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IN THE NEWS
SPIRIT PROGRAM CELEBRATES 20 YEARS
FESTIVITIES PLANNED FOR NATIONAL RECOVERY MONTH
PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT SERVES MORE THAN 700 CONSUMERS
"DREAM DAY" BRINGS TOGETHER MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS AND CONSUMERS
FORGING AHEAD: A HOMELESS STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE
MORE THAN 200 MOMS REGISTER AT AFRICAN AMERICAN BABY SHOWER
TWO NEW STAFFERS JOIN THE HOMELESS PROGRAM TEAM
THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH VISION AWARDS
Mission  
OUR MISSION
The mission of Contra Costa Behavioral Health, in partnership with consumers, families, staff, and community-based agencies, is to provide welcoming, integrated services for mental health, substance abuse, homelessness and other needs that promotes wellness, recovery, and resiliency while respecting the complexity and diversity of the people we serve. 
Vision   
OUR VISION
Contra Costa Behavioral Health envisions a system of care that supports independence, hope, and healthy lives by making accessible behavioral health services that are responsive, integrated, compassionate, and respectful. 
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Main DIRECTOR'S REPORT
FALL EDITION 2014
Cynthia Belon
Cynthia Belon,  LCSW
Director of Behavioral 
Health Services

Building an Integrated Telephone Access System 

 

When we call for health care assistance over the phone, we often don't know what to expect. How long will I be on hold before I can talk to a real person? Will they be able to help? Will I get what I need?

 

In July, we tested our new protocol for a unified access line, including the process for warm hand-offs, developing scripts for call-takers, and information sharing between programs to ease scheduling and referrals. Later we circled back with the consumers to learn about their experiences.

 

All of us in Behavioral Health can be extremely proud of the feedback from consumers this summer about our project to create an integrated telephone access system, intended to connect each individual with all of the services they need during the course of a single call.

 

They loved it.

 

The responses were overwhelmingly positive, more validation that we are on the right track and that every door can indeed be the right door for all the services our consumers need in Behavioral Health -- including the front door. The work continues, and I expect we'll have a unified hotline officially in place that will become one of our primary access points for service in 2015.

 

But we cannot rely on a hotline or any other traditional means to serve our most access-challenged consumers, which is why we are also making a directed effort to take health care to them.

 

Behavioral Health will soon begin a targeted outreach effort to enroll uninsured consumers into Medi-Cal, thanks to a state grant. We are still working on the details, but because we routinely serve people who are underinsured, we're a natural vehicle for delivering affordable health coverage.

 

Thank you to all who are working on these important projects, key parts of our effort to integrate Behavioral Health Services in Contra Costa County, so that we can better provide the care consumers need -- with the practicality and efficiency that they should expect.

 

Integration: A Buzzword for the New Normal

"Integration" is a fashionable buzzword these days across the healthcare industry. We were talking about integrated health care last month, at a summit to discuss gaps in the county's mental health care delivery system, when a colleague wondered why we needed the adjective.

 

"Why not just health care?" she asked.

 

Her comment resonated with me. The word is not there for the consumer, whose notion of health care extends to whatever solves health problems. It is there to let providers know we're talking about multidisciplinary collaboration within one environment to help our patients, which some still view as different from "normal" care.

 

We must continue to build a new normal, in other words. The summit was a great start.

 

Titled "Dream Day," the summit brought together Behavioral Health with our Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (CCRMC) and Health Centers staff, the Behavioral Healthcare Partnership, consumers, their families and advocates, and law enforcement officials for a productive conversation.

 

We learned and shared about our experiences in the delivery of emergency mental health care in the county and came away with a number of ideas to improve service by working together.

 

We also learned, judging from the most popular improvement ideas, that we also share many notions about how to fill gaps and solve problems. For example, the group discussed at length a service delivery model used elsewhere that speeds delivery of crisis intervention and other emergency mental health care services by pairing providers and law enforcement in the field.

 

We think it's an idea worth studying -- enough so that it's already come up internally. With help from a state grant, we recently began a project to identify ways to deliver timely intervention during psychiatric crisis, and a multidisciplinary team approach is one of the ideas we're talking about.

 

Our mobile crisis team will have trained clinical staff available at the critical juncture during which law enforcement responds to a report of a mental health crisis, to minimize the ineffective placement of individuals in hospitals and jails when a therapeutic intervention is available.

 

The dialogue at "Dream Day" helped us identify potential new partners, but more importantly, it showed us that we have a lot in common. Perhaps that is the value of the word "integration."

 

Change is difficult, but nobody "integrates" alone. We're all working together, to make sure that every door is the right door for all the services our consumers need.

 

Sincerely, 

CB Signiture 2
Cynthia Belon, LCSW 
Behavioral Health Director
Contra Costa County Behavioral Health

 

INNOVATIVE PEER-TRAINING PROGRAM CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN CONTRA COSTA
Stephen Boyd, Jr. (L) with the Office for Consumer Empowerment and Michael Peterson, community support worker and 2014 SPIRIT Graduation valedictorian.
An innovative program that trains mental health consumers to put their own lived experience to work celebrated its 20th graduating class this summer. 

 

Michael Peterson, valedictorian of the 2014 SPIRIT class, emphasized the value of the training during his commencement speech in July at Centre Concord: "We can redirect people's lives, to instill the message of hope and to help people find the strength within them."

 

The Service Provider Individualized Recovery Intensive Training (SPIRIT) program helps to prepare past and present mental health consumers for work as peer or family providers. "It's a beautiful thing when you see individuals who started off as quiet and timid graduating with self-confidence and a ton of motivation," program instructor Emilse Faria said.

 

The Office of Consumer Empowerment also supports graduates with job counseling, additional training, resume help and job searching in the behavioral health field, a role that 2014 SPIRIT graduate Brandon McGuire will now take on as SPIRIT's newly hired vocational coordinator.

 

The program will also expand next year. A grant from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) will allow SPIRIT to accommodate more students next year, including family members or parents of consumers.

 

The deadline to apply for the 2015 SPIRIT program is October 10. For more information, call Emilse Faria at 925-957-5149 or Stephen Boyd, Jr. at 925-957-5147.


The SPIRIT 2015 application is available electronically here.

FESTIVITIES PLANNED FOR NATIONAL RECOVERY MONTH
September is National Recovery Month, and the Alcohol and Other Drugs Services program has a calendar packed with public events to promote education and awareness about prevention, treatment, and recovery for substance use and mental health disorders.

This year's theme, "Join the Voices for Recovery: Speak Up, Reach Out," encourages an open dialogue about the realities of recovery, the rewards of behavioral health and the need to ask for help.

Please consider showing your support on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the 10th annual Recovery Walk in downtown Martinez. Festivities include food, music, booths and speakers. Admission is free, and free lunches and wristbands will be provided to the first 500 registered participants.

AODS worked with community partners earlier this month on a bike ride benefit and a Recovery Walk event in Richmond, and will join substance-abuse counselors at San Quentin State Prison on Sept. 27 for a celebration of recovery.

Meanwhile, the AODS Advisory Board will meet at Brookside Shelter in Richmond on Sept. 24 to name the recipient of its Recovery Champion 2014 Award. The award recognizes people or groups who enhance and improve the lives of people in recovery.

For more information, contact Fatima Matal Sol at 925-335-3307 or Fatima.MatalSol@hsd.cccounty.us. 
PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT DRAWS MORE THAN 700 TO RICHMOND AUDITORIUM
Volunteers at the morning planning meeting for Project Homeless Connect on Aug. 6 at Richmond Memorial Auditorium.

Hundreds of volunteers, public employees and workers from community-based organizations converged on Richmond Memorial Auditorium on Aug. 6 to deliver much-needed aid to Contra Costa County residents who are experiencing homelessness.

 

Project Homeless Connect, an annual project of Health Services' Homeless Program, is a one-day, one-stop event that connects those in need to an array of vital services, such as medical checkups, mental health and substance abuse services, housing programs, legal help and veterinary service for pets. This coordination clears bureaucratic and transportation barriers to serving homeless consumers.

 

A total of 639 adults and 119 children received services at Project Homeless Connect this year, and more than 250 community members volunteered to help service providers and Homeless Program Staff. More than 130 consumers received vision screening and 114 received legal consultation through the Contra Costa Clean Slate Program. 

 

County Supervisor John Gioia, Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and a representative from Congressman Jerry McNerney's office spoke to volunteers during a preparatory meeting on the morning of the event, and staff from assembly members Nancy Skinner and Joan Buchanan all played key roles in planning and supporting the event.

 

This year, major sponsors providing key financial and logistical support included the City of Richmond and Chevron U.S.A., Inc. The Homeless Program is part of the Behavioral Health Division of Contra Costa Health Services.

 

Project Homeless Connect rotates annually among the cities in Contra Costa County with the largest homeless populations. Concord will host the event in 2015.

"DREAM DAY" BRINGS TOGETHER MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS AND CONSUMERS
Contra Costa Mental Health Commissioner Teresa Pasquini speaking at "Dream Day" on Aug. 21 in Pleasant Hill.

Stakeholders from across Contra Costa County's mental health system came together for a day of conversation and perspective-sharing about how to improve delivery of emergency care for consumers at the "Dream Day" symposium on August 21 at the Pleasant Hill Community Center.

 

Leadership from Health Services' two main providers of mental health services -- the Behavioral Health Division and CCRMC & Health Centers -- used the event to draw upon the experience and expertise of attending public safety partners, consumers and advocates to identify systemic gaps and consider solutions.

 

Topics that came up frequently included the need to improve the ability to share patient information between providers in different parts of the healthcare system, including patient families; streamlining the prescription process for consumers released from emergency psychiatric care; and integrating mental health professionals with frontline public safety workers who respond to people in crises.

 

Behavioral Health Director Cynthia Belon and several members of the leadership team joined with CCRMC & Health Centers' CEO Anna Roth, CCRMC Security Chief Jeff Moule, Teresa Pasquini of the CCRMC Behavioral Health Partnership, members of the county Mental Health Commission and Dr. Neal Kohatsu, medical director of the state Department of Health Care Services, in a wide-ranging discussion that also included students, paramedics, police officers and healthcare professionals.

 

"I feel very, very privileged to have been part of this community discussion," Dr. Kohatsu said. "Your stories were all inspiring, and beyond inspiring, I am committed to doing everything I can do at the state level ... to try to remove real and perceived barriers" to care.

PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO LET US KNOW HOW TO IMPROVE
Feedback The Behavioral Health executive team encourages all staff to provide us with feedback about what is and is not working. A safe, easy way to submit a comment is to click on the feedback link that appears in every edition of the Behavioral Health Connection.

If you follow the link, you can leave a comment with a third-party online vendor that the administration will receive, read, and consider. The vendor allows anonymous comments, if you do not wish to disclose your identity.

We value your comments, and appreciate your candor. Please let us know what we can do better.
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FORGING AHEAD: A HOMELESS STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

The Homeless Program, guided by the Contra Costa Interagency Council on Homelessness, is updating the county-wide strategic plan to end homelessness with the latest data, best practices, consumer and community feedback. 

 

Over the past six months, the strategic plan update process has focused on extensive community outreach to four key stakeholder groups: executive leadership, program staff, consumers, and targeted community groups.  

 

As we are entering the final stages of refining the plan and developing benchmarks, we wanted to share some of the feedback from various stakeholders through the process to date. Click here to read our 2014 Strategic Plan Update Progress Report.

 

Forging Ahead Towards Preventing and Ending Homelessness: An Update to Contra Costa's 2004 Strategic Plan will be released in October 2014. 


October is also national Homeless Awareness Month, and November is Youth Homeless Awareness Month. In partnership with CCICH, we will in October debut a Homeless Awareness Toolkit on our web site, cchealth.org/homeless. Be sure to check it out to learn how to get involved! 

