CCSI News and Updates

The year 2022 marks CCSI’s 30th anniversary, and we hope that you will join us as we celebrate this significant milestone all year long! The theme that will guide us as we honor the many staff, customers, and partnerships that have shaped our organization over the past 30 years is – Rooted in Resilience: Celebrating 30 Years of Innovation & Impact. Please check out our website to learn more. 

One event we’re particularly excited about is Transforming and Sustaining a Culture of Equity: A Data Learning Collaborative. Community-based organizations (CBOs) coming together in this free learning collaborative will receive support in the fundamentals of using data to understand performance, drive improvement, and maximize impact – all with an equity lens.  

At the end of this group learning opportunity, organizations will be eligible to apply for the CCSI Community Collaboration Award, which will support up to $20,000 of consulting services focused on advancing the organization’s data and equity work. Organizations interested in participating in this opportunity should complete the participation survey by March 2^nd.  

Through a series of stories and events throughout 2022, we’ll be journeying through the history of CCSI and our organization’s mission and impact in the Upstate NY region and beyond. Mark these important dates on your calendar, and check out our website for all the details!

Rooted in Resilience: Celebrating 30 Years of Innovation & Impact

Virtual Event

Thursday, September 22, 2022, 3 PM – 5 PM

Transforming & Sustaining a Culture of Equity: A Data Learning Collaborative

Visit our website to learn more and complete the survey by March 2nd to let us know that your organization wants to get involved! Following the end of the series, the cohort participants are invited to apply for CCSI’s Community Collaboration Award, which will support up to $20,000 of consulting services focused on advancing the organization’s data and equity work. 

Tuesday Talks: Building Resilient Communities

• April 19: Racism is a Public Health Crisis
• May 17: Reshaping Mental Health Services
• June 21: Transforming Crisis Response Systems
• July 19: Racial Equity and Data Innovation
• August 16: School Culture and Climate
• September 20: Building Resilient Organizations Through Adaptive Leadership

Accelerating Community Impact: A Legislative Open House Event

Friday, May 6, 2022

CCSI 30th Anniversary:

Rooted in Resilience Video Series

Over the next eight months, we'll be sharing stories of innovation and impact in our 30th Anniversary Rooted in Resilience video series featuring CCSI customers, partners, board members, and staff. Videos will include our significant moments and impact highlights throughout our 30-year history, as well as share the vision for where CCSI is heading.

Be sure to watch our first two episodes! Hear from the first President of CCSI, Glenn Gravino about how the organization was formed in 1992. Glenn recognized how community behavioral health is important to a community's wellbeing and that governmental partners could benefit from a management services agency that could offer speed, flexibility, and specialized expertise.

In Episode 2, Tom Riley, the first Board Chair of CCSI, reflects back on moving into the Jay Street office, the CCSI leadership around coordinating person-centered services in the community, and how CCSI played a role in moving behavioral health to the forefront of healthcare as a critical component to a fully comprehensive service system.

Take Care That DEI Efforts Do Not Tokenize Employees

While organizations may have good intentions to increase diversity and create an equitable culture that values inclusion, if there isn’t a clear, strategic plan, deliverables, or expected outcomes, this will likely result in the perpetuation of the harm and indignities these organizations have pledged to disavow. Check out this recent Rochester Business Journal article by CCSI Chief Diversity Officer, Kesha Carter, to learn more about how organizations can ensure their DEI efforts do not tokenize employees.

Welcome, Ja'Mia Hewitt!

CCSI is pleased to welcome Ja’Mia Hewitt to our Essential Business Services team! As the Compliance Manager, Mia will partner with operational leaders to ensure full implementation of the CCSI Compliance Program, and support external customers with managing the process associated with customer compliance and privacy policies, independently conducting compliance audits, and more.

Prior to joining CCSI, Mia worked as a Clinical Regulatory Compliance Specialist at Rochester Regional Health, where she evaluated the hospital’s clinical compliance with healthcare laws, regulations, standards, and quality of care, while identifying areas of non-compliance. Mia has a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing, a Masters of Science in Health Administration, and is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). She also recently earned her Healthcare Accreditation Certified Professional in CMS Standards Certification.

Mia is excited to bring her clinical compliance expertise, along with her nursing experience of more than 16 years to CCSI, partnering with our CCO to further the Compliance department.

