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In this issue ...
 New System of Care Advisory Committee launches March 9
Senate Bill 1 (2019) established a Governor-appointed System of Care Advisory Council to improve the efficacy and effectiveness of the state and local continuum of care that provides services to youth and young adults. The first meeting will be at 8:30 a.m. Monday, March 9, in room 350 at the Capitol. All are welcome to attend this public meeting.
Governor Kate Brown and Senate President Peter Courtney will attend to launch the group and provide context for the work.
This 25-member council encompasses a cross-section of child-serving agencies, programs, professionals, family members and young people to create a centralized and impartial forum for statewide planning and policy development. Members will be announced in the March Recovery Report.
The council's immediate work is to develop and maintain a state System of Care and a comprehensive long-range plan for a coordinated state system. The council will meet monthly; the second meeting is April 15, 8:30 to noon in room 343 at the Capitol.
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By Steve Allen
As you know, in October Governor Kate Brown issued an executive order convening the Behavioral Health Advisory Council.
The group is tasked with developing recommendations aimed at improving access to effective behavioral health services and supports for all Oregon adults and transitional-aged youth with serious mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders.
We’ve met five times so far, and I’m excited to partner with so many passionate stakeholders on this important, foundational work.
The council has refined its work plan for 2020, addressing two interrelated approaches to strengthen Oregon’s behavioral health system: Our goal is to improve availability and effectiveness of supports and services.
These conversations are not new, and we’re not looking to reinvent the wheel. The council’s work is building on existing recommendations.
In our 2020 policy framework, we’re looking at improving availability of adequate supports and services through investments in and development of workforce, programs, and housing and supports, and improving the effectiveness of supports and services through accountability, data and outcomes, financing strategies, and overall strategy.
The council’s next two meetings are:
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March 9, 1-5 p.m. in Room 1-E of the Portland State Office Building, 800 NE Oregon St., Portland.
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April 13, 1-4 p.m. in the Meitner Conference room at the Oregon Department of Energy building, 550 Capitol St. NE, Salem.
As we continue this work, it’s especially important to have input from behavioral health consumers. If you’re a consumer and would like to get involved, you can contact our Office of Consumer Activities at OHA.OCA@dhsoha.state.or.us or 971-239-2942.
You can learn more at the BHAC website, which includes a resource library of the data we’ve requested so far, notes from previous meetings, and more.
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OHA’s Behavioral Health Liaison and Office of Consumer Activities are excited to share an opportunity for peers and people with lived experience who have served in the military to apply for a Peerpocalypse sponsorship. The sponsorships if awarded cover the conference registration fee, lodging, a reimbursement for mileage, and meals not provided at the conference.
Anyone who has served is eligible to apply, regardless of discharge status or length of service. Family members of service members are also eligible to apply, although service members will have priority for this funding.
Applications are available by contacting Emily Watson, veterans behavioral health liaison. She can be reached at emily.e.watson@state.or.us or 503-510-9660. Applications are due to her by Feb. 21.
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 You can now explore Oregon State Hospital’s Junction City and Salem campuses through a new series of 360-degree photos and videos on the OSH website. You’ll learn about daily life, treatment, visitation areas and more. The information on this page is evolving. You can like the OSH Facebook page to receive notifications of new photos and videos.
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The Legislature provided OHA $6.6 million to establish the Intensive In-Home Behavioral Health Treatment (IIBHT) program during the 2019-2021 biennium. This valuable program will strengthen community-based support for children and youth throughout Oregon. We at OHA want to hear from stakeholders across Oregon as we establish these services.
We invite all behavioral health stakeholders, including providers, coordinated care organizations, county mental health programs, and Indian health care providers, to learn more about the program through a series of webinars to inform and gather stakeholder feedback about the clinical and quality standards that OHA should establish for this new program and its services.
The first webinar took place earlier this month and can be viewed here.
What should you do?
