A&C Aligns with Leadership Model of Parent Company Brightli
Integrated healthcare provider Adult & Child Health, a Brightli affiliate, has announced the promotions of Dr. Christne Negendank, MD, MBA, CCHP to Indiana Region President and Dr. Jessica Stembel, PsyD, HSPP, IMH-E to Indiana Region Chief Operating Officer. Adult & Child joined Burrell Behavioral Health, Preferred Family Healthcare, Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health, and other subsidiaries under the Brightli umbrella in March 2024, boosting the parent organization’s employee count to over 6,000 individuals across seven regions. The promotions of Dr. Negendank and Dr. Stembel align A&C with Brightli’s regional leadership model, which provides operational autonomy for each region to ensure services and operations are meeting the unique needs of the community. As President, Dr. Negendank provides strategic direction and leadership of A&C and the Indiana Region, assisting in the execution of short-term and long-term goals while engaging with community partners and leaders to help drive A&C’s continued success and growth in Central Indiana. “I am honored to have been given the opportunity to serve as President of Adult & Child Health. I look forward to continuing to work with Adult & Child’s dedicated staff who strive daily to provide compassionate and high-quality whole health care. Adult & Child Health is well-positioned to continue its 75-year legacy of excellence and innovation in health care and social services. We look forward to expanding our services and programming through strategic initiatives, community partnerships, and advocacy efforts. Our goal is to not only provide treatment to those in our local communities but also to help advocate for improved health care for all Hoosiers,” said Dr. Negendank. Dr. Negendank recently celebrated seven years of employment at A&C having joined the organization in 2017 as Associate Medical Director of Psychiatry before moving into the role of Chief Medical Officer. During her tenure, Dr. Negendank led the development and implementation of A&C’s Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program for substance use disorders. She has also helped A&C make tremendous strides in integrating primary and psychiatric care by strengthening working relationship among prescribers and fostering collaboration between medical and therapy staff. As Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Stembel oversees the day-to-day operations of A&C and the Indiana Region, facilitating teamwork across the organization’s leaders to ensure effective delivery of top-quality services to Central Indiana communities. “As Chief Operating Officer, I am incredibly excited about A&C’s opportunity to be a leader in the state’s transformation to the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model, and the evolution of mental health, substance abuse treatment and primary healthcare. Emphasizing community partnerships through CCBHC is not just a strategic interchange but a commitment to holistic care. Together, we can foster a system of care where our Hoosiers and communities can thrive,” said Dr. Stembel. Dr. Stembel joined A&C in 2015 as a clinical psychologist providing oversight to multiple service lines and treatment teams while continuing direct clinical care. Since 2018 she has served A&C as Chief Clinical Officer, overseeing continuous quality improvement, behavioral health, primary care accreditation and corporate compliance. During her tenure, Dr. Stembel led the development of the Response and Resilience in Stressful Events team to respond to critical incidents both internally and within the community and organized the agency’s response during the COVID public health emergency. She has also increased A&C’s 340B Drug Discount Program revenue to 12 million dollars, enabling the organization to stretch scarce federal resources to provide comprehensive and integrated health services to eligible patients who may not otherwise receive care. “Dr. Negendank and Dr. Stembel’s exceptional leadership, combined with their deep industry knowledge, will be instrumental in driving our organization’s ability to serve our mission and the Indianapolis community. Their contributions are invaluable, and I am confident in their ability to lead our teams toward increased access to the quality care our communities deserve,” said A&C and Brightli CEO C.J. Davis.
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.
Perry Township School Enjoys a Successful Summer SEL-ebration
Students and families at Glenns Valley Elementary enjoyed a Summer SEL-ebration on May 15 thanks to the planning and preparation of Glenns Valley Elementary SEL Specialist, Miranda Mellendorf, and Glenns Valley Elementary Social Worker, Amanda Craig, along with support from the GVE PTA, GVE teachers, and additional members of the A&C SEL team. Attendees made tie-dye t-shirts, slime, decorated some petunia plants to take home, added to the GVE Gratitude Banner, helped with a collaborative sticker mosaic, played outdoor games, and discovered how all of these fun activities can help promote SEL. The event was free for students and their families and was made possible by a Family Engagement Impact Grant from the Perry Township Education Foundation.
