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First Edition: Oct. 1, 2021
In this issue ...
Welcome to our new newsletter! My name is Chelsea Holcomb and I use she/her pronouns. I am the Oregon Health Authority Child and Family Behavioral Health Director and I have the honor of working to support child and family behavioral health systems and services in Oregon.
Over the last four years at OHA, I have seen the work, investment and commitment you bring to improving and expanding behavioral health services for children, youth and young adults and their families. I am grateful for your contributions.
The Child and Family Behavioral Health (CFBH) team has heard that you would like to know more about what’s going on and what’s important in the world of children, young adults and family behavioral health. This newsletter represents a commitment to increasing the flow of information on a regular basis. The aim is to publish this monthly, and we are open to suggestions, comments and feedback for future editions.
Even with all the exciting new investments in our programs, you may be aware the children’s system is experiencing challenges with capacity and workforce. This has been magnified by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has overwhelmed our communities and many of our frontline workers. To our frontline workers, thank you for your service. We know it hasn’t been easy. The pandemic has impacted all of us, both personally and professionally. I encourage you to take good care of yourself, your family and your communities during this challenging and extraordinary time. For the ongoing workforce efforts OHA and this team are working on, please find information on our new workforce web page, which will be updated regularly.
The CFBH unit is constantly reviewing the short and long-term solutions we can provide, while remaining nimble and responsive as changes occur. It is going to take all of us to get us through these challenges. Every day, I take hope from the reports we get from providers on the differences being made through programs like Parent Child Interactive Therapy, our work to strengthen suicide prevention in Oregon, and efforts by school-based mental health therapists who connect with youth and families. We look forward to sharing some of these beacons of light with you via this newsletter. One exciting initiative that OHA has chosen to fund and that gives me hope is the work Youth ERA is doing with the Uplift summits for Oregon youth throughout the state. Please share this information with your communities, fill these trainings and let us hear the impact that empowering a new generation can have!
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Uplift by Youth Era is a virtual youth summit designed to motivate, empower, and support youth to change their lives and the lives of those around them.
Youth learn about themselves, their mission, strengths, and ways to support and build a community during COVID and beyond. This program helps youth learn about:
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Self-confidence: Students learn about their strengths and understand how valuable and important they are.
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Self-care and coping skills: Students learn about the importance of self-care and develop new coping strategies to help reduce mental health symptoms.
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Suicide prevention: Students learn about suicide warning signs and when to get help from adults or other services.
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Bullying prevention: Students learn how to reach out and help one another. They also learn how to better support their friends and how to disrupt bullying.
This summit is not “Zoom school.” It's a completely interactive virtual experience with music, dancing, discussions, small group work, prizes, and more. One participant reported, “I now know how I can better handle difficult conversations with my friends if they are struggling by using the communication skills learned from the course. I feel more confident in supporting others.”
Uplift was researched by the University of Oxford and the program demonstrates successful outcomes in nearly all measures, including a decrease in mental health symptoms, an increase in compassion, and more.
Another participant said, “The training has allowed me to recognize my strengths and feel more confident in myself, as well as educating me on how to make better relationships with others, and has given me the skills needed to help people and be there for them.”
OHA is committed to increasing access for Oregon children to participate in Uplift. In Summer 2021, OHA made an investment of $1,100,000 for Youth ERA to provide Uplift scholarships to Oregon youth from school districts throughout the state. Learn more at www.upliftpeers.com.
Watch this behind-the-scenes video to get an idea of the Uplift experience: https://youtu.be/aiWn7Z1WpP0
For more information on Uplift and scholarships please contact Jammie Gardner at jgardner@youthera.org.
This section aims to provide you with up-to-date information on important upcoming events and new resources, focusing on work associated with OHA investments and programs.
A Time for Families
A weekly drop-in discussion hour for parents and family members hosted by Chelsea Holcomb and OHA’s Family Partnership Specialist, Frances Purdy.
- Share your questions and concerns about mental health and addiction services for children and young people.
- Share suggestions for how OHA can support youth, young adults and their families to help them get the right service at the right time for the duration needed.
More information and joining instructions can be found at A Time for Families.
A Time for Youth
This drop-in hour will be coming soon.
Reach Out Oregon
Reach Out Oregon is part of the Oregon Family Support Network. It provides a "warm line" at 833-732-2467, as well as a website and a chat room for any family member needing support.
Community Conversation – Mobile Response and Stabilization Services development
A new children’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Service is being developed and community input will be vital to the success. You are invited to come and learn more and contribute your thoughts on Oct. 14, 2021, from 9 to 10:30 a.m.
The CFBH unit has spent the last year receiving input from youth and families, providers, the Children’s System Advisory Council (CSAC), partners and interested communities on the Child and Family Behavioral Health Policy Vision paper, which was developed in 2020 to address some of the questions and concerns about the children’s behavioral health system outlined in the 2020 Secretary of State Audit.
We appreciate everyone who contributed thoughtfully to the direction of OHA’s work and we look forward to working with you to create a better continuum of care that center’s health equity and consumer voices. We are especially grateful to the youth and families who have spent the year changing how we think and work together – it has been a gift.
The next phase is developing a 5-year workplan based on the Secretary of State Audit, the vision paper needs assessment, the feedback we received, and other children’s services plans. This plan will become a living document and will reflect ongoing input from communities, including the System of Care, on its direction and further investments.
Loud and clear messages from our families:
- Ensure access to a broad, flexible array of community-based services and support for children, and their families and caregivers, to address their emotional, social, educational, and physical needs.
- The right services need to be individualized according to the unique needs of each child and family and be available when needed, for the duration needed.
- Ensure the network of providers is responsive to children, youth and families in a way that is trauma informed and culturally responsive.
Dates for engagement with the Vision Policy Plan development in October:
The CFBH unit is in the process of creating system indicators and trackers. One indicator that we are developing is around children and young adults that use the Emergency Department for behavioral health concerns.
Please join us for a conversation about this data and help answer the questions posed by the Secretary of State Audit on how time in the Emergency Department should be defined and what indicators we should be paying attention to for the wellness of the system.
Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS): $6.5 million
Planning and development is in progress in coordination with the development of the new 988 behavioral health crisis line.
Psychiatric Residential Treatment Services: $7.525 million
Request for Grants (RFG) and Proposal (RFP) are in development.
Young Adult Treatment Homes: $9.2 million
The RFP is in development to expand this service for young adults.
Interdisciplinary Assessment Teams: $5.7 million
OHA is hiring someone to support this work and we should have the position filled this fall.
The CFBH unit is committed to health equity. This month we highlight funding that supports Oregon’s Nine Federally Recognized Tribes.
OHA and the CFBH unit partner with Oregon’s Nine Federally Recognized Tribes to strengthen Tribal mental health programs and expand service delivery, based on community need. Children’s funding has recently expanded beyond the nine Tribes to include the Urban Indian Health Program. In addition to supporting Tribal well-being, OHA provides funding to ensure mental health promotion and prevention, jail diversion, supportive housing and peer delivered services, intensive care coordination for youth experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges, school based mental health services and crisis services.
To keep young people at home and in community to the greatest extent possible, Oregon has needed an intensive community-based alternative option. In 2019, $6.6 million was allocated to build Intensive In-Home Behavioral Health Services (IIBHT) as a service for all Oregon Health Plan members up to the age of 20.
What IIBHT does:
- Meets the individual needs of the child and family, including access to a multidisciplinary team and 24/7 response in the home.
- Provides four to six hours of intensive, in-home services per week to children who need more support and services than what is provided in traditional outpatient services.
- Offers an array of services to children and families including psychiatric services, mental health therapy, care coordination, skills training and peer support services while preserving their existing placement in the community.
- Allows access for children living in a variety of settings in the community. Children can access IIBHT while living in foster care, group homes, shelter care and behavior rehabilitation services.
- Includes all children and young people, including those experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Progress so far:
- In the Progress Report #2 submitted to OHA on April 15, 2021, all 16 Coordinated Care organizations indicated that IIBHT services would be available to CCO members no later than July 2021.
- OHA has issued a Certificate of Approval to 26 agencies/sites to provide IIBHT services across the state and one additional provider is currently pending approval.
- As of Sept. 2021, 34 total youth have been served in IIBHT services from the following CCOs: Advanced Health, All Care, Eastern Oregon CCO, Jackson Care Connect, Pacific Source, Community Solutions, Open Card.
Technical assistance and continuous improvement
Oregon Health & Science University, in partnership with OHA, developed the IIBHT onboarding training curriculum and trainings are being offered on a monthly basis. To support the development of the services and share best practices, the team has established both a general and a rural-focused IIBHT Learning Collaborative that meet twice a month with guest speakers.
OHA is contracting with the University of Washington to develop and administer an IIBHT program evaluation tool and scoring metrics based on IIBHT program and practice standards. The tool is currently in development and OHA is looking to identify two or three demonstration sites to pilot the tool in September 2021.
For more details and information: OHA-IIBHT.program@dhsoha.state.or.us.
Staffing contingencies for behavioral health providers in pandemic emergency response and recovery planning
Clinical care, and healthcare infection prevention and control
For feedback and suggestions for our newsletter and information: kids.team@dhsoha.state.or.us
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