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CAHS CONNECTIONS
News For and About CAHS Employees
February 2015
CAHS CONNECTIONS  Story Ideas / Photos
We welcome your story ideas and photos for upcoming newsletters! Items of interest include program news, events or achievements, presentations, births, 25+-year anniversaries, contests, etc. Please email ideas and photos with appropriate identifying information to CAHSConnections@la.gov.

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Coming Up at CAHS
RESERVE YOUR SPOT
Movie Screening / Discussion

Click here to reserve your spot to watch Moment to Moment: Teens Growing Up With FASDs (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders), a film about four adolescents and how FASDs has affected them.

The screening will be followed by a facilitated discussion with the film's executive producer, Dr. Ira J. Chasnoff. Join us Feb. 13 at 2 p.m., at the Behavioral Health Services Collaborative meeting, Government St., Building 2, Room 200. It's free!  Watch the movie trailer.
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REGISTER NOW / EARN CEUs
Click here for info and to register

February 25
"Self-Care for Practitioners"
Presenter: Dr. Catherine Lemieux
May 21
"Taking the Fear Out of Working With the Suicidal Patient"
Presenter: Dr. William M. Schmitz, Jr.
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SAVE THE DATE: March 10 Public Forum

The annual (CAHS) Public Forum on Substance Abuse will be held March 10, 9-11:30 a.m., Government St., Building 2, Room 200. Community members are invited to participate in discussions about substance-abuse prevention and treatment needs. The forum also will feature presentations about CAHS’s key strategic initiatives and services and an overview of the Office of Behavioral Health’s statewide initiatives.
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What's Happening At CAHS
PLEASE TAKE THE SURVEY
The CAHS Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) Initiative is committed to enhancing care and services to meet the needs of people experiencing trauma. Your feedback is needed, and it will only take about 10 minutes. Click here to complete the TIC Organizational Assessment on Survey Monkey.  Also,  learn more here and see the list of TIC core team members.
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PROPER ELECTRONIC MESSAGING
Proper use of electronic messaging on government devices is critically important. As the new year begins, please click here to refresh your knowledge of our guidelines.
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W-2 FORMS MAILED / ONLINE
W-2 forms for 2014 were mailed Jan. 30 to active employees who did not elect to view and print their W-2s through the Louisiana Employees On-Line Services (LEO). If you chose the LEO option by Dec. 31, click here to log in and follow the instructions to view and print your W-2 form. Also, duplicate W-2s are now available through LEO or via requests of OSUP after Feb. 9.
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CHECK YOUR BENEFITS INFO
Log into LEO, select the My Info tab, choose Personal Info, and choose Benefits. Check your current benefits, then change the validity date to 03/01/2015 to see new-plan data. Next, click on individual plan links for details to ensure the accuracy of your enrollment choices.
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Now Available!
2015 CAHS REFERRAL GUIDE
 
The CAHS Referral Guide, now in its 12th printing, provides quick contact information for vital services in our area. The guide was developed in response to requests from the public, health and human services professionals, and law enforcement officers who frequently need to effectively refer members of their communities to services. We are pleased to provide this valuable community resource and appreciate the many positive testimonials we have received.
 
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STAFF TRAINING IMPROVES!

John Nosacka reports significant progress in trainings that are required by all staff that interact with consumers.

The trainings are among key compliance factors for CARF and the Department of Health and Hospitals. John sends kudos for the following progress:

* 158 staff members completed 80% or more of their required courses in 2014, up from 101 in 2013

* 92% of staff that were required to take Crisis Prevention and Supportive Interventions (CPSI) trainings did so, reflecting an increase from 78% in 2013

* These departments led the way with the most staff to complete 80% of their required trainings: Satellite, Total Health, Administration, Developmental Disabilities, and Nurse Family Partnership.
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CAHS SUCCESSES REPORTED AT NATIONAL APHA MEETING
 
Paul Tuminello, LCSW, ACSW, made a presentation recently to the American Public Health Association meeting in New Orleans about the successes of CAHS’ Crisis Intervention Program. 

Paul reported successes in two initiatives:
1) the Mobile Crisis Team that helps persons with mental illness in crisis, and 2) the partnership with law enforcement to help officers better respond to behavioral health crises.

The Mobile Crisis Team works to ensure that persons with severe mental illness receive comprehensive care from social workers, registered nurses, social service counselors, and psychiatric aides. The team receives referrals from local area hospitals, coroners, school administrations, guidance counselors, mental health clinics, primary care doctors, case workers, homeless shelters, and other community based programs.

The Mobile Team’s successes included:
•    Decreases in hospitalization rates and need for higher care levels
•    Increases in medication compliance
•    Increases in outpatient appointment compliance
•    Decreases in emergency room visits

Paul also reported successes of the ongoing CAHS partnership with law enforcement. CAHS developed and implemented a free, POST-approved training institute for law enforcement agencies. Between 2008 and 2014, a total of 1,074 officers were trained, and more trainings are planned in 2015.   See Paul's entire presentation here.
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PEER SPECIALIST TURNS $5,000 GRANT INTO REAL HELP AT EBR PARISH PRISON

What started as a $5,000 seed grant from Magellan Behavioral Health became one of CAHS' success stories of 2014.

The grant funded a part-time Peer Support Specialist position, staffed by Tonja Myles (pictured left), to help inmates at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison with issues related to their re-entry into the community upon release.

Peer support specialists, like Tonja, utilize the knowledge and perspectives they've gained through personal life experiences to help individuals who are dealing with mental illness and co-occurring substance use. 

Between April and December 2014, Tonja teamed with other CAHS staff to help with participant screening, engagement, person-centered transition planning, facilitation of Wellness Recovery Action Plan groups, documentation of services provided, and data collection.  Tonja also followed up with participants after their release.

CAHS provided those services to 383 participants in the prison. Of those, 242 (63%) were released during the grant period, and 82 (33%) kept their outpatient behavioral health treatment appointments, connected with the local recovery community, and have not been re-arrested.
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TODDIE MILSTEAD NAMED WBR PROJECT COORDINATOR
 
Pictured:  Toddie V. Milstead with Michael Botticelli, Director of the Office of National Drug Policy Control, Washington, DC

Toddie V. Milstead has been hired by CAHS to serve as the Drug Free Communities Project Coordinator for the West Baton Rouge Healthy Community Coalition. The coalition recently received a five-year, $625,000 Drug Free Communities grant to reduce substance use among youth under the age of 18.

CAHS provides administrative support and fiscal management for the program. Toddie previously served as Chairman of the Board of the WBR Community Coalition and also served as Director of WBR’s Underage Drinking Task Force. In her new role, Toddie will work with the coalition to hold public forums, conduct workshops and launch a media campaign to invite participation from community members. The coalition is charged with identifying and addressing local youth substance use problems and creating sustainable community-level change.  Read more here.
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CAHS in the News

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Who's Who at CAHS

Who joined CAHS and who retired recently? Click here to see.
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"Cover Girl" Aria Rife
Congratulations to Aria Rife, 13, daughter of Dina (SB) and husband, Ryan (GMHC), for being named one of the "Cover Kid" winners for Baton Rouge Parents magazine. Aria was selected after an interview process and was treated to a professional photo session.
Cameron Ryan Humble

What a wonderful way to ring in the new year! Congratulations to Nicholas and Misty Humble (SB), who celebrated the birth of their son, Cameron Ryan, on January 7.
Busy Bundlers
Brandalyn Kistler and Jason Cervini (both of DD) get busy bundling some of the 10,000 CAHS Referral Resource Guides that are being distributed throughout our seven-parish service area (see story above for details).
Counting CAHS Property
Rusty Coleman of IT (right) and Sandra Deggs of Fiscal Management smile as they wrap up the semi-annual Property Control Inventory of CAHS. Vidal Prograis of IT (left) observes their work at his office.
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We Would Like to Hear From You!
CAHS Connections is your newsletter, about and for the employees and activities of Capital Area Human Services. The employees listed here serve on the newsletter's Editorial Board and would like to hear from you. Just click on their names to send an email with your story ideas: Karen Bray, Rafael Maza, Lynetta Butler, Richard Brown, Jr., Michael Brown, Carol Everhart, Linda Melancon, Betty Mims, Shenitha Smith, and Gabrielle Brown.
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Our Mission
To facilitate person-centered recovery by empowering people of all ages with behavioral health needs and developmental disability challenges to strengthen relationships, establish independence, and enhance their ability to improve their physical health and emotional well-being.
Our Vision
Our network provides local access to best practices that respond to the unique needs of individuals living in the District's communities.
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Copyright © 2015 CAHS/Capital Area Human Services, All rights reserved.


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