National Foster Care Month: “Engaging Youth. Building Supports. Strengthening Opportunities.”
May is National Foster Care Month. This year’s National Foster Care Month theme, “Engaging Youth, Building Supports, Strengthening Opportunities” emphasizes the importance of a child welfare system that authentically engages and supports young people who are preparing to leave foster care. At Adult & Child Health— and nation-wide— we are urgently searching for foster parents willing to open their homes and act as mentors to older youth. Foster Parents as Youth Mentors Due to past trauma and system involvement, youth in foster care often struggle to trust adults. Foster parents have the ability to be stable and consistent people in youths’ lives. By showing unconditional care and support, setting boundaries, and allowing youth to have a voice in their own stories, they help youth to rebuild their trust in others. Many of A&C’s foster parents support youth from foster care well after they have “aged out” of the system. By providing long-lasting and permanent relationships with youth, these mentors help the youth cope with past trauma and learn how to heal. These relationships also provide a guide for what healthy relationships can look like for them in the future. Foster parents help youth with little to no family support access resources such as financial aid for college, resources for safe and stable housing, practice interviewing for jobs, and support and encouragement to make positive decisions that will help them achieve success in adulthood. Pursuing Permanency: Upstream Preventions In the context of child welfare, permanency means that a child has “a safe, stable and secure home and family, love, unconditional commitment, and lifelong support in the context of reunification, adoption, or legal guardianship.” The first step toward achieving permanency is ensuring that adults have the supports and services they need to care for the children in their lives. 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 ultimate goal of A&C’s services in regards to permanency would be to eliminate the need for a child to be removed from their home due to unsafe circumstances. The continuum of care is crucial in creating a safe, healthy, and care-free childhood for children in our communities. 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. Youth placed in A&C-licensed foster homes also have connections to the support our staff offer. 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 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.” Fostering as a Community Support In cases where it is unsafe for a child to remain in their home of origin, a foster family steps in to provide appropriate care and a loving, temporary home. The foster family is connected to an array of resources to support themselves and the child, while the parent(s) of origin are also supported in taking steps toward reunification whenever possible. Permanency is vital for nurturing the safety and well-being of children and youth in foster care. Permanency might look like: Reunification with a child’s family Being placed with members of their extended family in guardianship or adoption Becoming members of new families through adoption As youth in foster care age, it is imperative to provide them with the supports they need to transition into adulthood. Many youth in the foster care system experience multiple episodes (removal from their home) of foster care. Many also experience multiple placement changes over an episode of foster care. This instability can lead to poor overall outcomes for the youth. In the state of Indiana in 2021, only 62% of youth who existed the foster care system were doing so due to permanency. According to a study done by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, youth who had faced foster care experienced higher rates of incarceration, unemployment, and young parenthood by the age of 21 compared to their peers who had not experienced the foster care system. They were also less likely to have health insurance, a high school diploma or GED, and stable housing. Studies show us that a person’s brain experiences a period of major growth and development from ages 14 to 25. Vital skills and tools like planning, decision-making, judgment, and coping skills are developed during this time. Adolescence is also a crucial time to counteract the harm that may have been caused by stressful and traumatic experiences in one’s youth. Exposing the adolescent brain to developmentally healthy experiences helps it “rewire” itself. Supportive, age-appropriate social services and resources— like many of those provided by the staff at Adult & Child Health— are instrumental in setting system-impacted youth on a path to a bright future. You can learn more about the roles of our staff who work with foster youth, including their insights and advice for parents and caregivers, through spotlight interviews with Sierra, Chris and Lindsay. If you’re interested in learning more about opening your home to youth in
