CCSI News and Updates
Anne L. Wilder
President
Coordinated Care Services, Inc.
September marks both Recovery Month and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, so in this edition we’re sharing links to events around the State aimed at reducing stigma, raising awareness, and promoting hope and recovery. Other highlights include:

  • Erie County’s data-driven, system-wide collaboration to reduce the use of acute behavioral health services;
  • New brief video resources to support trauma sensitive approaches at school and at home; and
  • Upcoming training opportunities in Motivational Interviewing – September and October

As always, you’ll also find links to program updates, recent presentations, and other resources we hope you’ll find helpful. 
Recognizing September as Recovery Month and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month with Events Around NYS

Each September, SAMHSA sponsors Recovery Month to increase awareness and understanding of mental and substance use disorders and to celebrate people in recovery. The   annual theme  is Join the Voices for Recovery: Invest in Health, Home, Purpose, and Community . Visit the SAMHSA website to learn more about Recovery Month and the resources SAMHSA has made available for communities.

September is also National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — a time to raise awareness and work to end the stigma that often prevents people in need from seeking mental health help.    Visit NAMI and SAMHSA for additional information and crisis resources.

So many communities across New York State are hosting events to support recovery and suicide prevention efforts. We’ve included links to some events  here with links to more detailed information. You can also connect with your local Mental Health Department to find out about other opportunities in your community.
Erie County: Systemic Collaboration to Reduce Urgent Care

In May of 2017, the Erie County Department of Mental Health (ECDMH), under the leadership of John Grieco, Assistant Commissioner/Planning and Analysis, partnered with CCSI’s Center for Collaboration in Community Health on the Erie PSYCKES Project, with the goal of reducing the use of acute services (Emergency Room, behavioral health hospitalizations and re-hospitalizations) for clients treated in the behavioral health community. This project uses the acute service utilization data available in t he Psychiatric Services and Clinical Knowledge Enhancement System ( PSYCKES ), a web-based tool developed by the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYS OMH), that uses administrative data from the NYS Medicaid claims database to generate quality indicators and summarize treatment histories. PSYCKES data are used to inform effective interventions at the client, program, agency, and system levels and to help clients get their needs met at lower levels of care. 
 
The main features of the Erie PSYCKES project include the Erie PSYCKES Tool which offers a visual representation of acute service utilization data from PSYCKES in a, secure, easy to understand, interactive web-based data dashboard. The Erie PSYCKES Tool has been the focal point of the project’s multi-stakeholder group meetings attended by organizations involved in many facets of care, as well as a separate collaborative effort between four behavioral health agencies working together to share best practice approaches to reducing the use of acute services for their clients.   Click here to continue reading.
Pictured from left to right: Victoria Patti, Coordinator of the Community Alliance for Suicide Prevention; Carri Raynor, Organizer of the Raynor Memorial Golf Tournament; and Annie Rosenthal, Public Relations Coordinator at Chautauqua Tapestry
Chautauqua Tapestry and Raynor Memorial Golf Tournament Honored with SAMHSA Silver Award

The Chautauqua Tapestry System of Care Initiative was recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for its work in partnership with the Raynor Memorial Golf Tournament for suicide awareness and prevention outreach with a Silver Award. Each year SAMHSA holds the Excellence in Community Communications and Outreach (ECCO) Recognition Program which showcases and celebrates the outstanding achievements in communications and social marketing by system of care communities. 
The Chautauqua Tapestry System of Care initiative is directed under the County’s Department of Mental Hygiene, and works to improve children’s mental health services within Chautauqua County by strengthening the existing services and providers through increased collaboration and communication.

This year’s golf tournament, the Sixth Annual Raynor Memorial Golf Tournament will be held on Saturday, September 8 th at Maplehurst Country Club in Lakewood, NY. Proceeds from the tournament go to The Community Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Chautauqua County in honor of the memory of Danny Raynor, who lost his life to suicide in 2007. Over $60,000 has been raised since the tournament’s first year in 2013. All of the funds raised have been donated towards the fight against suicide in the Western New York Region.  Click here to read more.
Facilitated Enrollment Program Expansion

Funded by the NYS Department of Health and part of a statewide network coordinated by Community Service Society of NY, CCSI’s Facilitated Enrollment - Aged, Blind or Disabled (FE-ABD) team provides in-person assistance to individuals applying for or renewing their public health insurance. FE-ABD helps individuals who are age 65 and older, blind or disabled and need additional assistance with enrolling in and maintaining their health care coverage through public health insurance programs. 

The grant was expanded this year to provide Medicare enrollment assistance to individuals in jeopardy of losing their Medicaid benefits for failure to apply for Medicare. CCSI's Facilitated Enrollers can now support individuals in applying for Medicare - assisting them with applying online or setting up phone or in-person appointments through the local Social Security Office. For more information about the program and to connect with a Facilitated Enroller, click here .
Elizabeth Meeker, PsyD
Director
Practice Transformation
Coordinated Care Services, Inc.
Facts Sheets Now Available for New Video Training Series on Trauma Sensitive Approaches for Home and School
CCSI recently worked with Formed Families Forward to create a video training series about trauma sensitive approaches for home and school. The series sets the stage for deeper learning and practice, and each video is less than 10 minutes. The videos can be found on the Formed Families Forward YouTube channel . The one-page fact sheets that accompany the videos are now available on their website at the links below:

