that the plan highlights the co-responder program as a strength in the community related to criminal justice with supporting data and fully integrates the existing suicide prevention plan. Cori and Kelly agreed that suicide prevention should continue to be an identified priority. Kelly also suggested that the plan could mention the activities of Healthy Franklin Mental Health Provider Meeting MH 5 6/12/20 County’s Behavioral Health Task Force that have promoted community mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Providers may contact Cori directly to share ideas and strengths that are specific to their agency to be considered for inclusion in the Block Grant Plans. ≠ Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) Training Opportunity – Cori Seilhamer The County has secured a licensed agreement with PESI to offer a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional training course to all contracted providers. While anyone can take the course, staff must already have a license to earn the Clinical Trauma Professional certification upon completion. The fifteen (15) hour course will be available free of charge to any contracted provider who completes it by November 30, 2020. Those who have already begun the course have given it positive feedback so far. Interested staff may contact Cori to set up an account. ≠ Housing Updates – Tracy Radtke The statewide eviction moratorium that was put in place due to COVID-19 will not be extended again. Evictions will resume as of July 11th. Any individuals that need rental or utility assistance should contact 2-1-1 to be referred to the appropriate agency. A temporary rental and utility assistance program will be available through the end of June for individuals who have experienced job loss, decreased hours, or delayed Unemployment Compensation payments because of COVID-19. The individuals must have a mental health diagnosis in their immediate family and proof (ex: a Determination Letter from Unemployment Compensation) that they will have income after the assistance is provided. Those who meet the eligibility criteria will be referred to Tracy after receiving an assessment from 2-1-1. The meeting was adjourned. Next Meeting: Friday, September 11, 2020 starting at 10:00 a.m. in the Human Services Building [425 Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg] Remaining 2020 Meetings: December 11th Minutes by Dan Rhodes