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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMH Provider Meeting Minutes 06-11-21Mental Health Provider Meeting Friday, June 11, 2021 MH 1 6/11/21 MEETING MINUTES Welcome & Introduction This meeting was held in-person with a call- in option for participants. Jim Gilbert confirmed the attendance of providers that were present. Provider Announcements & Updates ≠ Mental Health Association (MHA) – Bethany Peake A number of updates are in the works for the Community Support Programs offered by MHA. There is going to be an expansion for support groups as well as educational and awareness events. Information will be posted on Facebook, MHA website, and it will be sent to providers in the local community. MHA is transitioning to face to face events and meetings for all Community Support Programs starting in July. ≠ AHEDD – Sarah Marshall AHEDD is in the process of hiring a new employment specialist. The plan is to get staff back to the CareerLink building in some capacity in July. It will not be open to the public at that time. There are a lot of businesses hiring right now and they are helping people find employment. ≠ Occupational Services, Inc. (OSI) – Gabby Snider OSI is currently accepting referrals for MH Vocational Rehab and Supporting Individuals Transitioning to Employment Success (SITES) programs. ≠ Laurel Life – Dee Santiago There is a long waiting list for Intensive Behavioral Health Services (IBHS), Family Based services and outpatient services. Laurel Life is hiring at all levels and the career opportunities are updated constantly on LaurelLife.com. Family based services have been 100% in-person over the last couple of months, IBHS is about 90% in-person, and outpatient is at 70% in-person. Telehealth services are still available if requested by the individual. ≠ Service Access & Management (SAM), Inc. – Michael Rodriguez and Nancy Furman Michael wanted to remind everyone to provide all the information needed when making online or email referrals. Some of the obstacles when reviewing the referrals are due to limited diagnosis or contact information. SAM is back to seeing individuals five (5) days a week. SAM can see four (4) individuals per day in-person. Telehealth is still provided by request from the individual as needed. ≠ Pennsylvania Counseling Services (PCS) – Matt Litzinger There will be an administrative change in outpatient services at PA Counseling. Nicole Fortney will be taking the administrative role. The Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) will be shifting from two (2) to three (3) hours three (3) times a week with a new curriculum that includes a family component. There are new unlicensed therapists starting next week that will be taking on new clients. New Continuing Education Unit (CEU) trainings will be available soon and fliers will be emailed out with information to sign up for the trainings. Mental Health Provider Meeting MH 2 6/11/21 The Children Services unit is continuing to see clients in-person. There are no openings in Children Services but as discharges occur they will take new cases. Standing Agenda Items ≠ Tuscarora Manage Care Alliance (TMCA) Update – Jim on behalf of Gen Harper and Brad Coccagna Gen and Brad are attending a large meeting on the use of Z codes when submitting claims. A Z code use is a recent idea from the Department of Human Services (DHS) to help collect social determinants of health needs data. ≠ PerformCare Update – Kourtney Griggs, Account Executive No update at this time. ≠ Child Adolescent Service System Program (CASSP) Update – Erin Nye on behalf of Kim Lucas, CASSP Coordinator CASSP has been very busy with new referrals over the last couple of months. Kim has received quite a few referrals from inpatient units as well as Children and Youth Services (CYS) regarding mental health services for youth. Mental Health (MH) has recently finalized a contract with Kidz Therapy Zone to offer a three (3) hour monthly respite session at their facility. This is for children and teens that are open with mental health services. They must pre-register. The first session is June 18th and will be the third Friday of each month for the entirety of FY 21-22. Fliers will be sent out ahead of each session for registration. MH has had the opportunity to fund some children to attend summer camps. There will be twelve (12) youths attending various local camps including the Boys and Girls Club, Penn State Mont Alto, Chambersburg YMCA, and Hagerstown Community College. CASSP has been involved with a local LGBTQ committee and they have put together a list of MH resources on their Pride Franklin County website. https://www.pridefranklincounty.org/lgbtq-resources Sexual identity issues in youth are something Kim has been seeing more and more frequently. Kim feels that as providers we were not trained or equipped to necessarily handle these issues. There have been a few virtual training sessions recently which have been very helpful. Kim shares the training information via email but if you are interested please let her know. Kim’s email is kmlucas@franklincountypa.gov if you would like to reach out to her. The Pride Franklin County Website also had information for other support groups that are held virtually through MHA Southwest PA that are open to anyone. https://mhaswpa.org/ CASSP, schools, and SAM have been tracking Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) referrals and recommendations for youth. This has been a common recommendation lately and many are hoping that there is enough data to support a local partial program again. However, the data will be collected over the next year to see if there is enough support for the partial program. Mental Health Provider Meeting MH 3 6/11/21 Kim recently came across an activity that you might want to explore with individuals and your staff called Move1Million. The activity consists of simple movements designed to get people moving gently and motivated. http://moveonemillion.org/index.html You can check out a video of Move1Million at http://moveonemillion.org/index.html If you have any questions please reach out to Kim by email or by calling the MH/IDD/EI office. Suicide Coalition Update – Bethany Peake The Franklin County Suicide Prevention Coalition continued to meet during the entire duration of COVID via Zoom. Once a month the group got together to discuss suicide prevention, activities, and education in Franklin County. At the beginning of COVID, it was believed that there would be a large increase in completed suicides and the Coalition started planning accordingly. When the hospitals and other facilities were telling people to screen themselves at home and phone the hospital ahead of time there was a concern that individuals would not seek the needed services. A