Author Archives: Doris Estremera

The Office of Diversity and Equity is Hiring – Community Program Specialist I

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The Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) is looking to hire a Community Program Specialist I – Extra Help position. If you have a passion for health equity and diversity issues in behavioral health and an interest in the communication, infrastructure and framing of these issues, please see  details on the position and instructions to apply on the ODE website, http://www.smchealth.org/pod/ode-hiring.  The position is an extra help position working twenty-four (24) hours a week.

Medicaid’s Role in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic

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By Kristie Lui, intern Office of Diversity & Equity

With the opioid epidemic increasing among Americans, Medicaid plays a vital role in the nation’s effort to combat the epidemic. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2017), over 2 million people have a prescription opioid addiction and over half a million have a heroin addiction as of 2015. Death from drug overdose has also managed to triple from 2002 to 2015. By covering those struggling with opioid addiction as well as enhancing state capacity to provide access to early interventions and treatment, Medicaid proves a significant tool in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

The expansion of Medicaid has provided states with additional resources to cover adults with addictions who were previously excluded from the program. In 2014, Medicaid and Chip covered 30% of people with opioid addiction. Also in Medicaid expansion states, uninsured hospitalizations related to behavioral health dramatically decreased from 20% in 2012 to 5% in 2015.

The Medicaid program covers a wide range of treatment services such as inpatient detoxification, intensive outpatient, case management/ care coordination, and other inpatient services. All state Medicaid programs also cover at least 1 of 3 opioid medications (methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone), and most cover all three. Over half of states have also increased Medicaid enrollees’ access to naloxone, a life-saving prescription drug that reverses the lethal effects of opioid overdose.

Ultimately Medicaid is playing a central role in America’s efforts to address the opioid epidemic through the coverage of a variety of treatment services, medications, and increased naloxone access.

Visit this link to learn more about Medicaid’s role in the Opioid Epidemic:

http://kff.org/infographic/medicaids-role-in-addressing-opioid-epidemic/

 

 

MHSA 3-Year Plan Prioritization Session

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Open to the public! Join behavioral health advocates, providers and clients and provide your input on the next 3 years of MHSA priorities. You will also hear about MHSA programs key successes, needs and outcomes. View the attached flyer for additional information or visit the MHSA website, http://www.smchealth.org/mhsa

Wednesday, April 26 2017, 4-7pm
Veterans Memorial Senior Center, Redwood Room
1455 Madison Ave. Redwood City, CA 94061

• Stipends are available for consumers/clients
• Language interpretation* is provided as needed
• Childcare* is provided as needed
• Refreshments will be provided

*please reserve these services by April 12th by contacting Colin Hart at (650) 573-5062 or chart@smcgov.org

Facebook Expands Suicide Prevention to Live Videos

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Facebook announced this past Wednesday that it has collaborated with mental health organizations and experts to create new suicide prevention tools as part of their “ongoing effort to help build a safe community on and off Facebook.”

While Facebook has offered suicide prevention tools for over 10 years, the social networking platform has updated its suicide prevention resources for people thinking of suicide and their concerned family and friends to include what gets shared through Live Videos. Updated suicide prevention tools and resources include:

  • Integrated suicide prevention tools to help people in real time on Facebook Live
  • Live chat support from crisis support organizations through Messenger
  • Streamlined reporting for suicide, assisted by artificial intelligence

Facebook has a unique role to in suicide prevention efforts across the country and world. This social media platform supports a network of friends who can help each other and staff who work 24/7 around the world to monitor the safety of its users. Check out their video campaign here.

To learn more about how you can help prevent suicide or help someone in crisis in San Mateo County, visit: www.smchealth.org/SuicidePrevention.

MHSA Three-Year Planning Launch

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Join behavioral health advocates, providers and clients and provide your input on the next 3 years of MHSA priorities.

MHSA Three-Year Planning Launch (Open to the Public)
Monday, March 13, 2017, 3-5pm
Health System Main Campus, Room 100
225 37th Ave. San Mateo, CA 94403

  • Learn about current MHSA funded programs
  • Share and discuss MHSA programs key successes, needs and evaluation findings
  •  Make recommendations on the MHSA 3-Year Plan development process
  • Identify and prioritize future strategies for consideration

All MHSA meetings are open to the public
Stipends are available for consumers/clients
Language interpretation is provided as needed*
Childcare is provided as needed*
Light refreshments will be provided

*Please contact Colin Hart, (650) 573-5062 or chart@smcgov.org, by March 6th to reserve interpretation and/or childcare services.

More Parent Project® Facilitators!

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The Office of Diversity and Equity’s (ODE) is excited to grow it’s capacity to offer the highly successful Parent Project ® in San Mateo County.  The Parent Project ® is a 12-week class that gives parents, grandparents, and caregivers the tools to build strong and healthy families.  Since 2013,  550 San Mateo County parents have graduated the program, impacting well over 1,000 children.

