June 2018

Activities in June

Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee:

Dr. Minkoff attended the first official ISMICC meeting of 2018, held in Washington, DC on June 8. (Opening Remarks of the ISMICC meeting) The ISMICC report released in December 2017 is a foundation for much of SAMHSA’s ongoing efforts and has been very successful in engaging not only cooperation but enthusiasm from other federal departments. This meeting included a very supportive introduction from newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and then focused entirely on practical discussions of implementation efforts.   ISMICC members heard reports from each of the five interdepartmental implementation workgroups and were able to provide feedback and input.   In addition, there was a highly engaged discussion about the importance of collecting up to date epidemiologic data about the population of people with serious mental illness/serious emotional disturbance, using updated and consistent definitions, and attending to co-morbidity. Going forward, the non-federal ISMICC members will have the opportunity to participate in continuing activities of the workgroups, as well as in periodic topic meetings, and will also be able to work collaboratively to engage partners in the implementation process at the state/tribe and local level nationwide. These are important steps of progress in a multi-year process that has the potential to transform the national delivery system for adults and children with severe mental health and substance use issues.

Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute:   Dr. Cline and Dr. Minkoff continue active involvement in multiple projects and activities conducted by MMHPI, as follows:

  • Finalizing the Houston Endowment substance use disorders System report that is due in July.
  • Coordinating with the Local Systems team regarding how to best support progress in a variety of local system consultations
  • Working with Dr. Seema Shah to discuss statewide efforts to improve primary health/behavioral health integration for children, and to develop statewide academic partnerships regarding research and services.
  • Participating with Sam Shore on the HHSC-MMHPI workgroup on substance use disorders services, focusing on data accuracy and policy recommendations.
  • Supporting implementation of a Texas TA team to work with the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry on statewide TA for MAT, as part of the national STR-TA initiative.
  • Participating in Policy Workgroup and Financing Workgroup for the Mental Health Association of Greater Houston Integrated Health Care Initiative
  • Working with Susan Fordice and Sam Shore to develop the substance use disorders track for the third annual MMHPI Engage and Excel Conference (Houston, Oct 23-25) (engageandexcel.org). Dr. Minkoff and Dr. Cline will be presenting on developing universal co-occurring capability.
  • Working with LDWW on the development of materials for the next phase of Okay to Say: (Okay to Share; Okay to Care).

Follow MMHPI at www.texastateofmind.org

CALM:   ZiaPartners (Drs. Cline and Minkoff) provided continuing teleconference support to CALM to help with organizing next steps, with a focus on developing guidance materials to help CALM leadership conceptualize the implementation of a QI Action Team with front line staff partners.

Tennessee Co-occurring Strategic Initiative: On June 6-7, Dr. Minkoff provided the second of three regional 2-day TA sessions, and on June 20-21, the third of those sessions, to support the work of individual provider organizations to make progress toward co-occurring capability in Tennessee. These regional events were held in Memphis and Knoxville, to engage both mental health centers and addiction provider organizations in west and east Tennessee. The agencies that attended each had individual meetings with Dr. Minkoff to focus on the results of their COMPASS-EZ self-assessments and how to utilize those to develop achievable and meaningful action plans to improve co-occurring capability within their current services and resources. (Tennessee Co-Occurring Strategic Initiative). There was a follow-up conversation with leadership of the Substance Abuse Division at the Tennesse Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to discuss how the division could best engage new providers from the criminal justice system in making progress toward C0-Occurring Disorder Capability, as well as how to support the few remaining community Substance Use Disorder providers who had not yet started to make progress.

Vermont Co-operative for Practice Improvement and Innovation (VCPI): Dr. Minkoff participated with the VCPI Leadership Team in finalizing the transition plan for VCPI to move out from under Southern New Hampshire University to its new “parent” at Northern Vermont University. This change will be effective as of July 1 and is an exciting opportunity for VCPI to have more support for growth and innovation going forward. (For more information vtcpi.org)

Common Ground: Continued consultation to assist in the development of improved capacity for Common Ground to deliver the highest possible quality comprehensive crisis service array in Oakland County, Michigan. In June the focus of activity was to work with Common Ground on the preparation of a response to an RFP to develop a comprehensive continuum of crisis services in Detroit-Wayne County.

Mid-Hudson (NY) Region Co-occurring Initiative: Dr. Minkoff provided a COMPASS-EZ training teleconference on June 19 with representatives of the project teams from the seven counties (Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester) participating in this regional project. This project was described in more detail in the May notes. The next on-site activity for this project will be in November 2018.

Michigan Co-occurring College: Dr. Minkoff did a full day plenary event at the Michigan Co-occurring College in Lansing, on June 25. The presentation was a participatory event for the approximately 100 attendees from all over the state, and focused on practicing welcoming, recovery-oriented, integrated, stage-matched treatment planning, and on implementing the 12 steps of co-occurring competency, utilizing the ZiaPartners ILSA Supervision Workbook (2017). This event was met with excitement by both local participants and state level leadership. (For more information about the Michigan co-occurring college)

Iowa East Central Region: ZiaPartners initiated a consultation activity with the MHDS East Central Region (including 9 counties with three regional hubs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and Dubuque). The focus of the consultation, which builds on the relationships developed during ZiaPartners five-year consultation statewide on universal development of multi-occurring capable services within emerging regional systems of care, is to help the region with the implementation of various core services for individuals with complex needs. The earliest challenges involve responding to new regulations about Access Centers and working with the various local hubs about implementation strategies.

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