#03-68-12
September 2, 2003
Minnesota Department of Human Services  444 Lafayette Rd.  St. Paul, MN 55155
OF INTEREST TO
! County Directors
! Social Services
Supervisors and Staff
! Tribes
! Children’s Mental
Health Collaboratives
! Family Service
Collaboratives
! Community Providers
ACTION
This is an informational
bulletin and no action is
required.
Children’s Mental Health
Unit Restructuring
TOPIC
Children’s Mental Health Unit work teams designed to provide
technical assistance.
PURPOSE
To inform counties, Tribes, collaboratives, community social
services providers and consumer groups of newly developed
Children’s Mental Health Unit work teams and regional contacts.
CONTACT
Sunday Olayinka
Minnesota Department of Human Services
Partnerships for Child Development
Children’s Mental Health Unit
444 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155
(651) 296-7905
(651) 296-7731
E-mail: [email protected]
DUE DATE
No action is required and
due date is not applicable.
SIGNED
MARIA GOMEZ
Assistant Commissioner
Children and Family Services Administration
Bulletin #03-68-12
September 2, 2003
Page 2
BACKGROUND
The 2003 legislature enacted the Children and Community Services Act (256M.01), which
establishes a fund to address the needs of children, adolescents and adults within each county.
The Children’s Mental Health Unit was restructured to provide technical assistance to counties
developing their children’s mental health system under the Comprehensive Children’s Mental
Health Act and implementing the new consolidated funds under the Children and Community
Services Act.
According to the Minnesota Comprehensive Children’s Mental Health Act, sections 245.487 to
245.4888, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services is charged with
creating and ensuring a unified, accountable, comprehensive children’s mental health service
system.
The commissioner is also responsible for supervising and monitoring the development and
coordination of locally available children’s mental health services. This includes reviewing the
children’s mental health components of the Children and Community Social Services Act and
providing technical assistance to county boards.
PURPOSE OF RESTRUCTURING
County needs for technical assistance and support are expected to increase as a result of 2003
legislative and budgetary changes. To effectively partner with counties, the Children’s Mental
Health unit, within the Partnerships for Child Development Division, has formed three teams
reporting to Dr. Glenace Edwall, unit director:
· Team one: Technical Assistance Team, led by Sunday Olayinka
· Team two: Resource Development Team, led by Gary Cox
· Team three: Research and Evaluation Team, led by Gary Mager.
These teams will together provide information and necessary technical assistance to counties,
Tribes, collaboratives, providers and families. The Technical Assistance team will provide
technical assistance. The Resource Development and the Research and Evaluation teams will be
in charge of information, resource development, evaluation and data. The 87 counties have been
divided into five regions with staff assigned to each region.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TEAM
The Technical Assistance Team is designed to provide consultation, technical assistance and
infrastructure development training around evidence-based practices, cultural competence, and
efficient use of resources, including new Medical Assistance service packages. The goal of the
team is to promote statewide children’s mental health systems of care through state-county
partnerships. In addition, the team will ensure availability of quality, family driven and culturally
competent services for children and their families as provided in the law.
Bulletin #03-68-12
September 2, 2003
Page 3
Mission:
The mission of the Technical Assistance Team is to:
· Enhance the capacity and quality of the children’s mental health system, as specified in
the Comprehensive Children’s Mental Health Act, and
· Provide ongoing technical assistance to counties and collaboratives as they implement the
children’s mental health components of the Children and Community Services Act.
· Facilitate regional cooperation among counties
The Technical Assistance team will be available to provide technical assistance in the
following areas:
· Children’s and Community Services Act
· Evidence based practices for children’s mental health
· Children’s mental health collaborative
· Family services collaborative
· Medical Assistance services for children with emotional disturbance
· Parent Leadership Network
· Inclusion of parents in individual treatment planning and local system planning
· Cultural and linguistic competence
· Web based resources
· Oversight, monitoring and compliance, including:
·
·
·
·
availability/access to services
culturally competent services
family driven system
quality of services.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TEAM AS REGIONAL CONTACTS
The Technical Assistance Team will function as regional contacts, contacting county directors,
mental health unit supervisors, collaboratives and other community entities in late August or
early September. They will meet with each county and collaborative in their region either by
phone or face to face. Counties should advise the contacts about how the team can assist the
county or collaborative.
