Sharing Work and Other Documents Using Google Docs!

Please take a moment to check out the new section in the left hand side of the blog, entitled "YSOC Meeting Archive & Key Documents." In this section you will be able to view our monthly meeting summaries (beginning with June, 2009)and other key YSOC documents, such as the YSOC Strategic Plan, YSOC Goals, and the YSOC Team Roster. This is possible via Google Docs. Authors to this blog can post Word and Excel files (and I believe PDF files as well)to this blog via Google Docs! If you would like to do this, please feel free to call or email me and I would happy to explain how. I would also be more than happy to post any file you'd like to send me as an attachment via email. I am very excited about the possibilities available to the group via Google Docs; we will be able to share our finished work (like Billee did last week), event flyers, and anything else we'd like to share. If you would like to add to the list of "Key Documents," feel free to email me and I will add to the site!

Work Finished by Team D!

I was excited to check the blog this morning and see that someone in the group (besides me) had posted! I was even more excited to see that the posts were awesome work completed! As you can see from the two posts below this one, Team D has been busy! Billee has posted some of her team's findings. Under Goal VII "Increased availability of treatment services for multicultural and special populations (e.g. pregnant teens, trauma, and transitional age)," she has posted a list of interpretation services in Sac County and an ethnicity and language distribution list by area. Many thanks to Billee for sharing her team's work, I hope the group will find it helpful, as well as an inspiration to keep moving on their Action Steps! You all work hard to serve your agency, your clients, and your community, I want to thank you for your above and beyond commitment to improving services for youth through your participation in the YSOC. I hope we will continue to inspire each other and share what we've learned through this process via blog posting, emails, and at meetings. Now that we see how easy it is to post, who's next?....

Ethnicity and Language Distribution

North Area
Citrus Heights, Elverta, McClellan, No. Highlands, Rio Linda, No. Sacramento, Marconi/Watt,
Arden Arcade, Natomas, Arena/Airport, Del Paso Heights, Foothill Farms & Antelope

Ethnicity (MA) (7): Latino 37%, White 26%, African American 12%, Russian 8%, Hmong 4%,
Asian Indian 2%, Laotian 1%, Filipino 1%, Ukrainian 1%, Vietnamese 1%, American Indian 1% Other 7%

Languages (ELL) (6): Spanish, Hmong, Russian, Ukrainian


Central Area
Downtown, Midtown, Oak Park, New Helvetia and East Sacramento

Ethnicity (MA): Latino 49%, African American 16%, White 14%, Hmong 5%, Chinese 3%, Other 13%

Languages (ELL): Spanish, Hmong, Cantonese, Mien, Vietnamese


East Area
Fair Oaks, Folsom, Mather, Orangevale, Rancho Cordova, Rescue, La Rivera/Jackson Highway,
Rosemont, Hagginwood & Carmichael

Ethnicity (MA): White 38%, Latino 26%, African American 11%, Russian 8%, Armenian 2%,
Vietnamese 1%, Other 12%

Languages (ELL): Spanish, Russian, Armenian, Ukrainian


South Area
Rio Vista, Courtland, Elk Grove, Galt, Herald, Isleton, Sloughhouse, Greenhaven, South Sacramento,
Fruitridge, Florintown, Jackson Highway/Sunrise, Pocket & Meadowview

Ethnicity (MA): