Mental Health Board

708 GENEVA COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH BOARD August 13, 2013 The Geneva Community Mental Health Board met at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 13, 2013, in the Geneva City Hall Chambers, 109 James Street, Geneva, Illinois 60134. Present: Chairman John Ford; Members Johnson, Goldstein, Davidson-Bell. Also present: Police Ofc. Penny Boedigheimer; Mr. Charles Miles from AID and Lynn O’Shea with AID; and Recording Secretary Celeste Weilandt. 1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chairman Ford called the Mental Health Board meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and noted a quorum was present with four (4) voting members. 2. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Geneva Police Officer Boedigheimer and Mr. Charles Miles and Lynn O’Shea, with AID, were introduced . 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA Chairman Ford added “AID Presentation” as Agenda Item 6B. 4. OMNIBUS AGENDA ( OMNIBUS VOTE ) All items listed with an asterisk ( * ) are considered to be routine by the Mental Health Board and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a board member or citizen so requests, in which event the item will be removed from the Omnibus (Consent) Agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the Regular Agenda. Davidson-Bell moved to approve the Omnibus Agenda, seconded by Goldstein. Motion carried by voice vote of 4-0. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES *A. Regular Meeting Minutes of June 11, 2013 - Approved by Omnibus Agenda. 6. PRESENTATION A. Officer Penny Boedigheimer, Geneva Police Dept. - Geneva Patrol Officer Boedigheimer discussed that she recently took on the role of domestic violence advocate where she responds to various family and domestic situations sometimes involving individuals with mental health issues, substance abuse or alcohol issues. She assists with homeless/transient or mentally-ill persons who have the capacity to make choices but also need help. Recently, the department partnered with AID Victim Services to assist the officers with people they run across with mental health issues or domestic-related incidents. Sometimes they assist in making death notifications to families. Per Ms. O’Shea, AID’s emergency crisis phone number received over 39,000 phone calls last year, county-wide. Ofc. Boedigheimer believes the AID service is a positive: Individuals can get the help they need because, prior, the department was very limited in assisting certain types of individuals. Consistent patterns the officer sees in Geneva are kids drinking and smoking marijuana at the parks during the summers. The domestic calls usually have at least one person intoxicated or someone abusing a substance. The homeless population she runs across usually uses alcohol or is abusing a substance. Ofc. Boedigheimer could not estimate the percent of people that accept the police department’s help but explained that options for help are offered in domestic cases, but it is up to the individual to make his/her decision if they want to attend a probationary program or not; otherwise, they are usually convicted. As to the increased use of heroin, Ofc. Boedigheimer feels its use is equally spread among youth and adults. Other challenges she sees is the lack of locations where a person under the influence can go to sober up other than a jail cell. Both Lazarus House and Hesed House have their own rules and usually do not allow persons under the influence to stay in their facilities. Of the mental health cases she sees, she has had people admit they are bi-polar; of the people that are suicidal, currently Delnor sends them to Provena Mercy Hospital. Ofc. Boedigheimer believes the new involuntary committal form does help the police department. As to any incidents occurring with individuals with developmental disabilities, she has not personally dealt with such cases; however, she has run into cases where a disabled elderly person is not receiving disability and she is trying to assist them. The last issue she sees is hording issues with some of the elderly living alone. Adding to the above discussion, AID Dir. Lynn O’Shea confirmed she did have a contract with the Geneva Police for victim services which was an expansion of a current program in place but would now include Geneva. She is currently negotiating with Sugar Grove, Huntley and Lombard and was also approached by Cook County to provide these services. She believes the program is needed and desired by both police and fire departments/paramedics. The program allows the police departments to work with the perpetrator while AID works with the victim. Ms. O’Shea expanded on the various facets of the program explaining that the program includes many volunteers to assist individuals. She estimates that about 90% of the callers to the 708 Geneva Community Mental Health Board - 2- August 13, 2013 crisis line can be managed by a licensed professional or, if a volunteer takes the call, they can forward it to one of the professionals. She estimates about 4,000 to 5,000 individuals are admitted, through AID, to Provena Mercy’s psychiatry hospital from the St. Charles area down to the south. The population of high school students and young adults are usually handled during the day hours through the hospital itself. Her population comes through the hospital during the evenings and weekends. O’Shea reiterated the need for a better youth psychiatric program, which she believes Cadence Health is addressing in Geneva. One issue that one of her partners sees is the growing rate of suicide among the middle-aged (35 and 50 yrs) who have lost their jobs or are losing their homes, which numbers are surpassing those of the younger population. As a result, AID is looking to start a suicide prevention training program in the community through different public forums. In closing, O’Shea stated the funding for the crisis program is funded by this board, grants, 75% by Medicaid; 10% by insurance companies; and 5 % by the various 708 boards. B. Presentation by AID Exec. Dir. Lynn O’Shea - Ms. O’Shea distributed information regarding the School Transition program which is directed to individuals (18 to 22 yrs. old) with severe emotional and behavioral issues that are transferring from the high school intensive programming service to adult services. The program operates by credentialed staff and focuses on self control, positive behavioral outcomes, and vocational skills. AID recently received non-public school certification last month, hired teaching staff, and recently secured a payment rate where operations is being funded at 50% from the local public school who wants to transition out a student over age 18 into adult services. She estimated the start-up costs were about $47,000. Details followed on what steps would be taken to slowly integrate the initial five students into the program. AID was seeking one-time start-up grants to cover staff costs to develop the curriculum, work with the schools, training, etc. and was seeking funding from this board of approximately $7500 for its portion of the start-up costs. O’Shea explained she began this program to address the challenges she saw in young adults with serious emotional/behavioral problems who needed vocational training in order for them to stay out of state institutions or from becoming homeless. Chairman Ford stated the transitional school program would be discussed at the board’s next meeting. Mr. Chuck Miles and Dir. O’Shea also shared the plans that AID has for future affordable housing. 7. OLD BUSINESS A. Review Plans for November Funding Presentations - Davidson-Bell noted the November 1st application deadline for this year as compared to past years, stating the funding will be $139,000. Because the funding was declining, Johnson thought it may be necessary to evaluate and measure the agencies’ outcomes, because the board could be asked to do so in the future. Chairman Ford believed it was something to consider and suggested one option may be that any agency requesting more than $20,000, for example, provide an outcome summary. However, Davidson-Bell indicated it was already addressed on the application. Davidson-Bell moved to approve the funding documentation, with corrections, for the 2014 grant funding. Seconded by Goldstein. Motion carried. B. Review Options for December at Council - Chairman Ford asked members for any new ideas on presenting the checks to the agencies in December or presenting a different process. After some dialog, members agreed to contact Mary Jane Johnson from Geneva High School and to contact Lynn O’Shea regarding the landlord that provided affordable housing in Geneva. Chairman Ford said he would put something together for the end of next meeting to vote on and would email a note to Davidson-Bell for review to pass on to City Admin. McKittrick as to how the December meeting would move forward. C. Review Roundtable Plans for September 10, 2013 - Johnson apologized because she was not able to work on the round table project. However, she believed the goal for the round table was to get more information for the board itself and to identify any gap in services. Chairman Ford asked that Johnson continue pursuing the round table project and to keep him and recording secretary informed. 8. OTHER BUSINESS *A. Approve Payment to Recording Secretary for Services - Approved by Omnibus Agenda. 9. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND MAIL Chairman Ford announced that the annual dues statement for ACMHAI arrived ($966.00) and was due August 31, 2013. Dialog followed regarding the benefits of the agency and the resources it provided to this board. Goldstein suggested having ACMHAI hold a special workshop for this board in early 2014. Chairman Ford would also confirm the annual dues amount. Goldstein moved to approve payment of the ACMHAI annual dues, seconded by Davison-Bell. Motion carried unanimously. Asked if the board’s current funding could be affected if a 377 board was created, the chairman believed it could. Goldstein and the chairman also recalled there was a discussion at the county level of creating a county-wide 708 708 Geneva Community Mental Health Board - 3- August 13, 2013 board for the northern part of Kane County but the county board did not support it and felt that the northern townships should have their own boards. 10. ADJOURNMENT The board adjourned at 8:41 p.m. on motion by Goldstein, seconded by Johnson. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote of 4-0. Recording Secretary, Celeste K. Weilandt