COMMITTEE NAME: Board of Directors (Open Meeting)
DATE:February 11, 2015 / Time:
10:00 a.m. to Noon / Presiding:
Jim Cooney / Recorded By:
Mary Abrams
Present: Bob Budsock; Carolann Cavaiola; Jim Cooney; Bob Davison; Manny Guantez; Deborah Hartel; Joe Masciandaro; John Monahan; Pete Scerbo; Vicki Sidrow; Cheryl Marks Young
Non-Board Member Attendees: Nadine Bennett, Community Care Behavioral Health; Mary Jo Buchanan, Ocean Partnership for Children; Linda Gochfeld, SERV Behavioral Health System; Jacques Hryshko, FAMILYConnections; John Mans, CPC Behavioral Healthcare; James Marhold, Declarations; John Zukauskas, Newpoint Behavioral Healthcare
Staff: Mary Abrams, Debra Wentz
Absent: Mike Armstrong, Anthony DiFabio, Linda Leyhane, Harry Marmorstein, Deborah Megaro, Bob Parker, Lou Schwarcz, Greg Speed, Harry Postel, Mary Gay Abbott-Young
AGENDA ITEMS/ISSUE / DISCUSSION / ACTIONS TAKEN/OUTCOME / TIMEFRAME / WHO’S RESPONSIBLE
Consent Agenda / N/A / The consent agenda was m/s/p. / N/A / N/A
President’s Report / The Board’s Ad Hoc Task Force recently held its final meeting. The group accomplished most of the consultant’s recommendations.
It was noted that NJAMHAA members are looking for use of clinical outcomes as a demonstration of the value of services and that outcomes/ success stories can be used for media communications and advocacy. Success stories should include hard data and examples of providers using evidence based practices. / Outstanding tasks were assigned to the appropriate Board Committees.
NJAMHAA will work with Netsmart to move toward performance measures.
A new advocacy piece will be developed soon. / Not specified
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Not specified / Governance Committee, NJAMHAA staff, Board
Debra Wentz, June Noto
Debra Wentz, Mary Abrams, Shauna Moses
Governance Committee / Greg Speed announced that the previous meeting was rescheduled to March 17, 2015. / A motion was seconded and passed for College Recovery and Youth Education and Transition Services to be accepted as members. / These agencies will be notified following this meeting. / Shauna Moses
CEO Report / Debra Wentz urged members to advocate for funding in the FY 2016 state budget. / She announced that she continues to follow up with the Department of the Treasury, Office of Management and Budget and State Legislators about (continued) / Ongoing / NJAMHAA staff
AGENDA ITEMS/ISSUE / DISCUSSION / ACTIONS TAKEN/OUTCOME / TIMEFRAME / WHO’S RESPONSIBLE
CEO Report (continued) / disbursement of the Cost of Living Adjustment that was included in the FY 2015 budget.
Partners in Advocacy training will be held on March 2, 2015. Position papers are available on the NJAMHAA website. / Ongoing
Advocacy: Immediate and ongoing / NJAMHAA staff
NJAMHAA members and staff
Hospital discharges and inappropriate referrals to agencies / Board members shared concerns about having patients referred to them after being discharged from hospitals and related safety issues. / A motion was seconded and passed to write a letter to Roger Borichewski, Assistant Director, Prevention, Early Intervention & Community
Services, Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS). / [This was done following the meeting and a meeting with Roger has been scheduled for March 23, 2015.] / NJAMHAA staff, Board members
Practice Groups / Adult Mental Health: The workgroup developing a proposal for a mental health intensive outpatient level of service will soon finalize its proposal. A workgroup will be established with clinical and billing staff, as well as staff from the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services and DMHAS, to define billing codes.
Addictions: The group will be discussing the Interim Managing Entity (IME) and a small group of the Practice Group members will meet separately with Chris Kosseff, President and CEO of Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care, which will operate the IME.
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AGENDA ITEMS/ISSUE / DISCUSSION / ACTIONS TAKEN/OUTCOME / TIMEFRAME / WHO’S RESPONSIBLE
Practice Groups (continued) / Information Technology Professional Advisory Committee: The group is conducting surveys and working with DMHAS, which has a new IT Director who is more sophisticated in IT and has the New Jersey Substance Abuse Monitoring System as one of his responsibilities. / N/A / N/A / N/A
New Jersey Mental Health Institute (NJMHI) / Joe Masciandaro reported that NJMHI recently held its annual meeting and discussed viability and what in general could be channeled through NJMHI.
Mary Abrams reported on the current project funded by a grant from Johnson & Johnson. / The NJMHI Board decided to not put the IT Project under NJMHI.
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The NJMHI Board decided for staff to seek permission from the largest donors to the Sri Lanka Mental Health Relief Project to redirect the remaining funds for other projects. / N/A
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Following this meeting [This was completed.] / N/A
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Debra Wentz, Shauna Moses
Unpaid interns / Cheryl Marks Young explained that interns who are earning college credits do not need to be paid. If they are working toward certificates, they may need to be paid; it would need to be determined by the Department of Labor. Cheryl noted that her agency has a formal volunteer program, some volunteers are called interns and problems could arise with having external volunteers. She recommended that members have their Human Resources staff check with the court.
Vicki Sidrow noted that her agency has agreements with the union.
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AGENDA ITEMS/ISSUE / DISCUSSION / ACTIONS TAKEN/OUTCOME / TIMEFRAME / WHO’S RESPONSIBLE
Unpaid interns (continued) / Carolann Cavaiola cautioned members in situations where LCSWs and LPCs are looking for experience in substance use treatment and if they receive requests from online universities (brick-and-mortar universities are not a problem). / N/A / N/A / N/A
Upcoming events / It was noted that a symposium on Involuntary Outpatient Commitment is being planned for the fall.
An event on parity is being planned for September.
Vicki Sidrow is planning a statement meeting on behavioral health homes. / Stay tuned for details and plan to attend. / As details become available and the events are scheduled / All members
Upcoming Board Meetings:
§ Wednesday, April 1, 2015 – Executive Committee, 10:00 a.m. to noon at NJAMHAA
§ Wednesday, March 18, 2015, closed meeting- 10:00 a.m. to noon at NJAMHAA
§ Wednesday, April 15, 2015, Annual Membership Meeting – 9:15 a.m. at the Annual Conference, Inspiring Progress, Seizing Opportunities, at the Woodbridge Renaissance
§ Wednesday, June 17, 2015, open to all members- 10:00 a.m. to noon at NJAMHAA
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