Category: Staff

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Community Staff

Faith community asked to help combat the stigma of addiction

12512449_1114324658610909_734155431369925453_nMore than 100 leaders in the faith community, social workers, government officials, and families of individuals with substance use disorders gathered in Gwinnett last week to discuss the rising heroin crisis. Navigate Recovery Gwinnett, a nonprofit organization connecting individuals to addiction treatment services, hosted the event at Cross Pointe Church in Duluth.

Heroin is one of the most addictive substances in the world. The rise in its use correlates with an increase of pain reliever prescriptions. In 2013, 681,000 Americans used heroin, more than double from the previous decade. In Georgia, 1,206 deaths in 2014 were caused by heroin overdoses, an increase of 10.2 percent from 2013.

“DBHDD is trying to avert the problem that’s increasing from heroin and opioid use with access to services, a smoother transition into the community with recovery support services, and growing partnerships with our stakeholders,” said Wrayanne Glaze Parker, women’s program Coordinator in DBHDD’s Office of Addictive Diseases.

At the event last week, many of those on the front lines, including Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Kathy Schrader who oversees the local drug court, implored faith leaders to help combat the stigma of addiction.

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Staff

Keeping history alive in Augusta

Brian-MulherinHave you ever wondered why the Central Kitchen/Dining Room building on the East Central Regional Hospital (ECRH) in Augusta is located at the end of the campus instead of in the center where it would be more convenient for individuals and staff?

Brian Mulherin knows. He’s a retired human services director at ECRH who is now a volunteer in the public relations office, and he shares this knowledge, along with other bits of trivia and history, in a bi-monthly newsletter published at ECRH.

“The original plans called for a 1,000-bed hospital, but a 350-bed hospital was all that was built,” Mulherin wrote in an early 2015 issue of the hospital publication for staff. “The same thing happened with the building of new regional hospitals in Atlanta, Columbus, and Savannah.  If the hospitals were built for 1,000 beds, the Central Kitchen/Dining Room building would be in the center of the campus.

“The time period for construction of the hospitals was 1966-1971. At the same time, new drugs and therapies were making it possible to keep individuals out of the hospital while receiving outpatient care.”

Mulherin gathers his stories from personal experience, the experience of other long-serving staff, retirees, hospital annual reports, and searching through documents found in the Gracewood Archives Building.

His experience with state service began in 1968 as a personnel officer. He retired in 1999 as the Director of Human Resources. In between, he was a public information officer and wore many different hats for the various hospital activities.

Mulherin’s lifetime dedication to those who live with mental health illnesses was recognized earlier this year as a recipient, along with his wife Neita, of the Jimmie Dyess Symposium’s Distinguished American Award. The couple have spent much of their lives advocating for mental health and volunteering for various organizations around Augusta.

Historial tidbits shared by Brian Mulherin:

About 25 years ago, something wonderful happened on the Georgia Regional Hospital campus, John Feight, Director of the Foundation for Hospital Art, spent several days putting designs of flora and fauna on the walls of the Central Dining Room. Patients then completed the designs, painting them with bright and comfortable colors. Mr. Feight, his staff, and the hospital’s Activity staff guided the patients in the use of colors and artistic methods. The patients loved this project, feeling pride and a sense of ownership in the paintings. Paintings in other buildings followed. Mr. Feight brought with him two volunteer artists, all the paint and equipment needed to do the job, and the cost to the hospital was nothing! What a gift!

In the 1950s, mental health services were rendered by the Department of Welfare. In the 1960s, mental health services were rendered by the Department of Public Health. In the 1970s, and up to 2009, mental health services were rendered by the Department of Human Resources. Today, Commissioner Frank Berry heads the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

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Department News Staff

Furniture to be upgraded at state hospitals

At the five DBHDD regional hospitals, most of the furniture is more than 20 years old and in various states. DBHDD’s Office of Facilities Management plans to refresh the furniture in all consumer living units, including bedrooms, day rooms, and reception lobbies.

The upgrade project began last month with a hospital furniture expo hosted by Office Interiors in downtown Atlanta. Nearly 50 DBHDD subject matter experts, including doctors, nurses, administrators, and maintenance workers, reviewed furniture from the leading four manufacturers in the health field. They spoke with potential vendors and provided feedback using a scorecard which will be used to begin the selection and specification of the new products.

“Our main goal is to assure that the new assets provide a quality level of functionality, comfort and safety for our consumers,” said Richard Aghajanian, DBHDD’s maintenance director.

