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Partnering to address services to Indy’s homeless population – iHOST

Months ago, a group of homeless service agencies in Indy pulled together to submit a federal grant proposal which would support a coordinated assault on the city’s homeless population.  We’re super excited to announce our fine city has been awarded multi-year federal SAMHSA funding to implement iHOST! This is a great opportunity for all of us to get on the same page to better identify and serve people who experience homelessness.  There are great people doing great work every day in Indy – now we can start doing great work together and create some synergy. iHOST, an integrated team of key staff, will represent Adult and Child Health, Eskenazi Midtown Mental Health, Outreach Inc, Pour House, and Horizon House. iHOST will build rapport among organizations and individuals experiencing homelessness; stabilize individuals with psychiatric symptoms; address addiction; assess the needs and barriers to treatment, housing and employment in the community; provide services or linkage to address those needs and barriers; help individuals obtain and maintain permanent housing and employment; link individuals to ongoing mental health and/or addiction services; and follow housed clients to ensure needs are addressed and to provide resources for success. For each client, participating service providers, including a case manager and housing staff, will develop an individualized care/intervention plan that utilizes a strengths-based approach. The core of the project and its organization of services, including data collection of evaluation measures, will rely on service providers communicating daily via a shared cloud-based client tracking software system, email, telephone, and/or face-to-face meetings. Led by the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention (CHIP), the steering committee will meet quarterly to monitor the goals and objectives of the grant project; increase coordination with other entities engaged in planning the jurisdiction’s response to homelessness; and ensure the provision of direct treatment and recovery support service to the population of focus. The project’s population of focus will be individuals who have: (1) a substance use disorder (SUD), serious mental illness (SMI), serious emotional disturbance (SED), or co-occurring mental and substance use disorders (CODs); and (2) are either: youth under 18 years of age, young adults between 18 and 24 years of age, or the chronically homeless, including those residing in jail or in the process of re-entry.

A&C Health is expanding employment services to new populations.

Adult and Child Health, The ARC of Greater Boone County, Easter Seals Crossroads, and Sycamore Services have partnered to form the Central Indiana Pre-Employment Transition Services collaborative (Pre- ETS).  These partners are agencies who support those with Intellectual and Developmental Challenges and we are very excited to be at the table to work with these partners and these people, due in large part, to the work of Carla Orr and her team. With funding from the Indiana Bureau of Rehab Services Pre- ETS will provide high quality Pre-Employment Transition Services for students with disabilities between the ages of 14 and 22. These new program services will engage students in up to 58 high schools across 9 Central Indiana counties including Marion, Hamilton, Hendricks, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, Boone and Rush. Our JobLinks staff will deliver services in several schools. We believe that the services made available through this funding, combined with the experience of our group of community rehabilitation providers will ultimately provide significantly improved outcomes for students with disabilities exiting their high school experience.  

A&C wins IBJ Healthcare Heroes Award

Breaking Down Silos in Care Organizations of every kind struggle to break down work silos, those known enemies of efficiency and effectiveness. The stakes are even higher in health care delivery, where silos can be not just expensive, but deadly. Adult & Child Center, a not-for-profit community mental health center founded in Indianapolis more than 60 years ago, has been on a mission for more than a decade to tear down silos and improve the health of its patients. By integrating the work of behavioral health and primary care providers, Adult & Child is improving the lives of teenagers and adults who struggle with mental and physical health disorders. “There are no silos that separate our minds from our bodies,” said Allen Brown, CEO of Adult & Child, which has eight offices spread among Marion, Johnson and Bartholomew counties. “It makes sense to look at an individual’s total health and create an integrated plan.” And that’s what Adult & Child has been doing since research emerged more than 10 years ago revealing that people with mental health conditions die, on average, about 25 years earlier than the general population. “Integrated care has been on our agency’s executive dashboard for the last eight to 10 years,” Brown said. And it’s been in practice since 2010, when Adult & Child added primary care doctors to its main clinic at 8320 Madison Ave. More than 500 adults received integrated care in the first three years of the service. In 2013, through a partnership with The Jane Pauley Community Health Center, integrated service was extended to children as young as 13. Read the full here

Adult & Child Partners with Jane Pauley CHC for Integrated Health

Adult & Child Center is partnering with the Jane Pauley Community Health Center to provide primary care services within Adult & Child’s behavioral health offices at 8320 Madison Ave., Indianapolis. The new integrated health clinic offers a team approach to total health care for ages 13 and older. The clinic opened its doors on Tuesday, December 15, 2015. Integrated Care is a team approach that helps individuals be their healthiest selves – mind and body – by receiving coordinated whole health services all at one location. The Jane Pauley at Adult & Child Integrated Health Clinic will provide a full range of primary care and behavioral health services to address an individual’s physical and mental health. “We know that individuals with mental health needs are at greater risk of having co-occurring chronic physical illness,” said Allen Brown, Adult & Child CEO. “This is an opportunity for behavioral health staff to work collaboratively with primary care staff to consider how someone’s physical health may be impacting their mental health, and vice versa.” Marc Hackett, Executive Director of The Jane Pauley Community Health Center, said, “We are committed to providing affordable, accessible, and high-quality primary care services. Our expansion of clinic sites demonstrates the community’s need for low-cost, convenient primary care. This unique behavioral health partnership with Adult and Child helps us better meet the community’s needs for total health.” We are proud to be one of only a few partnerships in the State of Indiana to leverage the resources of a Federally Qualified Health Center, a Community Mental Health Center, and a Licensed Child Placement Agency to collectively improve the lives of people who experience physical health concerns, mental illness, addictions, and trauma. About Adult & Child: Adult & Child is a non-profit agency with services that help people live healthier lives and reach their goals. We support people of all ages, impacting every area of life. Our behavioral health and child welfare staff partner with clients to help them set goals for mental wellness and self-sufficiency, and meet those goals. About The Jane Pauley Community Health Center: Established in 2009, The Jane Pauley Community Health Center serves the local community, regardless of insurance or income, with an emphasis on integrating medical and behavioral health. The center also focuses on the management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiac disease and depression. They served 5,870 unique patients in 2012.

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.