Tagged With "Staff Development"
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Rural Communities Opioid Response (Planning) (RCORP) Initiative Grants
The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) plans to award up to 75 grants to rural communities as part of a new Rural Communities Opioid Response (Planning) (RCORP) initiative in FY 18. Successful awardees will receive up to $200,000 for one-year to develop plans to implement opioid use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery interventions designed to reduce opioid overdoses among rural populations. The initiative will focus...
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Speaking of Housing...
We know that so many negative outcomes are driven by adverse experiences and adverse environments. And we know from GWU's Pair of ACEs that homelessness is one of those experiences and that poor housing and a lack of affordability is one of those environments. So, this week, I set out to learn more at People & Places 2019. I was so moved by so many riveting things that were said by the amazing speakers. To see the amazing Written Word recap by Hannah Hasan, please see my Twitter account...
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Training: Ways of Sharing Resources
This is saved as a blog post and there's an attachment. Sharing resources as a blog post is easier to make visual.
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Why We Suck (at Self-Soothing & Self-Care): Dr. Dawn O'Malley
Without coffee and yoga, I'm kind of a jerk. These are my personal "puppy uppers and doggie downers" and prevent me from being cranky, quick to cry, and ready for conflict. Coffee and calming make life more manageable. Humans seem tolerable. Without helpers I might veer into hating humans for being so needy which is not a great trait for a parent, partner or a professional. Or a self. My partner says coffee and exercise are acts of kindness, services he does to promote public safety. In...
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Benchmarks - Partnering for Excellence Job Post - Pitt & Craven County Project Assistant
Hi Everyone! Benchmarks is expanding and we are super excited to announce that we will be hiring for a Project Assistant for Pitt and Craven County’s Partnering for Excellence initiative! Attached is a PDF of the job description and qualifications in detail. We anticipate filling this position by the end of January! Please if you would, share with those that you feel may qualify. Thank you in advance! Lavita
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Cleveland County's 12th Annual Minority Health Conference
Saturday, PFE’s Program manager, Jasmine Cain was invited to speak at Cleveland County’s 12th Annual Minority Health Conference which was hosted by the county’s Public Health Department and put on by the local Minority Health Council. Each year the conference focuses on educating minority leaders and members in the community about issues facing African American and other minority groups locally. The conference also serves as a platform to address and discuss disparities faced by minorities...
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Community Resiliency Model (CRM) Information Session
Rowan County is excited to take the next steps across all sectors to foster a resilient community. We will be offering the Community Resiliency Model™ Trainer Training on January 27th - 31st, 2020 . The location will be in downtown Salisbury at St. John's Lutheran Church. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided for trainees for the entirety of the training. You can download the training flyer here. The Community Resiliency Model™ (CRM) of the Trauma Resource Institute trains community...
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Funding bills in House and Senate call for the Surgeon General to address ACEs and health outcomes
Committee reports for the fiscal year 2019 funding bills for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor/HHS) call for the Office of the Surgeon General to report on the connection between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and negative long-term health outcomes, including future substance misuse. The House Appropriations Committee report contains stronger and more specific language than the Senate report—it directs the Office of the Surgeon General to submit a...
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Old Services, New Lens: A Closer Look at DBT and MST as Trauma-Informed Models for Children
Last week Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence hosted a webinar titled “ Old Services, New Lens: A Closer Look at DBT and MST as Trauma-Informed Models for Children.” The presenters highlighted two services that are trauma-informed, but not necessarily recommended often: Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST). Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Dr. Katie Rosanbalm, Senior Research Scientist, Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, shared that DBT historically...
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Personal stories the set tone of hearing in U.S. Senate HELP Committee on Opioid Crisis Response Act
Jennifer Donahue, Delaware Office of the Child Advocate, testifies before the HELP Committee (Jennifer Perry to her right) ____________________________________________________________ Some seasoned advocates say legislators are influenced by stories while their staffs are swayed by data. There was some of both at the April 11 hearing on the draft Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 of the U.S. Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor & Pensions) Committee but it was the personal stories that...
