Child Abuse Prevention Month: At A&C, We’re All a Part of Creating Safe and Happy Childhoods
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. At Adult & Child Health, we know the value of the continuum of care that our staff are able to provide to our patients and clients. Our comprehensive, wide-ranging services touch the whole health journey, from prevention and outreach to treatment and management/enabling services. The continuum of care is also crucial in preventing child abuse and working toward creating a safe, healthy, and care-free childhood for every child in our communities. Even the service lines that don’t directly work with youth have the capability to positively impact adults, lifting them up and enabling them to care for the children in their lives in more effective and compassionate ways. Let’s talk about prevention. Primary Prevention: Programs and services designed to promote the general welfare of children and families. Secondary Prevention: Services identified and provided to families who have identified risk factors for maltreatment. Tertiary Prevention: Services provided after the occurrence of abuse or neglect. These services are designed to prevent the recurrence of abuse. Most of Adult & Child Health’s services fall under primary prevention. It’s even described in our value statement: “We strive for equitable, caring communities, where every child, adult, and family have opportunities to live healthy, purposeful lives.” Our child welfare and wraparound teams play a large role in secondary prevention, with therapeutic foster care and behavioral health/therapy services stepping in to provide additional tertiary prevention. The ability to focus on upstream efforts to build stronger families is a major positive outcome of Adult & Child’s continuum of care. According to Prevent Child Abuse Indiana, “by focusing especially on primary prevention, we can help mitigate the necessity of the other two.” A&C provides and links families to crucial supports. Linkage to supports and services is a significant way in which many Adult & Child teams are creating stronger families. Below are some ways Prevent Child Abuse Indiana recommends that communities can get involved– and where A&C is already working to have an impact. Strengthen parenting. Adult & Child Health provides many ways for parents to access support. Different service lines offer education, home visits, and additional resources. Respond to family crises. Families can receive additional support when they need it through Adult & Child Health’s Crisis Services, which include a crisis receiving and stabilization center at our Madison Avenue location, a 24/7 mental health crisis support phone line, and a mobile crisis team. Additionally, A&C is the coordinating agency for Safe Place services for youth aged 10-17 in Marion, Johnson, and Monroe counties. Link families to services and opportunities. Adult & Child Health strives to be a hub for families to find connections to housing resources, education, health care, mental health and other essential services. You can learn more about the roles of our Child Welfare Specialists, including their insights and advice for parents and caregivers, through spotlight interviews with Chris and Lindsay. If you or someone you know could benefit from Adult & Child’s services or if you’re interested in learning more, please call our main line at 317.882.5122 or fill out our inquiry form here.
Adult & Child Health CEO Allen Brown Announces Retirement
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.
Increasing Access to Care: A&C Clinician Spearheads New Intro to Therapy Groups
CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING RESULTS IN INTRO TO THERAPY GROUPS A&C is now connecting its clients with a therapist more quickly after their initial intake. “We have increased access to care in a big way,” said Michelle Kalogeros, Lead Access Clinician (pictured). The need for mental health resources and treatment has risen significantly in the United States in the years following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the 2022 “Community Mental Health Needs Assessment Report for Marion County,” an estimated 66% of Marion County residents who needed treatment for serious mental illness did not receive it. “A conversation started with the safety and the ethical issues with seeing a client with mental health needs—maybe a client who is presenting at risk, having thoughts of wanting to harm themselves or severe depression—then having them wait six to eight weeks for an individual therapy session,” Michelle said. Having been an intake clinician for three years, Michelle also saw some of her peers wanting to grow professionally. Looking at the massive numbers of intakes being completed, a shortage of available appointment slots with outpatient therapists, and a fully-staffed intake team that is trained in therapy, she thought to herself— “How can we repurpose our staff to do both?” CBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT is a form of psychological treatment that involves learning better ways of coping with psychological problems, which can relieve symptoms and help individuals become more effective in their lives. Strategies may include using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations, facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them, and learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body. Source: The American Psychological Association, APA.org In May of 2022, Michelle assembled a curriculum and created a proposal for Intro to Therapy, a short-term group led by intake clinicians that would offer basic CBT concepts to help patients with grounding techniques and to help prepare them for individual therapy. She took the proposal to her supervisor, Laura Barrett, Director of Behavioral Health Services. “She was a big advocate; she helped me feel really empowered to get started and just jump in,” Michelle said. Michelle’s next step was to meet with the rest of the intake clinicians to explain what was being created and to ask if anyone would be interested in leading a group. Four clinicians— Natalie Raab, Kate Curtis, Courtney Markland, and Tonya Small— stepped up to join Michelle in leading group therapy. This team then developed a schedule that would allow a new group to kick off each