Parent Project ® Program Coordinator, Frances Lobos, and Mental Health Program Specialist, Nancy Chen, LMFT, completed a week-long training to become Parent Project® facilitators.

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Pictured above from left to right: Ralph Fry, Frances Lobos, Nancy Chen and Dr. Roger Morgan.

The training was offered by the creators of the curriculum themselves, Ralph “Bud” Fry and Dr. Roger Morgan. Bud is a retired Police Supervisor from Los Angeles County and has over 27 years of experience as a parent educator.  Dr. Morgan is a Licensed Psychologist practicing in Southern California and specializes in the treatment of children and adolescents with behavior problems.

Currently, ODE is coordinating 5 classes and will have a new schedule of classes for Summer 2017 and Fall 2017 coming out soon.  The Parent Project® is offered in English and Spanish.  Classes are free and dinner and childcare are provided.

For more information about The Parent Project ®, visit http://www.smchealth.org/ParentProject or contact Frances Lobos at flobos@smcgov.org,  650-372-3272.

Holiday [Re] Connections!

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The holidays are here!  For many the holidays are an opportunity to reconnect with loved ones. Monday’s blog about overcoming social anxiety during the holidays was brought to you by CalMHSA: Each Mind Matters Movement.  Today’s blog is a resource of how parents and relatives can speak with teens and young adults and [re]connect during the holidays. Teens and young adults may be managing a work-life balance or facing the challenges of emerging adulthood. Below are four helpful tips that will bridge the communication gaps and encourage the creation of safe mental and emotional spaces for teens and young adults.

  1. Don’t shine an interrogation light.

Keep the conversation as casual as possible. This helps to secure your child’s comfort in the conversation – and yours. The less perceived pressure there is to divulge personal thoughts and feelings, the more comfort present. The more comfort there is, the greater the potential for more vulnerability and more insight on what their lives are actually like outside of the household.

Key: Let them take lead the conversation’s direction and duration! You might just be surprised.

  1. Listen without judgement. Empathize appropriately.

One of the top reasons your child may not share their experiences with other adults at home is because they aren’t sure their events/thoughts will be received without judgement (or worse, punishment). Sometimes your role as their protector has to be put to different use. So, rather than grimace at what their he-said she-said tale is revealing, engage in the conversation with responses that show active listening and affectionate understanding.

Key: If advice is needed, keep it short.

  1. Listen to and validate their feelings.

Sometimes, we hear things that cause feelings of personal offense, or personal responsibility. Remember, though, that you have an opportunity to create a foundation of safety for the child in your life. If the focus is removed from how they are feeling, to how you are reacting, then they might feel less comfortable being vulnerable with you!

  1. Be just as open as you want them to be.

Sometimes it takes a little bit of personal vulnerability to help someone else open up. This is a tricky step for some caring adults. On the one hand, you don’t want to overwhelm your child with too many adult-worries, but on the other hand you do not want to treat them with extremely gentle kid-gloves. Still, you should be willing to be vulnerable and share your joys and pains in an age-appropriate way. This serves as a model of trust for all parties of the conversation!

Ultimately, the goal is to build so much trust, comfort, and merriness into this holiday season so that the New Year may be a strong and supportive start for all friends and family! (Click here to find great tips on how to start conversation of any topic.)

Written by Chenece Blackshear, ODE Intern

The Office of Diversity and Equity is committed to offer prevention and early intervention programs to San Mateo County families.

Showing Support for Survivors of Suicide

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Tomorrow, November 19th, National Survivors of Suicide Day will be observed in the United States.  These days of mental health observance create a societal shift from mental illness and suicide stigma towards a platform of awareness about the incidence of mental illness and ways to aid its prevention.  However, as important as it is to focus attention on educating the masses on how to “Know the Signs,” or to understand the importance behind the tagline “Pain Isn’t Always Obvious,” it is also essential for us to show our support for the friends and family of people who have attempted or completed suicide.

Let’s spread the word about resources and events in the Bay Area that are ready to support you or someone you may know on National Survivors of Suicide Day. Remember, however you choose to participate on November 19th, the strength of love and comfort is found in communal unity.

 

Local Events:

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)– Greater San Francisco organized gathering all over Northern California to offer support and practice healing as a community. Additionally, the AFSP documentary, Life Journeys: Reclaiming Life after Loss, will be shown and additional programming is specific to each event and may include presentations by loss survivors and mental health professionals, as well as small group discussions that bring together people who have experienced similar losses.

All events will be held on November 19th, 2016.

