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Children's Services

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Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels

The Board of Directors of Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania is pleased to announce the hiring of a new President and Chief Executive Officer, Monique McIntosh. Monique becomes the eighth Goodwill SWPA Chief Executive since its founding in 1919.

Monique joins Goodwill SWPA from her most recent position as the Chief Program Officer of YWCA Greater Pittsburgh, where she has served in various leadership capacities, including Co-Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Administrative Officer. She currently manages organization programs and evaluation in her role as Chief Program Officer. Previous to her leadership of the YWCA, she served as Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh’s Vice President of Programs and Services. In each of these roles, she expanded the reach and effectiveness of the organization.

Monique is a member of The Forbes Fund Advisory Council and United Way of Southwestern PA Women’s Leadership Council Diversity Work Group. Monique serves on the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation Board, where she chairs the Development Committee and the Sixth Economic Empowerment Development Corporation Board. She also serves as an Advisory Committee member for the Homewood Community Development Collaborative and a Core Team member for the Homewood Comprehensive Community Plan, formally adopted into the city’s Comprehensive Plan. She is an Advisory Committee member for the University of Pittsburgh Community Engagement Center. Monique received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Education from Penn West California.

Monique succeeds Michael Smith, who retired last fall after serving as Goodwill SWPA’s President/CEO for 20 years. She will officially begin in her new role on March 1, 2023. Monique represents a considerable step forward for Goodwill SWPA and its commitment to integrating diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into how they function, as the first woman and person of color to lead the organization.

Goodwill SWPA is a diversified nonprofit human service agency that serves southwestern Pennsylvania and north central West Virginia and manages several affiliate units and special-purpose entities, including Goodwill Commercial Services, Inc. and Mission Logistics, LLC. The agency operates 34 retail stores and several other businesses to help fund programs and to provide job training, education and related services to help people overcome employment barriers. The organization serves over 10,000 adults and youth annually while employing over 1,000 people with an annual budget of over $60 million.

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Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels

Step By Step is delighted to announce Lynn Miller has become their Vice President of Business and Program Development.

Eric Lindey, President/CEO of Step By Step shared: “We are thrilled to have Lynn join the Step By Step team! Her work throughout Pennsylvania and the US is well documented and we look forward to developing new services and partnerships with other providers that will continue our mission under Lynn’s direction.”

Lynn most recently served as the national senior justice/WRAP associate and consultant at Advocates for Human Potential. Prior to joining Advocates for Human Potential, Lynn accepted the state’s first position as the Department of Correction’s Mental Health Advocate, where she was responsible for advising the Secretary of Corrections on improvements to the prison’s behavioral health care services, including services for individuals with intellectual disabilities and dually diagnosed individuals. Lynn also served as the Chief of Staff in the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS).

Lynn has a Bachelor of Science degree in behavioral science and earned her Master of Health Education degree from the Pennsylvania State University. She is also a member of the state’s trauma informed initiative, which is intended to guide the Commonwealth and service providers on what it means to be trauma-informed and healing-centered.

RCPA extends our sincere congratulations to Ms. Miller and we look forward to working with you!

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Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

RCPA’s Behavioral Health Division committees and work groups are the foundation of our legislative and advocacy efforts on behalf of members. Member involvement in these groups provides unique perspectives on operational and service-level experiences that shape our positions and strategies.

There are larger bi-monthly Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Adult and Children’s Mental Health Division meetings that include stakeholder updates and discussions. DDAP, OMHSAS, OCYF, and guest speakers from across the continuum of human services typically participate in these meetings. Additionally, we have several active specific work groups that include:

SUD Committees Adult MH Committee
Opioid Treatment Programs Adult Mental Health Steering Committee
Centers of Excellence 988/Crisis Services
SUD Regulatory Reform ACT Program
SUD Legislative Regulatory Reform
Children’s MH Committees Combined SUD/MH Committees
Children’s Steering Committee Telehealth
IBHS Work Group Criminal Justice
Children’s Residential Services Value-Based Purchasing
School-Based Behavioral Health ICWC/CCBHC
Early Intervention Workforce
Family-Based Services Ad Hoc Group

Several of the groups are open only to provider members, while others include any interested member. Participation in the groups is open to individuals that you feel best fit the needs of your organization. If you would like to participate in any of the committees or work groups, please contact your Behavioral Health Division Directors Jim Sharp or Jason Snyder. We look forward to collaborating with you in the future.

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The RCPA 988/Crisis Regulations Work Group meeting has been rescheduled to Monday, February 6, 2023, at 3:00 pm. The group was originally slated to meet on March 23, 2023, but there was a request from the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) to meet with our members to review several important crisis system updates as well as information regarding a small provider work group to collaborate with OHMSAS for a specific project around mobile crisis.

In addition to the OMHSAS updates, we will revisit the activities of the work group to date, prepare for the OMHSAS section of the call, and map out a strategic agenda in preparation for the release of the crisis regulations.

Register for the meeting here. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.

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By MEDIANEWS GROUP
PUBLISHED: 
NORRISTOWN — The Montgomery County Intermediate Unit has been awarded a $7.2 million four-year grant by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

This highly competitive Project AWARE grant, for which the intermediate unit will receive $1.8 million a year for four years, has only been awarded to approximately 20 entities across the United States.

Project AWARE is a nationwide grant created to develop a sustainable infrastructure for school-based mental health programs and services. The intermediate unit provides programs and services to Montgomery County school districts, career and technical schools, non-public schools and other organizations. Through its direct service to students, especially those most at risk, the intermediate unit has been able to identify ways to assist students and their families to navigate mental health supports and services.

“This grant award is a major recognition for the MCIU and reflects all the hard work and accomplishments of our MCIU employees in supporting students and families across the region,” Executive Director Regina Speaker said in a press release issued by the Intermediate Unit. “We appreciate the support of Senator Robert Casey and Congresswoman Madeleine Dean and many other partners, including the Pennsylvania Department of Education, for this grant project.”

The grant project will: expand suicide awareness training opportunities for students(K-12), implement a universal mental health screener to be utilized by school district or nonpublic school staff members and create an electronic data system to connect school mental health practitioners (e.g. psychologists, social workers and counselors) with community-based mental health providers that have immediate availability to support students in all levels of care (outpatient therapy to inpatient psychiatric care).

The MCIU is partnering with two other intermediate units on this project — Luzerne and Carbon-Lehigh County Intermediate Units — to proactively address students’ mental health needs.

RCPA recommends members in the Montgomery County region engage with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit and local school districts for planning and discussions on how your continuum of services may benefit student mental health in the schools.

If you have further questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Mental Health Director Jim Sharp.

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