HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-02-02 BHAC MINUTES1
Behavioral Health Advisory Committee
(Mental Health-Substance Use Disorders)
AGENDA draft
February 2, 2021
3:00-5:00 PM
I. Call to Order/ Introductions
Board Members: X Heidi Eisenhour-Chair
X Ariel Speser-Vice Chair
X Chris Ashcraft
X Patricia Beathard
X Jill Buhler-Rienstra
X Anne Dean
X David Fortino
X Patrick Johnson
X Sheila Westerman
Staff: Vicki Kirkpatrick & Anna Mc Enery
Guests: Edward Blum, Brian Gleason, Amanda Tjemsland, Lori Fleming, Joe Nole, Sara
Jane, Leah Russell, Whitney Friddle, Jim Novelli, Denise Banker, Jolene Kron,
Heather McCray-Wolfe, Jenny Manza, Jean Scarborough, Gabby Caudill, Sarah
Skelloti, Lisa Ray-Thomas, Tonya Ferguson, Frank Hoffman and Yuko Umeda
II. Call for Approval of Agenda of February 2, 2021 Member Westerman(M)/Member
Eisenhower (S)/Approved with no changes.
III. Draft Minutes of November 10, 2020 and the December 29, 2020 meeting will be
postponed to the March 2, 2021 Meeting / (A New Clerk-hire will be completing the
minutes from these meetings and all future meetings.)
IV. Public Comments
Edward Blum asked for an explanation of the Administration, Contracts Management and
Evaluation costs under the 1/10th of 1% Budget. Staff Mc Enery explained that her work
is under the Contracts Management position and the Fiscal Administrative management
piece is handled by Veronica Shaw and her staff and includes all of the budgeting and
invoice payments. The Community Assessment and Evaluation pays for the Kitsap
Epidemiologist who keeps all the 1/10th of 1% data for each Vendor and is working on
creating a new on-line interactive dashboard for the Jefferson County 1/10th of 1% fund.
The on-line dashboard will record data from all 1/10th of 1% Vendors along with their
outcomes.
Edward Blum stated that the costs for this administrative FTE seemed to be fairly high
considering size of the budget and the total funding available.
2
Vicki Kirkpatrick, the Public Health Director stated that the cost of Administration and
Contracts Management is around $50,511, which is about 8.5% and in line with other
non-profits. The Community Assessment piece is much more than administrative; it is an
important service for the community, because we need to be able to report program
outcomes, while demonstrating accountability for the funding we receive. Staff
Kirkpatrick noted that without the data, and the oversight it provides, administration of
the grant would be much less effective.
Staff Kirkpatrick added that Staff Mc Enery does much more work than her job entails
and a 3% increase is certainly well placed. Member Westerman agreed and said that has
been her experience also.
Member Westerman noted that this is a good to ask about administration costs because
it’s something that should be carefully evaluated. However, the ability to collect and
evaluate the data is incredibly important and allows the Committee to make the right
decisions on funding. Without the data we would not be able to meet the needs of our
community.
Member Johnson asked if the Community Assessment service included the amount to
create the dashboard. Staff Mc Enery stated yes the cost has been included.
IV. Budget
Staff Mc Enery walked the Committee through the 1/10th of 1% Funding Spreadsheet and
reported on the year-end budget of 2020. After paying all of the invoices, the remaining
funds that were unencumbered was $75,040. (There were some agencies who did not
spend all of their funds.) The unspent funds from 2020, will roll over to 2021.
Staff Mc Enery noted that Veronica should be back for the March meeting and we will
look at the 2021 budget then.
V. Vendor Reports
Public Health/Nurse Family Partnership
Yuko Umeda reported that the Nurse Family Partnership has been in Jefferson County
since 1999. The primary function of the program is as a nurse home visiting program--a
program which was turned upside down because of Covid. The good news is that the
entire team, adapted to virtual and phone visits since March of 2020, and through the
process have found the real value of partnerships.
Yuko Umeda introduced Sara Jane, a Public Health Nurse. Sara shared that Public Health
Nurses work in the Nurse Family Partnership program, by supporting pregnant women
and their families from pregnancy through the child’s 2nd birthday. Each Nurse works with
their family to create a specific set of goals; this is a very comprehensive program.
