mental health

P.A.A.R.I. Receives $930,000 Grant from South Shore Health

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

P.A.A.R.I. Receives $930,000 Grant from South Shore Health

Funding will Support Access to Behavioral Health Services in Plymouth County

PLYMOUTH — Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) Executive Director Allie Hunter is pleased to announce that P.A.A.R.I. has been awarded a $930,000 Integrative Behavioral Health grant by South Shore Health.

South Shore Health awarded $2.4 million to nonprofit groups this spring to support behavioral healthcare in Plymouth and Norfolk counties. P.A.A.R.I. was one of two nonprofit groups selected to receive a five-year grant for $930,000 this cycle.

The grant will support a new partnership between P.A.A.R.I. and Plymouth County Outreach (PCO), a collaborative of 28 police departments throughout the region. Over the next five years, P.A.A.R.I. will work with PCO to implement a “hub model” throughout the county to expand the behavioral health services available to the community, and coordinate outreach visits for individuals identified as being at acutely elevated risk due to substance use and/or mental health issues.

“This first-of-its-kind grant program through South Shore Health reflects our organization’s deep commitment to promoting good health within the community and by removing barriers to accessing behavioral healthcare for the most vulnerable among us,” said Gene E. Green, president and CEO of South Shore Health. “Congratulations to P.A.A.R.I. for being named a grantee. We are excited to see the impact this initiative will have in our communities.”

“P.A.A.R.I. has had many successful partnerships with PCO, and we are thrilled to embark on this latest initiative to support our local law enforcement partners to address behavioral health needs in Plymouth County,” Hunter said. “We are incredibly thankful that South Shore Health has chosen to support our plan to improve access to behavioral health services on the South Shore.”

“Behavioral health issues are a huge concern, and not just in Plymouth county– these issues are affecting communities everywhere,” said Plymouth Police Chief Michael Botieri, a member of the P.A.A.R.I. Law Enforcement Council. “We’re fortunate that this grant has been awarded to support behavioral health programming locally to help those who are struggling.”

The “hub model” aims to assist those struggling before they reach a crisis point, and to connect the community to a variety of much needed behavioral health services.

“We’ve seen great success with the hub model in communities like Chelsea, Lawrence and Boston, and are looking forward to putting in place a system that will connect those in need to additional services and support,” Hunter said. “This grant will allow us to address a wide umbrella of behavioral health issues in addition to substance use, including mental health concerns.”

“This is monumental as it will allow for PCO to spearhead an innovative Public Health 3.0 initiative –a first in the U.S.,” said Dr. Nate Horwitz-Willis, director of public health for the town of Plymouth. “This grant will help us address complex substance use challenges seen across our law enforcement, healthcare, and public health communities. We collaboratively look forward to addressing these challenges with best practices and scholarly evidence from all three fields that use primary, secondary, and tertiary equitable prevention approaches with a dynamic team of experts and leaders.”

“The time has come where we need to closer examine the crossover between drug addiction and mental health,” said Scituate Police Chief Michael Stewart. “We are all concerned with the rise in mental health cases.”

The grant will fund the hiring of a full time P.A.A.R.I. hub coordinator who will be based in Plymouth County for the next five years, and will oversee the program.

“Plymouth County Outreach is so fortunate and appreciative to partner with P.A.A.R.I. on expanding our county collaboration, bringing an Integrated Behavioral Health approach to our existing model,” said East Bridgewater Police Chief Scott Allen, a member of the P.A.A.R.I. Law Enforcement Council. “We can’t address substance use and mental health disorders in separate silos.”

About P.A.A.R.I.

The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help law enforcement agencies nationwide create non-arrest pathways to treatment and recovery. Founded alongside the groundbreaking Gloucester Police Department Angel Initiative in June 2015, P.A.A.R.I. has been a driving force behind this rapidly expanding community policing movement. We provide technical assistance, coaching, grants, and other capacity-building resources to more than 465 police departments in 33 states.