Please share this information with others interested in this program. If you would like regular updates on IIBHT, as well as future webinars and events, please sign up to get OHA Behavioral Health Updates. If you have questions, email chelsea.holcomb@dhsoha.state.or.us (and put “IIBHT Webinar” in the subject line).
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The OHA-AmeriCorps VISTA Partnership is recruiting for 11 positions starting in April throughout Oregon. If you’re a new professional interested in public health, fighting poverty, and career development, a year of national service with OHA-VISTA might be for you! Check out open positions on the OHA website.
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Effective January 1 youth with a primary diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are eligible for Wraparound under designated Medicaid codes. OHA researched this issue in response to stakeholder inquiry, and HERC paired Wraparound and ASD on Line 193 of the January 1, 2020, Prioritized List. Read the full memo here.
Questions? Contact Nat Jacobs at natalie.jacobs@dhsoha.state.or.us.
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ReachOut Oregon is a statewide telephone and chat service providing support for parents and caregivers.
Individuals can call or chat online about their children who experience emotional, behavioral, or physical health, intellectual or developmental disabilities, or educational issues.
The parent “warmline” is available at 833-REACHOR (833-732-2467) to provide support by phone, or via the ReachOut Oregon website for chat, email and Facebook messaging. Hours are noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and messages can be left at any time.
The service is staffed by certified family support specialists who have training and personal experience in parenting children with emotional, developmental or physical health concerns.
The website and the Family Support Specialists provide information about accessing local resources, including support groups and local Family Support Specialists. Parents and caregivers can get assistance with navigating the complex and complicated system of services, day-to-day practical tools for parenting children with challenging behaviors or issues, and just plain support and understanding from someone who “has been there.”
The service is a resource after a crisis and when parents and caregivers need practical ideas about handling stress and frustration, how to talk to siblings and other adults about the needs of their child, or how to adapt their communication and parenting style to advocate for their family's needs.
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Shannon Karsten is joining the the Child and Family Behavioral Health unit in the OHA Health Systems Division, where she succeeds Alex Palm as intensive services coordinator. Shannon most recently was a member of CareOregon's Behavioral Health Operations team, working with CCOs across the state on utilization, appeals and quality of care reviews. She has clinical management and treatment expertise, having worked with Trillium Family Services, Morrison Child and Family Services, and Cascadia Behavioral Health in multiple levels of care including three years as clinical manager of the Secure Children Inpatient Program (SCIP). Prior to her master’s program in Marriage and Family Therapy, Shannon worked as a stage and production manager for theaters in New York, Los Angeles and the Midwest. She remains engaged in theater as a high school coach in the North Clackamas School district.
Shannon is married to a native Oregonian, and together they parent four children and two dogs.
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Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR): Lines for Life will create and support a statewide network of QPR trainers, who in turn will lead Education Service District (ESD) staff and community mental health providers (CMHPs) in learning evidence-based suicide prevention methods. Lines for Life will administer OHA mini-grants to aid school-based communities in creating and maintaining their Suicide Prevention Plans. Lines for Life will also create and maintain a searchable database of QPR trainers statewide to improve access and facilitate community collaboration.
safeTALK/ASIST: The Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs (AOCMHP) will coordinate statewide access for safeTALK/ASIST suicide prevention trainings. AOCMHP will manage trainings, administer supports for materials and instructor trainings, convene stakeholders, promote development of local leaders and provide statewide coordination, technical assistance and information.
Sources of Strength: Matchstick Consulting will work with area youth to build on strengths, create connections, and shift the culture of schools and communities in alignment with the philosophy and mission of Sources of Strength.
YouthLine: Lines for Life’s youth education and support program, YouthLine, does the following: 1) developing youth volunteers with tools, skills, and leadership opportunities; 2) educating youth to destigmatize mental health struggles and encourage help-seeking behavior; and 3) de-escalating crisis through the peer-to-peer support helpline by answering calls, texts, and chats from youth ages 23 and under. Youth volunteers attend more than 60 hours of training before answering the helpline and are supervised by master’s-level mental health clinicians.
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