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Next Membership Meeting
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Our next meeting will be held:
Monday,
April 9, 2011
8:30 a.m.
The Women's Center
1723 Hemphill
Fort Worth, Texas 76110
Please park on the South side of The Women's Center so clients have easy access
Presentation Texas Benefits Bank
Presented by: Camille Miller President/CEO Texas Health Institute |
| 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 |
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Join Our List
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68 Agencies Attend Intensive Search Conference
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Traditional and non-traditional partners participate
More than 130 representatives from 68 area agencies participated in the Mental Health Connection Search Conference on March 1 and 2. Led by Georgetown Training Institute experts Ellen Kagen and Seth Verry, attendees tackled seven "platforms": Quality of Care, Family Engagement, Outcomes, Access to Care, Workforce Development, Partnerships and Sustainability. At the end of the two-day session, each platform had a definition, a vision, goals, strategies and action plans.
A full report on the Search Conference results will be issued soon. Watch for it to be posted on the Mental Health Connection Web site.
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In-Kind Donations Result in Community Dollars
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Documenting current efforts increases funding
 When agencies and individuals document their work toward building a stronger system of care, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides funding to achieve even more. The federal funds, which are funneled through the six-year, $8.5 million Hand in Hand System of Care grant, provide support for such community-wide activities as cultural/linguistic competence, DataLink and the recent Search Conference. Ongoing system of care work throughout the community is underway; however, it is not always being documented. For example, if your agency conducts internal training on such topics as cultural competence or trauma, the time spent by employees in the training and the space used can be counted toward the in-kind match.
Click here to learn more about in-kind donations and the way you and your agency can contribute. Click on the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet for sign-in sheets and donation forms. |
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Tarrant Cares Reaches 3 Million Mark
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Use of resource soars
 By mid-February, Tarrant Cares had received more than 3 million hits. By mid-March, more than 3 million visitors had spent time on at least one page, and almost 300,000 had stopped on more than one page in a session.
In May, Tarrant Cares will celebrate its success with events for agencies that are included in the online resource. All agencies will be encouraged to appoint at least one Tarrant Cares liaison who will be invited to roundtables with the site's creator, Trilogy. In addition, agencies will be asked to place an article about Tarrant Cares on Web sites, in newsletters and in other communications during May.
Watch the Mental Health Connection Web site for more information on the May events.
Tarrant Cares
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CulturalConnection Offers CBMCS, Book Club
|  Next CBMCS training in April
The Mental Health Connection Cultural and Linguistic Competency Initiative has branded itself to incorporate its many diverse activities. CulturalConnection continues to offer California Brief Multicultural Competency Scale (CBMCS) training, in addition to a new Book Club for graduates of CBMCS and a quarterly Breakfast Conversation with agency executives. The goal is to ensure that cultural and linguistic competence continues to be infused across the system.
Three Tarrant County agencies have now had all members of their staff graduate from CBMCS: The Women's Center, Santa Fe Youth Services and Alliance for Children. All three agencies, as well as a number of other Mental Health Connection partners, have created in-house committees to help instill cultural competency throughout their programs, policies and procedures.
The Book Club started in the Fall, and is currently discussing its second book, "The Color of Wealth: The Story of the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide." Previously, the group read and discussed "Color Blind" by Tim Wise.
The next CBMCS training will be Thursday and Friday, April 12-13, and Thursday and Friday, April 19 and 20. Participants must attend all four days of training to receive credit. All remaining CBMCS trainings in 2012, including the one in April, will be held at All Saints Parish Hall, 214 NW 20th Street, Fort Worth 76164. The registration deadline for the next training is April 2.
For more information about CulturalConnection, contact Lydia Garcia via email or call her at 817-492-4673.
More Information
Register for April CBMCS Training
Book Club News
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| Trauma-Informed Committee Receives Learning Community Status |
| Technical assistance, training provided
The Complex Trauma Treatment Network (CTTN) has selected Tarrant County as a national learning community based on the work conducted by Mental Health Connection's Trauma-Informed Committee. As a result, Mental Health Connection is receiving technical assistance in its efforts to establish a trauma-informed community, along with opportunities for training. CTTN is funded by SAMHSA, and is a participating program of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
Earlier this year, Brad Stolbach, PhD, director of La Rabida's Child Trauma Center in Chicago, spent two days in Tarrant County providing training and technical assistance. He met with the Trauma-Informed Committee, first responders in Arlington, the Trauma Team at Cook Children's Medical Center and Tarrant County Juvenile Services staff members. Dr. Stolbach also presented a training to approximately 90 people on trauma-informed communities. Click here to see his PowerPoint presentation.