We currently work with more than 120 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts alone. P.A.A.R.I. and our law enforcement partners are working towards a collective vision where non-arrest diversion programs become a standard policing practice across the country, thereby reducing overdose deaths, expanding access to treatment, improving public safety, reducing crime, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and increasing trust between law enforcement and their communities. Our programs and partners have saved thousands of lives, changed police culture, and reshaped the national conversation about the opioid epidemic. Learn more at www.paariusa.org.

 

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King Philip, Norfolk, Wrentham, and Plainville School Districts Receive Grant for Mental Health Services

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 5, 2019

Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

King Philip, Norfolk, Wrentham, and Plainville School Districts Receive Grant for Mental Health Services

NORFOLK — King Philip Superintendent Paul Zinni, Norfolk Superintendent Ingrid Allardi, Plainville Superintendent David Raiche and Wrentham Superintendent Allan Cameron are pleased to announce that the four school districts have been awarded a $311,150 grant from Governor Baker’s office to support student behavioral and mental health services.

“Like all school districts, many students in our four districts struggle with social-emotional challenges and behavioral health,” Superintendent Zinni said. “We are all thankful that the Baker-Polito administration recognized our need to offer more comprehensive supports and programming to our students, and are looking forward to putting these initiatives in place.”

The majority of grant funds will support the hire of two full-time social workers who will service all four districts, as well as the hiring of a wellness director that will act as a consultant to the districts for one year.

“These new positions across the districts will provide much needed support to students in all grades,” Superintendent Cameron said. “It is our hope that their presence will offer students an accessible, comfortable avenue to access counseling, programming and other supports.”

The social workers will support students in need of social-emotional and/or behavioral health support through counseling, family stabilization services and by connecting them to local and regional resources.

The wellness director will work with the district for one year starting on July 1 to bring in outside resources to the schools, identify the supports available locally to students and coordinate health and prevention programming and supports between the four districts.

A portion of the grant, approximately $26,000, will also fund professional development among leadership teams in the four districts, including superintendents, principals and special education directors. The training will focus on supporting students dealing with trauma, social-emotional challenges and behavioral health needs, and will emphasize the creation of safe, welcoming environments for students. The grant will also fund new anti-bullying curriculum at each district.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of students struggling in the area, and statewide,” said Superintendent Raiche. “We’re so thrilled to be able to connect students and their families to wraparound services that will provide much needed support.”

Allardi also praised the collaboration between the districts to seek out the grant.

“We’ve been working really hard to collaborate between the four districts to share services and resources,” Superintendent Allardi said. “It has been a fantastic partnership. This has been a great example of what we’ve been able to do, collaborating as a region.”

 

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Oyster River Schools Recognize National School Counseling Week

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Oyster River Cooperative School District
SAU No. 5
Superintendent James Morse
36 Coe Drive
Durham, NH 03824

For Immediate Release

Monday, Feb. 4, 2019

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Oyster River Schools Recognize National School Counseling Week

Oyster River Cooperative School District counseling staff painted owls during a team building and self-care activity on Oct. 5, 2018 at the Offbeat Owl in Exeter. Back row, left to right: Hannah Cunningham, Sean Peschel, Sandi Osterloh, Jason Baker, Dagmar Lamberts, Brenda Terrell, Rheanna Cote, JoAn Saxe, Ryan Long. Front row, left to right: Kim Sekera, Heather Machanoff, Carina Dolcino, Kim Cassamas, Jean Wons. (Courtesy Photo Oyster River Cooperative School District)

DURHAM –Superintendent James Morse is pleased to announce that Oyster River Cooperative School District will recognize the support, resources, and programming school counselors provide to students starting Monday for National School Counseling Week.

Sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), National School Counseling Week begins Monday, Feb. 4, and ends Friday, Feb. 8.

“Oyster River is fortunate to have school counselors who place students at the center of all decisions,” Morse said. “It’s not about the district or the school, it’s the child and the child’s needs. Oyster River counselors know success in school means addressing all aspects of the child, from mental health and wellness to academics.”

Oyster River Cooperative School District has made it a priority over the last decade to create a comprehensive K-12 counseling program. In July 2016, counseling and administration staff underwent a crisis response training and have also worked to improve the crisis response process in the district.

