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June 1, 2023
In this issue ...
Summer is nearly here, school is almost out, and the promise of sunny days, connection with community and days at the beach warm my heart. June signals the start of Pride Month, which celebrates the history and lives of the LGBTQIA2S+ community and marks the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Many consider the uprising as the start of the fight for LGBTQIA2S+ civil rights, however, the fight began long before, and the struggle for equality and acceptance continues today.
One of the ways Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is supporting LGBTQIA2S+ youth is through the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) Supporting Gender Expansive Students: Guidance for Schools. This guidance is grounded in the recognition, respect, affirmation, friendship, joy, belonging, and safety every human deserves — including the students, staff, and families that make up our school communities. Gender-expansive students are protected under federal and Oregon civil rights laws. School districts have a responsibility to provide safe and affirming educational environments for all students, including gender-expansive students.
In May, several members of the Child and Family Behavioral Health (CFBH) unit, including myself and CFBH Manager Jessie Eagan, and Behavioral Health Director Ebony Clarke attended the Oregon Alliance Annual Summit. The Oregon Alliance is a non-profit entity dedicated to championing and advocating for the health and well-being of children, families and communities across Oregon. Alliance members are a diverse and growing set of knowledge-driven organizations that advocate for and serve Oregon’s children, youth and their families at home, at school, in residential settings and within the community.
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Chelsea Holcomb, Ebony Clarke, Jessie Eagan
This month is an opportunity to celebrate the diverse members that make up our community. When we come together to promote acceptance, support one another, and fight for change, we make our world better, more joyful, and more expansive.
Hello all! My name is Amy Chandler, and I am excited to be joining the CFBH Unit as the Early Childhood Program and Policy Development Specialist.
I come to OHA after 23 years of working for Multnomah County in Behavioral Health and Juvenile Justice. Most of my time at Multnomah County was spent as an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant, and then I moved on to building up our local System of Care governance structure and focusing on children’s system of care coordination. My most recent position was with the Juvenile Services Division where I held the position of Juvenile Court Improvement Coordinator.
These experiences have shaped me into a systems minded thinker, and I hope to continue that work here at OHA with a focus on supporting our youngest Oregonians! It is important to ensure that they, and their families and caregivers, have access to the appropriate services and supports for positive social emotional development and behavioral health.
My outside interests include spending as much time as possible with my family and friends. I also enjoy trying new recipes, gardening, and getting out into nature!
Amy Chandler
The theme of this year’s Alliance conference was Built for Humans: Reimagining a Thriving Workplace in Community-based Health Organizations. The conference brought together a diverse group of providers, administrators, and state partners to discuss the issues that we are all facing in supporting the people who do this essential work with children, youth, and families across the state. We focused on heart-centered leadership and bringing joy into our workspaces to prevent burnout, showing up even when the work is hard, and a culture of caring for one another.
One highlight of the conference was a session on gender-expansive youth led by Jess Guerriero. Jess provided an excellent overview of broad terminology and policy around gender diversity, including action steps that providers can take to help support young people and their families. The discussion also included a panel of young people with lived experiences, including their powerful stories of system involvement, insights and perspectives, and hope for the future.
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From left to right: Ebony Clarke, OHA Behavioral Health Director; Anna Lansky, Interim Office of Developmental Disabilities Services (ODDS) Director; Anna Williams, Executive Director, System of Care Advisory Council; Aprille Flint-Gerner, Interim Child Welfare Director, Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS); Adam Rodakowski, Director of Foster Care, Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc., Chair on System of Care Advisory Council; Lacey Andersen, Deputy Director, Child Welfare, ODHS; Jessie Eagan, Child and Family Behavioral Health (CFBH) Manager, OHA; Monica Moran – Community Resource Specialist, Oregon Youth Authority; Chelsea Holcomb CFBH Director, OHA
The 2020-2024 CFBH Roadmap needs a refresh — to both check the strategies we developed and see what new priorities need to be added. To start the conversation, OHA has planned a June 1 meeting for the Children’s System Advisory Council’s family policy group, and is scheduling other meetings.
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Date and time: June 1, 2023, 2 to 3:30 p.m.
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How to join: Meeting link, Meeting ID: 161 923 2989, Passcode: 886647
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Call-in number: (669) 254 5252
We apologize for the late notice about this meeting. To get updates about these meetings as they are scheduled, or to learn more about these meetings, please reach out to Hilary Harrison at hilary.harrrison@oha.oregon.gov.
Rural towns across the country often lack access to diverse cultures and supports. 2021 data from the Trevor Project’s National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health showed that, when compared to LGBTQIAS2+ youth in urban/suburban areas, LGBTQIA2S+ youth in rural areas and small towns were at greater risk of experiencing depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
The Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Coordinator of New Directions Northwest, Inc., Boston Colton, also identified a scarcity of LGBTQIA2S+ representation and supports across his rural community in Baker County. “There is often a lack of access for diverse cultures, so you have to do it yourself.” After learning there were students who couldn’t afford clothes that matched their gender identity, he looked to the local high school’s clothing closet for help. Marla's Mall sets aside time for LGBTQIA2S+ students to have a safe shopping experience while picking out clothes with an adult ally available for support. Having the right clothes, the means to buy them, and a safe place to shop and try them on is incredibly important for these youth.
Boston also spoke of the local Gay-Straight Alliance and says in June they are hoping to celebrate Pride month by creating volunteer hours for students, getting the word out about the club, and looking for ways to “be a force for change.”
This is another powerful example that has been highlighted in our series on Mental Health Promotion and Prevention programs across Oregon. To learn more, please visit our website or contact Fran Pearson at fran.pearson@oha.oregon.gov.
