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IN THE NEWS
SUPERVISORS AGREE TO TIGHTEN REGULATION OF BUSINESSES SELLING ALCOPOPS
COUNTY JOINS CAMPAIGN TO END CHRONIC AND VETERAN HOMELESSNESS
SERVICE INTEGRATION IS A COMMON THEME IN CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH PROJECTS
HOMELESS PROGRAM DELIVERS ANNUAL REPORT, NOVEMBER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
RAFFLE TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR FOOD BANK DONATIONS
QUALITY REVIEW OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES SET FOR MARCH
NEW SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELORS JOIN THE AODS PROGRAM
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
WINTER EDITION 2014
Cynthia Belon
Cynthia Belon,  LCSW
Director of Behavioral 
Health Services

We spent much of 2014 laying the foundation of a bright future for the Behavioral Health Division, moving closer to our goal of becoming a seamless, multidisciplinary system of care.

  

But before another year slips away, I would like to say a few words about the present.

  

Right now, today, we offer better, more comprehensive services to our consumers than we did just a few years ago. We have recast ourselves in ways that make more sense to the people we serve, and we get better with every week that passes.

  

We are closer than ever to reaching our goals, and you are the reason -- dedicated staff members, community-based organizations, consumers and families. Thank you for your perseverance, your willingness to try new ideas, and your energy in constructively critiquing old ways of doing things, as we continue to reshape the division.

  

Our integration work in 2014 has already led to more flexibility for our consumers. The West County Adult Mental Health Clinic in San Pablo, for example, now offers its consumers fully integrated behavioral health services, with staff from all our programs onsite.

  

Our Alcohol and Other Drugs, Homeless Program and Mental Health counselors now work in each other's clinics daily, and the Homeless Program now manages all of our permanent supportive housing programs, including our Mental Health Services Act housing contract. AOD is also working with providers to become Drug Medi-Cal certified, which will expand our services in the community.

  

We have also been working closely with our partners in primary healthcare. A year ago we worked with Contra Costa Regional Medical Center & Health Centers to open Concord Health Center 2, which offers both behavioral health and ambulatory care services to consumers, and we also began offering primary care services at the Concord Adult Mental Health Clinic.

  

I'm pleased to announce that the integration of behavioral and physical health continues at the new Miller Wellness Center in Martinez, with our first behaviorist starting there this month. Other opportunities to co-locate services are in the works as well, including plans to add a children's mental health clinic to the new Antioch Health Center when it opens next year.

  

Our Services and Programs Integration Implementation Design (SPIID) Teams have also been hard at work developing common frameworks for an integrated system of care. Our teams, which include staff, community organizations, consumers and family members, are developing plans and materials to assist integrated case conferencing, hubs, service teams and treatment of co-occurring disorders.

  

Our Executive Team will soon re-launch the Program Managers Roundtable meetings to help us put those plans into action. The date of the first meeting will be announced soon.

  

Consumer access also is improving. By spring, I expect we will complete our project to integrate the access line, allowing callers in need of multiple behavioral health services to get all the help they need by dialing one number.

 

We are also making steady progress toward our own unified electronic record management system, which will allow providers throughout our continuum of care to quickly and easily access patient data and communicate with each other. We hope to bring the system fully online by then end of 2015.

  

We are expanding services in other ways as well. We are now in talks with county police agencies to develop a Mental Health Evaluation Team, a project that will link consumers to fast, professional crisis services during encounters with first responders.

  

The team will respond in the field with law enforcement as needed, as well as provide training, crisis assessment services, links to community resources and targeted case management. We owe thanks in particular to our Forensic Mental Health and Homeless Outreach teams for their work on the pilot program, which we hope will begin sometime in 2015.

  

Everyone in the Behavioral Health Division has played a role and deserves recognition for the progress we have achieved in a few short months. Change is not always easy, but when I look back at our accomplishments, I know we are on the path to our goal of integration and ready to tackle whatever fresh challenges 2015 brings.

  

I'd also like to send a heartfelt thank you to all of you who planned and coordinated our Behavioral Health holiday party: Delia Alanis, Felix Box, Jeannie DeTomassi, Jackie Lewis, Mary McLain, Judy Pearl, Maria Ramos, Judy Rodriguez and Shawna Simmers. Great food, great conversation. 

 

I am glad to work with such talented and caring community of staff, contractors, community organizations, consumers and families. Have a safe and happy New Year!

 

Sincerely, 

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

  

SUPERVISORS AGREE TO TIGHTEN REGULATION OF BUSINESSES SELLING ALCOPOPS
Advocates attending the Dec. 16 Board of Supervisors meeting: (L to R) Zachariah Todd, AODS staff; Doug Sibley, AODS Advisory Board Chair; Maria Macias, Dayana Nunez, Elizabeth Torres and Laurie Quezada, Riverview Middle School students; Fatima Matal Sol, AODS staff; Thania Balcorta, Friday Night Live coordinator; Jorge Castillo, Alcohol Justice.
The Board of Supervisors this week authorized a new, regular inspection schedule for some businesses that sell alcohol in unincorporated Contra Costa County, and lent its support to updating a regulatory ordinance to prohibit the sale of "alcopops" in stores that violate the rules.
 
