2016-153 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Reinvestment Grant#RFA06H16GS1 Working Draft ® Mental Health Connections —Working to develop a centralized access point for information, referral, and care coordination around mental health services; ® Diversion Strategies —Working on solutions and alternatives for the mentally ill in the criminal justice system. As the Diversion Strategies group began their assessment of the community, it was quickly realized that a Mental Health Court was critically needed to increase access, decrease client recidivism and facilitate county wide support surrounding incarcerated individuals who present with mental health issues Strategic planning to implement a Mental Health Court Program in Indian River County began in 2009 under the leadership of Judge Cynthia Cox of the Circuit Court of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit and Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar. The Indian River County Mental Health Court began operations on January 27, 2015, and the plan is reviewed quarterly. In the first year, IRCMHC served 120 individuals when the capacity was set for 60. As a result of the Mental Health Court pilot, there have been some improvements in the continuum of care and services to the incarcerated. However, due to the higher than expected number of referrals, timely coordinated access to mental health and substance abuse services has not yet fully realized. Some of the biggest challenges, other than funding, that IRCMHC faces are: the coordination of care, timely access to services, and the ability to track services and outcomes for individuals throughout their involvement and up to one year after discharge from the program and housing. SEFBHN excels in these areas and, with this increased funding, we will be empowered to more rigorously implement our coordination of care strategies to most effectively serve this fragile and challenging population. The SEFBHN coordination of care goals will directly impact the overall strategic plan for creating positive outcomes for the individuals and the greater community served by this grant award. The short-term goals of implementing care coordination are to: improve transitions from acute and restrictive to less restrictive community-based levels of care through education and training of network providers and activities by the SEFBHN Coordination of Care and Quality Teams; increase diversions from state mental health treatment facility admissions; decrease avoidable hospitalizations, inpatient care, incarcerations, and homelessness; and, increase the focus on coordination of care activities that support community integration and whole health and wellness and empowering self-direction. And, the long-term goals of implementing care coordination are to: shift from an acute care model of care to a recovery model; offer an array of services and supports to meet an individual's chosen pathway to recovery; through coordination of care activities and collaboration with network providers and stakeholders, identify opportunities for enhancing or modifying services and supports that promote recovery oriented care. Sustainable changes are possible through access to timely, appropriate and monitored services. One of the most significant impediments to the target population is mental illness and/or co-occurring substance abuse, and the lack of access to social services and treatment for these issues, particularly for individuals facing homelessness and without medical insurance. Through active engagement with our network of providers and our online data portal, SEFBHN is able to track each consumer's overall participation in services creating opportunities to intervene with adaptive strategies when necessary in Page 12 of 33