 

 

MORE THAN 200 MOMS REGISTER AT AFRICAN AMERICAN BABY SHOWER

A community event intended to help improve birth outcomes for African-American women drew more than 200 families to Antioch for a day of information, education and service referrals on Aug. 2. 

 

The target audience for the 2nd annual Contra Costa County Community Baby Shower, held at Grace Bible Fellowship of Antioch, was mothers and expecting mothers.

Expecting mothers and their families received peer support, information about community resources and assistance accessing health care. 

 

A primary goal of the event was to increase education about the health benefits of breastfeeding, as African-American babies are breastfed less than those from other groups, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

 

The event included  workshops for moms, dads, teens and siblings, and a "Grandma's Tea." There was also healthy food, games and prizes, toys, clothing and other gifts for families.

 

A community nonprofit called A More Excellent Way Health and the Contra Costa Women, Infants & Children program organized the event with Contra Costa Health Services, the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District, Kaiser Permanente and the March of Dimes. 

 

The Alcohol and Other Drugs Services program also played a key role in planning, recruiting and donation collection for the day. We connected with 75 women at our booth, delivering information about the effects of substance abuse on families, babies and breast milk, as well as information about HIV rates and testing options, smoking cessation, postpartum depression and resources for self-help treatment and prevention in Contra Costa and surrounding counties. 

TWO NEW STAFFERS JOIN THE HOMELESS PROGRAM TEAM
The Homeless Program recently added two new staff members to its team. Please welcome them both to the team when you have the chance! 

Shantell Herndon
Shantell Herndon, LMFT brings more than 10 years of direct service and senior management experience to her new role as our Youth Services Program Manager. Her career has taken her from New York and Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area and has always focused on the educational and psychosocial needs of at-risk children and youth. Having worked with youth in the foster care and probation system, schools and homeless youth organizations, she is uniquely positioned to provide leadership and support to our homeless youth continuum of care. She has a special interest in social justice work and developing culturally relevant services as they relate to youth.

 
Dana Ewing 

Dana Ewing, our new Health Planner/Evaluator, began her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Papua New Guinea. After completing her MPH she focused on research and evaluation in public health among high-risk communities. She comes to our team with almost 20 years of experience as a program evaluator, technical assistance advisor, and grants manager in the areas of obesity prevention, tobacco use prevention, diabetes prevention and maintenance, reproductive health, women's health, education, school climate, and media literacy. Her areas of expertise include developing models for system-wide change, conducting needs assessments and evaluations, and aligning program activities with evidence-based practices.
 

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH VISION AWARDS


 
 

 

The Vision Award highlights staff who exemplify the Behavioral Health Mission Statement:
 
Contra Costa Behavioral Health envisions a system of care that supports independence, hope, and healthy lives by making accessible behavioral health services that are responsive, integrated, compassionate, and respectful.  

 

This quarter's recipients: 

 
Kimberly Thai
For developing a tool that shows cost and utilization data by domain (mental health, alcohol and other drug, and primary care) for homeless consumers in our system of care. Oleg Andreev, a former mental health staff member, also deserves a mention for his direct involvement and support in developing this detailed report.
(Nominator: Lavonna Martin)

Zabeth Cooper
For being an active voice in integral work groups, including the Reducing Health Disparities and Mental Health Quality Management, lending her perspective as a long time County employee working in the children's system of care.
(Nominator: Caroline Sison) 

Susan Medlin, Stephen Boyd, Roberto Roman, Kimberly Krisch, Brandon McGuire, Jonathan San Juan, Emilse Ramirez, & Lisa Bruce  
For representing the essence of the term "teamwork." The Office of Consumer Empowerment team works hard to create opportunities for consumers of AOD, Homeless and Mental Health to work together.  Confronting many challenges, embracing diversity and communicating with consumers and their family members are all central aspects of the work we do!
(Nominator: Lisa Bruce)

Any staff member can nominate or be nominated for a Vision Award. Click  here to read guidelines for nominating coworkers, and here for an online nomination form.

 

For more information contact: Jackie.Lewis@hsd.cccounty.us. 

 

Behavioral Health Connection Newsletter

 

Courtesy of the BHS Communications Team 

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