To be eligible for the Nurse Family Partnership program, you must be a first time parent
and you need to be low income. Additionally, Public Health also focuses on families that
may have other kinds of risks, like mental health or substance use issues.
3
Sara Jane shared a success story about the relationship she developed with a young Mom
who had become pregnant with twins. Sara shared a brief history of following this parent
though her ups and downs. Now two years later, this Mom shared that she doesn’t know
where she would be without the Nurse Family Partnership program and the unconditional
support she received.
Yoko went on to report that the Nurse Family Partnership program started in the 1970’s
and is an evidence based program conceived by Dr. Olds from Colorado. Over the years,
we have seen many positive outcomes when parents participate in the Nurse Family
Partnership program. For example, a lower incidence of CPS encounters, families have
higher economic self-sufficiency; children usually do much better in school and have less
mental health and substance use issues as they grow up.
In Jefferson County each nurse is capable of holding a caseload of about 25 clients; the
caseload is split between two Public Health Nurses. Sarah has had a very consistent and
full caseload this past year. Sara will begin to graduate her families; so she's actually
going to have quite a few openings. The hope is to keep up with the referrals and to keep
our caseload high.
Member Johnson asked what happens when there is a need, but the individual is a second
time Mom?
Yoko reported that Nurse Family Partnership does just work with first time Moms and
Dads in Jefferson County, but there is another program called Maternity Support Services
which is open to all Moms regardless of the number of children they have. It's not as
intensive or long term as Nurse Family Partnership, but it’s a service that is available.
Jumping Mouse/ Children’s Center in Port Townsend
Jenny Manza shared a brief overview of Jumping Mouse, which has been in the
community since 1999. They provide expressive mental health therapy for kids ages two
to twelve years of age.
Jumping Mouse sees children for a variety of reasons; abuse, neglect, domestic violence,
but also kids who are struggling in school with anxiety or have a medical issue in the
family or their parents are going through divorce. These children are able to come to
Jumping Mouse for as long as they need to and over 80% come from low income families.
There are no financial barriers to care, thanks to the 1/10th of 1% funds and funding from
the community.
Jenny reported that it's been challenging year at Jumping Mouse. However, they managed
to have no gap in services during the pandemic.
In mid-March, Jumping Mouse began practicing telehealth, via Zoom. In mid-July, the
Jumping Mouse facility opened up and they began to see about 25% of the children in
person. At the present time, they still see 25% of the kids in person, the remainder is still
on telehealth, presently that is about 75 children per week. In addition, Jumping Mouse
still provides support to parents and caregivers.
4
The staff at Jumping Mouse also advocates for them in the community, including meeting
with teachers and other resource supports in the community. There is also a program on
the Brinnon school campus with a therapist two days a week, while the school has been
open, and by telehealth when the school has been closed. Jenny shared her thought that
she believes the pandemic is significantly impacting the mental health of all the kids in our
community. Jumping Mouse is getting a lot of phone calls.
Jumping Mouse staff member Jean Scarborough, shared a powerful story and slides to
give the Committee a glimpse into the Jumping Mouse model.
The model is called child directed, which means they follow the child's lead in therapy.
The therapist uses play and sand tray therapy. Each room has 1000s of figures that kids
can put in a wet sand tray or a dry sand tray to create scenes and stories. The Jumping
Mouse professionals work from the idea that your life is your life; they are just there to
help a child navigate it.
Jean stated that Jumping Mouse is giving children space to process what's going on in
their lives; while letting them speak in the language of children, of play and metaphor.
When they create a safe place for a child to process whatever is challenging in their lives,
that play really takes on meaning, and then when the child is ready, they'll begin the
process of healing. Jumping Mouse also works with caregivers, by translating what is seen
in the child's behavior.
The Committee was quite moved by this presentation and thanked Jumping Mouse for all
of their good work in our community.
VI. Presentations
a. Final 1/10th of 1% Fund-Evaluation & Data Report-2019 Amanda Tjemsland
Amanda noted that the 2020 Annual Data Report will be a lot easier to compile because
of the online submission. Amanda reported that she and Staff McEnery met with the
vendors a few weeks ago to talk about the annual report and the dashboard, and found the
discussion to be very helpful. The goal is to make this data accessible to the vendors so
they can use it for other grant applications, as well as to make the data meaningful for
both vendors and the community. Amanda and Anna plan to meet with each vendor to
discuss their program evaluations.
