MATCH and TRPA Teams Assist with Medicaid Enrollment | |
As of July, more than 500,000 North Carolina residents have enrolled in the state's Medicaid program since expansion went live more than seven months ago. | |
TRPA Assistance Runs Full Circle | |
Miki Pontorno, TRPA Program Coordinator, is a certified Community Health Worker and a Federally Certified ACA Navigator. “We’ve had a great experience with our patients enrolling in Medicaid with TRPA assistance,” Miki says. | |
Recently her ACA navigation work came full circle. “I worked with a patient recently who I had earlier enrolled in ACA Health insurance but who later lost his job and now was left with no income. He called me while he was still in the hospital with pneumonia, needing help. I helped him over the phone, and he was able to enroll in Medicaid while he was still in the hospital. He loved the fact that he didn’t have to walk into the local DSS or call them to apply. He even said, ‘Wow! Easy Peasy!’” | |
Relationship Building and Continuing Support | |
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Miki credits much of the success of TRPA’s Medicaid Enrollment assistance efforts with the team’s efforts toward relationship building with the individuals they serve. “We’ve built trust and close relationships with our patients, and they want to work with us because we make it easy for them. We’ve helped patients from Avery, Mitchell and Yancey Counties create NCID accounts online and apply for Medicaid. Most of them know nothing about the online application or how to use it.”
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When an uninsured individual requests help with enrollment, TRPA team members assist by helping them create the necessary Medicaid NCID account online and aiding them in completing and submitting the required form to the local D.S.S. “We also educate them on how Medicaid works and about when they’ll be up for re-enrollment. We let them know that if they need us to help with re-enrollment in the future, we can do that,” says Miki. | |
To date, TRPA has provided enrollment assistance to 30 individuals in Avery County, 64 in Mitchell and 86 in Yancey County. Referrals come from local hospitals, D.S.S. offices, family practitioners, R.H.A., and federally funded healthcare offices in all three counties. | |
MATCH Leverages Trusted Partnerships and Community Connections | |
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MATCH Program Supervisor Amy Stevens says MATCH team members have played a crucial role in Medicaid expansion in McDowell County. “As experienced Navigators, the MATCH team has provided Medicaid education, enrollment services, and post-enrollment support to many of our most vulnerable neighbors. By leveraging trusted partnerships and co-locations, MATCH has used our community connections to make enrolling in Medicaid as seamless as possible.”
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Since expansion in December of 2023, MATCH has enrolled more than 300 McDowell County residents in Medicaid and has helped countless others navigate plans, understand benefits, and access various types of healthcare. | |
Medicaid outreach and enrollment opens doors to extend care coordination and resource navigation to more McDowell County residents. As Amy explains, “Every individual enrolled in Medicaid receives a comprehensive needs assessment to identify additional areas of support. Through these screenings, we work closely with clients to connect them to essential resources like food assistance, mental health services, transportation, housing support, and other critical needs that help our community thrive. MATCH has always employed a closed-loop referral process, ensuring we remove barriers and do our best to connect clients with the resources they need to succeed.”
| MATCH and McDowell County IMPACT Team Up for Street Outreach | One of the most impactful partnerships to emerge from Medicaid enrollment efforts is a coordinated outreach involving both MATCH and McDowell IMPACT Peer Support Services. On a monthly basis, MATCH joins IMPACT team members on their street outreach initiative, which targets the county’s most vulnerable populations, including those who are unhoused, living in rural areas, or struggling with substance use. “These residents often lack transportation, internet access, and other supports necessary to apply for Medicaid,” says Amy, “and this partnership has enabled MATCH to reach individuals who would otherwise have no access to Medicaid Expansion.” | |
After assisting individuals with their application, MATCH team members collaborate closely with IMPACT peers to ensure those enrolling receive their Medicaid cards and understand how to utilize the new benefits, including Healthy Opportunities services. “Through this collaboration, we’ve also helped connect people to SNAP benefits, disability services, and more. We are deeply grateful to McDowell IMPACT for the opportunity to reach our underserved neighbors.” | |
CareReach is proud to support the MATCH and TRPA programs as they provide access to coordinated care and health and social safety net resources to uninsured and underinsured residents of Western North Carolina mountain communities. | |
CareReach Peer Support Specialist Julie McAllister Participates in LEAD Piot Program with Marion P.D. | |
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McDowell Impact Peer Support Specialist Julie McAllister is participating in LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) — an innovative new pilot program in cooperation with the Marion Police Department.