The project timeline is currently in the build phase with a goal of completion by next summer.

 

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Department News Staff

Representing DBHDD in the community

MLinkDBHDD’s Statewide Community Relations Office was established earlier this year to represent the department in the community. Director Michael Link travels across the state to inform organizations of department news and gather feedback on how DBHDD is fulfilling its vision of easy access to high-quality care for the people we serve.

We interviewed Mike to learn more about the Statewide Community Relations Office.

Why was there a need for this new office?
This is the first time we have had someone consistently in the community representing the department and all the disability groups. Commissioner Berry is the primary spokesperson, and he speaks on policy issues and has a relationship with stakeholders around the state to help formulate policy. Once that’s been developed, I go out and explain to people what that policy is and how it works.

So there’s an educational component to your role?
A lot what I’m doing is educational. I tell the story of the department, especially now with the reorganization. [In my presentations], I lead off with our vision and mission statements, how important that is, and how that sets the tone for the work that we do.

Can you describe your responsibilities?
I see my role as a vehicle to tell our story to the greater community and to raise the profile of the department, both as a storyteller and a brand manager. I promote the department as a key resource to community leaders, develop strong working relationship with community groups, and help coordinate communications with external groups.

What types of groups are you visiting?
I meet with community groups wherever they may be; often times to listen, and sometimes to present. I speak to all kinds of groups: community stakeholder groups that have been coordinated by NAMI, Kiwanis groups, community groups that have come together to deal with mobile crisis issues, provider meetings, local advisory council meetings, and other coalitions around the state. I attend standing meetings of the Georgia Behavioral Health Planning Advisory Council, Behavioral Health Services Coalition, and the Georgia Recovery Initiative. I also attend conferences.

How do you coordinate communications between providers and other stakeholders?
I want people to see me as a resource. Many providers are doing great, innovative work and we don’t often know about it. We want to highlight and showcase innovation. If other providers can see this work, we can connect with them and learn from them. I want providers to invite me out, to visit their programs, to see innovations that are producing good outcomes and to be able to share that with other folks.

Tell us about the community forums planned for next year.
The community education stakeholder forums will be held next year across the state. We will be educating the communities about the department and our services and programs. I think there’s a need to make sure we involve the communities in understanding and educating them about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, and to gauge the issue of access and quality of services.

If you would like Mike to attend or present at your next community meeting, please email him at Michael.Link@dbhdd.ga.gov or call him at 404-353-6342.

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Department News Staff

DBHDD partners with Beck Center to provide cognitive therapy training

Graduates of the Beck Initiative from the Region 1 Field Office.

DBHDD providers in north Georgia recently welcomed 20 more graduates of the Beck Initiative, a clinical and educational program that focuses on cognitive therapy training and consultation for community mental health networks.

The training was conducted by faculty from the Aaron T. Beck Psychopathology Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania whose founder and namesake is widely recognized as the father of cognitive therapy and one of the world’s leading researchers in psychopathology. Participants engaged in workshops and hands-on training by working with people in recovery, including individuals with severe mental illness and substance use disorders, and people who experience chronic homelessness.

“The Beck Initiative has been transformative for our state,” said Monica Parker, director of DBHDD’s Division of Behavioral Health. “This evidence-based treatment model provides clinicians, case managers, and many others with tools they can use to not only effectively engage individuals in services, but also produce outcomes that lead to recovery.”

The department’s partnership with the Aaron Beck Center began three years ago with a pilot program in southwest Georgia. DBHDD provided funding to disseminate the Cognitive Training Recovery model across the state to community providers, as well as DBHDD hospital staff. Georgia State University’s Center of Excellence for Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health, a DBHDD partner whose goal is to develop and implement a sustainable System of Care that is individualized and driven by child and family needs, will continue training efforts.

“The training implementation has been successful and we are pleased that hundreds of people have participated and demonstrate a commitment to continuing to use the skills gained through the trainings,” said Parker.

The Aaron T. Beck Psychopathology Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania develops and evaluates treatments for psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and suicide behavior.

Correction: The original story referred to the Aaron Beck Center incorrectly as the Aaron Beck Institute.

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Staff

Joetta Prost leaves behind a legacy of policies and passion

jpRetires1

After 35 years as a psychologist, 13 of which were spent in state service, DBHDD Director of Policy Management Joetta Prost, Ph.D., retires today. We sat down with Joetta to discuss the changes that she’s seen in her long career and the legacy she leaves behind at DBHDD.

