Kenneth S. Simmons, Jr., Chief Data Officer and Deputy Director of Community Strategy
Ken Simmons has joined OhioMHAS as Chief Data Officer and Deputy Director of Community Strategy. Simmons, who will report to Assistant Director for Community Planning and Collaboration Jamie Carmichael, brings more than 18 years of public service experience both at the county and state level. 

Simmons previously served as Head of Eligibility Modernization for Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services. In this role he was responsible for modernizing the agency’s pathways to eligibility. He has also served in numerous data management roles at the state-level with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. In these roles, Simmons administered programs which focused on data governance, data quality, metadata management, data literacy, and data transparency.   

Originally from Cleveland, Simmons began his career as a Resident State Supplement caseworker with Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the College of Wooster and California University in Pennsylvania respectively.  He is a member of the Data Visualization Society and Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematics Society.

Tina Hunter, SUD Treatment Chief
Tina Hunter has been named Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Treatment Chief in the Office of Community Treatment Services. In her new role, Hunter will oversee Opioid Treatment Programs, women’s treatment, and general SUD work. She will report to Assistant Director for Community Treatment Services Lois Hochstetler.

She has worked in the substance use disorder field for more than 20 years providing counseling services, policy administration, and accreditation services. Her previous experience includes directing a residential correctional facility for persons with substance use disorders and providing driver intervention services. Hunter was also the regulatory specialist and quality management coordinator for a nationwide outpatient clinic providing medication assisted therapy. Most recently, she has also worked with the Commission on Accreditation of Residential Facilities (CARF) Intl., performing surveys for opioid treatment programs seeking national accreditation.  

Hunter received a bachelors degree in business management from DeVry University, holds a green belt in Lean Six Sigma from Arizona State, and is a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. Her passion includes fighting the stigma of substance abuse, ensuring effective services are delivered to clients, and confirming continuous compliance to federal and state regulations. 

To combat the growing addiction crisis, OhioMHAS has awarded a three-year, $6 million grant for a new multi-million-dollar statewide initiative housed at Case Western Reserve University.

The grant, supported by  American Rescue Plan Act dollars awarded to Ohio through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, will create a Substance Use Disorders “Center of Excellence” (SUD COE), in partnership with the university’s Center for Evidence-Based Practices (CEBP), part of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education. The Begun Center is housed within the university’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

The initiative will support the adoption, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based and best practices and policies related to substance-use disorders, said CEBP Director Ric Kruszynski, who will lead it.

“Most of the work will focus on training and helping the state’s vast network of addiction-care providers learn and adopt best practices so they become routine services,” Kruszynski said. “There is an expansive network of treatment for substance use disorders in Ohio. It’s no secret that many of these organizations experience an array of challenges when it comes to adopting best-known practices. We not only want evidence based and other best practices everywhere, we want to ensure that the technical assistance necessary for that to occur is available to any Ohio program who can benefit from that.”

The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation is renewing funding for the Sources of Strength Ohio Network Leaders and creating new funding opportunities for Kognito as well as Be Present Ohio: The Online Experience (BPO:XP), a new program launching this fall. Applicants can request funding ($3,000-$18,000) to support one or more of the above programs in their region.

Grantees will:

• Promote their chosen programming with local schools and/or community programs,
• Recruit school/community sites to participate in chosen programming,
• Provide trainings for implementation sites,
• Offer technical assistance to local programs.

Proposals are due Monday, July 10 at 5:00 p.m. Questions about this funding opportunity? Please email RFP@OhioSPF.org.

The Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center (ONIC) and RecoveryOhio joined nearly 20 law enforcement and treatment agencies in Lawrence County last week to conduct the state’s fifth coordinated drug/outreach saturation event.

The two-day Operation Bridging Recovery and Interdiction Data Gathering Enforcement (BRIDGE) event was aimed at removing drugs and drug traffickers from the streets as well as connecting individuals with substance use disorder to help and treatment. The enforcement surge combined the efforts of area drug task forces, law enforcement agencies, quick response teams, and harm reduction and treatment providers for a comprehensive approach to the substance use crisis.

Law enforcement agencies fanned out across Lawrence County to confiscate illegal drugs and to stop the couriers responsible for supplying drugs to the area. Quick Response Team (QRT) personnel connected individuals in need of recovery support to services and treatment.

During Operation BRIDGE, law enforcement seized fentanyl, marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, and prescription drugs. Officers made 11 drug-related felony arrests, one non-drug-related felony arrest, one drug-related misdemeanor arrest, and three non-drug-related misdemeanor arrests. Three warrants were executed, and five devices were confiscated for digital forensic examination. RecoveryOhio supported the mission by working with local agencies to have 106 naloxone kits on hand. 

Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence, (MACC) Inc., will host its 2023 Conference, From Advocacy to Action, on May 24 from 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at The Ohio State University Fawcett Center in Columbus. A limited number of scholarships are still available. Click the button below to view the agenda and registration information.  

The Hope & Healing Survivor Resource Center is offering a variety of trainings on working with survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking, as well as trainings in supervision and ethics. CEs are available for Ohio Counselors and Social Workers. Click the button below to learn more and register for upcoming trainings.