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Dear Benchmarks' Members,
We have just a few more items to share with you for your consideration!
Take care of each other and stay safe and healthy!
The Benchmarks' Team
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Urgent Action Alert for Your Consideration
Congress is currently drafting the 4th COVID-19 Relief Bill and we need to ensure there is additional funding for child welfare and for resources to support our child welfare and behavioral health workers who are providing direct services and who are at risk of exposure to COVID-19.
PLEASE contact your Senators/Representatives today, or as soon as possible, and let them know this funding is critical for the next COVID-19 Relief Bill.
Attached is a letter you can use as a template. Please insert your personal information where is it highlighted, or if you don't have time to insert your personal information, just delete the highlighted portion and send the message! Examples of additional costs incurred due to COVID-19 I have heard include:
- Salary increases, incentives or bonuses to recruit and retain staff to provide direct care for children
- Childcare for foster parents who have essential jobs, when normally the children would be in school
- Supplemental payments to foster families where the foster parents have lost their jobs
- Technology - upgrades, tablets, laptops, phones, etc... for staff, foster parents and children
- Additional staff to care for children at a facility when typically, the children would be in school
- Personal Protective Equipment when it can be purchased
- Thermometers, wipes, hand sanitizer, and other supplies necessary for cleaning and monitoring the health condition of the children and staff
OUR MESSAGE:
Congress should prioritize the needs of youth and families and the human services workforce in at least two ways:
- Allocate an additional $4.1 Billion for Social Services Block Grants (SSBG) to states to cover new expenses incurred by COVID-19 response and recovery. This flexible funding can be used to address the current and emerging needs of vulnerable children and families. States can use this funding to fill in the gaps and provide essential services now and in the wake of the evolving crisis.
- Support the essential human services workforce. This current crisis is requiring child welfare, mental and behavioral health care workers to put their lives on the line everyday as they continue to provide direct services for our vulnerable children and families. Providers of services are doing their best to balance the risk to their staff with the necessity of providing care and treatment for children and families who may have been exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19. It is imperative that we compensate those willing to provide this extraordinary care. Please provide "hazard pay" or "emergency COVID-19 response pay" to those essential workers on the frontlines, including human services staff, whose jobs require risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Please take a few minutes and respond to this action alert today!!! THANK YOU!
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Using Telehealth to Bridge Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 28, 2020 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Live Streaming
Sy Saeed, MD, Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University
DESCRIPTION:
During these times of social distancing associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to make sure that our communities have access to mental health and addiction services. We also need to prepare for a surge in mental health and substance use disorder patients that will occur both during the pandemic and in its aftermath. Telehealth offers great potential in improving patient access to mental health care. Its use can help bridge social distance, even while physical distancing measures are in place. Telehealth services are perfectly suited to this pandemic situation, giving people in remote locations access to important services without increasing risk of infection.
Providers' lack of familiarity with the technology and inadequate training are amongst the current barriers to expanding the use of telehealth. This webinar will provide a practical and evidence-based approach to patient-centered clinical care delivered in whole or in part by technological devices and applications. It will include a discussion of the "nuts and bolts" of delivering telehealth/telepsychiatry services, standardized approaches in telehealth/telepsychiatry care, and discussion of barriers in delivering telehealth/telepsychiatry services.
Objectives:
- Summarize evidence supporting the use of telehealth and telepsychiatry Describe the demonstrated benefits of using telehealth in healthcare settings
- Describe common barriers to use of telepsychiatry and telehealth
- Identify the infrastructure needs to implement telehealth services for the assessment and treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders
- Describe basic technological concerns, clinical issues, and workflows for mental health clinicians who seek to learn the models and methods of telepsychiatry and telehealth
Credit:
Contact hours, NBCC, Category A Psychology, and NASW-NC
Who Should Attend: All behavioral health and health care providers are invited to attend this free webinar.
Registration Fee: $0.00
Registration is required.
If you would like more information on the program, please contact Bryn Plummer at [email protected]
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