The Trauma-Informed Committee will be conducting a survey of area agencies to determine existing trauma resources and trauma-informed practices. The survey, which will be conducted by students at the University of Texas at Arlington, is supported by the University's Innovative Community Academic Partnership (ICAP).
Watch for more information and results of the study within the next few months. |
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YES Waiver Begins in Tarrant County
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| Pilot provides coverage for non-traditional services
 The Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Medicaid Waiver pilot program will arrive in Tarrant County in April, making our community only the third in the state. The waiver is designed to prevent in-patient care for children and youth who have severe mental illnesses. To be eligible, a child must be between the ages of 3 and 18, reside in Tarrant County, and be eligible for Medicaid under a Medicaid Eligibility Group included in the approved waiver. The children and youth must live in a non-institutional setting with their Legally Authorized Representatives, or in their own homes if they are legally emancipated. They must also meet the Department of State Health Services clinical criteria, and there must be a reasonable expectation that they would qualify for inpatient care without the waiver services
The YES Waiver can include such services as Wraparound, respite, transitional services, minor home modifications, non-medical transportation, traditional and non-traditional professional services and more.
MHMR of Tarrant County will provide case management services and link the children and youth to services that will be provided by the Youth Advocate Program, Inc.
For more information about the YES Waiver, contact Tracy Koller or call her at 569-5076. You can also find information on the DSHS Web site.
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Hand in Hand Update
| | Activities focus on sustainability
 Now well into the fourth year of its six-year funding, Hand in Hand is focusing on ways to sustain programs throughout the System of Care. Developing mental health collaborations in the four rural counties served by Hand in Hand is a major emphasis. To date, meetings have been held with agencies and collaborations in Palo Pinto, Hood and Parker Counties. In each county, an initial meeting has drawn ten or more agencies, some of which are part of existing coalitions that are learning about each other for the first time. Hand in Hand will support the communities as they move forward with joint collaborations. For example, Parker County is conducting a community survey, and Hand in Hand will support that initiative.
Hand in Hand is also working to contract with Family Partners and bilingual facilitators. Interviews with potential Family Partners are underway now. These individuals will meet with families who are considering wraparound services, and then follow up with the families by telephone to provide other supports.
Family and Consumer Connection (FCC) focuses on advocacy and support for Hand in Hand. Family members in the group are almost all Spanish speakers. FCC members are currently developing job descriptions for their officers, as well as looking at the possibility of creating a Spanish-language Facebook page for families who have young children with social, behavioral and emotional issues.
In addition to supporting development of system infrastructure, Hand in Hand provides wraparound services to children between birth and age 6 in Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker and Tarrant Counties outside Fort Worth. To date, 98 families have signed wraparound agreements with Hand in Hand. To refer a child with severe social, emotional or behavioral issues, contact Stephanie Norton via email or call her at 817-569-5729. You can also use the referral form.
Wraparound Referral Form
Hand in Hand |
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Mental Health Connection Welcomes New Members
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Agencies provide new perspectives
Four agencies have joined Mental Health Connection for the first time, and a fifth has rejoined after several years away.
Samaritan House provides housing and resources for positive change in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and other special needs.
Traffick911's mission is to end the buying and selling of American children. Focusing on children under age 18, the agency uses a three-pronged, parallel strategy that includes prevention, rescue and restoration. Trauma Support Services of North Texas provides information and education about trauma, as well as therapy for those dealing with the aftermath of trauma. The University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work offers degrees at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels. It also conducts research in such areas as clinical social work and child welfare. The School of Social Work offers consultation to non-profit organizations and advocacy groups. Recently, UTA received a grant from the Amon G. Carter Foundation for the Innovative Community Academic Partnership. ICAP's mission is "to initiate, support and fund collaborative community and academic partnerships to conduct innovative research to develop evidence-informed practices." Recovery Resource Council, which has re-joined Mental Health Connection, works to "reduce drug and alcohol abuse and its stigma by providing guidance, education and services to children, adults and families."
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AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program Launches Mental Health Library
| | Site provides information for providers and clients
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Effective Health Care Program has launched a mental health library. This central resource will provide information about treatment options that are available, associated costs, and the bottom-line facts about which treatment options may help or harm.
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Upcoming Events
| | | Save the Date
Stewards of Children Child Abuse Training
Offered free by Alliance for Children on various dates during April.
Click here for more information, including a schedule of times and places.
UNT Health Science Center and Tarrant County Challenge present
Addressing Community Alcohol Abuse Problems
Through a Public Health Lens
April 19, 2012
1000 Montgomery Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76107
Presented by UNT Health Science Center and Tarrant County Challenge
Click here for more information or to register.
Victory Over Violence 5K and 1K Walk/Run
Benefiting The Women's Center
April 7, 2012
Trinity Park Duck Pond in Fort Worth
Click here for more information
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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.
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