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Children's Services

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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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Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels

Former Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) Secretary Jennifer Smith has been named Deputy Secretary for the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS). As DDAP Secretary, Smith led DDAP’s efforts to fulfill its mission of engaging and coordinating the commonwealth’s efforts to prevent and reduce substance use disorder and problem gambling and to promote recovery. Smith was integral in the formation and implementation of Pennsylvania’s first licensure program for recovery houses as well as leading Pennsylvania’s treatment system transition away from the Pennsylvania Client Placement Criteria to ASAM Criteria.

Dr. Dale Adair, who has served as Acting Deputy Secretary for OMHSAS, will continue to serve as the Chief Psychiatric Officer for OMHSAS.

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January 18, 2023, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm ET
REGISTER

A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care organizations and care teams need a complete picture of a patient’s life situation — past and present — to provide effective services with a healing orientation. Trauma-informed practices hold the potential to improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes, as well as provider and staff wellness.

This webinar, cosponsored by the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) and the Better Care Playbook, will highlight how Denver Health, a large health system in Colorado, is implementing a trauma- and resilience-informed approach into organization-wide policy and practice, while also focusing on addressing systemic racism and biases. Panelists — including Maria Gonsalves Schimpf, MA, MT-BC, Director, Denver Health RESTORE; Kris Gaw, MBA, FACHE, Chief Operating Officer, Denver Health; and Ken Epstein, PhD, LCSW, Consultant, P.R.E.P. for Change Consulting — will discuss their efforts, including building staff capacity, promoting organizational culture change, and gaining leadership buy in.

Denver Health is a participant in Advancing Integrated Models, a national initiative led by CHCS and made possible through support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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