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Worth the Effort: Building Resilience in Social Workers
Let’s talk ·R·E·S·I·L·I·E·N·C·E! Resilience is an individual’s ability to overcome adversity, and it is influenced by many factors. A person’s resilience is strongly impacted by their environment and support systems within their lives. A supportive environment, relationships, and connections with other trusted and dependable human beings can make a tremendous difference in the lives of children and families who have endured toxic stressful and traumatic situations. We know how important...
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Using Social Determinants of Health to Improve Outcomes for Child Welfare Involved Children and Families
Health can be significantly inconsistent between individuals and populations. Variables called the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) assist in understanding the range of factors that affect a person’s overall well-being. SDoH are defined by the World Health Organization as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.” These environments are mostly shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources and have substantial impact on education, occupation, policies,...
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Yes! Because We Care!
YES! A resounding YES! This is the standard response given from Children's Homes of Cleveland County (CHCC) when asked about opportunities to come together to learn, grow, and develop in a safe, stable environment for children and families. After all, these are the words penned in the mission statement of the organization, but it is worth noting that this organization strives in every way to live this out. As a trauma informed agency, Children’s Homes of Cleveland County has been a leader in...
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month
The month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health awareness applies to every individual, no matter their background. Mental health needs are discussed more often for adults, but it is equally important to remember that infants and children have their own unique mental health needs. A common theme the past few years regarding mental health awareness has been widely expressed using the phrase “No Health Without Mental Health.” This is very true; it is impossible for one to be...
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In it for the Long Haul
In a few short weeks, Rowan County DSS will host their last implementation meeting for the Partnering for Excellence (PFE) initiative. Rowan County DSS has been working in partnership with Cardinal Innovations for the last seven years to implement the PFE pathway among their staff and improve the "trauma informedness" of their community. Building a trauma informed culture within the agency and among community members and stakeholders is much more than providing education and improving...
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Trauma-Informed Early Childhood Initiatives [CTIPP]
CTIPP CAN Call - Trauma-Informed Early Childhood Initiatives - September 15th, 2-3:30pm ET/11am-12:30pm PT - Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/742183645 Meeting ID: 742 183 645 One tap mobile +19292056099,,742183645# US (New York) Please join us for next week's CTIPP CAN Call, which will focus on building mental well-being for infants, toddlers and preschoolers and the adults who care for them. This month's presentation will feature Drs. Kaitlin Mulcahy and Gerry Costa, and Kelly...
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Pitt County Department of Social Services Hosts Annual 'Bready Bear' Event
Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) project works closely with local child welfare agencies to implement trauma-informed shifts in the community. This is done through educating the community on the effects of trauma while also working with local child welfare agencies to screen youth who become involved and connect them with a Trauma Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment (TiCCA). As a result, we know many of our youth in foster care experience higher rates of trauma than their...
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Alexander Youth Network Continues to Advocate for Trauma Informed Services
In July, North Carolina started the process of Medicaid transformation. Oversight and management of some Medicaid behavioral health dollars transitioned from more regionalized, specialized organizations to statewide organizations that focus on both behavioral health and physical health. During this transition, providers have worked tirelessly to ensure that much needed services continue despite logistics surrounding health plans. During the process of Medicaid transformation, providers have...
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The Impact of Trauma on Physical Health
Trauma has a significant impact on many aspects of a child’s life. Trauma exposure has an effect on overall health and well-being, contributing to complications and concerns with emotional and physical health throughout the life span. Over the past twenty years, there has been more research and acknowledgement of the overall impact that trauma has from childhood through adulthood. At Benchmarks, we strive to develop and implement innovative programs and processes that mitigate the effects of...
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A Vision for Pathways to Permanency
Last summer Benchmarks began facilitating a project to address the overwhelming challenges facing the child welfare serving system in North Carolina. When Vaya Health, a Medicaid managed care organization in North Carolina, approached Benchmarks about managing the project they recognized negative impacts on youth in foster care from the longstanding misalignment between the child welfare and the behavioral healthcare system. We began by hearing from stakeholders about how to best meet the...