Amanda shared a brief overview of the Annual Data Report:
Program graphs from 2013 to 2019 to see change over time and throughout the
1/10th of 1% funding history.
A Zip Code map to show which areas of the County are being served.
A Table to show the 1/10th of 1% funding over time.
A 2019 summary that highlights specific data observed in the statistics.
A page with more extensive data on each of the programs.
And then the outcomes over time – numbers and percent page-- showing 2017,
2018, 2019 and change over time.
5
b. Update on the recently approved WASPC Grant for a New Navigator Position with the
Sheriff’s Office /Sheriff Joe Nole
Sheriff Nole reported that the Sheriff's office received a grant through the Washington
State Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs or WASPC, to set up a Navigator
program for six months. After six months, they will be able to apply for a year, and then
it's on a yearly basis.
On February 1st the Board of County Commissioners approved this grant. The
Navigator will work out of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and will be overseen by
a Mental Health Agency.
The Sheriff’s Navigator will be able to respond to situations with and without a Deputy.
Especially for situations like de-escalation, case management, and diversion. We hope
the Navigator can provide some training to the Deputies. Additionally, we would like
the Navigator to provide case management to inmates prior to their release from Jail.
This could help set the inmates up for success when they are no longer incarcerated.
Deputies from the Sheriff Office are looking forward to working with a Navigator.
At the present time, an RFP is being developed for qualified Behavioral Health Provider
to oversee the Navigator from a mental health perspective. Once the Behavioral Health
Provider is selected, a Navigator will be hired for the position.
Sheriff Nole said that in the future, funding for the Navigator should be included the
Sheriff’s Department budget. That way, there won’t be any concerns about how we are
going to pay for the Navigator position at the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff Department is looking forward to partnering with the Navigator at the City
Police Department.
Member Speser thanked Sheriff Nole for the good update and reminded the Committee
that there will be more updates like this, as the new Navigator program rolls out.
Sheriff Nole sent a shout out to Mike Evans, the former Police Chief for the City of Port
Townsend, and Jud Haynes for all of his work in making the Navigator position such a
desirable program.
VII. Staff Updates Anna Mc Enery
a. Staff Mc Enery shared that her and Amanda Tjemsland met with the 1/10th of 1%
Vendors, to look over the Annual Report and to discuss the new 1/10th on-line
dashboard. There was a lot of good input and they are looking forward to meeting
individually with each Vendor.
b. Staff McEnery has completed all but one of 1/10th of 1% Contracts/MOU’s; they have
moved forward to the Courthouse, so things are going well.
VIII. Public Comment:
Member Speser noted that the next BHAC meeting is Tuesday, March 2.
VIII. Adjournment of Meeting
6
Future Agenda Items:
IX. One-Tenth Online (OTO) Data Platform Update/ Amanda Tjemsland
X. Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Workshop Update/Ariel Speser & Anna Mc
Enery
XI. Update- New Navigator Position with the Sheriff’s Office
XII. Update Mental Health Field Response Team Meetings
XIII. Washington State Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Jail-Based Program
and Aftercare Services Grant for Jefferson County - /David Fortino
XIV. Update about WA State’s Proposal to Regionalize Local Public Health Districts
Vicki Kirkpatrick- Public Health Director
Comprehensive Public Health Districts, replacing current Local Health
Jurisdictions through creation of: HB 1152, SB 5173
XV. Medicaid vs. Medicare/What is Funded for People on Medicare/What’s no longer being
funded since MCO’s took over/ Jolene Kron- Deputy Administrator/Clinical Director
Salish BH-ASO
j. DBH/ New 1/10th of 1% Funded Service called Wrap Around Case Manager for clients
with Medicare or who are Uninsured/Jim Novelli-Executive Director
The Service was recently awarded 1/10th of 1% funding
Below is a quote from their recent RFP.
“DBH seeks to provide access to mental health services to individuals not
funded by Medicare, private insurers and those who are uninsured. Our
proposal outlines the gap in coverage for these services. We will be utilizing a
wrap- around approach for services billed as a case rate per month per
individual. This project will target those individuals who are generally high
utilizers of services. The 1/10th of 1% funds would assist in reducing the gap in
coverage.”
Next BH Advisory Committee MTG- Tuesday March 2 2021