Rise Up Rochester, Inc. Empowers the Community to Establish and Maintain a Nonviolent Culture

CCSI is proud to be partnering with Rise Up Rochester, Inc., a non-profit that empowers the community to establish and maintain a nonviolent culture and provides support to crime victims and their families. Check out this brief video from their Executive Director, Wanda Ridgeway, to hear about how they have been making an impact in the City of Rochester. 

Areas of Practice Spotlight:

System and Practice Transformation

Throughout the year, we’ll be spotlighting the areas of practice in the CCSI Consulting Division. While these areas are individual, highly-specialized content areas, most of our customer projects include team members from across multiple areas. This integrated, multi-disciplinary approach is one of the things we think makes CCSI unique – we often refer to it as “One CCSI.”

This month, we’ll be focusing on the System and Practice Transformation team, which partners with people working in service systems and organizations to understand, implement, and sustain practices aimed at improving the way care is provided, as well as enhancing organizational culture. We met with Elizabeth Meeker, Senior Director for System and Practice Transformation to learn more about what the team does, what projects she’s excited about, and more.

RIT Partnership Brings Behavioral Health Professionals to the Rochester Area

CCSI partners with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) behavioral health and clinical psychology program, where we have been fortunate to work with some excellent clinical psychology interns over the years. The program’s director, Dr. Caroline Easton was featured recently in a Rochester Beacon article, where she talked about the program’s goals to grow the numbers of mental health and addiction counselors in the Rochester area, as well as address the poor access to behavioral health services, especially among underserved populations. The accredited program offers clinical training for doctorate-level psychology interns, much like medical residents, and encourages them to establish their careers in Rochester. The fellows also provide clinical services at the RIT Priority Behavioral Health Clinic, multiple Rochester Regional Health locations, and House of Mercy. CCSI currently has two interns from the program, Noora Abdulkerim, MS, MEd and Siena Tugendrajch, MA.

Promoting Mental Health and Criminal Justice Collaboration Through System-Level Partnerships

Recent high-profile deaths of unarmed individuals in police custody have raised concerns about the role of police officers in responding to people who are experiencing mental health crises. Of further concern, people with serious mental illness are highly over-represented throughout the entire criminal justice system including within jail, prison, and community corrections populations. It is widely accepted that promoting mental health and criminal justice collaboration is a key to addressing these concerns. Read more about this sort of collaboration in this recently published Frontiers in Psychiatry article.

Mobile Crisis Provider System Enhancement

CCSI is excited to be partnering with New York State Office of Mental Health (NYS OMH) to support expansion and enhancements to the Mobile Crisis Response System in NYS. This three-year initiative increases not only the quality of services, but also the quantity, meaning that areas currently without mobile crisis services will have them available moving forward to better meet the needs of these communities. As part of this initiative, CCSI is providing technical assistance to: 1) support organizations to bill for mobile crisis services for Medicaid eligible individuals, and 2) increase the overall percentage of services billed via Medicaid over time. The goal will be to then use the additional Medicaid revenue to enhance the service system through the coming years.

Welcome, Erika Green!

We are pleased to welcome Erika Green as the Senior Director of Program Management for the CCSI Program Management Services line! In her new role, Erika is responsible for developing and maintaining productive and collaborative relationships with significant CCSI customers, providing guidance and leadership to senior-level CCSI program managers and site administrators, and more.

Before coming to CCSI, Erika was the Chief Program Officer at Ibero-American Action League, Inc. where she was responsible for executive and operational oversight of a variety of programs in the Finger Lakes and Capital Regions. She has worked in the non-profit industry in Rochester for 12+ years serving organizations who provide behavioral health services to vulnerable populations. 

Erika is also a member of the Rochester Regional Health Extended Care Board of Directors and an Adjunct Professor at Monroe Community College. She has a Dual Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Political Science, as well as a Master's Degree in Strategic Leadership, and she brings to CCSI an expertise in operations, quality improvement, workforce development, and strategic leadership.

NY State of Health Partners with Major Media Groups to Reach Diverse Audiences

Luis Morales, Outreach Specialist for the CCSI Navigator Program, was recently featured in the NY State of Health Assistor Newsletter after interviewing with Spanish television networks Telemundo, Univision, and El Diario, where he shared important information with Hispanic audiences to help uninsured community members access health coverage and answered questions on how community members can enroll in a plan. The interview segments aired in November, December, and January. View the full January Assistor Newsletter here, and watch Luis' interview segments with Acceso Total Neuva York on their Facebook page, or the segment with Univision below!