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The Disconnect
What if every decision we made was based solely on what we knew? How might that change our personal behaviors that impact our health? For example, if I took everything out of the equation other than what nutrients my body required, I would only select quality foods 100% percent of the time. This means I would never waiver on my decision to eat healthy, even when offered my favorite treat. When faced with the decision to grab a quick bite from fast food restaurant than to prepare a meal at...
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Engaging Persons with Lived Experience in System Improvement Projects
We are gaining momentum in our Pathways to Permanency Project, a Vaya Health initiative to align the work of the child welfare and behavioral health systems. Workgroup sessions are taking place monthly, stakeholders’ meetings are occurring quarterly and in between we are busy ensuring the work moves ahead so that sustainable change is possible. However, as we have navigated this project it has been overwhelmingly clear that we needed and wanted to include individuals with lived experience in...
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Partner Spotlight: Cleveland County DSS
In this month’s Partner Spotlight, Benchmarks would like to highlight our partners at Cleveland County DSS. Since 2016, Cleveland County has been working with Benchmarks’ Center for Quality Improvement to implement Partnering for Excellence (PFE), a project that aims to ensure child welfare involved youth are appropriately screened, assessed, and treated for trauma in a timely and effective manner. Recently, Cleveland transitioned to the sustainability phase of the project which means all...
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Changing Policies: A Trauma-Informed Approach
Pathways to Permanency Project, a Vaya Health initiative created to align the work of the child welfare and behavioral health systems, continues to develop solutions to improve outcomes for child welfare involved youth and families. Child welfare stakeholders utilize monthly workgroup sessions to explore the impact and feasibility required of each potential solution to identified problems. As the project managers, Benchmarks’ staff often hear that a potential solution is to create new...
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Restoring the Nervous System by Healing the Mind-Body Connection
One of the aims of Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) is to educate communities about the effects of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); specifically, how these effects impact the youth and families that encounter the child welfare system. Through our work we know that when systems are trauma-informed, it can help shift the perspectives of professionals from “What is wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”, which ultimately informs the way we treat and address...
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Training the Adult Learner: Lessons from Benchmarks CQi Team
When many of us think about education, we may picture children sitting in a classroom and a teacher at a chalk board. But many adults take part in educational opportunities and trainings throughout their personal and professional lives. Some participate in mandatory trainings to enhance skills while others seek learning opportunities for their own personal enjoyment. No matter the reason, adults learn differently than children, and their trainings and educational opportunities should reflect...
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Setting Up for Success: Sharing Lessons Learned for Creating Sustainable Training Teams
Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) is a test of change project that aims to provide Department of Social Services (DSS) agencies with a trauma-informed pathway to screen for and address trauma for child welfare-involved youth. To do this, the project focuses on cultivating a more trauma-informed community through education and trainings. In 2019, Benchmarks’ PFE began implementation in Pitt and Craven counties. Just a few years, the project shifted from the implementation phase into...
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Standardized Assessment Protocol Pilot Is Expanding to In Home Family Services
Benchmarks recently completed implementation of the Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) in Burke, Rutherford, and Surry Counties, with a target population of children and youth involved in foster care. The process implemented was specifically for children and youth ages four and older, with the goal of assisting the child and family’s access to a quality, evidence-informed trauma assessment. We refer to this assessment as the Benchmarks Trauma Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment...
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January is Mental Wellness Month
In efforts to promote the importance of maintaining good mental health, the month of January has been designated as “Mental Wellness Month”. With nearly one in five U.S. adults living with mental illness ( NIMH, 2022 ), it is important that we all take the time to check in on our mental health. Those who have suffered from trauma are often at higher risk of experiencing mental illness. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study correlated that those with four or more ACEs were more...
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Partnering with a Purpose: Creating behavioral health services for youth in foster care
The “Accessible, Quality Continuum of Behavioral Health Services” workgroup is one of the six workgroups convening monthly in the Vaya Health Pathways to Permanency project. Participants who join the monthly sessions are from across the Vaya Health catchment area and work in child welfare, Medicaid managed care, behavioral health, and child placement. This cross-system group of professionals is tasked with developing solutions to challenges identified during the beginning of the project. In...