Over the past year, Clackamas County residents received 1,588 safe storage items, including medication lock boxes, small handgun vaults, rifle cases and cable locks. Most of these items were funded through OHA and provided to the community through Clackamas County’s local Community Mental Health Program.
We know that many suicide attempts take place during a short-term crisis. We know that putting time and distance between lethal means and individuals who may be in crisis can prevent suicide and save lives. By offering no-cost secure storage items to communities we are creating safer homes and ultimately saving lives.
Clackamas County translated information about the availability of these storage items into the county’s seven primary spoken languages (Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and English). Interest in these items exceeded the county’s expectations. Clackamas County residents interested in these items can contact Suicide Prevention Coordinator Galli Murray at gallimur@clackamas.us.
One strategic pathway in the CFBH Roadmap 2020 – 2024 is data-driven policy decisions. We have now created a list of performance indicators that we are monitoring for regular review. We plan to refine this list down to some key performance indicators. Comments are welcome: Please send them to kidsteam@oha.oregon.gov.
Emergency department usage data: Community conversation
We will be holding a community conversation on June 14 to explore the 2019-2022 data for children, youth and young adults who have been in emergency departments (ED) for behavioral health concerns.
- Date and time: June 14, 2023, 3 to 4 p.m.
- How to join: Meeting link, Meeting ID: 253 943 225 819 Passcode: Rj4Xzw
- Call in number: (971) 277-2343, 737830029#
Capacity monitoring for Intensive Treatment Services
Intensive Treatment Services capacity remains a critical concern to CFBH. Each week we receive data on capacity for acute care, sub-acute and psychiatric residential, as well as substance use disorder residential programs.
- OHA monitors these to understand patterns and to offer help in keeping programs operational.
- Discussions are underway on how to display additional data points collected, such as total referrals received, total weekly admissions, and total weekly discharges.
- Work is also in progress on creating a referral management system, which will collect data on referrals to Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTF) in real time. This will allow for a more accurate representation of the need in our communities for residential programs.
The graph below shows capacity over time.
- The top line represents the goal for the system established in 2020, of having 286 beds available for youth.
- The line below shows the highest possible capacity that could have been available, given full staffing and removal of all other barriers.
- The bottom bar chart represents a monthly summary of reported weekly operational capacity, a combination of beds in use and open beds. In the last 12 months the largest impact on capacity has been the ongoing struggle to fill workforce vacancies and manage staffing levels.
Interdisciplinary Assessment Teams — Expedited Assessment Services for Youth (EASY)
Last month, OHA launched EASY as a demonstration project, which has already helped support psychological testing for several youth. This new program will respond to goals set out in Senate Bill 1 (2019) to provide rapid access to evaluation, assessment and recommendations for complex youth — especially those who are in child welfare custody and placed in temporary lodging, ED boarding, shelter care, county juvenile facilities or the custody of Oregon Youth Authority.
EASY provides quick access to full psychological and assessment services within to 10 days of referral. It includes:
- A full review of clinical documents,
- Determination of need for psychological testing,
- Psychological testing,
- Communication with current clinical providers and
- When appropriate, coordination with local Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities intake screening departments.
EASY can be mobile and meet the youth in the community, either in person or via telehealth, as needed. In some situations, a full psychological evaluation may be all a youth and family need to get on the right path to the services they need.
Initial results have been very promising. For one youth who was at high risk for falling into the juvenile justice system, EASY has provided much needed clarity by identifying an emerging mental health condition and recommending appropriate mental health services. A message from the provider who completed the youth's EASY assessment shared their feelings of hope for this service:
“What a world of difference you made happen for that child and his family by passing that referral through. No way, even if that prior evaluator went through with the scheduled assessment, could that kid have received what they did from [the EASY team]. The clarity, support plan, anchors moving ahead, etc. because I don't think most testing psychologists would have had the expertise and resources that were needed to pull this off.
“Honestly, it was emotional to see how much this is going to change the course of treatment for this kiddo and the mother was in tears at the debrief of finally having answers and having her kid be 'seen' and understood and the correct labels outlined and someone strong supporting them and putting a light on a path forward through the next phase of their extremely hard journey.”
We will continue to update as this project continues. If you would like to learn more about EASY, or if you would like to request this service, please visit OHA's EASY page.
If you are interested in learning more about this work, please contact John Linn at john.r.linn@oha.oregon.gov.
In January, ODE proudly published Supporting Gender Expansive Students: Guidance for Schools. As part of this release, ODE has created tools and resources aligned with this guidance and the LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Plan to assist school staff, students, and families with the implementation of these guidelines.
State Strategies to Address the Needs of Justice-Involved Youth Impacted by Collateral Consequences. This February 2023 report from the National Governors Association (NGA) discusses how to better understand the range of collateral consequences youth may face.
- NGA conducted a series of learning calls and hosted a virtual roundtable titled “Strategies to Address the Needs of Juveniles Impacted by Collateral Consequences” during the fall of 2022.
- This publication documents these high-level discussions and highlights key policy strategies for Governors’ offices to consider addressing this issue.
The Kids Aren't Alright: The Post-Pandemic Teen Mental Health Crisis: National Public Radio delves into recently published data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how teens are faring with their mental health. Article and recording.
Student access to teletherapy skyrockets as schools combat youth mental health crisis: Chalkbeat discusses the rise of teletherapy for youth during the COVID-19 crisis and how schools are seeing the benefits.
Find events, opportunities, trainings and resources in last month’s posting. Many of these trainings are also on our website. We will send updates mid-month — Look for the next one in your inbox on June 15.
For feedback and suggestions for our newsletter and information: kids.team@oha.oregon.gov
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