Mind Hive Newsletter from the Regional Behavioral Health Workforce Coalition

June 11, 2024

MIND HIVE means many minds, one body - and for the purposes of the collaborative work of the Regional Behavioral Health Workforce Coalition, this newsletter is to share information with Coalition members so that we all can be informed when making decisions and identify projects that need support. It features timely resource documents as well as webinars and podcasts related to behavioral health workforce issues. It also includes access to the Coalition’s dashboard so that you can review where we stand with our goals, celebrate our wins, and help support each other in getting over our hurdles.

In this Issue

Member Spotlights: Nan Cahall &

Amanda Shaw

Learning Opportunities &

Recordings

Coalition News

Project Levelling Up &

Digital Resources

Member Spotlight

In this month's newsletter, we are excited to spotlight two of our members, Amanda Shaw and Nan Cahall.

Amanda Shaw, Associate Director of Prevention and Education Services at Mental Health America of Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio.

Amanda Shaw, a passionate advocate for workplace wellness, is dedicated to building resilience and hope in individuals and communities.

Nan Kohnen Cahall, Director of Government Relations for the Council on Aging of Southwest Ohio.

Nan has more than 30 years of public policy and community relations experience, from the Ohio Statehouse to the U.S. Capitol, representing industry sectors such as education, nonprofit and home building.

Coalition News

Quarterly Coalition Meeting at Sinclair Community College

April 26, 2024

With Director Kara Wente

Ohio Department of Children and Youth

For those who attended the Quarterly Coalition Meeting, you'll notice this picture is not from that. We unfortunately failed to get a *picture of Director Wente during her visit with us at Sinclair Community College in Mason, Ohio!

We were too busy sharing information about the Coalition and the work we've been doing to build the behavioral health workforce in our region. To name a few topics, we talked about the Higher Ed Learning Circle, the possible pipeline work that may be funded through OhioMHAS in Hamilton County, and shared sample career pathway handouts with Director Wente and members of her team. She was excited about the work and talked about the priorities of the new Ohio Department of Children and Youth. She is interested in where we can work together and where our work overlaps with building the human services sector that is needed to accomplish its goals.

*This picture is from another meeting to discuss behavioral health issues including workforce.

OhioMHAS Grant | Southwest Council of Southwest Ohio

Behavioral Health School to Work Program

In March, Workforce Development Boards (WDBs) received RFIs from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services on behavioral health workforce projects. Pam Massey with the Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio and a member of the RBHWC Advisory Committee quickly pulled together a planning team of other members of the RBHWC to develop a response to this request. This planning team consisted of Pam Massey, Maureen Donallon (Talbert House), LaNora Godfrey (Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board), Lisa Myers (Interact for Health), Sharron DiMario (University of Cincinnati Area Health Education Center), and Meredith Poynter (Mental Health & Addiction Advocacy Coalition).

The project proposed will bridge the opportunity gap students face in starting a career in behavioral health upon earning a high school diploma. It will also position those most vulnerable to health inequities, our youth, to help lead and act as a critical voice in identifying and implementing solutions.

Recently, the Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio received notice that they have been awarded a grant for close to $1 million to fund this project! The documents and official relationship are currently in process as the team starts to do some pre-work that can be done at this very early stage.

RBHWC in the News | WCPO Channel 9 News report

'Nowhere close to where we need to be': Shortage of Black therapists in Cincinnati worries health experts

WCPO News Report

RBHWC members Ashley Glass (Black Women Cultivating Change) and Meredith Poynter (Mental Health & Addiction Advocacy Coalition) were in a report about the behavioral health workforce shortage, with a focus on the shortage of Black therapists in Cincinnati. The report included information on the RBHWC local initiative.

The report aired on the evening news Thursday, May 30, 2024.

Website launched | buildbehavioralhealth.org

The Regional Behavioral Health Workforce Coalition website is now live, and will updated on a weekly basis throughout the month of June for the sections that have been previously designed. Other sections that are planned but require additional resources to develop are targeted to be completed before the end of August.

Visit our Website

Learning Opportunities

In the Future

Workforce Solutions Jam

Aligning Across Levers of Change

State Leadership for Workforce Innovation and Development

June 18, 2024 at 1pm

The Workforce Solutions Jam is a monthly webinar to build national momentum and encourage collaboration through the Center for Workforce Solutions.

June's Workforce Solutions Jam will have you:

Meet a state commissioner to learn how they lead a major workforce development effort throughout their state.
Hear about one state’s experience designing a workforce collaborative and implementing the state’s first strategic action plan specifically devoted to the behavioral health, developmental and intellectual disabilities workforce.
Learn examples of actionable infrastructure-building mechanisms and promising workforce strategies that can be applied in other states and localities.
Understand recent state-enacted legislation focused on behavioral health loan forgiveness, alternative paths to licensure/removing exam requirements, and examples of strengthening recruitment and education.
Explore a summary crosswalk of more than 400 workforce recommendations from published reports to serve as an actionable roadmap for addressing the workforce crisis.

June 18 Jam Registration

FULL - REGISTRATION CLOSED

Southwestern Ohio

Black Mental Health Summit

Fri., July 19 2024

9:00am- 2:30pm

For behavioral health professionals

& students

FULL - REGISTRATION CLOSED

The Regional Behavioral Health Workforce Coalition is a sponsor of this great event. We have 6 seats available at the RBHWC Table.

Email your interest for 7/19

Southwestern Ohio

Black Mental Health Summit

Sat., July 20 2024

9:00am- 2:30pm

For community members

The Regional Behavioral Health Workforce Coalition is a sponsor of this great event. We have 6 seats available at the RBHWC Table.

Email your interest for 7/20

Learn more

Leadership Academy

Organized by the Mental Health America of NKY & SWO, the Leadership Academy fosters initial leadership development and increases basic skills contributing to professionalism in the workplace. This training is a prerequisite to family and youth peer support certifications.

Mon, Jul 29, 2024 - Wed, Jul 31, 2024 8:30am - 4:00pm

From the Past

Examining the Burden of Public Stigma Associated with Mental Illness in Rural U.S.

Webinar recording from March 12, 2024, in which speakers discuss a study examining stigma associated with mental illness in rural and nonrural communities, using a nationally representative panel-based survey. Includes discussion of their study examining rural suicide mortality rates.

Sponsoring organizations: East Tennessee State University Center for Rural Health Research, NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, Rural Health Equity Research Center, Rural Health Research Gateway

On Demand Free Webinar

View Slide Deck

View Transcript

Workforce Solutions Jam

Workforce Expansion: Accelerating Investment in the Workforce Pipeline

The Workforce Solutions Jam is a monthly webinar to build national momentum and encourage collaboration through the Center for Workforce Solutions.

This May 21 Jam included:

Learning how Massachusetts has addressed a workforce shortage through apprenticeships and loan forgiveness
Hearing about how a foundation has invested in projects to build a well-defined behavioral health career ladder and well-paying employment opportunities
Understanding the Center for Workforce Solutions’ use of collective impact to address the workforce crisis and key accomplishments since our November 2023 webinar
Learning more about SAMSHA’s Behavioral Health Workforce Workgroup efforts

View Recording & Slides from May 21

Shared Roadmap Dashboard

The Advisory Committee is using June to work on Project "Leveling Up", a new and improved Shared Framework.

What isn't changing - Our priorities and guiding principles which includes our 5 pillars. What is changing is that we are moving from priority-based workgroups to project-based workgroups. We are excited about how this is the next level of our work and how this new approach will support our advancement towards our goals.

Digital Resources

If you can’t open the links to these resources,

please contact Meredith Poynter.

Shared Public Policy Agenda - Access Here

Check out these newly added interesting articles in our Google Drive!

If you have any questions or have suggested content, please email one of our Co-Chairs, Sharron DiMario or Meredith Poynter.

Advisory Committee Members:

Sharron DiMario, Co-Chair (University of Cincinnati Area Health Education Center), Meredith Poynter, Co-Chair (Mental Health & Addiction Advocacy Coalition), Lauren Bartoszek (The Health Collaborative), Sharon Custer (Miami University), Erin Day (Community First Solutions), Maureen Donnellan (Talbert House), Debbie Gingrich (Best Point Education & Behavioral Health), Suk-hee Kim (Northern Kentucky University), Pam Massey (Workforce Council of SWO), Delaney Schrenk (University of Cincinnati), Kristina Scott (United Way of Greater Cincinnati), Deanna Vietze (Brown County Board of Mental Health & Addiction Services), Gloria Walker (NAMI Urban Greater Cincinnati Network on Mental Illness), Ashlee Young (Interact for Health)

Subcommittee Chairs:

Sharon Custer, Regional Data & Research Subcommittee (Miami University), Maureen Donnellan, Recruitment & Retention Subcommittee (Talbert House), Lisa Myers, Public Awareness & Trust Subcommittee (Interact for Health), Kristina Scott, Public Policy Advocacy Subcommittee (United Way of Greater Cincinnati), Deanna Veitze, Care Delivery System Subcommittee (Brown County Board of Mental Health & Addiction Services)