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NAME: Children’s Practice Group
DATE:March 15, 2016 / Time:
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. / Presiding:
Brian Hancock / Recorded By:
Mary Abrams
PRESENT: Lisa Aragon, Kathy Collins, Lynn Santilli Connor, Mitchell Douglas, Brian Hancock, Denise Massey, Bonny Price, Taylor Snyder, Deb Wolff, John Zukauskus
PRESENT BY PHONE: Mary Jo Buchanan, Ron Defeo, Nicole Digiore, Barbara Dunn, Karen Langefeld, Nina Stolzenberg
Staff: Mary Abrams Guests: Denise Massey, Jessica Trombetta
AGENDA ITEMS/ISSUE / DISCUSSION / ACTIONS TAKEN/ OUTCOME / TIME FRAME / WHO’S RESPONSIBLE
Approval of January 19, 2016 Minutes / N/A / The minutes were m/s/p. / N/A / N/A
Presentation on Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) Overview and Update, Denise Massey and Jessica Trombetta, Office of Adolescent Services, DCF / Jessica Trombetta, Executive Director of Adolescent Services, Department of Children and Families (DCF), stated that 60 of the 100 housing vouchers DCF recently awarded are dedicated to the Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) program (20 to each of three participating counties – Burlington, Mercer and Union). Denise Massey, Connecting YOUth Project Coordinator, DCF, went on to explain that Connecting YOUth is the state’s name for the YARH grant program. DCF compiled at risk and other data for all 21 counties, some of which Jessica and Denise covered in their presentation on the goals, structure and implementation of Connecting YOUth (see powerpoint slides here). / N/A / N/A / N/A
Report Card on Children’s Services: What’s Working, What’s Not, What’s Needed: Discussion Led by Kathy Collins, Executive Director, Monmouth Cares CMO / Kathy Collins kicked off her discussion speaking about the Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative pilot program, noting that 77 pediatricians are participating in Monmouth County. Behavioral health problems were identified for 25 percent of children screened. These youth have been served with community resources (none have been referred to PerformCare and many are managed by their pediatrician in consultation with a psychiatrist). The program is currently being evaluated. Kathy went on to discuss issues surrounding Children’s Crisis Intervention Services (CCIS), substance use services, and decreased residential admissions. It was pointed out that a primary referral source for residential / N/A / N/A / N/A
AGENDA ITEMS/ISSUE / DISCUSSION / ACTIONS TAKEN/ OUTCOME / TIME FRAME / WHO’S RESPONSIBLE
Report Card cont’d. / services used to be Probation /Juvenile Justice Commission, and their numbers are way down. Training on Trauma-informed Care, its availability, cost and investment of staff time, was discussed along with the need to explore modalities other than TF-CBT. Kathy’s discussion wrapped up with a discussion on cultural competency, particularly the good news that a new Intensive-In-Community (IIC) program has a bilingual staff and one who specializes in IDD and substance use. It was noted that a new CMO manual is coming out, that an MRSS manual is being worked on, and a new CIACC manual is to be worked on, as well.
Defunding of Outpatient IDD Programs / These programs have been shifted to Medicaid, which does not cover a holistic approach. What was a 12 to 18 month service has been cut to six to eight months. Providers are anticipating increased ER visits. Licensing requirements for IIC and IIH were discussed – only IIH requires a clinical license and one year DD experience. There had been two rates and it was suggested the lower rate would not be used any more, however, it was stated that there would be exceptions made. / Item tabled for future discussion. / March 15 / Mary Abrams
Updates:
PerformCare;
Juvenile Justice Commission / No one was present from PerformCare or the Juvenile Justice Commission. / N/A / N/A / N/A
Standing Agenda Topics / Some items were already covered (DD, COD) – no additional discussion. / N/A / N/A / N/A
Old and New Business / Gayle Samuels of the Center for the Study of Social Policy explained that she is interested in writing on the intersection of opiate use and child protection. Gayle would like to hear from providers to learn firsthand about their experiences, what is working well in this arena on the federal, state and local levels and where there continues to be challenges. You may reach Gayle at or 202 371-1565.
Mercer County MRSS has a new pilot program for any youth going to a new resource home. This program will roll out / N/A
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AGENDA ITEMS/ISSUE / DISCUSSION / ACTIONS TAKEN/ OUTCOME / TIME FRAME / WHO’S RESPONSIBLE
Old and New Business, cont’d. / on May 1 with Camden Mobile. Others present indicated their organizations will be rolling this out in June or July. It was noted that MRSS regulations are currently very onerous.
It was also noted that agencies will have to alter their on-call process if the new federal overtime rules go into effect. / Continued Advocacy / Ongoing / Debra Wentz, NJAMHAA staff, All Members
Upcoming Meetings: 2016: TBD
– All from 10 a.m. to noon at NJAMHAA