Time: 8:30 – 11:30am

Eureka, CA:

St. Joseph Hospital, Conference Center 1
2700 Dolbeer Street
Eureka, California  95501

 Time: 9am – 11:30am

Fremont, CA:

Ohlone College, Building 7
43600 Mission Boulevard
Fremont, California  94587

 Time: 8:30am – 12:30pm

Livermore, CA:

Hope Hospice, Inc., Suite 100
6377 Clark Avenue
Dublin, California  94568

 Time: 9am – 12pm

Palo Alto, CA:

CHC
650 Clark Way
Palo Alto, California  94304
Time: 10am – 2pm

Seaside, CA:

Veterans Administration Monterey Outpatient Clinic
3401 Engineer Lane
Seaside, California  93955

 Time: 9am – 12pm

San Francisco, CA:

UCSF Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute
401 Parnassus Avenue
San Francisco, California  94143

 Time: 11am – 3pm

Santa Rosa, CA:

Sonoma County YMCA

1111 College Ave
nue

Santa Rosa, California  95124

 Time: 9am – 12pm:

Walnut Creek, CA:

John Muir Health
TBD
Walnut Creek, California  94596

Resources:

  • Helping others or yourself recover from losing a loved one as they grieve can be a difficult process – especially if unsure of what to say or do. Friends For Survival, Inc. offers an amazing way to remember the keys to help the healing process, called the Six T’s: Time, Tears, Talk, Touch, Trust, and Toil.
  • To find local grief support groups, please visit the American Association of Suicidiology to search for opportunities for self-help or supporting others. Additionally, if you know a child or teen who is grieving, please visit Children’s Grief Awareness Day, which is on November 17th, to learn how to their grief-recovery.

 

Article by Chenece Blackshear, Intern with the Office of Diversity and Equity

ABC’s of Local Advocacy in San Mateo County

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On November 15th, the California Association of Mental Health Peer Run Organizations (CAMHPRO) delivered a workshop on the basics of local advocacy to over 40 behavioral health peer partners, family members and advocates from Heart & Soul, Inc., the California Clubhouse, Voice of Recovery, National Alliance on Mental Illness San Mateo and BHRS.

The workshop covered everything from what it takes to participate in community program planning, mental health boards, system of care meetings and other local input opportunities, to knowing the laws including the Mental Health Services Act regulations, to mock input opportunities.

Participants got to practice writing and giving effective public comment input. Many nervously made their way up to the room podium and shared their 2 minute public comment, often including their own personal lived experience as a means to add a personal touch to their input.
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The most inspiring part of the workshop was getting to wrap up the day with a real action plan.  Groups were formed representing each of the agencies that were present to select a topic and issue they would like to work on as a team.  The groups developed on action plan that included next steps, who was responsible, deadlines and a follow up meeting. You could feel the excitement in the room as each group presented their advocacy issue and next steps.

The workshop was provided in collaboration with the Peer Recovery Collaborative and the BHRS Office of Consumer and Family Affairs and the Office of Diversity and Equity.

The Office of Diversity and Equity Receives a Special Recognition

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On Friday, October 21st the San Mateo County Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) received a special recognition from Outlet, a program of the Adolescent Counseling Services, for the work that ODE is engaged in creating health equity for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQQ+) community in the peninsula area.

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“My team and I together with our partners and youth leaders work tirelessly and creatively to bring discussions of inequities, disparities and injustice front and center in our work,” said Dr. Jei Africa, Director of ODE.

Outlet’s Annual Out to Eat Celebration and fundraiser event included a fun and inspiring program with renowned speakers and advocates such as Sid Espinosa, former Mayor of Palo Alto, who after a string of teen suicides in the city became increasingly focused on the city’s youth programs and teen mental health issues and Michelle Honda-Phillips, the mother of a 10-year-old transgender daughter and 8- and 11-year-old cisgender sons, who focuses much of her time advocating for transgender and gender non-conforming youth.

A part of the evening celebration was dedicated to recognizing the achievements of two organizations, the San Mateo County’s Office of Diversity and Equity and Santa Clara County’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.  “The past couple of years have brought great strides setting a strong foundation to help build upon for more awareness, effective and sensitive services, and an overall expectation of equity on all fronts for the San Mateo LGBTQ+ community. It is an honor to work with and be a part of this movement with you!” said Anthony Ross, Outlet Program Director.

Dr. Africa shared about ODE’s work, through the PRIDE initiative, focused on addressing the barriers LGBTQ communities face with seeking behavioral health care services including, sponsoring the first ever PRIDE celebration in San Mateo County in 2013 and the near future launch of the LGBTQ Coordinated Services Center, the first of its kind in California, a one-stop-shop for a variety of resources and supports for LGBTQ families and individuals… “The Center has been a dream for many people, like me, who felt very invisible growing up. The goal of the Center is not only to provide a safe space but to acknowledge that we exist, we are important and we are loved,” said Dr. Jei Africa.

To learn more about the work of ODE and the PRIDE initiative visit, http://www.smchealth.org/ODE.

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