Behavioral Health Connection (The BHC) 

Join The BHC newsletter? 

IN THE NEWS
CONTRA COSTA'S DRUG MEDI-CAL PLAN SUBMITTED FOR FEDERAL REVIEW
BH ACCESS LINE AND CARE MANAGEMENT UNIT GO LIVE WITH TAPESTRY
MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT CLINIC OPENS IN WEST COUNTY
ANNUAL COUNT REVEALS FEWER HOMELESS IN CONTRA COSTA, BUT MORE IN EAST COUNTY
PROGRAM EXPANDS FOR MH CONSUMERS WITH CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS
SEMINAR INTRODUCES MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM TO NEW CONSUMERS, FAMILIES
NEW FUND CREATES INCENTIVES TO RENT TO HOMELESS CONSUMERS
CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC REOPENS AT NEW ANTIOCH HEALTH CENTER
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. 
QUICK LINKS
 
FOR PUBLIC: 

CCHealth/BHS

 

 

COUNTY STAFF ONLY:  

 

iSITE  

 

Essential Learning

 

Join The BHC newsletter? 

Blue ArrowCLICK HERE   

TRAINING CALENDARS
FOR:

 

County Staff

 

Network Providers

 

 

 

 

CC Logo

 

Follow Contra Costa

Health Services

via their social media outlets:

Click Links Below

 Twitter

Twitter

 

Facebook

Facebook  

 

Contra Costa 
Behavioral Health Services  
 
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE
1340 Arnold Drive,  
Suite 200
Martinez, CA 94553
  
P: (925) 957 - 5150 
F: (925) 957 - 5156 

 

Want to Join The BHC newsletter? 

CLICK HERE   

 

 We want to hear

from our Behavioral Health Staff!

Click This Link Below

Feedback   

 

Staff Comment Box

 

Behavioral Health Connection Newsletter

Writer  

Have news or an announcement to feature in our newsletter?

Click 

News Submission 

 

Questions  

Questions or Comments about the  Newsletter? 

Click

Email Us

Join The BHC newsletter? 

Blue ArrowCLICK HERE   

Main DIRECTOR'S REPORT

SUMMER EDITION 2016
Cynthia Belon
Cynthia Belon,  LCSW
Director of Behavioral 
Health Services
 Reaching the People Most in Need of Services

In the Behavioral Health Services Division we have accomplished a lot in recent years to improve access, building one door through which our consumers can find all our services.
But what about consumers who are not looking for the help they need?
Some of our most vulnerable community members cannot or will not engage with services on their own, usually because of complex, co-occurring conditions that affect their ability to make healthy choices.
For them, improving access is not enough. We need to go to them.
That is why many of our latest projects bring services out of the four walls and into the field, where outreach workers and community partners can quickly deploy them when the opportunity arises.
A great example is our Homeless Program's work developing a new coordinated entry system, which will debut in the fall. A major goal of this project is to bring services that were traditionally only available through emergency shelters directly to hard-to-reach consumers, wherever they are.
Our outreach teams will have an expanded toolbox of services to share with consumers in encampments, including in-field assessment of medical and psychiatric needs, not just referrals to programs.
They will be backstopped by Coordinated Assessment Resource (CARE) Centers that perform all the immediate, drop-in functions of our multi-service centers, such as access to food or showers, but also offer expanded services such as housing programs, healthcare services and case management.
At the division level, we are also considering the idea of a sobering center, a successful strategy in other communities to reduce incarceration and hospitalization of public inebriates. An important component would be outreach to bring frequent visitors into treatment.
We still serve thousands of consumers who actively seek behavioral health services on their own, of course. For them, work continues to streamline access to all the services they need.
Our integrated Behavioral Health Access Line continues to grow, recently adding a contract for round -the-clock answering service rather than letting the line roll to 211 after hours.
In April, the division also went live with Tapestry, a module of ccLink, Contra Costa Health Services' (CCHS) electronic health record.
Tapestry allows Behavioral Health users to access features of ccLink for managing our division's access line, referrals to network providers and related claims.
Integration work continues both within Behavioral Health and other divisions. We're working with Contra Costa Regional Medical Center leadership to forge new connections through the Health Leads, whole-person care and PRIME initiatives.
We have also launched a new strategic planning process to help guide Behavioral Health through the next five years, an outgrowth of the many SPIID teams, living room conversations, roundtable meetings and other integration efforts.
Behavioral Health is getting bigger, better and more connected to its partners and the community it serves. It's exciting to be part of it!
Sincerely, 
CB Signiture 2
Cynthia Belon, LCSW 
Behavioral Health Director
Contra Costa County Behavioral Health
 
CONTRA COSTA'S DRUG MEDI-CAL PLAN SUBMITTED FOR FEDERAL REVIEW
Behavioral Health Services intends to submit a detailed plan for expanding substance use disorder (SUD) services including residential services within the month, an endeavor that could double the county's capacity to serve patients struggling with addiction.

