September 2021
BPA Health Provider Network Newsletter
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BPA Health News, Updates, and Reminders:
 
Student and Family Assistance Program (SFAP) - BPA Health is excited to announce a new partnership aimed at addressing student mental health and supporting families in our community. On September 1, 2021, the Twin Falls School District began offering the Student and Family Assistance Program (SFAP) through BPA Health for every enrolled student.

This offering includes five counseling sessions for each student and their families. These sessions are free to the student and family members and are solution-focused, allowing students to reduce problems that interfere with their academic success. The SFAP offers in-person counseling as well as virtual appointments so that families can access the help they need in a timely manner.

Additionally, the SFAP features a crisis hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for families and students who need immediate assistance. And, the SFAP through BPA Health offers additional support services including legal and financial consultation and planning along with a website that provides a full suite of legal forms and documents, webinars, articles, and other resources to promote well-being.

The SFAP is now live in Idaho with the Twin Falls School District on September 1, 2021 and we look forward to expanding this critical program across the state to reach more students and their families!

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The Idaho Lives Project has partnered with BPA Health to provide free 8-week support groups for people who have attempted suicide. These groups are for adults ages 18 and over and will take place statewide and/or virtually once a sufficient number of participants have registered in each region. Space will be limited. These confidential, closed groups will be facilitated by a licensed clinician and a peer with lived experience of surviving a suicide attempt. People interested in participating should call 208-947-5155 to be added to registration list. A clinician will follow up with them shortly afterwards for the next steps.

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Counseling Assistance for Frontline/Essential Workers (Idaho): Good news! This program has been extended through August of 2022! Anyone who is a frontline / essential worker is eligible for five or more free counseling sessions if they do not have other access to counseling through private insurance or an EAP (though people with a barrier due to cost or high deductibles are eligible!)

Do you know someone who provides, or do you yourself provide, face-to-face services in the community? Grocery workers, transportation workers, counselors, medical professionals, in-home caregivers, etc.? Click here for details or call (866)536-0239 for a referral for free counseling sessions today.

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Client engagement and customer service reminder: when you receive an authorization to provide a service please follow up with the client to schedule an appointment. For those providers seeing Idaho SUD funded clients, if you are unable to see the client, please make sure to decline the authorization in WITS so the client can be authorized to see another provider.

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In case you missed it... Additional recovery services are now available for eligible individuals who are in the process of applying for Idaho Medicaid and seeking Idaho funded substance use disorder services. Click the link for more information: DHW Services While Applying for Medicaid Provider Communication

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Move recently? Accepting new clients? Not taking new clients? – Please make sure to keep your profile current. Here are links to the correct form:


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BPA Health is seeking feedback in order to improve our services. Would you please take one minute to respond to our two-question survey? We’d sure appreciate it!

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BPA Health is Growing!

For over 40 years, BPA Health has pioneered behavioral health in Idaho and the Northwest. We are committed to providing real and human solutions that make lives better, organizations more effective, and communities stronger. And we’re growing! Please click on the links below to apply for our current contracted job openings:



BPA Health is seeking to contract with qualified behavioral health Regional Clinical Case Managers (RCCM) for Regions 6 and 7 in Eastern Idaho. The RCCM will work approximately 10-12 hours per month as part of the Idaho Lives Project/Garrett Lee Smith grant in assisting in reintegrating referred youth who have attempted suicide or who struggle with severe ideation. The RCCM will work with 4-10 families per year and will facilitate young adult peer led support groups, maintain relationships with local schools and participates in monthly staffing calls with the Idaho Lives team at BPA Health. This is a great opportunity to keep your current client caseload and supplement your income. If interested in working more hours, we would be willing to discuss contracting with one person to work in both Regions.
Resources/TIPs/Funding opportunities:
 
Idaho Strong COVID Help Now Line (Idaho): 8 am – 8 pm MST/Monday - Friday. The COVID Help Now Line offers statewide support for Idahoans challenged by the stress associated with this global pandemic. Call or text (986) 867-1073 or toll free (866) 947-5186. You may also now chat with a live representative! Click here for more information.

New Funding Opportunity/ Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations: The Idaho Office of Drug Policy is awarding grants for primary prevention programs and activities across Idaho.  Applications due 09/30/2021.  Click here for more information.
Upcoming Events and Training Opportunities:
 
BPA Health Events:

September 21, 2021 - (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. MT) - Critical Incident Response (CIR) Provider Training – Two free CE credits for providers in BPA Health’s EAP/SFAP network. Click Here for more information and to register.

Mon. September 27, 2021 (9:00 a.m. -10:00 a.m. MT) or Wed. September 29, 2021 (1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. MT) - Community Conversations on Suicide Prevention in Youths: A Project of the Idaho Lives Project and BPA Health. Click Here for more information and to register for either date.

External Trainings:





October 24 – 26, 2021National Alliance of Recovery Residences (NARR) 2021 Best Practices Summit - Two days online or in-person in Richmond, Virginia.  

Suicide Prevention Month Blog
 
by Starr Shepard, Community Programs Manager for BPA Health
 
Nearly half of all suicides (43%) occur within a month of someone being discharged from a psychiatric hospital, and 47% of those people died before their first aftercare visit. The most high-risk time for these completed suicides is within the first week after hospital discharge.[1] This period provides a critical opportunity to introduce prevention strategies and continuity of care when someone is moving from inpatient to outpatient treatment. Mental health experts believe that follow-up support such as phone calls, text messages, emails, home visits can be effective in preventing 20% of suicide deaths in people discharged from hospitals.[2]
 
Data was collected from 550 callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline that included a self-report from the callers on the follow-up activities they experienced. 79.6% of the callers reported that the follow-ups stopped them from suicide and 90.6% of these callers that the follow-up activities kept them safe.[3]
BPA Health is working in collaboration with the Idaho Lives Project and the Idaho State Department of Education through funding provided by the Garrett Lee Smith Grant to provide case management and follow-up services to youths up to age 24 who have attempted suicide or who are experiencing severe ideation. We are currently accepting referrals, and all services are free of charge. In addition to case management and follow-ups, we also provide Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training to families, discussions with families on reducing shame and blame, safety planning, and referral services.
For youths in need of a risk assessment who do not have access to Medicaid or private insurance, BPA Health provides those as well. If a youth has access to insurance but has a high deductible or is in a geographic location that does not have access to a counselor, we can fill the gaps to make sure they receive the assessment they need in those circumstances, or in any other inability to pay circumstance.
There are several evidence-based strategies that inpatient and outpatient providers can employ to help eradicate suicide in our communities. The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention has published a guide to some best practices that both inpatient and outpatient care providers can incorporate into their practices that will assist in the vulnerable time of a patient in a suicidal crisis transitioning from inpatient to outpatient care.
Working together, we can save lives.
 

[1] Hunt, I. M., et al. (2009). Suicide in recently discharged psychiatric patients: a case-control study. Psychological Medicine 39: 443-449.
[2] Appleby, L., et al. (1999). "Suicide within 12 months of contact with mental health services: National clinical survey." British Medical Journal 318: 1235-1239.
[3] Gould, M., Lake, A., Galfalvy, H., Kleinman, M., Munfakh, J., Wright, J., & McKeon, R. (2017). Follow-up with Callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Evaluation of Callers' Perceptions of Care. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12


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