Community Recovery Services: Newsletter, Winter 2021

In an effort to share information and stay connected, we publish a Community Recovery Services newsletter twice a year. This newsletter is published in the summer and winter. People who subscribe to the DHS CRS provider email list will receive these newsletters when they are published. Not on our CRS provider email list? Sign up now. You can read previous editions of this newsletter on the CRS: Providers webpage on the DHS website.

Looking back at 2021

Consumers and counties

• Number of consumers: 141
• Current counties: 14 county agencies serving 17 counties (Ashland, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Dane, Eau Claire, Forest, Jefferson, Juneau, La Crosse, Oneida, Pierce, Richland, Vilas, Walworth, Waukesha, and Wood)
  • New counties: 3 (Ashland, Buffalo, and Clark)
  • Rejoined counties: 2 (Richland and La Crosse)
• Interested counties: 3 (Pepin, Polk, and Taylor)

Presentations

• "Introduction to CRS" presented seven times to various audiences
• "Introduction to Progress Notes" presented to two county contracted community living supportive services providers
• "Individual Placement and Support" - January 2021 Quarterly Meeting
• "Peer Support Services" - April 2021 Quarterly Meeting
• "Incident Reporting" - July 2021 Quarterly Meeting
• "Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation" - July 2021 Quarterly Meeting
• "Tobacco Prevalence in Individuals with Mental Health Conditions, Dependency, and Cessation" - October 2021 Quarterly Meeting

Webpage updates

• Added a listing of training resources to the provider webpage
• Added a copy of the incident reporting training to the provider webpage

Other updates

• Incident reporting. There has been an increase in the reporting of incidents to the state CRS team following the quarterly meeting presentation on incident reporting. As of early December 2021, there were over 20 critical incidents reported. Incident reporting is one way the state CRS team monitors the health, safety, and well-being of program participants. For more information on the incident reporting process, please review the PowerPoint presentation on the DHS website.

• Monitoring process and document oversight. The 2021-2022 monitoring process began in early summer 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of the monitoring has been completed virtually. To date, four counties have completed the process. The monitoring process will continue through mid-2022 for all other counties. Refer to DCTS Action Memo 2019-15 for a list of documentation requested during the process. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the state CRS team. The 2021 documentation oversight process took place in February and August. There has been significant improvement in capturing CRS consumer preferences in their own words. A new feedback report has been implemented by the state CRS team for the monitoring process and documentation oversight. The intention of the new feedback reports is to provide more clarity with expectations moving forward. Contact the state CRS team with any comments or feedback related to the presentation of information.
• Toolkit/resource library. A communication was sent by DHS Area Administration in October 2021 to determine county interest in the development of a toolkit/resource library. Five county representatives expressed interest in being a part of the Toolkit/Resource Library Workgroup. Two county representatives expressed interest in learning more about the project. A Toolkit/Resource Library Workgroup kickoff and informational meeting was held November 17, 2021. Half of the CRS certified counties were represented at the meeting. If you have forms or other documents that you would like to submit as part of this project, email DHS Area Administration.

Looking ahead to 2022

Quarterly meetings

• January 2022: Progress notes refresher
  • January 12: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
  • Zoom: https://dhswi.zoomgov.com/j/1611955233?pwd=M001Ukh0Ym1pSTI1U2lOQ3ZCWE1xUT09
  • Please invite contracted providers. This training can be used to fulfill a portion of annual training requirements. Contact the state CRS team no later than 14 days after the training to receive a certificate of completion.
• April 2022: Overview of trauma-informed care and self-care (Date to be announced)
• July 2022: Part I De-escalation techniques and support planning tools (Date to be announced)
• October 2022: Part II De-escalation techniques and support planning tools (Date to be announced)

Planned projects

• Documentation oversight 
  • This will take place in February for all counties.
  • This will take place again in August for counties with 10 or more consumers.
• Toolkit/resource library workgroup
  • Next meeting: January 26, 2022, at 1 p.m. (Zoom)
  • Contact the state CRS team for more information.
• Training collaboration with the Behavioral Health Training Partnership at UW-Green Bay
• Webpage updates

www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/crs

Do not reply directly to this email message. If you have a question, email the DHS CRS team. Visit the DHS website for more information on Community Recovery Services.