Mental Health Connection
of Tarrant County

Next Membership Meeting

March 8, 2010
8:30 a.m.

FWISD Presents:
The District's
Critical Incident Plan

The Women's Center
1723 Hemphill
Fort Worth, Texas 76110

Minutes of previous meetings

Newsletters

Organization Chart

2009 Committees Resolution

Ten-Year Timeline Brochure

Current Initiatives

DataLink Client Management Information System

Bridging the Gap Update

Learning Communities

Learning Communities Full Report

Blue Ribbon Committee on
Mental Wellness in the Workplace

         Final Report

         Detailed Final
               Report

         Mental Health 
         Insurance
         Coverage in       
         Tarrant County

              Executive
                Summary
                   

              Full Report

Strategic Plan

Anti-Stigma Campaign

Hand in Hand

Wraparound

Family Resource Centers

Kenneth Barr Award

Standards of Care

Grant-Seeking Process

 

 

Pam Beach Explains Changes in HIPAA

Houston attorney Pam Beach recently spoke to Mental Health Connection members about the latest changes in HIPAA. Click here for a copy of her presentation.

In 2003, Ms. Beach was appointed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to the HIPAA Preemption Task Force, which analyzed all state laws concerning health information privacy. Ms. Beach is an experienced psychiatric nurse and has held administrative positions in mental health provider organizations. She has taught at both Texas Woman's University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Additional materials from Pam Beach:

Interpretative Guidance
Protected Health Information
Breach Notification
Administrative Code - ECI
Family Code - Access
Family Code - Consent
Family Code - Conservatorship
Identity Theft
Subpoenas

Meetings Change Location in 2010

It is hard to believe that 10 years have passed since Tarrant County Juvenile Services began so generously hosting our monthly membership meetings. Randy Turner and his excellent staff have worked hard to accommodate our meetings, even with ever-growing demands on the training facilities at the detention center. Without doubt, we have benefitted from their long-standing hospitality and generosity. 

In the spirit of collaboration, it is now someone else's turn, and we are pleased that The Women's Center has invited us to meet at its new facility on Hemphill during 2010. Because of the high attendance levels, we know that the MHC monthly meetings have provided a valuable forum for this community to share information, network, problem solve and plan. Please join us on January 11 at The Women's Center. We will have the coffee on!  

Summary of Outcomes for Families in Community Solutions Wraparound

The clinical outcomes from Wraparound conducted under Community Solutions have been finalized. Review them here.

Speakers at 2009 Bridging the Gap Symposium Share Knowledge, Information

Approximately 200 mental health professionals, community leaders, consumers, family members and other caregivers heard from top national researchers on the latest evidence-based mental health practices for children between birth and age 11. All attended the 2009 Bridging the Gap Symposium at TCU on November 2 and 3.

To review presentations by the 2009 Symposium speakers, click on the links below:

How Do We Stop the Cycle: From Cradle to Prison?
Kelli King-Jackson, Texas Outreach Director, National Children's Defense Fund

Trauma and the Brain: What are the Effects of Trauma on Childhood  Development?
Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow, ChildTrauma Academy

"Effects of Traumatic Events on Children: An Introduction"
Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow, ChildTrauma Academy

What is the Evidence on Medication in Early Childhood?
Peter Jensen, M.D., President, CEO and Founder, The REACH Institute

How Can We Make Change Work?
Allison J.R. Metz, Ph.D., National Implementation Research Network

How Do We Change the Policy and Find the Funds?
Janice L. Cooper, Ph.D., National Center for Children in Poverty

Hand in Hand Changes Criteria

The Hand in Hand initiative has changed its criteria for participation in Wraparound. Instead of requiring a mental health diagnosis for children between birth and age 5, Hand in Hand will now accept children in that age range who are at imminent risk of a mental illness. Children must still meet the other Hand in Hand criteria:

• Be between birth and age 6

• Be living in Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker or Tarrant County outside of Fort Wort

To refer someone to wraparound, use DataLink, call Stephanie Norton at 817-569-5720 or access the referral form online and fax it to 817-569-5734. Hand in Hand will enroll 10 children in each participating county during the 2009-10 fiscal year.

More Information about Hand in Hand

Wraparound Referral Form

Hand in Hand Brochure

 

Mental Health Connection
Participates in DSHS Trauma Study

The Texas Department of State Health Services, through the Mental Health Transformation Grant, has included Mental Health Connection in a study that evaluates the effectiveness of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with specific training and ongoing consultation for providers. The study is evaluating 75 children and adolescents in Tarrant County whose providers have received training and ongoing consultation in the evidence-based practice. The study includes evaluation of fidelity to the evidence-based program model. Another community was selected in which providers were trained in TF-CBT, but did not have the ongoing consultation or evaluation of their fidelity to the model. The result will provide one measure of the impact transformation has on consumer outcomes.

Because the study involves many of the concepts included in the pilot program recommended by the Trauma/PTSD Learning Community, the Trauma/PTSD Implementation Team has been working with the state to support the study.

The following materials are available for more information.            

Trauma-Focused CBT Provider Matrix

Trauma Screening Tool

PowerPoint presentation made to mental health agencies on Nov. 10, 2008

Bringing Resiliency After Trauma ("B.R.A.T.)

News

Mental Health Connection Offers Toolkit for
Consumer-Run Qualitative Study
System of Care communities that want to conduct their own consumer-run qualitative study can click here for a toolkit to help them get started.

MHMR Crisis Services

Project Descriptions