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Pathways to Permanency Project: Quality Clinical Assessment to Drive Services Workgroup
Monthly, cross system stakeholders are meeting to discuss best practices and develop tools to ensure that youth in foster care receive timely and quality clinical assessments that are tailored to their unique needs. The Pathways to Permanency Project is a collaborative effort sponsored by Vaya Health, an LME-MCO in North Carolina, that seeks to improve the outcomes for youth in foster care. The project's “Quality Clinical Assessment to Drive Services Workgroup” is a crucial part of this...
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Human Service Organizations Can Mitigate the Impact of Stress for Employees
Human service agencies’ organizational stress naturally affects the employees who work for the agencies, oftentimes causing more stress to the employees already working in high stress environments. Though many human service agency employees choose the work they do because it gives them purpose and meaning, often that is not enough to prevent added workplace stress or to ameliorate the effects of that stress. Organizational stress is going to happen, but agencies can continue to hire and...
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Creating Placement Stability for Children in Foster Care
Last month was National Foster Care Awareness month and in our May blog we emphasized the importance of caring for this specific population. This month, we are highlighting one of the most important aspects of promoting resilience for children placed in foster care: placement stability. As you may know, 99% of children in foster care experience some type of traumatic event. Despite the child welfare system’s best efforts, trauma can be exacerbated by the child’s involvement with the system,...
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Adult Learning Principles Training Focuses on Developing and Empowering Adult Learners
Benchmarks’ Center for Quality Integration (CQi) builds and implements prototype projects in North Carolina and through that implementation the impact of effective training programs has been critical to sustaining long-term project successes. To that end, how well the facilitators or trainers understand and develop instructional strategies for adult learners is an important measure of training programs. Benchmarks’ CQi is thrilled to now include an “Adult Learning Principles” (ADLP) training...
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Elevating Foster Parent Training: Unveiling the Pathways to Permanency FosteringNC Developmental Effects of Trauma Facilitator’s Guide
In the collaborative pursuit of addressing the comprehensive needs of youth in foster care and their families, the Pathways to Permanency project has given rise to a powerful tool – the “FosteringNC Developmental Effects of Trauma Facilitator’s Guide". Developed in tandem with Vaya, County DSS offices, and mental health providers, this guide stands as a testament to Vaya’s commitment to addressing critical needs related to the foster care experience. The Pathways to Permanency Project The...
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Seasonal Affective Disorder: Unraveling its Impact on Complex Trauma
December is Seasonal Affective Disorder Awareness Month. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that typically occurs during fall and winter. It is believed to be related to changes in light exposure and may result from disruptions in the body’s internal clock (circadian rhythms) and alterations in neurotransmitter levels, such as serotonin. What happens when SAD is coupled with complex trauma ? The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) defines complex trauma as...
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Enhancing Family Foster Care: "All Staff Treat Them Like Gold Training"
The importance of safe and supportive homes for youth in foster care cannot be overstated. The "Safe & Supportive Homes: Family Foster Care Recruitment and Retention" workgroup, part of Vaya's Pathways to Permanency project, has been making significant strides in enhancing the foster care experience for both children and resource families. As an extension of the highly successful virtual Treat Them Like Gold (TTLG) Learning Collaborative , the workgroup is now introducing the All-Staff...
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Creating Resilient Communities in 2024: The Year of Cultivating Resilient Networks Through Healing Centered Cultural Wisdom
As we head into our full CRC curriculum this January, we invite current and future CRC Accelerator participants to join us with collective care and self care in mind.
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New Beginnings
It is that time of year again. Spring has sprung! After the long months of gazing out the window at dull surroundings, dealing with cold temperatures, and sunsetting before our workday ends, we are finally into a bright and glorious season. Spring is upon us, and now we get to look forward to longer days, warmer weather, and everything around us coming back to life. This fresh new beginning can be the perfect opportunity for professional growth as well. As human services professionals, we’re...
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The Benefits of Root Cause Analysis in Project Management
In project management work, implementation processes are pivotal to impacting how an organization onboards new work as well as its ability to effectively implement an overall project. Challenges and setbacks are an inevitable part of any project implementation work. Underlying issues that cause the challenges and setbacks may not be immediately apparent to project managers, however, there are tools available for them to use to address underlying causes to problems. Root Cause Analysis (RCA)...