“National School Counseling Week recognizes school counselors who implement comprehensive school counseling programs, a vital part of the educational process for all students as they meet the challenges of the 21st century,” said Heather Machanoff, K-12 Counseling Director.

The district has also adopted CASEL standards for Social Emotional Learning, which seek to support student self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, and relationship skills in the classroom, at school, at home, and in the community.

According to Machanoff, counseling staff at Oyster River have also been able to use resources including the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to implement targeted programming and interventions for students.

At the elementary school, teachers are currently testing a Social Emotional Learning Curriculum, which includes initiatives such as the Open Circle program in Kindergarten through grade four. Oyster River Middle School is also developing an advisory program, and last year Oyster River High School delivered a ‘Bringing in the Bystander’ training to address sexual harassment. The district also held a student led community mental health forum in November, and HAVEN programming has extended to include grades five through eight in addition to Kindergarten through grade four.

“Focusing our school and broader community on mental health was brought to the forefront with the adoption of a 2015 school board goal surrounding mental health,” Machanoff said. “The work began with a number of community based events, and the focus has shifted to a more programmatic approach. Our mental health team including school counselors and school psychologists evaluate programming to support our students while building skills.”

“Our programming and approach is evolving as a result of the changing needs of our students and families,” she added.

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Arlington Police Department Selected as One of Four New Agencies in U.S. to Become Mental Health Learning Site

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Arlington Police Department
Frederick Ryan, Chief of Police
112 Mystic St.
Arlington, MA 02474

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Arlington Police Department Selected as One of Four New Agencies in U.S. to Become Mental Health Learning Site

ARLINGTON — Chief Frederick Ryan is pleased to announce that the Arlington Police Department has been selected as one of four new Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning Sites in the U.S., and will serve as an example of how police can improve relations with those suffering from mental illnesses.

As a Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning Site, the Arlington Police Department will provide resources for state and local law enforcement agencies that are developing or enhancing a Police-Mental Health Collaboration (PMHC), such as a crisis intervention team, co-response team, mobile crisis team, case management approach, or tailored approach, to more effectively respond to people with mental illnesses.

Arlington Police will also be available to answer questions from the field, host site visits, and work with Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center staff to develop materials for practitioners and community partners.

The CSG Justice Center chose the Arlington Police Department to be one of four new nationwide learning sites given the success of the Arlington Jail Diversion Program and Arlington Opiate Outreach Initiative (AOOI). In an effort to expand the knowledge base for law enforcement agencies interested in starting or enhancing a PMHC program, the CSG Justice Center, with assistance from a team of national experts and the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, now has 10 police departments acting as national law enforcement mental health learning sites.

“It is an honor to be one of 10 agencies in the country recognized by the CSG Justice Center as a resource for our law enforcement partners and mental health agencies looking to expand their services,” Chief Ryan said. “We have seen our approach in Arlington work successfully, and hope to help other cities and towns achieve the same results.”

Through the AOOI, which was implemented in June of 2015 and blends police work and community engagement to assist those suffering from addiction and mental illness, Arlington Police have expanded access to Naloxone (nasal Narcan) to people in the community. Additionally, the department’s mental health clinician, who has taken on the role of AOOI coordinator, holds regular meetings with residents to provide services, resources and treatment options that help empower families to get their loved ones the help they need to recover. The AOOI has made such an impact in Arlington that it has been implemented by police departments, cities and towns throughout the U.S.

First launched in November 2010, the Jail Diversion Program works to prevent people with mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders from entering the criminal justice system. Having its own in-house mental health clinician has allowed the Arlington Police Department to connect residents with treatment and services, prevent unnecessary trips to emergency departments and has shortened the length of time officers spend at mental health calls for service.

Due to both the Arlington Opiate Outreach Initiative and the Jail Diversion Program, Arlington Police officers have undergone numerous training sessions that have prepared the department for its learning site status. Areas of specialized instruction include mental health first aid, autism, substance abuse, hoarding, veteran services, domestic violence, elder abuse, Narcan and crisis de-escalation.

The three other newly selected CSG sites include the Madison County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio and the Tucson Police Department in Arizona.

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