The county Planning Commission will later consider the recommended changes to the 2002 "deemed approved" ordinance, also including new requirements for posting information about the ordinance's requirements and how to report violations. The changes will make the law a model ordinance in California, according to alcohol prevention advocates, a first-of-its-kind, cutting-edge strategy.
 
Alcopops are sugary, colorfully-marketed malt based alcoholic drinks that concern youth leaders and community health advocates in Contra Costa, including the Alcohol and Other Drugs Prevention Services program, because they are inexpensive, fruity flavored, widely available and marketed in ways that appeal to children.
 
Public discussion of alcopops in April led the Board of Supervisor's Public Protection Committee to examine both the issue and the ordinance, assisted by AODS, the AODS advisory board and the Department of Conservation & Development (DCD).
 
While the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control regulates the liquor licenses of county businesse
s, the "deemed-approved" ordinance ties additional requirements to the land-use permits of alcohol vendors in unincorporated Contra Costa County that received their permits after 2002.
 
Recommendations approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors include establishment of a regular inspection schedule for permit holders involving DCD and Health Services' Alcohol and Other Drugs Prevention, annual analysis of crime occurring nearby and a provision to ensure payment of fees.
 
Community health advocates in attendance applauded the Board's 5-0 vote, including a group of students from Riverview Middle School in Bay Point.
 
For more information, contact Fatima Matal Sol at Fatima.MatalSol@hsd.cccounty.us.

COUNTY JOINS CAMPAIGN TO END CHRONIC AND VETERAN HOMELESSNESS 

Contra Costa's Homeless Program was one of 67 organizations selected to join Zero: 2016, a national campaign that aims to end veteran and chronic homelessness within two years by using real-time data and performance management tracking to accelerate housing efforts.

 

The Zero: 2016 campaign, led by New York-based nonprofit Community Solutions, will provide technical assistance to the county's Homeless Continuum of Care, including hands-on coaching and data tools, and will curate a national peer-to-peer learning network to accelerate innovation across communities.

 

The campaign formally begins in January 2015, during the national Homeless Point-in-Time Count. The last full count in Contra Costa County was conducted in 2013, and identified 227 veterans and 1,092 people who were chronically homeless. The results from the 2015 count will be used as the baseline for Zero: 2016 performance measures.

 

The Homeless Program, part of Contra Costa Health Services' Behavioral Health Division, underwent a competitive application process to join Zero: 2016. The 67 communities selected for Zero: 2016 represent 31 different states and the District of Columbia.

 

Click here for more information about Zero: 2016, or contact Chief of Homeless Services Lavonna Martin at Lavonna.Martin@hsd.cccounty.us.

SERVICE INTEGRATION IS A COMMON THEME IN CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH PROJECTS  
By Vern Wallace

It has been a busy time for the Children's System of Care (CSOC), with several projects underway that will improve how we deliver services to our consumers. Service integration is a common theme, as we continue to find new collaborations to better serve youth and families.

Vern Wallace 
I'm pleased to report that Contra Costa County will participate in a four-year, $4 million project funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that aims to reduce disparities in behavioral health access by developing a regional approach to delivery of trauma-informed services.

Seven counties will work on the Bay Area Trauma Informed Systems of Care (BATISC) initiative: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. The primary goal is to create a regional infrastructure that recognizes and responds to trauma in ways that are culturally competent, family-driven and youth-guided.

In Contra Costa, we are now working on implementing best practices and trauma-focused care into our core clinics and services. Ultimately, we hope that BATISC will lead to more effective care and better coordination between county systems.

We are also partnering with Contra Costa Regional Medical Center & Health Centers to continue the trend of co-locating behavioral health services with primary care. A great example is the new Antioch Health Center, which will feature a new children's mental health clinic alongside ambulatory care services when it opens next year. 

 

We have already seen the benefits of co-location within Contra Costa Health Services, and we're excited about the opportunity for greater collaboration and improved service delivery for the consumer. Our clinic will offer a full array of specialty outpatient mental health services, along with wrap-around and other evidence-based practices.

 

So, stay tuned! Much is happening as we head into 2015.  

 

Vern Wallace is the Program Chief of Contra Costa's Children and Family Mental Health Services. To reach him, email Vern.Wallace@hsd.cccounty.us. 

HOMELESS PROGRAM DELIVERS ANNUAL REPORT, NOVEMBER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
A graphic from Homeless Program's November awareness campaign.

The Homeless Program issued its Fiscal Year 2013-14 annual report for the Homeless Continuum of Care in November, kicking off a month of advocacy and awareness that included the debut of an online toolkit that helps the public more effectively volunteer, donate and learn about homelessness in the county.

 

The annual report delivers a demographic snapshot of our consumers experiencing homelessness, along with insights about local funding and spending, and measurable indicators that provide an overview of the Continuum's performance. Permanent housing is clearly key: 90% of the 1,451 consumers who obtained permanent housing during the fiscal year did not return to homelessness thereafter, and 97% of those in permanent supportive housing retained it for at least one year.

 

The Homeless Program also led a month-long information campaign to increase local awareness about issues affecting homeless people, using an online Homeless Awareness Toolkit to connect viewers with local data, opportunities to advocate, volunteer or donate, and even an open-house schedule during November for county emergency shelters offering tours for the public.  

 

For more information, contact Chief of Homeless Services Lavonna Martin at Lavonna.Martin@hsd.cccounty.us.

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. An 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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RAFFLE TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR FOOD BANK DONATIONS
The 2014 Contra Costa and Solano County Food Fight is underway, and the Behavioral Health Division is offering raffle tickets in exchange for donations of money.

Food drives often focus on canned or dry goods, but we know that funds help the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties more in its mission to feed local people who are in desperate need of help.

About 33% of all people fed by the Food Bank are children, and 96 cents of every dollar goes directly to food for hungry people. Every $1 we donate provides two family meals, on average.

So please take the time to donate today. Our drive runs through December 31, and we have great raffle prizes available for those who donate. Receive one raffle ticket for every $1 donated, or 6 tickets for every $5 donated.

The grand prize is our famous "Qwillow" gift basket. The theme this year is "Gardening for the Soul." There are several other prizes as well, including a set of lovely ceramic pasta bowls with matching decanters.

Raffle tickets are available at all clinic sites. Drawing for prizes will occur after December 31. Contact the Food Drive Coordinator for your area for details, or contact Jeannie DeTomasi at Jeannie.DeTomasi@hsd.cccounty.us.

Please reach into your hearts, and then into your wallets, and share with those less fortunate than you.  Thank you, in advance, for your generosity, especially NOW when there are more people in need.
QUALITY REVIEW OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES SET FOR MARCH

A review team will tour the Mental Health Program and meet with line and administrative staff, managers, contract providers and consumers in March 2015 to assess the quality of care provided by the Contra Costa Mental Health Plan.

 

As in past years, the purpose of this visit is to assess the county's compliance with California regulation pertaining to specialty mental health services provided to consumers in the Medi-Cal managed mental health care program. The review provides valuable feedback about what is working well in the system of care, and identifying and making recommendations on areas in need of improvement.

 

The review is part of a series conducted for the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to ensure that each county's mental health plan meets requirements set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). The team from Behavioral Health Concepts, Inc., the contractor selected as the California External Quality Review Organization (CAEQRO) will focus on access, outcomes, timeliness and quality.

 

The team will also review our Performance Improvement Projects to improve wait times for beneficiaries to the mental health access line and to increase appointment adherence rates for specialty mental health clinic appointments. 

 

Obtaining feedback from those who receive our services is an important component of CAEQRO's process, which includes a consumer/family member focus group. Staff may also be asked to participate in focus groups. More details will be circulated early next year.

 

Follow this link to learn more about CALEQRO. To view the 2013-14 CAEQRO Final Report for Contra Costa County, click here.

 

For more information about Contra Costa County's upcoming review, contact Ziba.Rahimzadeh@hsd.cccounty.us. 

NEW SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELORS JOIN THE AODS PROGRAM

The Alcohol and Other Drugs Services Program recently hired several new substance abuse counselors. Please join us in welcoming them to the Behavioral Health family!

Toni Legree 

   

 

Toni Legree, BS, CATC, has been in the field for more than nine years. She brings experience, education and empathy to her position at our Discovery House residential treatment program in Martinez, as well as a passion to help others reach their highest potential.

Ben Wagner


William "Ben" Wagner, CATC I, has been working in the Behavioral Health field for just over five years. He has served as a counselor with at risk youth, homeless, criminal justice and mental health populations in neighboring Bay Area counties before arriving at Contra Costa Behavioral Health.

Rebecca Slaughter

 

  

Rebecca Slaughter, LM, has years of counseling experience and knowledge of behavioral and emotional disorders. She is a licensed mediator specializing in child custody disputes and co-parenting counseling.

 

Leo Martinez

 

 

Leonardo Martinez, BA, CADCA, has extensive  experience working in multicultural settings, both in the United States and abroad. Most recently, he was a member of the Mental Health program's Mental Health Forensic Team. Leo is fluent in Spanish and specializes in co-occurring disorders and relapse prevention. He facilitates an AODS drop-in clinic at our Concord Homeless Shelter every Tuesday.

 

Zachariah Todd 

 

 

Zachariah Todd, formerly a case manager in our Homeless Program, has joined the Behavioral Health Access Line as that program's new AODS counselor. Zachariah has a great deal of experience in substance abuse treatment approaches and modalities, which he has enriched as a result of his knowledge regarding homeless services.

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: 

 
Arturo Castillo, Deborah Keenan and Stephanie Batchelor
Arturo, Deborah and Stephanie advocated for placing a young man with numerous health and behavioral health needs into the homeless shelter during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend when no other placement was available. They worked diligently with the mental health, primary care and public health systems to coordinate care for this young man and to ensure his safety.
(Nominator: Cynthia Belon)

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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