| Next Membership Meeting | |
Our next meeting will be:
Monday,
March 10, 2011
8:30 a.m.
Child Abuse Awareness
Cultural Competence Update
The Women's Center
1723 Hemphill
Fort Worth, Texas 76110
(Please park in back or on south side to provide access for clients of The Women's Center)
|
| CHAPS | |
Have you used information from the Community-Wide Children's Health and Planning Assessment? If so, send Cook Children's a note with the way you used it.
Click here to go to CCHAPS
Click here to send a note |
|
Join Our List
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Tarrant Cares Begins Beta Testing | | |
Visit the site to ensure accuracy
Tarrant County's Network of Care, renamed Tarrant Cares, is now in Beta testing. Please sign on as soon as possible to www.tarrant.tx.networkofcare.org/mh, which will take you to the Mental Health site. You can visit the other eight sites through the links on the left side of the page.
Tarrant Cares is a comprehensive, interactive, web-based information and referral system that provides individuals, caregivers and providers rapid access to information about community services, as well as the latest news, health tips and educational materials for all ages. It also provides an opportunity for individuals and families to develop their own personal health records and create social networking sites. The information is available in approximately 60 languages, including American Sign Language.
Please check your agency's information to determine whether it is correct. You can send your comments and changes through the Feedback button at the bottom of each page. You will also find a survey on each site. Please take a moment to complete it so your thoughts about the site will be known.
TarrantCares.org will launch with a news conference on Wednesday, March 30, at the Tarrant County Public Health Department. The news conference will be open to anyone who would like to attend. |
|
2011 Cultural Competence Trainings Set | | |
Mental Health Connection 2011 CBMCS Training Calendar Released
 In response to the overwhelming need for additional training dates, the CBMCS team has scheduled five workshops for 2011. Mental Health Connection partner agencies can register up to eight staff to participate in each four-day training. Registration for the training is $125 per person, which includes CEUs and workbooks, as well as food and snacks for all four days..
The first training is March 24-25 and March 31 and April 1. Click here for the registration form.
The CBMCS Team is also accepting applications for additional trainers. For more information on the qualifications and an application form, click here. |
|
Hand in Hand Helps Churches Develop
Special Needs Respite Programs | |
REVIVE in Keller to train other organizations
On March 10, 2011, Hand in Hand will host an informational meeting for churches and other organizations interested in providing Parents Night Out programs for special needs children. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Alsbury Baptist Church, 500 N.E. Alsbury Boulevard, Burleson 76028. Lunch will be served.
Northwood Church of Keller currently offers REVIVE, a successful special needs program. Leaders of the Keller Parents Night Out have agreed to provide training for other organizations that want to offer the same services.
For more information, click here. If you are interested in attending the informational meeting on March 10, or if you know an agency or faith group that might be interested, contact Stephanie Norton at stephanie.norton@mhmrtc.org or call 817-569-5729. |
|
Hand in Hand Holds Graduations | |  Families becoming empoweredHand in Hand families are beginning to graduate from the program as they start to manage their own wraparound teams. Openings are becoming available in all five counties: Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker and Tarrant (outside Fort Worth). To refer a family to Hand in Hand, call 817-569-5720. Referrals can also be made through DataLink. |
| Autism Implementation Team Presents Pilot | |  Recommendation includes system navigator
The Autism Implementation Team has presented Mental Health Connection with a recommended pilot program that includes the hiring of a case manager/system navigator. This individual would help families connect to services and resources during the critical time period following early screening or suspicion of an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The proposal calls for the pilot to target children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 6 years who have been screened or identified as "at risk" by ECI, with the following criteria:
- Initiated contact with ECI after 36 months of age and have no significant system connections; or
- Graduated from ECI services but do not meet the criteria for Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD) and still need intervention; or
- Enrolled in ECI or graduated from ECI with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder/Autism Spectrum Disorder with a barrier to effective service; or
- Initiated contact with ECI after 36 months of age and have no significant system connections.
The team recommended that additional consideration be given to children from families with financial concerns, other siblings with PDD/ASD, and language difficulties that may cause significant barriers to effective services.
Click here for a copy of the Autism Implementation Team's complete report. |
|
Mental Health Connection Educates Legislators | | |
 Members travel to Austin for hearings
Mental Health Connection members have spent much of this month in Austin, offering Tarrant County's expertise to help legislators think through proposed budget cuts. The focus of the conversations has been the transfer of costs to other systems when legislators cut community-based mental health services. Tarrant County legislators have asked Mental Health Connection to collect data on the number of people who will be affected by the cuts, and the local team is pulling the information together. A flyer for the legislators shows how cutting one dollar from community-based services can transfer costs of $37 to hospitals, $14 to jails, $23 to juvenile justice and $3 to schools. Because the budget proposals are changing almost daily, the flyer leaves space for updated information about the most recent discussions. For a copy of the flyer, click here. |
| DataLink Completes Federated Model Test | | |
Report to be presented at March 1 meeting
John Hopkins from Interaction Information Technology (IIT) will present a report on the Federated model test for DataLink. The Federated model will allow DataLink to contact registered databases at agencies using other software programs to retrieve HIPAA-compliant information. IIT developed DataLink for Mental Health Connection and continues to support and maintain the system.
The meeting will be held from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, at The Women's Center (1723 Hemphill, Fort Worth 76110). IIT will provide a lunch for those who attend the meeting.
If you would like to learn more about DataLink and the possibilities of a Federated model, please RSVP to Stephanie Norton at stephanie.norton@mhmrtc.org by Friday, Feb. 25. If you attend the meeting, please park in the back or on the south side to allow clients of The Women's Center access to the building. |
| FWISD Holds Summit for Immigrant Students | | |
Program focuses on college options
 The Fort Worth Independent School District is hosting the 2011 Education Immigration Summit for high school students whose immigration status is standing in the way of their dreams. The Summit will include information about current immigration laws and college access, the college application and financial aid process, legal advice and the legislation process.
The Summit will be held on Sunday, Feb. 20, from 2-6:30 p.m. at the Holy Name of Jesus Church, 2635 Burchill Road, Fort Worth 76105. Click here for a series of flyers to share with students. |
| Community Interfaith Worship Service | |  Event focuses on support for crime victims The Community Interfaith Worship Service for crime victims, their families and friends, and the community will be held Sunday, April 10, at 3 p.m. The service will take place in the First United Methodist Church of Arlington Great Hall, 313 N. Center Street, Arlington 76011. Entrance and parking are on the north side of the church. For more information, call Rev. Sandra Lydick, Crime Victims Chaplain, 817-675-6367, or visit www.crimevictimscouncil.org. |
|
Mental Health Connection is a collaboration of public and private agencies, as well as individuals who need mental health care services and their caregivers. The organization works to revolutionize the mental health delivery system, with a vision of creating No Wrong Door to the Right Mental Health Resources.
Click here to comment on this e-newsletter or to share ideas for future issues.
|
|
|
