NewsNow - 04.13.2022

>>> Child Abuse Prevention Awareness: Wear Blue Day

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Wear Blue is a statewide awareness campaign that takes place on the second Wednesday of every April, Child Abuse Prevention Month. Ohioans are encouraged to wear blue that day – to work, to school, to a community event – to show support for preventing child abuse and neglect. Pictured above, members of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) Pre-Admission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) Bureau wore blue Wednesday in support of the effort. #OhioWearsBlue

>>> Governor DeWine Launches SW Branch of the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center

Governor Mike DeWine today officially launched operations at the newest division of the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center (ONIC). The new southwest Ohio ONIC office, located in West Chester, is staffed with criminal intelligence analysts and computer forensic specialists who help local law enforcement agencies trace drug trafficking organizations back to their ringleaders and suppliers through intelligence-driven investigations. Governor DeWine first launched the ONIC in 2019 with offices in Columbus and Cleveland. Due to statewide demand for ONIC's services, Governor DeWine worked with the Ohio General Assembly to secure additional funding to create new offices in northwest and southwest Ohio. ONIC-Toledo officially launched last week. Since the ONIC’s inception, intelligence analysts and forensic specialists have assisted in nearly 2,000 criminal investigations involving the extraction and analysis of more than 4,300 cell phones, over 5 million images and videos, and more than 5 million text messages.

>>> Supporting School Wellness Toolkit

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause stress, affect emotional well-being and intensify mental health needs. The Protecting Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory identified that mental health needs in young people continue to rise with symptoms of anxiety and depression doubling during the pandemic. Though increases in distress symptoms are common during disasters, most people cope well and do not go on to develop mental health disorders. Resiliency can be learned and developed, especially with home, school and community supports, which will help people do hard things later in life. For students, these mental health needs can go unsupported and lead to behaviors that are inconsistent with school expectations. It is important students and staff know that it is okay to ask for help and be ready to respond to those who need additional support. Providing school-based mental health supports and safe learning environments help students improve their overall well-being, allowing them to thrive. Ohio’s educators and students have shown an incredible amount of resilience despite ongoing changes and concerns. This toolkit provides teachers, administrators, students and families and communities with support to assist in responding to challenges amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Click on the links below to access the Ohio Department of Education’s Supporting School Wellness Toolkit -- a collection of resources and recommendations from the Ohio Department of Education, organized by audience type, to address current student and staff wellness challenges.

Teachers

School Administrators

District Administrators

Students and Families

Communities

>>> RSS & Recovery Requires a Community Funds Available

OhioMHAS is committed to helping individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders explore options for transitioning to the community and the goal of Community Transitions is to support sustainable, person-centered transitions so individuals can live and recover within integrated communities. Funds are available to help individuals who are eligible for the Residential State Supplement (RSS) or Recovery Requires a Community programs. More information is available at www.mha.ohio.gov/communitytransitions. Questions? OhioMHAS staff can be reached at RSS@mha.ohio.gov or Recovery@mha.ohio.gov.

>>> National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day – April 30

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will host its next National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on April 30 from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Click HERE to download a promotional toolkit and HERE for a searchable list of collection sites.

>>> Attorney General Yost Opens Application Process for Drug Use Prevention Grants for Next School Year

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is accepting applications for $2.66 million in grant funding for local law enforcement agencies to provide drug use prevention programming to schools during the 2022-23 academic year. The annual Drug Use Prevention (DUP) Grant Program pays up to 50% of salaries for DARE-certified officers and school resource officers (SRO) who provide in-class instruction and direct counseling. Officers can teach from a wide range of approved curricula – including “Botvin Life Skills,” “DARE Keeping it Real,” “I’m Special,” “Reach Out Now” and more. The grant money can also be used to pay for one-on-one counseling time and school- sponsored events. The deadline for submitting applications is May 3.

>>> Youth Respite/Crisis Services Technical Assistance (TA) Session – April 18

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence (CJ CCoE) at NEOMED will host its next Technical Assistance (TA) session: Youth Respite/Crisis Services on April 18 at 2:00 p.m. Youth mental health respite and crisis services has become an identified gap in services for many Ohio communities. Through the CJ CCoE Juvenile Sequential Intercept Mapping Workshops, multiple communities cited this gap as an area for targeted improvement and expressed interest in models and resources to address youth mental health needs to decrease inpatient hospital referrals and interaction with juvenile justice systems. This TA Session will host three organizations to spotlight their work in youth mental health respite and crisis services. The Ohio Children’s Alliance, the Therapeutic Crisis Respite Program of the Children’s Home of Jefferson County (New York) and both the Healy House and North Star crisis residence programs of Northern Rivers (New York) will discuss their array of services and engage in a Q/A session with attendees. Presenters will provide an overview of their services, evidence-based practices and models utilized for service delivery, regulations, funding models for services, challenges faced, and lessons learned to provide quality youth mental health respite and crisis services to their communities.

>>> A Doctor's Perspective on Treating Alcohol Use Disorder – April 28

BrightView Health is hosting a free Optimizing the Patient Journey to Recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder webinar on April 28 from noon-1:00 p.m. Presenters Shawn Ryan, M.D., and Navdeep Kang, Psy.D., will discuss diagnosing and addressing alcohol use disorder in its entirety. Click the link for more information and to register online.

>>> OhioRISE Business Operations, Billing, & Coding Webinar -- May 11

The Ohio Council of Behavioral Health & Family Service Providers is hosting a free OhioRISE Business Operations, Billing, & Coding webinar on May 11 from 9:00-11:30 a.m. This session is intended to prepare organizations and practitioners for implementing practice changes and new business-related processes to support OhioRISE services. It is designed to amplify the information that will be presented in the April 29 Module 3 Training hosted by the Ohio Department of Medicaid. The May 11 session will review and expand on specific strategies to support enrollment and eligibility processes, service descriptions, documentation expectations, billing and coding information, and compliance with practice standards. Participants will learn about necessary practice and operational changes to support the OhioRISE service design and system of care. Click the link above for more information and to register. This free training is sponsored and supported by the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Center of Excellence. Questions? Please email Brenna Whiteside at whiteside@theohiocouncil.org.

In the News

4.13.22 | Cleveland.com Fentanyl causes teen overdoses to soar despite fewer using drugs

4.13.22 | WKRC-TV Construction of a mental health facility for young people accelerates

4.12.22 | The New York Times All children 8 and older should be screened for anxiety, U.S. Task Force says

4.12.22 | Columbus Dispatch Ohio Republicans say secure border will curb overdoses, but drug crisis is complicated

4.12.22 | WFMJ-TV COVID-19, overdoses pushed U.S. to highest death toll ever

4.12.22 | The Washington Post Mental health problems come with ‘cost’ of poorer cognitive function

4.12.22 | STAT Amid the nation’s mental health crisis, we need more psychiatrists now

4.11.22 | The Atlantic Why American teens are so sad

4.11.22 | WTOL-TV Ottawa County drug education program could become statewide model

4.11.22 | Dayton Daily News Special court helps local women overcome addiction

4.11.22 | WTOL-TV A new facility allows NAMI to help more people who are impacted by mental illness