For more information about trauma-sensitive approaches, contact Elizabeth Meeker, PsyD, Director, Practice Transformation at emeeker@ccsi.org
James Monfort
Manager of Financial Services, Senior Consultant
Center for Collaboration in Community Health
Coordinated Care Services, Inc.
Financial Services Update

NYS OASAS 2019 Budget Packages are Out!
2019 OASAS Budget Packets have gone out to counties. County LGU’s are expected to forward the budget materials and their related funding detail to their county funded provider agencies. Agency providers must submit their 2019 Prospective Budget packages to the county, not the OASAS Field Office. Counties are expected to review the budgets ahead of submitting them to the Regional Field Offices by Monday October 1 st . The most recent version of the CFRS software (version 30.0.301) is a requirement for submitting the 2019 Budgets. If you don’t have the most recent version of the software, it can be found here .



Our Syracuse Teams Move to New Office Space at Rockwest Center

Last month, CCSI and Onondaga County employees moved to their new office space at Rockwest Center, 1003 West Fayette Street, in Syracuse. Employees have been settling in over this past month. We are excited for this new space which will provide many opportunities to continue to work in partnership with Onondaga County. Stay tuned for more to come about our work in Syracuse!
Trainings, Webinars, and Conferences
Amy Scheel-Jones, MS. ED
Senior Consultant
Practice Transformation
Coordinated Care Services, Inc.
From ACEs to Assets: Supporting the Growth of Resilience to Improve Education, Health, and Wellness Outcomes

Last month, the Community Technical Assistance Center of New York (CTAC) hosted a webinar giving an overview of what we can do to help youth who have experienced adversity, trauma and toxic stress, overcome these experiences, recover and lead healthy lives. Amy Scheel-Jones, MS. ED, Senior Consultant, Practice Transformation, CCSI, spoke about the innovative work done in Monroe County to include Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) questions and indicators of resilience in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). While these data illustrate the significant level of exposure to trauma in our region, the analyses also showed that we can mediate the impact of this exposure by concentrating on the things that build resilience in young people. 
Amy explained how to improve youth social and interpersonal skills, internal personal strengths, and external resources and supports, as well as how to foster the 7 C’s of resilience . To achieve a trauma responsive education setting, Amy demonstrated how resilience development strategies may be easily aligned with a multi-tiered system of support. Different interventions may be used to support youth in each tier. Her practical examples of resilience development drawn from the work of the Resiliency Learning Collaborative help clearly illustrate how to implement these approaches with youth. Click here to view the webinar, and contact Amy at ascheel-jones@ccsi.org to talk further about how your organization can improve youth resilience.
Motivational Interviewing Training Series - "The Spirit & Skills of MI"
with Cheryl Martin

(CEU and CASAC credits available through this training series)

Over the past few years there has been increased attention on Motivational Interviewing as an evidenced-based practice that supports both engagement and change. MI is a “way of being with others” that can strengthen relationships and open the door to behavior change. MI is collaborative and empathetic, while recognizing and honoring the autonomy of every individual. When the spirit and skills of MI are fully embraced, safety and trust can grow. The person receiving MI is viewed as the expert about her/himself and it is the counselor’s responsibility to evoke and listen deeply to the ideas and beliefs of that person, because it is their perspective and values that will support the change that is being sought.

Click on the link below for more details and to register:


NYSCRC 2018 New York State Lifespan Respite Sustainability Summit  

New York State Caregiving & Respite Coalition (NYSCRC) is a partnership of dedicated organizations and individuals committed to supporting the millions of family caregivers in NYS. NYSCRC members understand the unique needs of caregivers. Through training and education, they focus on increasing caregivers' access to respite resources. By speaking with a unified voice, they gain the attention of policymakers for the needs of family caregivers.

The NYSCRC 2018 NYS Lifespan Respite Sustainability Summit will be on Thursday, October 18th from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM at Hearst Media Center in Albany, NY. The purpose of the Summit is to: strengthen state and community partnerships to sustain Lifespan Respite activities; develop strategies to maximize use of existing respite resources and identify and leverage new respite funds; engage in sustainability planning; and generate innovative activities for future development. The Summit aims to connect policymakers, researchers, family caregivers, and statewide partners to exchange knowledge and expertise, leading to the development of a statewide strategy for strengthening the respite care system. Click here to register.
Supporting the Community School Implementation at Enrico Fermi School 17 in Rochester

As lead agency for the Enrico Fermi School 17 community schools implementation, CCSI works in partnership with students, families, teachers and the community to coordinate strategies for organizing the resources of the community around student success. With the beginning of the new school year, CCSI and School 17's community partners came together last week for a Back to School Bash where families enjoyed a BBQ, met with community partner organizations, learned how to be involved in the school, got haircuts, jumped in the bounce house, had their faces painted, got child ID cards, won school supplies, and more! Check out the photos on our Facebook page !
School 17 focuses on educating the whole child by looking at more than just the academics. To ensure student success, they identify and address any other needs the students and their families may have, such as food insecurity or dental care. Learn more about what's different at School 17, and what it means to be an Agent of Change from this video of Alva Vives , a K/1 Grade Level Team Leader, talking about her experience at the school.
Want to hear more? If you haven’t yet had the chance, we hope you’ll check out our Facebook page for more CCSI news and resources.