plan was put into place that included additional resources, training, and a canvassing project. The canvassing project consisted of delivering resources to individuals on foot, especially telephone resources to the local community. Due to the outreach there were a couple of individuals who directly called the MHA helpline services for assistance. The individuals stated they had found the information on their door when they returned home that day, and that they had been actively thinking about completing suicide that evening. There were some really good outcomes from the direct on foot approach and it will be continuing throughout this coming year. During COVID, there was a focus on training/education and reviewing the data in depth to respond accordingly to the communities’ needs. Based on this review, online training/Zoom sessions were increased to improve accessibility while face to face meetings were not occurring. The data was reviewed monthly to get up to date information about the number of visits to Crisis for suicidal ideation and self-harm. Similar information was reviewed from 911, 2-1-1, and the Coroner’s Office. The monthly data was utilized to track and trend suicide throughout COVID. Over the last year there were changes in the suicide rates. Bethany and Dr. Sheri Morgan presented on the following changes at the Prevent Suicide PA Conference in May:  Historically, people who died by suicide did so at home. During COVID, more individuals died of suicide outside of the home. In some ways COVID acted as a protective factor by reducing the privacy of at home suicides.  Historically, the average age of a person dying by suicide in Franklin County was sixty-three (63) years old. The current average age of a person dying by suicide is thirty-two (32) years old.  During COVID, there was a 29% decrease in the number of individuals who died by suicide. A new strategy is being planned to address the change in the average age of individuals dying by suicide. The Coalition’s outreach will kick off in August with Greencastle High School’s peer leaders. Training and information on suicide prevention will be provided to the peer leaders to be utilized in the school. The Coalition will be increasing Zoom Mental Health Provider Meeting MH 4 6/11/21 presentations and face to face training capabilities. There are 1,000 Question Persuade Refer (QPR) training codes that have been purchased by the County for the upcoming year. A pilot project has been started in Fulton County to determine if there is an interest in developing a Suicide Prevention Coalition. The Coalition in Fulton County will meet quarterly instead of monthly. Throughout the outreach done so far, thirty-three (33) individuals have expressed interest in joining the Coalition. Individuals interested in the Coalition include providers, commissioners, local business owners, a fire chief and church staff. MHA has two (2) staff members providing outreach at the Fulton County Medical Center’s Kick Off a Drug Free Summer event today. A rock painting activity will be offered to children and information will be available to parents at the event. Between June 18th and June 30th, staff will be canvassing Fulton County to provide information about suicide prevention and joining the Suicide Prevention Coalition. A poll will be sent to all interested individuals about a possible meeting date in August 2021. Preparations are underway for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month activities in September. If anyone is interested in joining either of the counties’ Coalitions please contact Bethany. 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) ≠ Contract Update for FY 21-22 – Jim Gilbert Almost all of the FY 21-22 contracts have been fully executed for the July 1st start date. ≠ Psychiatric Admissions Reporting Overview (handout): Comparing January – March 2021 with January – March 2020 This report has been reformatted to reflect SAM‘s transition to Blended Case Management (BCM). Entries that would have been listed as Intensive Case Management (ICM) or Resource Coordination (RC) on former reports have been combined under BCM. There are still eleven (11) individuals at Danville State Hospital which is six (6) over the bed cap. There are two (2) individuals currently on the Danville State Hospital waitlist. Mental Health Provider Meeting MH 5 6/11/21 ≠ Waitlist for Outpatient Appointments – Cori Seilhamer Cori asked providers if staffing issues or an influx of individuals seeking services is the cause for the current waitlist for outpatient appointments. Cori encouraged providers to share any ideas or suggestions for ways the County could help the community with the waitlist issues.  Bethany (MHA) stated there are issues with hiring. MHA recently scheduled interviews for twenty-one (21) individuals after posting an ad for a position. Only seven (7) individuals showed up for their interview. Of the individuals that were interviewed, two (2) refused to do a face to face interview.  Dee Santiago (Laurel Life) stated hiring licensed staff that are credentialed with primary insurances is extremely difficult. The Intensive Behavioral Health Services (IBHS) regulation differences and the specialized staff qualifications limit the number of qualified applicants. Laurel Life has posted jobs on LinkedIn and other social media outlets with minimal improvement in the number of applicants. Dee mentioned that the waitlist situation is a two-fold problem involving staffing and increased referrals. Since the pandemic started there has been an increase in outpatient referrals for individuals with no previous history of mental health issues. o Cori inquired about the required credentials for IBHS staff. Dee explained that Laurel Life has been reviewing transcripts for practicum experience to determine eligibility. The desired credentials for applicants include Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) certifications, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) certifications, and the forty (40) hour Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) training. The RBT training is required prior to starting as a Behavioral Health Technician (BHT) in order to work directly with clients. ≠ PESI Training – Cori Seilhamer PESI, Inc. training will be offered to providers. There are three (3) trainings - a four (4) day Certified Dialectical Behavior Therapy (C-DBT), Compassion Fatigue, and New Era of Anxiety digital download. Continuing Education Units (CEU) are available for the C-DBT and Compassion Fatigue trainings. The training licenses will be available until June 2022. The meeting was adjourned. Next Meeting: Friday, September 10, 2021 starting at 10:00 a.m. in the Human Services Building with a call-in option. 2021 Meetings: December 10th Minutes by Larry Reed