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NEWS

Adult & Child Health CEO Allen Brown Announces Retirement

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Indianapolis, IN – After nine years working devotedly as the President and CEO for Indiana integrated healthcare provider Adult & Child Health (A&C), Allen Brown is set to retire at the end of March 2024. During his tenure as CEO, Brown has led A&C through many projects and positive changes that will continue to have a profound impact on the Indianapolis community and the organization’s 600 employees.

Brown joined A&C in December 2014 with a vision to be the state’s leading provider of whole-person healthcare and played a crucial role in the organization’s growth as a prominent safety net organization in central Indiana. A&C started providing primary care services in 2016, earned FQHC look-alike designation in 2017, and currently operates  four integrated healthcare clinics in the south Indianapolis area. A&C services have also expanded in the areas of mental health counseling, addictions treatment, and housing resources for persons experiencing homelessness. Under Brown’s leadership the organization has nearly doubled its annual revenue and has tripled the number of people served each year.

Brown also championed A&C’s early adoption of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) model, which is designed to increase access to care and crisis services for the community’s most vulnerable residents. A&C has been at the forefront of this movement in the state of Indiana and was recently selected as one of eight Indiana community mental health centers to serve as a proposed pilot site in the Division of Mental Health and Addictions (DMHA) application for a federal CCBHC Demonstration Project.

Additionally, A&C plans to open a Behavioral Health Crisis Center at the organization’s south Indianapolis clinic in late March of 2024.  Under the CCBHC model of care, crisis centers located within the community play a prominent role in assuring individuals have timely access to services when urgent needs arise, helping to decrease unnecessary emergency room visits and jail incarcerations.

“Allen is a skilled team builder and has had a knack for finding ways to help our organization achieve its goals,” said A&C Board President Tom Gaunt. “He has led our organization into a new era with a masterful vision for how we can be  more effective moving forward, which is a win-win for Adult and Child and the people we serve. He will be dearly missed.”

While a CEO successor has not yet been named, A&C has forged a partnership with Missouri-based Brightli, Inc. – the nation’s fourth-largest nonprofit behavioral health organization by total revenue. The partnership will significantly increase financial and system support resources available to Adult & Child Health, for the benefit of underserved persons with behavioral health and primary care needs. The partnership has been approved by each company’s board and is anticipated to be finalized in coming weeks pending regulatory approval. A public signing and press conference will be announced upon partnership closing, which is expected in Spring 2024.

“I am going to miss Adult and Child Health and I’m deeply grateful for the support, trust, and collaboration I’ve received. It has been an honor to serve as CEO and I know even greater things lie ahead for this remarkable organization,” said Mr. Brown.

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Agency News

Adult & Child Health Receives CCBHC Designation

Adult & Child Health, a leading community mental health center in Central Indiana, is thrilled to announce it has been designated as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC). This designation is announced alongside the exciting news that Indiana was selected as one of 10 new states to join the CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration Program. By becoming a CCBHC, Adult & Child Health can unlock critical resources to address the growing need for mental health services in Indianapolis. This includes crisis care, improved staff recruitment and retention thanks to sustainable funding, and the ability to expand their service offerings. CCBHC will allow Adult & Child Health to offer competitive compensation and top-of-market wages, making them a more attractive workplace for qualified providers. With the rich history and commitment of Adult & Child Health to making a difference, they can achieve even greater impact through this transformation. “Indiana’s selection for the CCBHC program is a major step forward in strengthening mental health resources for residents,” said C.J. Davis, CEO, Adult & Child Health. “This designation allows us to make a significant impact by expanding access to essential mental health services in Central Indiana. We’re committed to ensuring our community members have the resources they need to live healthy and fulfilling lives.” The Biden-Harris Administration announced the additional states being added to the CCBHC program earlier today. Adult & Child Health had been selected by the state to be a CCBHC if Indiana was selected, but the decision of which states would be selected to join the program had been pending until today. CCBHC is a transformational program that provides sustainable funding for designated organizations and has been shown to increase access to mental health and substance use care, reduce homelessness and substance use, decrease use of emergency rooms and hospitalizations and improve overall health outcomes. It requires that designated CCBHC organizations provide 24/7 crisis services, outpatient care within 10 business days, medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, care coordination and support services, as well as other evidence-based treatments.

Agency News

Homeless Resource Team Celebrates Outstanding Scores & Client Outcomes

Adult & Child Health’s Homeless Resource Team (HRT) is celebrating the recent achievement of outstanding Continuum of Care (CoC) scores. The Indianapolis scoring metrics are aligned with those developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and are meant to evaluate project performance and rank projects based on CoC priorities. Homeless resource and housing projects are evaluated on areas such as data quality, length of time individuals are in the program, cost effectiveness, returns to homelessness, mainstream benefits (i.e. whether clients have been connected to food/food stamps, phone, and other resources), insurance access, and client source of income. A&C’s projects ranked first and third in Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) and second in Rapid Rehousing (RRH), with zero exits to homelessness. Two areas in which A&C’s projects scored especially well were data quality and severity of barriers, which are testaments to HRT staff’s efforts to accurately and thoroughly track their data and to connect their clients with the resources they need to remain housed. “People not returning to homelessness is important; that’s why we retitled ‘Case Manager’ to ‘Housing Stability and Engagement Coordinator,’ said Brian Paul, Team Leader. This shift in language helps emphasize the team culture of striving to connect clients to services and ensuring that they’re able to meet their basic needs. “Ten years ago, we were not where we are now,” Brian said, explaining that the team utilized the CoC metrics to target and focus on challenges they could solve and areas where they could improve. The team’s hard work, attention to detail, and focus on client outcomes continues to pay off as they rank at the top of homeless resource projects in the Indianapolis area. Below: HRT Street Outreach Professionals Chad Hunter and Kristi Petrey purchase outreach supplies with an Aldi gift card donation. Click here to support HRT’s mission by helping to provide resources for Central Indiana’s unhoused neighbors. You can also support A&C’s 2024 National Health Center Week Drive here.

Sarah Miller, PMHNP-BC

Sarah Miller works with the addictions team, general psychiatry for adolescents and adults, and the competency restoration team. She is board-certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Her specialties are working in addictions and with people who experience serious mental illness.

Miller graduated from Indiana University with a psychology degree and went back to school for nursing. She received her nursing degree from Indiana Wesleyan University and worked in a nursing home and also spent time working in a group home with adolescents. She received her master’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

She enjoys hanging out with her family and her two dogs, and going to sporting events.

Joanna Chambers, MD

Dr. Joanna Chambers is a psychiatrist who began seeing Adult & Child Health patients in November 2021. She graduated from Medical College of Georgia with her Doctorate of Medicine in 1996 and completed her residency in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. In addition to bringing a wealth of experience, she currently serves as an associate professor at Indiana University School of Medicine where she teaches Clinical Psychiatry. She is certified in Addiction Medicine and has a special interest in treating pregnant and postpartum women. She is President of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry Organization as well as a sitting member of many medical association boards. Recently, she has won the Residents’ Award for Teaching Excellence in 2020 from Indiana University and has received “Best Doctors Award” in 2010, 2011, and 2014. Dr. Chambers is incredibly active in the medical, academic, and research realms of medicine. She is currently accepting new patients on Wednesdays.