Crime/Drugs Research Update
• The Crime and Drugs research committee met on November 17th, 2014 to begin work on our initiative.
• The committee is currently led and guided by Janie Pudhorodsky, team member from Church of Incarnation and Rev. Elizabeth Emrey of New Beginnings Christian Community
• Our research began by highlighting trends in stories that were shared by congregation members during our listening process this fall. Out of the 250+ people within our congregations who participated, stories of family and neighbors seem to struggle with substance abuse and crimes that come as a result were prevalent. Many of these stories were regarding women and families. Many shared about the struggle to securing local treatment for those they care about.
• The committee decided to have the initial focus be on the scope of how substance abuse affects women and their families in our area.
• The committee has already been able to schedule the following visits:
o Region Ten
o Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail
o Addiction Recovery Systems Clinic
o Albemarle Police Department
o Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA)
o The Women’s Initiative
• We want to prioritize our next meetings with:
o Charlottesville Police Department
o District #9 Probation and Parole
o Shelter of Help in Emergency
o Blue Ridge 1st Step Intensive Outpatient Programs
o Nicole Eramo, University of Virginia Associate Dean of Students
Crime & Drugs Elected as Ministry’s New Focus
Election of Crime at Drugs as New Focus
Content for this post was taken from the Daily Progress coverage of our 9th Annual Assembly.
For years, Loretta Martin said, her sister has battled drug and alcohol abuse without being able to find adequate rehabilitation programs close to her family. She has been to programs in Richmond and Roanoke, but is “incapable of finding help on her own,” Martin said. She has been turned away from a psychiatric ward and can’t find housing.
“If there was some program for women with alcohol and drug problems in the local areas, families could stay connected and then the healing could begin,” Martin said. “I pray that she is okay and that God will continue to watch after her. Am I my sister’s keeper? Yes, I am. And I and my family will fight to find the care that she needs.
Martin’s story led to the Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregating Together, IMPACT, choosing drugs and crime as its next project.
The nonprofit group, comprised of 27 Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Unitarian Universalist congregations across Charlottesville and Albemarle County, met Monday evening to direct its focus on drugs and crime, housing or education.
Along with Martin, three other members told their stories and leaders encouraged voters to think about their own experiences to make a decision.
Mallika Rodriguez, a single mother, spoke about her struggle to find affordable, convenient and high-quality childcare. She said she had a hard time finding childcare that was able to work with her job schedule, which could change weekly.
“Sometimes when I’ve found a child care center that offered this flexible coverage, I found myself disappointed by the quality of the actual programs, the facilities or even the staff,” Rodriguez said.
Statistics provided from Child Care Aware show that, in 2011, Virginians typically paid between $8,300 and $10,650 a year for full-time care for infants and toddlers. In comparison, the 2012 in-state tuition at the University of Virginia was just more than $12,000.
Stephanie and Dominique Eley told their story of homelessness, stemming from the inability for both of them to keep a job expecting their child. They went through several houses, but never had to spend a night on the streets due to help they received from churches. They are now working with Habitat for Humanity to build their own home.
According to Habitat for Humanity, about 4,000 families in Charlottesville spend more than half of their income on housing.
Of the 254 votes cast Monday, crime and drugs received 116, housing received 80 and education received the remaining 58. Members from 24 congregations voted.
The night also featured a progress report on two earlier initiatives: young adult unemployment and youth mental health.
Through working with IMPACT, UVa Health Systems has applied for a grant that would allow it to take 50 unemployed or underemployed young adults, aged 18-25, for skills training, mentoring and education to help them get employment in the healthcare field, said Patricia Cluff, associate vice president for strategic relations and marketing for UVa Health Systems.
After completion of the program, candidates will then be able to apply for entry level positions at UVa Health Systems.
As for youth mental health, both Fluvanna and Greene counties have been able to install telepsychiatry equipment to help children get psychiatric services, said Region Ten Executive Director Robert Johnson.
Mental Health Initiative Fact Sheet, 12/20/13
IMPACT team and network members- please distribute this information to your congregations via phone calls, emails, letters or any way that you can think of to effectively engage your own congregation’s justice ministry and rodef tzedek networks!
The goal of research visits to this point has been to get a clearer picture of, and to clearly define the problem that we can take action on. After each visit, committee members in attendance shared the information about problems that they found to be the most glaring. The results are highlighted below.
Problems our community faces:
+ 376 students in Charlottesville and Albemarle public schools have seriously considered suicide at least once (SS/HS)
+ On average, families must wait three months to see a psychiatrist through Region Ten. Region Ten can only offer 9 hours of psychiatric care each week for all of Charlottesville and Albemarle families.
+ Due to a lack of psychiatric care, many individuals are being prescribed mental health medication through their primary care physicians who do not help with medication management (THC, CYFS).
+ Families and professionals both lack clarity on who can provide counseling and psychiatric services and at what price. As a result, finding services is done through word of mouth and informal networking (MHWC, THC, CYFS).
+ Access to counseling and other services often become inaccessible when a child turns 18 years old due to coverage changes (CYFS).
+ Student Assistance Programs, one of our community’s most effective preventive services that serves roughly 1,000 individual students each year, will be losing its grant funding in June (Region Ten, SS/HS).
