C&A CSB Section of Georgia Association Meeting
04/28/06
Minutes
Minutes Status: Not Approved
Attendees: David Anderson, Advantage Behavioral Health Services; Pam McCollum, Gwen Craddieth, and Monica Parker, Cobb/Douglas Community Service Board; Zack Mercer, Community Service Board of Middle GA; Traci Agnew, GRN Community Service Board;Lutricia Rutledge for Valerie Tuttle, MHDDAD State Office; Willie Green, Middle Flint Community Service Board; Lyn Campbell for Grace Davis, New Horizons; Sherrie Pitts Johnson, Oconee Center Family Directions; Kay Hill for Lisa Rudeseal, Pathways Community Service Board; Gene Williams, Phoenix Center Behavioral Health; Cynthia Cone-Dekle, Pineland Area MHDDAD Community Service Board; Roz Johnson, South Georgia Community Service Board; Stephanie Pearson, Dekalb Community Service Board; Betty Godfrey and Adam Raulerson, GA Mountains; Christa Raines and Amy Holland, McIntosh Trail CSB; Pat Callowey,GA Pines CSB; Shilloy Bates and Pamela Wagner, Lookout Mt. CSB; Darlene DeLaigle, Ogeechee CSB.
Minute status: Not approved
Zack Mercer, chair, called the meeting to order at 12pm.
Phoenix Center Behavioral Health reported having to consolidate treatment sites and loosing 15 staff and one doctor due to budget cuts.
Many CSBs reported having trouble hiring and maintaining CSI staff.
MiddleGA reported having to close their Activity Therapy program, their Substance Abuse (SA) Day Tx. Program (weren’t getting referrals from DJJ as promised. DJJ reported feeling 6 day/week program too long), and having to suspend CSI services due to lack of staff/funding.
Discussion shifted to APS giving CSBs a lot of trouble for providing CSI in the schools. One CSB reported APS told them “Don’t do the school’s job.”
A member added they were told Title I schools received money to provide “CSI-like” services to students so MH coming into schools to and providing CSI services is a “duplication” of services. MiddleGA reported their School Superintendent said the money referred to in this scenario actually pays for reading and math services/programs not “CSI-like” services.
Members also discussed the rising gas prices as a financial barrier to providing in-home MH services. Reimbursement for in-home services do not cover cost for agency to provide these services.
Oconee CSB reported changing their hours of operation. They are open Mon-Thurs 9a-9p and Fri 9a-5p. Oconee reported a number of staff resignations when the operating hours changed.
Many CSBs reported record staff retirment at their agencies and fielding the “Should I be looking for another job?” question often from existing staff.
GRN CSB reported the implementation of a “Master Assessment Team” to begin providing all intakes/reauthorizations for the agency. This team was developed to meet the challenge of the numerous insurance providers and their differing auth/reauthorization processes. The team is comprised of “phone screeners” (bachelor level staff) who take calls from consumers/SPOE, get basic information on the reason consumer is requesting services, and who take insurance information and verify in the state system. The team also has dedicated office administration staff who handle the financial piece of the intake once the consumer comes in for their first appt. Once the financial information is reviewed with the consumer, they go to an “assessor/treatment planner” (trying to have all of these folks as licensed staff, but do have some MHPs without a license in some of these positions) who complete the psycho-social and treatment plan. The assessor/tx planner then completes the proper authorization for the insurance co. based on their recommendations. The authorization request is then sent to a care management rep (licensed staff) who interface with the insurance co., if needed (usually for higher levels of care). The assessor/tx planner then give the consumer their next appt. with GRN “ongoing” staff. Lastly there are “A-typical”/crisis clinicians (at least a MHP) to work with walk-ins and crisis calls. The number of all of these positions were based on number of intakes at each GRN site (data GRN collected over last the last year).
Some CSBs mentioned to GRN that it may be difficult for their MAT to handle all of the agency’s reauthorizations and they should consider a way for “ongoing” clinicians to feed information to the MAT that will be needed for reauthorization.
A member reported hearing CST will be “eliminated” for C&A and that the Division is pushing IFI instead.
Satella CSB is the only CSB meeting it’s grant-in-aid (GIA) contract numbers. Satella reported they are able to do this because they are the only service provider in their area.
Advantage Behavioral Health Services reported they are beginning to do screening for MH services in the schools. They are also marketing their CSI program to private providers. In addition, they are finding a large number of their C&A population are in need of CSI/ case management services. And lastly, they are contracting with outpatient clinicians versus hiring them as full-time staff (they’re looking at structuring their IFI team this way as well).
The new GIA contracts require that ½ of all services provided must be CSI services.
MiddleGA reported they are contracting with CSI staff versus hiring as full-time staff. They are also researching a way to bill the services they provide to drug court.
Dekalb reported positioning themselves as the preferred day services provider in the community/private sector versus trying to meet unrealistic Division units of service.
Members verbalized feeling the Division moving away from funding C&A residential programs. MiddleGA reported they have a 6-9 bed male SA (substance abuse) residential facility that is funded by GIA. MiddleGA heard there would be significant cuts and as a result there would be only 2 such facilities in the entire state of GA. Most of the males in this program are committed to DJJ.
Members were asked if anyone had developed a consolidated treatment plan they could share with the group. Members were asked to bring this tx plan to the next section meeting or to email Traci Agnew () for dissemination.
It was reported that each CSB was responsible for negotiating rates with the various CMOs.
A member reported hearing Cepatico is not buying day treatment services after Dec. 2006.
There was discussion that the Division may be creating new billing codes for Suicide Prevention services as well as new codes to enable billing for parent training services.
The group discussed the “Summer Recreational Program” grants (funds made available from DHR to pay for summer recreational activities for GA youth). Many CSBs verbalized a need for this money to cover much needed MH services for GA youth versus summer recreational activities.
The group had some questions about the Single Point of Entry (SPOE) organization and how it’s designed to work since CSBs have been provided very little information. Members expressed concern and frustration that all of the GIA money for this program (which includes crisis intervention services) was taken from CSBs to fund the new SPOE provider, yet CSBs are still contractually obligated to respond to crisis calls from the SPOE in their catchment areas. Members were wondering how they were going to pay for these crisis response services.
The meeting closed with members expressing upset they spent the entire last C&A CSB section meeting with Valerie Tuttle, from the Division, and posed numerous questions and concerns about the direction of and cut in funding for C&A MH services in GA and still have not been provided answers to those questions/concerns (see Minutes from the 2/10/ 06 section meeting for details). Lutricia Rutledge, representing the Division for Valerie Tuttle, agreed to relay this upset and request for answers to Ms. Tuttle.
The meeting adjourned at 2:03pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Traci Agnew
Secretary