Senior Executive Team Charter

The MontgomeryCounty Community Health Improvement Process (CHIP)

Healthy Montgomery Behavioral Health Task Force Charter

1. Purpose

The Purpose of the Behavioral Health Task Force (BHTF) is to carry out the strategiesdefined in the Healthy Montgomery Behavioral Health Action Plan. That is, to:

(1)Consider ways in which infoMontgomery can be enhanced to create an accessible Web-based basic information, communications, and linkage systemthrough which consumers, their families, providers and other social service agency or referral source personnel can easily gain clear, basic information about treatment options, the full range of available services, payment mechanisms, and how to access services;

(2) Establish protocols to facilitate safe and appropriate transfer of clients from institutional settings (e.g., hospitals, emergency rooms, correctional facilities, schools, universities) to community behavioral health organizations, primary care organizations and crises centers;

(3)Initiate a process to explore the creation of a coordinated system of care or other formal partnership-based business agreement to meet the needs of individuals with more serious behavioral health conditions who live in MontgomeryCounty.

The Healthy Montgomery Behavioral Health Action Plan is available at

The BHTF will work within the framework of the Healthy Montgomery overarching goals:

• Improving access to health and social services
• Achieving health equity for all residents
• Enhancing the physical and social environment to support optimal health and well-being and reduce unhealthful behaviors

The recommendations of the BHTF will reflect a flexible framework based upon an agreed upon set of values so that, upon implementation, they will more readily address the needs of the ethnic and racial subpopulations in the County most vulnerable to poor health outcomes.

1. Composition

The BHTF will be chaired by Kevin Young (President, Adventist Behavioral Health) and Thom Harr (Executive Director, Family Services, Inc. and Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee member). BHTF membership includes public and privatebehavioral health service providers (including mental health and substance abuse) from throughout MontgomeryCounty who treat adults and children in institutional and community settings. Also represented are the County’s minority health initiatives and programs, the four County hospital systems, County councils and commissions, academia, family and consumer advocates, and MontgomeryCounty emergency services, police, and corrections.

1. Scope of Authority, Structure, and Member Responsibilities

BHTF Scope of Authority. The BHTF will makerecommendations to the Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee on needed programs, policies, and funding related to the Strategies listed above. BHTF Co-Chairs will meet with the Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee (HMSC) twice per year to receive a response to and discuss the BHTF recommendations.

BHTF Co-Chairs. The BHTF Co-Chairs will guide the work of the BHTF and its Subcommittees. They will call and facilitate BHTF meetings and set the meeting agenda.BHTF Co-Chairs will submit and present a quarterly report to the Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee(HMSC) and will monitor Subcommittee progress and finalize BHTF deliverables for submission and presentation to the HMSC.BHTF Co-Chairs will serve for a one year term with the ability to serve up to three years consecutively.

BHTF Subcommittees.The BHTF will create Subcommittees in order to accomplish its work. Each Subcommittee will focus on one of the three strategies of the Behavioral Health Action Plan. BHTF members will select a Subcommittee on which to serve. BHTF Subcommittee members will attend meetings and contribute their expertise, knowledge, resources and time to help accomplish the Subcommittee’s work on its respective deliverables.

Subcommittee Chairs. Subcommittee Chairs will be elected/decided by the Subcommittee members. The Chairwill: 1- schedule and arrange Subcommittee meetings and develop an agenda; 2- facilitate the meeting; 3- ensure that meeting notes are taken and sent to a designated Healthy Montgomery staff member; 4- communicate with members as necessary and otherwise advance the group’s work in between meetings and 5--complete a quarterly report template provided by Healthy Montgomery (HM) staff to report on Subcommittee progress and activities. The Subcommittee Chair will report subcommittee progress and activities to the BHTF Co-Chairs. Subcommittee Chairs will serve for a one year term with the ability to serve up to three years consecutively.

1. Staffing and Resources

Adventist Behavioral Health (ABH) Staff and Healthy Montgomery (HM) staff will work with the BHTF Co-Chairs on setting the agenda for meetings of the full BHTF and assist with meeting logistics for those meetings. ABH Staff and HM Staff will also assist the BHTF Co-Chairs with the monitoring of the Subcommittee work.

The HM staff will provide quarterly report templates to the BHTF for completion by the Subcommittee Chairs. HM Staff will also inform the BHTF Co-Chairs and Subcommittee Chairs and Co-Chairs of upcoming deadlines and target dates for deliverables.

HM staff will assist the BHTF Co-Chairs with the preparation of their quarterly report to the HMSC and with finalizing and preparing BHTF deliverables. HM Staff and the Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee Evaluation Subcommittee willadvise on evaluation of the BHTF work.

1. Meetings

BHTF Meeting Schedule. Meetings of the BHTF will occur according to the following schedule: November 2014 (the inaugural meeting), January 2015 (at this meeting, BHTF members will review the State draft budget and develop an advocacy platform), March 2015 (at this meeting, BHTF members will review the Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight Report on Behavioral Health and the Montgomery County draft budget and develop an advocacy platform), June 2015 (at this meeting, BHTF members will review the progress of the Subcommittee work ), September 2015 (BHTF members will discuss and finalize recommendations for presentation to the HMSC), October 2015 (recommendations will be submitted to the HMSC for implementation in 2016).

Webinar conferencing capabilities will be available, when needed, to facilitate member attendance.

BHTF Subcommittee Meetings. Meetings of the BHTF Subcommittees will be scheduled by the Subcommittee Chairs (in person or via teleconference) as needed to accomplish the Subcommittee work.

December 2014