Tips to Protect Yourself and Your Workplace from Ransomware

Many of you reading this article have seen the news that cyberattacks are on the rise across the country and even the world. In 2020, New York ranked #4 by number of victims (34,505) and #2 by victim loss ($415,812,917) out of all states. Cyberattacks occur against individuals and businesses, and no person or organization is excluded from cyberthreats. Of the top cyberthreats in 2021, ransomware nears the top of the list. It’s important to understand the dangers of ransomware and learn how you can protect yourself and your workplace.

Podcast

Bravery in HR

Tune in to episode 14 of the HRevolution podcast to hear from CCSI Chief Human Resource Officer Barbara Marianetti DesRosiers! She speaks with Kevyn Rustici and Christopher Darone about:

• Intentional culture
• The transformation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), not as a function of HR
• Effective communication with an invitation to have employees ask tough questions
• Focusing on the individual
• Showing up, as ourselves and for others
• Everyone as a leader in the organization

New CCSI HR Director Shaunta Collier-Rankin Speaks about Transparent Leadership through a Black and Brown Lens

CCSI is pleased to welcome Shaunta Collier-Rankin as the new Director of Human Resources! In her role, Shaunta provides direction, guidance, and oversight of the HR Department and drives continuous improvement initiatives and operational excellence in HR service delivery at CCSI. Prior to joining CCSI, Shaunta has held many leadership roles, most recently as the Director of Human Resources at Empowering People’s Independence (EPI).

Shaunta recently presented at RIT’s 2022 Women’s Leadership Summit about Transparent Leadership through a Black and Brown Lens. As a member of the Black and Brown community, Shaunta has been in many leadership roles and has developed a transparent approach to leadership through this special lens. Her experiences, and responses to those experiences, which she spoke about in her presentation, help others understand how frequently Black and Brown leaders must adjust their approach and responses to be understood. Shaunta’s experience running a PR and Marketing organization for nearly 20 years and her progressive professional career in fundraising/development, marketing, and human resources have given her lots of case studies. Check out that presentation below!

Thank You for Your Feedback!

Thank you to our customers who took the time to offer feedback through our annual customer survey. We have been reviewing your input, and have appreciated learning more about how CCSI has helped to have a direct impact on the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of your organization's work, as well as better understanding areas where we can continue to grow and develop. We were encouraged to hear more about how you have adapted the ways you work during the COVID-19 pandemic. As always, we will be using your feedback to shape our plans and priorities for the year.

“Managing the State Aid process in our County has been quite a challenge for a number of years. Jim Monfort's knowledge and expertise in this area has given us the opportunity to better understand the process. The workflows and documents set up by CCSI are invaluable and great time savers. I think that Jim and CCSI do amazing work.”

Bonnie Halley

LGU Coordinator

Rockland County Mental Health

Welcome to Our New Customers

CCSI is pleased to have begun working with the following customers:

• Action for a Better Community, Inc.
• Dutchess County, Community & Family Services (DCFS)
• Genesee County Office for the Aging
• LeMoyne College
• Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI)
• Pivot 2 Health
• Rise Up Rochester, Inc.
• Seaway Valley Council
• Upstate New York Collaboration of Colleges (UNYCC)

Welcome, Dennis Schrader!

Dennis Schrader started his CCSI career at the beginning of 2022 as the Director of Marketing and Communications. In this role, Dennis oversees the development and execution of the CCSI strategic marketing, communications, and public relations plan by partnering with Senior Leadership to develop, direct, and implement internal and external messaging and communication strategies for CCSI, and more.

Prior to joining the CCSI team, Dennis was the Director of Marketing Communications for People Inc., where he planned, implemented, and measured the success of their comprehensive marketing, communications, and public relations program. Through the last 20+ years, Dennis has demonstrated success in leading teams to produce plans and comprehensive campaigns in multi-sized markets across New York State for local, regional, and national organizations.

Dennis has served as a volunteer board and committee member for various Western New York non-profit organizations dedicated to improving lives and strengthening communities. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from SUNY Oswego, Dennis brings his expertise and tenacity to this newly created position.

CCSI is Growing!

CCSI has a need for talented professionals looking to contribute their expertise, expand their influence, and manage their careers to meet personal aspirations. We offer opportunities across different service lines, geographies, and functions.

Want to hear more? If you haven’t yet had the chance, we hope you’ll check out our social media pages for more CCSI news and resources.