Let’s talk policy!
It’s not like policy is very glamorous, so I counteract that with my enthusiasm! One of my favorite quotes is from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

How has the culture shifted since you began policy management for DBHDD?
The big change is that people get it. They understand that policies serve as the foundation for better practice, for better services, for better employee actions, and for better employee satisfaction. In the long run, most people want to do their jobs well, and they want to do what’s right. If they can easily find out via policies what they need to do, then services will improve and they’ll feel good about their work.

The whole concept of continuing to improve policies, and that it’s never done… I had to realize that to let myself retire. The work will keep going because there are good people involved: people in the hospitals who understand the importance of policies; people in leadership roles at 2 Peachtree who get it; and employees throughout the service system who appreciate being able to access useful policies.

What changes have you seen since you began your career as a psychologist
We used to refer to the “chronically mentally ill,” and that was an example of the language we used. We weren’t intending to be insensitive or negative; it was just the clinical language of the day. There’s a focus now on recovery as a necessary ingredient for helping individuals live full lives. I wasn’t taught that in graduate school 35 years ago. I was taught diagnosis and treatment and to focus on what you should do to treat the person, rather than what you could do to help them achieve recovery.

Another change was that I was taught nothing about trauma of any kind. Sexual abuse just wasn’t discussed in graduate school in the 70s. It wasn’t until the feminist therapists of the late 70s and early 80s [raised] awareness of that. I went to a feminist psychology conference in 1980 and bought a couple books that were collections of first-person accounts of sexual abuse.

In my first job, I’d go to these clinical staffings and I was 29 years old, a new psychologist. There would be a case presentation and staff who weren’t involved in the person’s care were supposed to offer treatment suggestions. I would say, ‘Has anyone ever asked this woman if she’s been sexually abused?’ And that was a radical thing to do. It’s an obvious question today, but it wasn’t then.

Mental health services have also changed in Georgia since you began with the state.
There was a total of about four mental health program staff when I started in DHR-MHDDAD. What we have now is so much better in terms of the range of community services and quality of hospital services. It’s so interesting to see things from that big system level, keeping in mind what it was when I was a provider.

Tell us about your experiences as a provider.
In Kansas, I was a clinical psychologist in a large behavioral health organization with inpatient and outpatient services. I worked with individuals with serious illnesses and supervised the community support program.

In northwest Ohio, I was the executive director of a mental health agency. We provided emergency mental health services 24/7. We operated a crisis stabilization unit and mobile crisis services, with eight community hospitals and four counties making referrals to us. We developed housing with community supports. It was innovative at the time to offer permanent housing with support staff available in the building. If a person was hospitalized, they didn’t lose their apartment. Obtaining housing is a real problem in a rural area.

My introduction to Georgia’s community behavioral health system was at Northside Hospital where I managed mental health services.

How are you planning to enjoy retirement?
I will be taking a volunteer position as a psychologist on the ministerial credentialing board evaluating candidates for my denomination. [Being a] psychologist is really one of my primary identities. It’s more than a license, more than a profession. This will enable me to use my psychology brain and my spiritual heart. I’ll also be traveling and spending time with family.

Have you enjoyed the time you’ve spent at DBHDD?
It’s a great place to work, and this is the best time with the current leaders. They really get it. They understand, they’re thoughtful, and they value employees. DBHDD is at its best place it’s ever been and the work has been fascinating and challenging. It makes it hard to retire because I like it so much.

Thanks, Joetta, for all your years of service and dedication! Enjoy your retirement!

 

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Department News Staff

Cohort 2 of DBHDD’s Management Academy a Resounding Success

On July 17, DBHDD graduated the second cohort of the Management Academy, a six-month program designed to train and support emerging leaders within the department. The program was co-developed by DBHDD’s Office of Learning and Organizational Development and the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

In addition to the program curriculum, which covers topics such as “leading in the public sector” and “enhancing organizational effectiveness,” participants work in groups throughout the program to study and make recommendations on specific, DBHDD-focused issues and projects.

Before the lunchtime graduation ceremony, Cohort 2’s five interdisciplinary teams presented their findings to their classmates and DBHDD leadership.

Presentation Summaries:

Group 1: New Employee Orientation and Onboarding
Goal: To help DBHDD’s Office of Learning and Organizational Development by studying the department’s various new employee orientation programs and making recommendations on how to create standardized orientation program for all staff.

Team members: Julia Arthur, Katherine McKenzie, Ramona Pullin, Dr. Jamie Short, Candace Walker

Group 2: Bridging the Gap: IDD Waiver Funding Approval
Goal: To help improve the process of awarding waivers to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They interviewed DBHDD staff and families of individuals receiving waiver services. Recommendations included establishing a uniform communication process to ensure consistency and quality across our system.