Contra Costa County's plan to dramatically expand its SUD services cleared a key hurdle in May, when the state Department of Health Care Services submitted it for review to federal Medicare authorities.
If the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approves, county residents may receive coverage for more comprehensive SUD treatment reimbursable under the Drug Medi-Cal program, including residential, withdrawal management, recovery support and medication-assisted treatment, through California's Drug Medi-Cal Waiver Organized Delivery System (ODS).
The waiver allows coverage in participating counties that enact evidence-based service expansions that align with American Society of Addiction Medicine criteria. If approved, Contra Costa's proposal would approximately double the County's capacity to serve patients with SUD.
The Behavioral Health Division, led by its Alcohol & Other Drugs Services (AODS) program, collaborated with numerous partners to develop the plan, including patients, doctors, nurses, healthcare providers, social workers, mental health and AOD advocates, civic leaders, people in recovery, AODS clients, law enforcement partners and the courts.
For more information, contact AODS Program Chief Fatima Matal Sol at [email protected]
TapestryBH ACCESS LINE AND CARE MANAGEMENT UNIT GO LIVE WITH TAPESTRY
Behavioral Health Access Line and Care Management Unit went live in April with Tapestry, a module of ccLink that allows users to access features of Contra Costa Health Services' (CCHS) electronic health record for managing our division's access line, referrals to network providers and related claims.
Tapestry allows users to efficiently log calls to our Access Team and Care Management Unit and process referrals, service requests and claims.
Features include secure in-basket messaging for more than 125 Behavioral Health users and 240 network providers and an online provider portal that allows delivery of electronic referral requests, claims submissions and claims status monitoring.
Tapestry replaces an older referral management system that was not compatible with ccLink, which is used by Contra Costa Health Plan, Contra Costa Regional Medical Center and its clinics.
The change reflects the growing need for integration of health records as Behavioral Health works more with other CCHS divisions to provide integrated care to our patients.
The Behavioral Health project team spent more than a year tailoring the software to the division's needs and coordinating training for more than 300 users to ensure a smooth rollout.
For more information, contact Eric Duran at [email protected]
The Tapestry project team (L to R): Karen Gonzalez, Eric Duran, Gwynne Gilson, Paolo Gargantiel, Katy White, Ates Temeltas, Kimberly Nasrul, Teri Williams, Marc Miyashiro. Not pictured: Juanita Garrison, Tyler Heslinga, Latashia Randle, Bhumil Shah.
MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT CLINIC OPENS IN WEST COUNTY
A new medication-assisted treatment (MAT) "Choosing Change" clinic began at the West County Health Center in San Pablo in May, expanding treatment options for patients struggling with opioid addiction.
The clinic will become one of three offering buprenorphine pharmacotherapy in Contra Costa Health Services health centers, joining a successful program already in place at Concord Health Center II. A similar clinic will open at the new Antioch Health Center later this year.
The West County clinic is led by Dr. Lilian Chan and supported by a substance abuse counselor from the Alcohol & Other Drugs Services (AODS) program.
Later this summer, Public Health's Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) program will add nurses and mental health clinicians through a $325,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. About 80% of patients using the Concord clinic are homeless.
MAT helps patients who are addicted to opioids, a class of drug that includes prescription painkillers as well as heroin. Opioids are the leading cause of accidental overdose deaths in Contra Costa.
Several divisions of Contra Costa Health Services are working together to implement comprehensive strategies to reduce opioid abuse in the county, including Public Health, Contra Costa Regional Medical Center & Health Centers, and Behavioral Health.
Referrals of patients who may benefit from MAT clinics may be routed through ccLink or by contacting Behavioral Health Access Line Substance Abuse Counselor Zachariah Todd at 1-800-846-1652.
For more information about the clinic contact Fatima Matal Sol at [email protected].
ANNUAL COUNT REVEALS FEWER HOMELESS IN CONTRA COSTA, BUT MORE IN EAST COUNTY
A report released this month by the Homeless Program shows that about 15% fewer people are living without shelter in Contra Costa County this year compared to 2015, but a significantly higher proportion of the unsheltered homeless population is in the eastern suburbs.
Outreach teams conducted surveys in January at shelters, soup kitchens and encampments like this one in Central County.
                                          
The Homeless Program conducted its annual point-in-time count (PIT) in late January, working with service providers and community volunteers to survey as many county residents experiencing homelessness as they could find.
 
The "unsheltered" homeless population -- not living in emergency shelters or other temporary housing -- rose by 33% in East County compared to January 2015, while Central and West County's unsheltered populations fell by 45%.
 
Overall, this year's PIT identified about 1,710 homeless residents, including those with temporary shelter, and a similar number of people at imminent risk of losing their housing. The 2015 PIT identified 2,030 homeless residents.
 
The Homeless Program uses PIT data to inform policy decisions and community strategies for ending homelessness, and to satisfy federal requirements.
 
Read the report here.        
 
For more information, contact Lavonna Martin at [email protected]
The number of Contra Costa residents without shelter -- not living in emergency shelters or temporary housing -- fell 15% from January 2015 to January 2016.
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.
TRAINING CALENDARS                       
CLICK ON LINKS BELOW:

Blue Arrow

  

PROGRAM EXPANDS FOR MH CONSUMERS WITH CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS
Coaching to Wellness, a program to support mental health consumers with co-occurring medical conditions, is expanding its services to the Central County Adult Mental Health Clinic in Concord.
 
The pilot program began last December at the East County specialty mental health clinic in Pittsburg, serving adult mental health consumers with cardiac, respiratory, metabolic or weight conditions.
(L to R) Wellness Coaches Renee Owens, Peggy Harris, Crystal Whitehead and Wellness Nurse Sakura Barrientos.
 
Consumers work with peer coaches and nurses to access resources and to develop wellness plans that improve overall health and wellbeing, including work to minimize side effects of psychotropic medications.
 
Program activities include health and skill-building education, referrals to community resources, assistance in obtaining and advocating for mental health and medical care, and wellness and Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) groups.
 
The pilot program has enrolled 14 consumers so far, with psychiatrists referring consumers on an ongoing basis. In June the program will debut in Concord, with future plans to expand to the West County Adult Mental Health Clinic in San Pablo.
 
Coaching to Wellness is a Performance Improvement Project (PIP) and Innovation Project implemented by Contra Costa Behavioral Health and funded through the state Mental Health Services Act.
 
For more information or questions about referring consumers, contact Sakura Barrientos at 925-431-2781 or [email protected]
SEMINAR INTRODUCES MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM TO NEW CONSUMERS, FAMILIES
Anyone new to Contra Costa County's mental health system can learn how it works and how to navigate it at a weekly seminar in Concord.
 
The Mental Health Crash Course is a one-time orientation intended to introduce consumers and their families to the public services, community resources and body of law and policy that commonly affects people experiencing mental illness.
 
Contra Costa Behavioral Health, the Miller Wellness Center, the Contra Costa Family Justice Center and the Contra Costa chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) offer the workshop to reduce stress and smooth the information-gathering process for newcomers to the county mental health system.
 
The Crash Course is held every Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Contra Costa Family Justice Center, 2151 Salvio Street, Suite 201, in downtown Concord.
 
For more information visit mhcrashcourse.org, email [email protected] or call Bob Thigpen or Dave Kahler at 925-676-5771.
NEW FUND CREATES INCENTIVES TO RENT TO HOMELESS CONSUMERS
The Homeless Program and Richmond Community Foundation are finalizing a new community fund that creates financial incentives for property owners who rent to pre-screened clients who are transitioning out of homelessness in the local rental market.    
 
The Contra Costa Housing Security Fund will pay increased security deposits, damages to units and rent arrears to participating landlords, and help clients with necessary fees and deposits.
 
Funds will be disbursed by a community partner that will be selected through a competitive bidding process for the Homeless Program's coordinated entry system.
 
To donate, follow this link (be sure to select "Contra Costa Housing Security Fund" on the drop-down menu) or send checks to the Richmond Community Foundation, 1014 Florida Ave. #200, Richmond, CA 94804 (write "Housing Security Fund" in the memo section).
 
For more information, contact Lavonna Martin at [email protected] 
StratplanWE NEED YOUR IDEAS FOR A NEW STRATEGIC PLAN
As Behavioral Health celebrates its five-year anniversary as an integrated division, the executive team has begun developing a strategic plan to guide us through the next five years, aligning with our mission and vision.
The ideas and experiences of our employees are essential to all our improvement efforts, and we've solicited them in many ways over the years.
In May, we asked all program managers to revisit the COMPASS-EZ self-assessment tool for each of our programs to help us identify opportunities to improve. We will incorporate updated quality improvement goals and objectives specific to those programs into the new strategic plan to operate more efficiently and better serve our consumers.
If you have not already done so, please complete and submit your COMPASS-EZ to your program chief.
Feedback from COMPASS-EZ will shape the strategic planning effort, and there will be more opportunities to get involved in coming months.
For more information or questions, contact Matthew Luu at [email protected]

Behavioral Health Connection Newsletter

 

Courtesy of the BHS Communications Team 

To View Archive Editions of this Newsletter, Click Here: