CCSI News and Updates

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Here are just a few of the things we've been working on this month:

Hear from Heather Starks, Program Director for the Monroe County Family Access and Connection Team (FACT) with an update on legislation bringing changes to the way systems can address and support youth and families – and how FACT is evolving in response.
Tune in to For the Evolution of Business podcast: Inclusive Cultures That Foster Diverse Leadership with Kesha Carter

Anne L. Wilder

President

Coordinated Care Services, Inc.

We’ve been pleased to have the chance to work with The Greater Rochester Health Foundation (GRHF) and National Parent Leadership Institute (NPLI) on the development of a “roadmap” for funders which provides guidance around best practices for engaging the power of families and the community to improve the impact of philanthropy.
Staff from our Cultural Competence and Health Equity team had the chance to work with NYS OASAS to revise their training curriculum to reflect the current state of practice in the areas of cultural competence, racism and oppression, and health equity.
We’re excited about a recent grant from the US Department of Justice to expand the Prevention Access Self-Empowerment and Support (PASS) Program serve juvenile justice involved youth and families.
We also congratulate our colleagues at the Onondaga County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), which recently received a $4 million SAMHSA grant for implementation of the OnCare Transition Age Youth System of Care.

In addition to these highlights, read further for financial services updates, conference updates, and employee and board news. And from your colleagues at CCSI, wishing you peace in this holiday season.

Program Management Services

Based at customer locations, guided by the customer’s priorities and vision, and managed in partnership with CCSI, we provide the talent and infrastructure needed to plan, implement and operate programs successfully.

CCSI Receives Federal Grant to Expand Prevention, Access, Self-Empowerment and Support (PASS) Program

CCSI has been awarded a grant from the US Department of Justice – Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention under the Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative. This 3-year grant allows for the PASS Program to be expanded with a specialized program option to serve juvenile justice involved youth and their families, specifically youth identified and referred by the Monroe County Family Access and Connection Team (FACT) or through diversion services.

CCSI is working in partnership with the Monroe County Office of Probation and the FACT Team to identify youth and families for enrollment in the program. The target population is juvenile justice involved youth, ages 12 -17, in pre-petition diversion status, deemed low-risk to public safety by Probation. The program will focus on youth residing within Federally designated Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs), high poverty areas of Monroe County, located almost exclusively within the City of Rochester. It is expected that the first class of program participants will begin by February 2020.

Recent Legislative Changes Are Having an Impact on Youth and Families

Beginning January 2020, there are changes to PINS legislation that will go into effect and bring significant changes in the ways that we as a community and as a county system can address and support youth and families in Monroe County. Family First Prevention Services Act changes are on the horizon and Counties are expected to be ready to go live when the law goes into effect September 2021. Counties are expected to make incremental steps towards the final requirements.

Monroe County’s Family Access and Connection Team (FACT) is one program feeling the impact. CCSI met with Heather Starks, Program Director for Monroe County FACT, to learn more about these recent legislative changes and how they will affect programs, youth and families.

What is Family Access and Connection Team (FACT)?

FACT is Monroe County’s integrated entry point to care for our community’s high risk / high need youth and families. By engaging families, we explore their needs, connect them to interventions, support family empowerment, and promote healthy positive changes within our community. Youth referred to FACT are under 18 years of age and experience challenges that include:

Behaving in a way that is dangerous or out of control: violence in the home/destruction of property, verbally and/or physically aggressive, including injury to others or pets/animals, self harming behavior
Stealing, theft from family/residence
Substance use disorder
Leaving home without permission/curfew violations
Truancy - missing full days of school/illegal absences
At risk of congregate care placement
Behavioral health challenges
Families experiencing acute stress

The FACT team has an Educational Liaison and expertise in working with youth and families in navigating school related matters.

What are the recent legislative changes impacting your program?

The PINS reform legislation was crafted specifically with Family First requirements in mind, and will limit reasons for and lengths of stay in out of home and/or congregate care. PINS legislation includes the termination of the use of non- secure detention.

SAMHSA Grant Will Fund OnCare’s Transition

Age Youth System of Care

Onondaga County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was recently awarded a $4 million grant over the next four-years from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This grant will fund the implementation of the OnCare Transition Age Youth System of Care (SOC), which aims to transform the way mental health, educational and other supportive services are delivered for high-risk youth ages 16 -21 transitioning into adulthood. This funding will allow the community to provide coordinated treatment and the best opportunities for success in the home, school and community. With services expected to start in early 2020, this effort will focus on service delivery and infrastructure through the following:

Development of creative ways to identify, connect and intervene with high-risk youth experiencing mental health and substance use challenges;
Creation of a dedicated team to assess and match the individual to mental health services, substance use services, educational/employment resources, skills training programs, and other supportive programming that meet youth needs and support their transition into adulthood;
Training for providers and school systems in evidence-based models that tailor current practices to be accessible, trauma-informed, skill focused, non-stigmatizing and developmentally appropriate; and
Creation of safe and supportive environments for caregivers and family members to provide feedback to system partners, learn about resources and creative parenting techniques and support one another in meeting the needs of their children.

Business Management Services

We offer the essential business supports that health and human services providers need to run their organizations successfully, scaled to your size, complexity, and budget.

Why Having a Seat at the Table Isn’t Enough

Although countless studies show how diversity can positively impact the bottom line, companies will only unlock those benefits when they create an inclusive culture that both encourages diverse perspectives to speak up and provides pathways to climb the corporate ladder. Kesha Carter, Chief Diversity Officer, has dedicated herself to this work to not only give diverse voices a "seat at the table, but also a plate and a fork and a knife!" Tune in to For the Evolution of Business podcast: Inclusive Cultures That Foster Diverse Leadership with Kesha Carter , to hear actionable best practices for creating a more inclusive culture that nurtures diversity at all levels of leadership in an organization.

Kesha Carter, Chief Diversity Officer, and Andrew Brady from For the Evolution of Business

Updates to Federal Overtime Rule and

New York State Wage and Hour Law

You have probably seen or read the news that the U.S. Department of Labor has announced a final rule updating the minimum salary thresholds necessary to exempt executive , administrative and professional employees from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. In the federal final rule, effective January 1, 2020 the standard salary level will increase to $684 per week equivalent to $35,568 per year for a full-year worker (2080 hours). This will make about 1.3 million American workers newly eligible for overtime pay.

Barbara Marianetti DesRosiers

Chief Human Resource Officer

Coordinated Care Services, Inc.

However, in 2016 New York State ’s Department of Labor implemented a wage and salary schedule that outpaces the U.S. minimum wage and salary thresholds. Each year, on December 31 , the minimum wage and minimum salary thresholds will follow the schedule below until 2021 (based on regional location).

How New York Healthcare Providers are Making Population Health Sustainable: Key Takeaways

Several CCSI employees had the opportunity to attend the November 13 ^th Health Management Associates (HMA) conference: How New York Healthcare Providers are Making Population Health Sustainable . Perspectives on making healthcare m odels pay were heard from a wide variety of organizations from within New York state and across the country including – IPAs, CBO consortiums, MCOs and providers covering key strategies, programs and lessons learned. The introductory remarks focused on how the system has shifted focus from acute care to improving overall health in ways that must be integrated well before an acute care episode occurs.

Several key themes surfaced throughout the day:

– Partnerships are key

Payors alone cannot solve the challenges, a variety of organizations must work together effectively to improve population health. One solution highlighted was a model to embed community based entities within primary care organizations.
The system is moving from siloed organizations to collaborative systems. A key example is CBO consortiums that enable a shared vision, mission and agenda among members while providing a more effective and efficient path for partnership between the consortium members and the healthcare system.

–Metrics tracking and data are critical

A recurring theme throughout the conference was the importance of documenting effectiveness and aligning measurement to MCO priorities including reducing costs and improving system outcomes such as ER and Inpatient visits.
During the panel on Provider Strategies and Lessons for Success, Courtney Burke, Chief Operating and Innovation Officer, Healthcare Association of NYS suggested that too much time is being put into technology and more should be focused on data.
Jeremy Klemanski, President and CEO, Helio Health acknowledged the importance of tracking outcomes and historical data but also highlighted that an important factor in driving growth will be to develop the ability to leverage data at the point of care.

–Sustainability

The importance of sustainability is well-understood but it was also acknowledged that it is a challenge as many organizations and programs currently depending on grants and short-term funding.

Events and Other News

Study Finds Region’s No. 1 Health Concern is Poverty

Across the region’s urban, rural and suburban communities, the top health concern is poverty. It drives health inequities that undermine wellness and cut lives short more than any other single cause of illness, according to an extensive new report by Common Ground Health , the health research and planning organization for the Rochester-Finger Lakes region.

Overloaded: The Heavy Toll of Poverty on Our Region’s Health aims to close that gap. The report connects the dots between life lived on the financial edge and appalling health inequities – unfair and avoidable sickness and death linked to income, race and other factors. It weaves together health data, personal stories and analysis of more than 6,800 responses to Common Ground’s My Health Story survey conducted in 2018.

The research shows that the conditions and stresses of poverty compromise the physical and emotional well-being of residents every day, from exposure to mold, lead and other toxins common in substandard housing to the psychological strain of trying to make ends meet. The study found that by nearly every metric, residents of the Finger Lakes with scarce financial resources experience alarmingly worse health outcomes.