Team members: Kenneth Ward, Allen Morgan, JaVonna Daniels

Group 3: Addressing the needs of dually diagnosed individuals
Goal: To help staff who care for dually diagnosed individuals access information that will help them provide better care by creating the website: Filling the GAP: Georgia Access Point. The site is intended to help staff improve care, mitigate challenges for people with a dual diagnosis, and identify cost savings that allow DBHDD to provide care to more individuals.

Team members: Brittaney Mills, CeCelia Dixie, Tiffany Snow, Linda Dykes, Holly Crowley, Yvonna Sherrell

Group 4: Communicating and Socializing DBHDD’s Vision and Mission Statements
Goal: To help the department promote our vision and mission statements to DBHDD staff, providers, advocates, consumers and the general public.

Team members: Marcy Burns, Andrea Harrelson, Fatma Jones, Michael Link, Jill Mays

Group 5: Promotion of the Crisis Continuum
Goal: To improve marketing of education to individuals and families about crisis services.

Team members: Paula Walden, J.R. Gravitt, Kimberly Miller, Lori Hanes

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Events Staff

Deaf Services co-sponsors annual statewide conference

DBHDD Deaf Services co-sponsored the Georgia Association for the Deaf Conference (GAD) held June 17 – 21 at the Jekyll Island Convention Center. The conference provided a forum where leaders exchanged valuable information about the promotion of the rights of Deaf people.

This venue provided the first opportunity for the Deaf Services of DBHDD to introduce its new branding efforts to spread the vision of communication equity in the delivery of services. Deaf Services rolled out a new theme: Access, Inclusion, and Respect, and incorporated it within the booth concept and video. These three aspects communicate the commitment to change the course of communication service delivery.

“The Deaf Services team understands and appreciates the value of access; for without it, individuals cannot be heard. Our team focus remains advocacy for Georgia’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing citizens, ensuring that they have a voice in the process of service delivery,” said Dr. Candice Tate, Director of Deaf Services.

Dr. Tate hosted an open forum, encouraging the Deaf community to enter into a dialogue about their concerns and perception of the state of mental health and service delivery in Georgia’s Deaf community. Some of the issues discussed included group home administration and whether a dedicated Deaf group home could exist. Additional questions were poised concerning Deaf Services funding. In addition, quality of care questions and concerns on behalf of immediate family members were raised about how to qualify and obtain services for their respective family members.

DBHDD Deaf Services sought to deliver the educational message by modeling respect for each individual at the conference by actively engaging each participant, answering their questions, and providing information face to face. Kelly Stockdale, a Deaf Operations Analyst for DBHDD, said, “Being able to model these concepts of access, inclusion and respect in an environment of open dialogue, where we are listening to others, allows us to gather the information that will support removing barriers, and positions the team to define, implement, and measure the effectiveness of our services.”

Other topics discussed during the conference included the use of video remote interpreting (VRI) in hospitals, the challenges of utilizing VRI and the impact of replacing live interpreters. The DBHDD Deaf Services focus on inclusion and respect correlated with Chris Wagner’s discussion of oppression, both within and external to the Deaf community. Additional topics included a presentation by “HEARD” (Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf) concerning the advocacy of rights for Deaf individuals held or incarcerated within the local, county, and state legal systems.

The GAD Conference continues to provide a forum where key information within and about the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities can be shared. Partners and stakeholders include a cross-section of individuals with a vested interest in the Deaf community. This group remains dedicated to the protection and promotion of the rights of the Deaf through advocacy.

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Staff

New type of leave supports education

To help balance work-life options for state employees, a new type of leave is now available for all full-time, non-temporary employees.  Eight hours of education support leave can be used each year to attend parent-teacher conferences, volunteer for classroom activities, attend graduation ceremonies or participate in field trips, among many other activities.

House Bill 313 was signed by Governor Nathan Deal into law this past May and has been in effect since July 1. Employees can request to use the leave to participate in activities related to student achievement and academic support that promote public, private or home school education.

“What supports education is ultimately good for Georgia’s families on a variety of levels. It is also aligned with DBHDD’s evolution as a learning organization. We applaud the Governor’s continued efforts to enrich education in our state and encourage our employees to take advantage of this new benefit,” said Mark Green, DBHDD’s Director of Human Resources.

Please contact your direct supervisor or the Human Resources office for guidance on requesting and using this leave.