week: five groups at different locations and different times with staggering start dates. This involved extensive behind-the-scenes work to determine which rooms would be available with the appropriate capacity, then to adjust the staff’s intake schedules accordingly to allow them to lead the group and complete the documentation and case management that went along with it. Michelle and the team ensured that all loose ends were tied; everything from determining how to assess risk and how to ask for assistance when it is needed, to creating a risk diary card and informational handouts, all the way down to making signs for doors that said “group in progress.” “There were lots of details and lots of things involved in creating the group other than just creating the curriculum, but it all came together pretty beautifully in a short amount of time,” Michelle said. “After the creation, it was a really big group effort to figure out what was working and what needed improvement. Group leaders really came together well to figure out what worked and how we could better it.” PARTNERS IN HEALTH: INTRODUCING CLIENTS TO INTRO TO THERAPY Group therapy may not be the first thing that comes to clients’ minds when they picture their road to healing. Fortunately, there was extensive thought and care put into this new program— including how to authentically encourage clients to feel comfortable and engaged. “First and foremost,” Michelle emphasized, “we want you to be safe. We want you to have a therapist that you can check in with until we have a therapist available for your individual therapy.” Intro to Therapy group puts clients in front of a therapist weekly. If the client is at risk, they’re able to meet with the therapist one-on-one after group. This is where the risk diary cards come in. A physical diary card is printed out and set in front of each client as they arrive for group. Each client can document their impression of their current status and place the card face down. After collecting the cards, the therapist determines whether anyone is presenting with risk and then holds those clients at the end to individually assess and complete a safety plan if needed. The second important aspect of Intro to Therapy is that it helps clients determine their own goals and work toward meeting them in therapy. “This information can be helpful in understanding what you can learn in therapy and how you can be successful,” she said. “If they would say ‘well, I’ve already been in therapy,’ then I would say ‘Great! Then you’ll be an expert and a great encourager for the group.’” WHAT IS AN OPEN ACCESS INTAKE CLINICIAN? Intake Clinicians complete comprehensive diagnostic intakes. This involves information gathering through client report and record review, risk assessment, clinical documentation, diagnosis, writing a treatment plan, and determine which treatment team can best meet a client’s needs. They then refer clients for appropriate behavioral health services within the organization – to outpatient therapy, outpatient addictions, school-based services, or community-based services. Internal referrals can also include psychiatric medication management. This position requires a master’s degree and an associate’s license. HOW DOES OPEN ACCESS WORK? Each Access client is scheduled with an intake clinician for an hour-long, face to face appointment. This is followed by roughly an hour for the clinician to write up the comprehensive intake. Intake clinicians work with a clinically licensed Team Leader as well as a psychologist who can help support intake clinicians with clinical diagnosis and client
The BCA’s Year in Review
The year of 2023 was full of progress for the Black Cultural Awareness (BCA) Taskforce. In late 2022, the BCA restructured to welcome ally members and added another chair position, naming Jaymee Cummings and Alyssa Hurt as co-chairs. Expanding membership and establishing co-chairs provided the group with more flexibility and extra hands to achieve more during the year. In June of 2023, the BCA took part in the Indianapolis Juneteenth Celebration for the first time. A group of 15 members and supporters, which included the BCA and their families, marched in the parade and had a presence at A&C’s booth to show support in the community. BCA Members at the Juneteenth Parade Another new event for the BCA was the Indianapolis Black Expo. “It was amazing that we had the opportunity to share A&C’s services and the BCA with the community,” said Alyssa Hurt, co-chair. With enough staff volunteers to cover three whole days of Expo activities, she said that A&C’s participation “showed the agency’s dedication and support to the community, while allowing us to have fun and learn more about our friends at the Expo.” Later during the summer, the BCA joined A&C’s inaugural National Health Center Week Health Fair. This event was held at A&C’s 8404 Siear Terrace location and was open to staff and the community. Attendees played filled out a scavenger hunt by speaking to every table to learn more about A&C,which allowed the BCA to talk about the taskforce and their 2023 highlights so far. It also gave the BCA an opportunity to meet some of A&C’s clients and make deeper, mission-driven connections. Employees and attendees also enjoyed karaoke hosted by ZeeBee Karaoke and sponsored by the BCA. In December, the BCA visited Gleaners Food Bank to volunteer their time to give back to the community. They spent three hours in the warehouse filling grocery and pantry requests for families; everything from boxed goods to fresh fruit. They filled over 800 bags for food pantry distribution and packed enough food to provide over 4,000 meals for the community! “The BCA is proud of the year we had and we look forward to 2024,” said Hurt. This year’s plans include building new partnerships, continuing to get together as a group to support Black owned businesses, and showing our support within the community. Any A&C staff who are interested in joining the BCA or learning about volunteer opportunities tied to BCA initiatives can reach out to the BCA ([email protected]) or DEIB Commission ([email protected]) directly. Members of the community who own or know of a business that the BCA should support or who have connections that could help the BCA meet their goals are also invited to reach out any time.