The team will also provide technical assistance and consultation to other entities such as multicultural providers, consumers, parent leadership network, the Local Advisory Council (LAC),
Local Coordinating Council (LCC) and other community mental health agencies. Technical
assistance staff has been assigned as follows:
Bulletin #03-68-12
September 2, 2003
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Central Region
Amalia Mendoza
Mary Jo Verschay
Anoka, Hennepin,
Scott, Sherburne,
Wright, Carver,
Benton, Stearns
Northeast
Northwest Region
Region
Amy Ortega
Debra DavisMarcia Tippery Moody
Kathy Jefferson
Koochiching,
Kittson, Roseau,
St. Louis,
Lake of the
Cook, Lake,
Woods, Marshall,
Itasca, Aitkin,
Polk, Pennington,
Carlton, Pine,
Red Lake,
Mille Lacs,
Clearwater,
Kanabec,
Beltrami,
Isanti, Chisago Mahnomen,
Norman, Clay,
Becker, Hubbard,
Cass, Wilkin, Otter
Tail, Wadena,
Crow Wing, Todd,
Morrison, Grant,
Douglas, Traverse,
Stevens, Pope
Southeast Region
Southwest Region
Bill Wyss
Sunday Olayinka
Ramsey,
Washington,
Dakota, Rice,
Goodhue, Steele,
Dodge, Wabasha,
Olmsted, Winona,
Freeborn, Mower,
Fillmore, Houston
Big Stone, Swift,
Kandiyohi,
Meeker, Lac Qui
Parle, Chippewa,
Renville,
McCleod, Yellow
Medicine, Lincoln,
Lyon, Redwood,
Nicollet, Sibley,
Brown, Pipestone,
Murray,
Cottonwood,
Watonwan, Blue
Earth, Waseca,
Rock, Nobles,
Jackson, Martin,
Faribault
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT TEAM
The mission is to enhance the system’s capacity. The Resource Development Team is focused
on more efficient and effective use of existing resources as well as developing new resources to
meet the mental health needs of Minnesota’s children. A key strategy is creation of
public/private partnerships involving providers and clinics, managed care organizations, and
colleges and universities along with county and state agencies.
The Resources Development Team will:
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
Develop a regional children’s mental health infrastructure to increase service access and
quality;
Enhance utilization of Medical Assistance and IV-E funds through provider certification,
better billing mechanisms and training in their use;
Implement evidence-based practices in children’s mental health;
Develop capacity to serve children’s mental health needs in primary care clinics;
Develop a county-based crisis response system through partnership with health plans,
clinics, and hospitals;
Develop two subacute psychiatric care facilities;
Address the shortage of mental health providers through various means including
accreditation of culturally-specific providers and recruitment of providers for rural areas;
Develop provider training curricula, training manuals, and conducting training;
Bulletin #03-68-12
September 2, 2003
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·
·
·
·
·
·
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Develop practices to reduce outcomes disparities among diverse cultural groups;
Expand access to culturally appropriate assessment, treatment planning, and services;
Enhance tribal mental health revenues and develop tribal service infrastructure;
Conduct certification training for Children’s Therapeutic Services and Supports (CTSS)
providers;
Evaluate current Medical Assistance rates for children’s mental health services;
Enhance children’s mental health capacity in Minnesota Health Care Programs contracts;
Develop infant mental health capacity through provider training and Medical Assistance
authorization.
RESEARCH AND EVALUATION TEAM
Mission:
To provide timely, accurate, and meaningful information used for policy-making,
program planning, and services administration related to children’s mental health.
The Research and Evaluation Team will:
·
Provide technical assistance for data collection, statistically valid analysis of data, and
outcomes measurement and management
·
Provide training and support for fact-based decision making
·
Collect and maintain data needed to generate useful decision-support materials
·
Perform analysis of data from a variety of sources using statistically valid
methodology
·
Produce management reports and statistical summaries for use at the State and Local
levels
·
Evaluate efficacy of services using scientific methodology
·
Author and distribute reports on the results of evaluations
CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH UNIT STAFF PHONE NUMBERS
Unit Fax: 651-296-7731
Dr. Glenace Edwall, Director
651-215-1382
John Marino, Office and Administrative Specialist
651-297-5242
Technical Assistance Team
Deborah Davis-Moody, 651-282-5436
Kathy Jefferson, 651-215-6019
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September 2, 2003
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Amalia Mendoza, 651-297-3174
Sunday Olayinka, 651-296-7905
Amy Ortega, 651-297-5241
Marcia Tippery, 651-297-4549
Mary Jo Verschay, 651-282-5882
Bill Wyss, 651-296-1772
Resource Development Team
Gary Cox, 651-296-5882
Tonja Rolfson, 651-296-3250
Karry Udvig, 651-215-1004
Research and Evaluation Team
JoAnn Jensen, 651-582-1932
Ruth Knapp, 651-634-2311
Gary Mager, 651-582-1828
Pat Nygaard, 651-582-1988
SPECIAL NEEDS
This information is available in other forms to people with disabilities by contacting us at 651296-7905, toll free at 1-888-234-1138 or through the Minnesota Relay Service at 7-1-1, or
1-800-627-3529 (TDD), or 1-877-627-3848 (speech to speech relay service).