This information has been gleaned from visits with:
+ Region Ten Child and Family Services: Our local Community Service Board (CSB). A CSB is the point of entry into the publicly-funded system of services for mental health, intellectual disability, and substance abuse in the state of Virginia. CSBs fall under the Virginia Department of Behavioral health and developmental services. Region Ten serves mostly provides services for people who are eligible for Medicaid or with low-income.
+ UVa Teen Health Center (THC): A UVa clinic that serves area teens. While they provide many other health services, in the area of mental health their main contributions are mental health assessments, referrals to other providers, and medication prescriptions by nurse practitioners.
+ Mental Health and Wellness Coalition (MHWC): a coalition of 17 agencies and organizations that work to improve mental health services in the region. They work specifically to improve care and access to care for adults.
+ Children, Youth and Family Services (CYFS): A local non-profit agency that provides free counseling to children, teens and families in crisis.
+ Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS): a federal grant program which seeks to gather information about student needs in local schools and develop appropriate programs from that information. In conjunction with Region Ten, they have funded 9 counselors in 13 schools who have collectively seen roughly 1,000 students a year.
Mental Health Jargon and Abbreviations
CHIP- Comprehensive Health Investment Program CHIP of Virginia is a non-profit organization responsible for the development, implementation and maintenance of a statewide network of community-based child health and family support programs in Virginia. In Charlottesville, they provide mostly home visits to help parents to navigate health care for their children.
CSA- Comprehensive Services Act The Comprehensive Services Act for At-Risk Youth and Families (CSA) is a law enacted in 1993 that establishes a single state pool of funds to purchase services for at- risk youth and their families. The state funds, combined with local community funds, are managed by local interagency teams who plan and oversee services to youth
CSB- Community Service Board A community services board (CSB) is the point of entry into the publicly-funded system of services for mental health, intellectual disability, and substance abuse. Our local CSB is Region Ten. CSBs fall under the Virginia Department of Behavioral health and developmental services
CSU- Court Service Unit Locally- or state-operated entities that provide services to a juvenile court, including intake, investigations and reports, probation, parole, case management, and other related services in the community. There are 35 CSUs in Virginia. In our district (16), services offered by the CSU and through community resources include: Shoplifting Program, Community Service Work Program, Community Attention Program, Restorative Justice, home-based counseling and substance abuse services provided through CSA funds.
CYFS- Children, Youth and Family Services A local nonprofit organization that addresses critical issues such as: child abuse and neglect, parenting support and education, childcare quality, teen and family conflict, and early learning opportunities for children.
Estimating Local Prevalence of Mental Health, (Study by Steven Stern) Focuses only on potential recipients of public mental health services and makes no attempt to estimate individual demand. Studies adult populations only.
FAPT- Family Assessment and Planning Team Develops service plans for eligible youth and families and reviews cases funded by the Comprehensive Services Act to determine progress, prepare transition plans, and adjust services as needed. The FAPT studies and discusses information from case managers, parents and/or guardians, psychological reports, school records, and other pertinent data sources. The youth’s family is strongly encouraged to attend and participate in the FAPT meeting.
Integrated Care (Information gleaned from meeting with the Mental Health and Wellness coalition) A whole care team working with a patient, having a full spectrum of care within one agency. This results in “warm hand-offs” from one provider to another. When this happens patients are more likely to return for mental health services. This is being best developed for adults with the coalition, however we haven’t found an agency or group that is building this for children.
MHA- Mental Health America The main goals of MHACA have been and continue to be education and advocacy for protecting and improving the mental health of persons in the local region of Charlottesville City and Albemarle County. They are connected to the Mental Health and Wellness Coalition via a community nurse who conducts screenings and refers patients to appropriate care.
MHI- Mental Health Initiative State funds used to cover kids who do not qualify for Medicaid. Region Ten uses these funds.
NAMI- National Alliance on Mental Illness A non-profit self-help support and advocacy organization made up of consumers, families and friends of people with severe mental illnesses. Part of a national network.
Region Ten Our local Community Service Board. Mostly provides services for people who are eligible for Medicaid or with low-income.
Safe Schools/Healthy Schools Program funded by a federal grant-making program to stop violence and risk behaviors in schools. Safe Schools/Healthy Students has worked with our schools and grant partners to identify needs and gaps. Neta Davis at Region Ten said that their Student Assistance Program (SAP) is one of the most effective prevention programs our community has, but that the grant funding for this program runs out in June.
SAP- Student Assistance Program Counselors A program of Safe Schools/Healthy Schools. By placing counselors in all of the Albemarle County and Charlottesville City middle and high schools, support is making access to quality mental health care possible for all students. Services can be initiated by teachers, parents, counselors, students themselves, or other school professionals. Nine Counselors across 13 schools are seeing almost 1,000 students each year.
TDT- Therapeutic Day Treatment An elementary and middle school-based program that helps children who are having behavioral difficulties. Through in-class behavioral coaching, problem solving and daily positive reinforcement, kids learn how to be aware of and change their behavior, enabling them to be more successful as students. Region Ten currently has 40 staff in 26 schools. Also know as Educational Support Services (ESS).
TJHD- Thomas Jefferson Health District Falls under the Virginia Dept. of Health. Provides public health services to Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson