The Doors Are Open

My apologies for not having posted to the blog for some time.  It’s been a very busy summer with the roll-out of peer support services in our community!  I am now back from a wonderful vacation, fully re-charged and ready to go!

This has been a big summer for peer services in Clackamas County.  Youth M.O.V.E. Drop in Milwaukie has officially opened!  During the month of August the focus has been on outreach and encouraging the youth and young adult community to visit the Drop.  There have a been a number of movie nights, an ice cream social, and an open house.  Stay tuned for the grand opening, coming soon!  With the start of school just around the corner, outreach will shift focus to connecting and working with the school districts in our county to get the word out about this great resource.

Youth M.O.V.E. Drop is located at 11097 SE 21st Ave. in Milwaukie.  If you have questions about the activities and support provided, staff at the Drop can be reached at (503) 908-1604.  Visit the Drop on facebook.  Search Youth M.O.V.E. Clackamas County and “like” them.

The Iron Tribe house also officially opened it’s doors in the month of August.  The Tribe has done a wonderful job at creating a comfortable and supportive living space for those entering the community with a committment to living clean and sober and ready to continue their education or pursue other opportunities within this tough job market.  Referrals have been rolling in!

Kudos to Youth M.O.V.E. and Iron Tribe for a job well done!

Oregon Family Support Network is working on recruitment and hiring of family members and caregivers to fill the role of Family Partners and Navigators within the County’s mental health clinics.  The roll-out for these services has been slowed a bit to ensure we have all the pieces in place to create a solid foundation for success.

Empowerment Initiatives (ei) will be providing peer support for adults receiving mental health services throughout our county and we’ll see Support Specialists coming on-line soon.  These supports will be available in a number of programs and services offered at the Hilltop Clinic, Stewart Center, and Sandy Clinic.  ei will also maintain their presence at two of our supported housing locations, Renaissance Court Apartments and Chez Ami Apartments.

Peer Support Services are being considered in several other areas.  We welcome any feedback and ideas.  Have you heard of any new peer support programs underway and working in other parts of our state, country, or around the world?  Let us know about them!

Oregon Family Support Network – Wecome Back!

Oregon Family Support Network (OFSN) will be joining our network of peer providers starting this month.  We are so glad to have you on board!  OFSN will provide Family Support Specialists in our County mental health clinics.  These skilled family members will bring much needed one-on-one support to families and caregivers raising a child with a mental health diagnosis.

There are many curriculums and workshops offered by OFSN to family members and caregivers.  They have developed the only State approved training curriculums for family members who are interested in becoming Support Specialists, PDS Foundations and Wrap Partner training.  There are many other curriculums available.  I encourage all to visit their website for a comprehensive list.  There are also a number of workshops taught through online technology.

In addition to providing support services through the County clinics, OFSN will also be reaching out to other mental health providers within the Clackamas County network.  Clackamas County Peer Services will be working closely with OFSN and our contracted mental health providers to facilitate positive and mutually beneficial relationships.

Thanks to all our peer support providers for the work you do every day!  Your input and participation is vital to the creation of a comprehensive peer delivered service system.

Youth M.O.V.E. Oregon brings drop-in to Clackamas County

Clackamas Behavioral Health is excited to be working with Youth M.O.V.E. Oregon (YM) to develop a Clackamas County chapter of YM and bring a drop-in center to youth and young adults in transition living in Clackamas County.

Youth M.O.V.E. (Motivating Others Through Voices of Experience) is a youth led/youth driven organization devoted to improving services and systems that support positive growth and development for youth and young adults.  YM works as a diverse collective to unite the voices of youth who have lived experience in mental health, juvenile justice, education, child welfare, and other child and youth serving systems.  This dynamic organization works with youth and young adults by providing leadership opportunities and coordinating young leaders from across the state to sit on advisory committees and boards. 

Please see The Youth Mental Health Bill of Rights posted in the box to the right developed by YM leadership.  This proclomation was signed by former Governor Ted Kulongoski.  It has since been adopted by a number of residential programs serving youth and used as a training document for staff working within these programs.  This Bill of Rights has also been used in the state of California as a model for their development of a bill of rights for children in foster care.  The Youth Mental Health Bill of Rights has been downloaded over 22,000 times from the Youth M.O.V.E. Oregon website.

YM Clackamas County will also provide peer-to-peer support for individuals requesting assistance with the health care/mental health system, educational system, vocational support, addiction recovery support, as well as, support for those who have encountered the juvenile justice system.  YM Clackamas will also identify opportunities for youth and young adults to give back to their community and coordinate participation.   These services will be accessible at the Youth M.O.V.E. drop-in/resource center located in downtown Milwaukie.  YM is creating a safe place to support and build community in the lives of youth as they transition into young adults, all the while encouraging and empowering them to make a difference in the world.

IRON TRIBE – Meet Our Newest Community Partner

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting profiles of the newest peer-run organizations to bring their talent and skill to Clackamas County.  Our first profile covers the work of Iron Tribe.

Iron Tribe is a non-profit community organization whose mission is to provide support and guidance for the releasing incarcerated person and their successful integration back into the community.  This is a peer-run organization with a recovery philosophy based in Native Spirituality; however, the Tribe is open to all.  This is an organization that celebrates the diversity contained within each individual, moving beyond simple tolerance to understanding that each individual is unique.  Staff and volunteers have lived experience of incarceration and have been confronted by addiction and, for many, mental health.  Iron Tribe accomplishes their mission by engaging people into an active program of recovery through peer-to-peer modeling, tribal mentoring, and community involvement.

Iron Tribe offers a variety of comprehensive supports; the Seventh Direction Program, clean and sober housing, and tribal support.  The Seventh Direction Program involves creating a Recovery Action Plan, focusing on recovery, life aim, wellness, support, and community.  Iron Tribe fosters a sense of belonging and structures its clean and sober housing communities in compliance with ADFC (Alcohol and Drug Free Community) statutes.

Co-Founder of Iron Tribe, Harold “Bear” Cubbedge, was recently interviewed by AboutFace, Portland’s Interview Magazine, Summer 2011 issue.  I highly recommend checking out the article.  It provides a terrific history of the founding of Iron Tribe and an idea of where they may be going.  Lead On!

 

Peer Services Roll-out Is Underway!

The RFP process is over!  Boy am I relieved!  I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to the review committee for all their hard work.  It was a couple of grueling days locked in a hot conference room for 8 hours with nary a break for lunch and several piles of great proposals!  Alas, there were three contractors chosen in this process.

Empowerment Initiatives (ei).  ei will be providing peers to work with adults receiving services through the Clackamas County Hilltop and Sandy mental health clinics.  They will also be working with the county’s Crisis Services team.

Oregon Family Support Network (OFSN), will be providing family support services to parents and caregivers with children receiving mental health services in the county.  They will be providing trainings,workshops, and support groups for family members and caregivers.  This includes one-on-one support and advocacy.

Youth M.O.V.E Oregon will be opening a drop-in center for youth/young adults in transition (YAT).  Young people will have a place to connect with peers, work with a Support Specialist or a Navigator, and participate in various activities, groups, and leadership development opportunities.

Our final contract awardee is Iron Tribe.  This organization is fairly new to our community, but has amassed a terrific track record of providing support for adults releasing from prison or jail and struggling with addiction and/or mental health.  Iron Tribe will be opening a transition house in the county and working closely with our corrections, addictions, and mental health systems.

Congratulations to you all!  We look forward to working with you and making peer delivered services a success in Clackamas County!

Safety, Stability, Fairness – New Paper Released

A new paper was released on May 11, 2011 addressing the importance of maintaining connections for youth who become involved in child welfare and/or the juvenile justice systems.  This paper was authored by Dr. Joan Pennell, Director of the Center for Family and Community Engagement and Professor of Social Work at North Carolina State University;  Carol Shapiro, Associate Research Scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University; and Dr. Carol Spigner, Emerita Associate Professor/Clinician Educator at the University of Pennsylvania.

History has shown us when a child/youth becomes involved with the child welfare or juvenile justice systems they are often removed from their natural support settings; family, home, school, community.  Removal from these settings erodes a child/youth’s sense of belonging, competence, well-being, and purpose.  This paper provides a strategy for maintaining and strengthening these crucial connections including encouraging family group leadership; expanding the use of parent advocates, navigators, and coaches; expanding the use of youth mentors; education of systems to increase understanding of the critical role of family; changing federal, state, and local policy; pool funding to allow for flexibility in meeting the needs of youth and families; and much more.  Both the perspectives of the family and professional lens are explored.

I’ve attached the paper to this post in the box at the right or you can follow this link to the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform.  I welcome any feedback and suggestions you may have for Clackamas County as we work toward making peer services available to all populations touched by systems.  The Clackamas Behavioral Health system re-design does not only intended to provide peer services to individuals, but also to transform our system into one that better meets the needs of individuals and families and empowers those seeking support.

On Listening

Yes, I’m back.  After a week of reviewing proposals I finally have time for a short post.

Today I’d like to share a video that was sent to me that talks about the importance of listening and how bias and discrimination can affect our ability to give our full attention.  These words are from those that have experienced the detrimental effects of discrimination and discovered the joy of working with someone who really listens.