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Department News Staff

Introducing Dana Scott, the New Director of DBHDD’s Office of Health and Wellness 

20141213_220455-1Dana Scott, MSN, RN, is the director of DBHDD’s new Office of Health and Wellness under the Division of Developmental Disabilities. The office was established as part of the department’s reorganization to be centrally managed and functionally aligned.

Dana has worked for DBHDD since 2008 in various positions, including nurse manager, associate nurse executive and nurse executive. She also started the department’s quality unit for nurses. Dana has been a nurse for nearly 18 years. Her first leadership role was director of child and adolescent services for the University of Maryland Medical Center, where she focused on inpatient care, partial day programming and expanding community-based services. Dana holds a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina A&T and a master’s degree from the University of Alabama.

We interviewed Dana to learn more about the new Office of Health and Wellness.

When did you start in your new role?
I officially started on May 1.

What do you see as the role of the Office of Health and Wellness? 
When you take on a new position, you start with a vision. Since I began in this role, I was encouraged by Dan Howell [director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities] to spend time touring and talking to the people in DBHDD’s regional offices who work directly with our individuals. I jumped on this opportunity because I believe that we are only as successful as the people who do the work, touch the individuals and make the difference. The process has really helped me to understand their expectations of what the Office of Health and Wellness should do to help them do their jobs better.

So the vision has evolved. In about a month, we have developed a shared vision through the incorporation of feedback from the people actually doing the work. This helps us look at what our priorities need to be to help the individuals we serve. Our focus is twofold:

  1. What should we be doing right now, and how does the Office of Health and Wellness ensure that it happens?
  2. What are some of the initiatives and priorities we need to set in the future? For example, establishing frameworks for preventive care.

Tell us about the listening tour.
The listening tour has been focused on DBHDD’s regional field offices. We started about a month and a half ago. Almost immediately after I accepted the position, Ron Wakefield [director of the Office of Field Operations under the Division of Developmental Disabilities] and I began a tour of each of DBHDD’s six regions where we met with staff in different positions who are responsible for supporting individuals who are in the community or transitioning to the community. We used guided questions to help us understand what the staff need to help them do their jobs better, but mainly we just sat there and listened.

The response has been welcoming and positive. People are excited, and there seems to be energy and synergy, like ‘things are changing, and I think we like where they are going.’ As we’ve talked to staff at the regions, it’s so very evident that these people are doing what they love. They want to do it at a level of best practice, and they are excited about the fact that people from the central office are coming, and asking, and supporting them.

Have you completed the tour?
We have visited five of our regions and will visit the last region before the end of June. The goal of the listening tour is to get feedback, but our plan is not to stop there. We want to have a presence in the regions. We have committed to become familiar faces.

We’ve put together seven or eight pages of responses from each region. After we review all of the feedback and begin to put things in place, we need to get back to these folks and say, “not only do we want your input about what to do, but we need your feedback on the most efficient ways to do it—because ultimately, what we put in place has to facilitate you getting it done.” We want this to be an ongoing relationship.

So what does the Office of Health and Wellness look like right now?
We are starting from scratch and working on a proposal that includes where we want to go and the resources we need to accomplish our goals. It is my hope that the office will be interdisciplinary, so that all disciplines within the community are represented and advocated for.

Are you the only employee in the Office of Health and Wellness right now?
At the moment, yes. However, the need for the office has existed for some time, so health and wellness functions have been carried out by people who, though not officially in the Office of Health and Wellness, have stepped up.

Do you have a timeline of when and how the office will be built out?
The timeline will be carefully scrutinized to ensure that we are doing the right things at the right time. We have to balance the urgency of the need while being meticulous enough to make sure that we don’t rush and miscalculate what needs to be implemented at what times for what reasons.

Is there anything that we haven’t talked about that you would like to add?
I think that it’s important to give credit where credit is due. This work has been a combination of very supportive leadership and dedicated staff and team members. It is truly the result of people willing to be a team.

What about you?
My energy and the commitment I have to DBHDD’s vision and mission come from the fact that I’m a nurse first—I started out touching people. As a result, I appreciate my responsibility for helping people do their jobs effectively and helping them get the same level of job satisfaction I’ve had throughout my career. I may not have done this job before, but I’m willing to get in the trenches. I’m willing to ask the questions. I’m willing to get out there and find out what is needed to get the work done.

Why are you most excited to be a part of this new initiative?
The individuals we serve are an inspiration. No matter how hard the work is, you want to come to work every day and advocate.