As a Peer Support Specialist, Julie brings lived experience with addiction and recovery, allowing her to empathize and support those she serves. “So far it’s been a great position,” Julie says. “I was a little worried at first, considering my past, but it’s truly been great. “
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“The primary goal of the LEAD program is to connect people with the resources they need to succeed,” says Marion Police Chief Allen Lawrence. “Obviously when we encounter people in this current capacity, they need help to get back on their feet again. That’s where Julie comes in, by getting them the help they need at that moment, which is crucial.” | |
Julie’s work with the LEAD pilot program was featured in a recent article in Carolina Public Press, shedding light on Julie’s background with substance use and recovery. The article paints a clear and compelling picture of the value of Peer Support work and the positive impacts of Marion P.D.’s LEAD program. | |
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First implemented in Seattle, Washington, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion is a voluntary pre-arrest diversion program designed to address low-level drug crimes. By allowing law enforcement officers to redirect low-level offenders engaged in these types of activities to community-based services and resources, LEAD can improve public safety and provide help and support to those willing to accept it. LEAD referrals are designed to divert away from arrest and incarceration and towards available substance use recovery resources and programs.
Julie states that so far, she has received 22 referrals, with only five declining to engage. “As of now, I’ve helped get seven peers into detox, and two more went to court-ordered long-term detox.”
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LEAD Has Potential to Change Lives | |
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Her very first referral is one of Julie’s favorite success stories.
“I had worked with this peer previously; she was working on a D.S.S. plan to get one of her kids back when an incident with her daughter’s stepmom resulted in her being accused of assault.” The officer in charge did not make an arrest, but instead released the individual on a promise to appear in court. He referred Julie to talk with the peer, and Julie accompanied her to court, where the charges were dismissed. Following the initial referral, Julie remained an ongoing safe and supportive presence, walking with the peer through court appearances and custody hearings. The future now looks brighter for this individual because of the initial LEAD encounter.
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“She got a job, now has her own place, and just over a month ago got full custody of her youngest child and shared custody of her oldest.” In a remarkable full-circle narrative, Julie reports that the peer is now working towards obtaining peer support certification. | |
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Part of the success of the LEAD program is the ongoing assistance and referrals that occur after the initial contact. “I can provide resources such as food, treatment, detox and short-term housing at the shelter,” says Julie. “I help folks get to court or Probation Officer appointments—even sit with them through court hearings and custody visits.”
The criteria officers utilize when making LEAD referrals is simple and straightforward, as Chief Lawrence explains: “The person has to want to speak with someone and get help. [In that case] our officers provide a form to the individual that is then passed along to Julie. That person is giving Julie permission to reach out to them for further conversation.”
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Training Promotes Safety and Builds Trust | |
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An essential element of the LEAD program is the mutual trust that develops between officers and peer support specialists. In preparation for LEAD, Julie spent the first three months in ride-alongs. “I rode with the officers on each shift until I had eventually ridden with all of them. This allowed them to ask me questions and get to know me better, and vice-versa.”
Additional training came through an eight-week course at the Citizen Police Academy, learning what a police officer’s job entails. Julie says the training was an eye-opener. “It was a good experience and showed me a side that most people never get to see. I definitely respect their role a lot more these days.”
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Julie’s participation in the pilot program has been subsidized by monies received from the North Carolina Opioid Settlement Fund. Chief Lawrence acknowledges that regardless of the success of LEAD, the collaborative pilot program is dependent on financial resources. “Unfortunately, the main factor is funding,” he says. “We have to have the funds to continue the program.” | |
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“McDowell Impact has always taken innovative approaches to meeting the needs of the McDowell community,” says CareReach Executive Director Joseph Jones. “It’s been an honor to work on this new project with Marion Police Department. They’ve been a fantastic, involved partner, and I’m so proud of the work Julie has been able to accomplish with them.”
A program of CareReach, McDowell Impact is McDowell County’s first-ever peer support program, offering innovative, multiagency collaboration utilizing peer support specialists to promote and support recovery.
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International Overdose Awareness Day: “Together We Can”
August 31, 2024
7:00 p.m. at McDowell Courthouse Lawn
Hosted by West Marion, Inc.
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“Together We Can.” No one should stand alone in our fight to end overdose. This International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) event will bring together members of our local community to stand in support of those connected to the tragedy of overdose.
There will be a candlelight vigil, education for overdose prevention, vendors, and swag giveaways, Narcan training, and much more.
Connect with others in your local community and join the global IOAD movement. Together we can end overdose.
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September is National Recovery Month
National Recovery Month, sponsored by SAMHSA, aims to increase awareness and understanding of mental health and substance use disorders and celebrate the people who are in recovery.
Every person. Every Family. Every Community.
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As a non-profit partner in the health and safety-net system of Western North Carolina, CareReach relies on the generous gifting of donors and supporters to sustain our vital work. While many in our community are faced with barriers and gaps in whole-person, coordinated health care, we work with these individuals to help them reach their health goals; through our collaboration with local partners, we help make clinical and community services more accessible to those who need them.
Please consider making an investment in the health of our mountain communities. With your help we will reach our goal.
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Communities working together for the health of all. | |
Your donation helps sustain our work across Western North Carolina. | |
CareReach | 828-348-4838 | www.carereachnc.org | |
Integrity | Collaboration | Agility
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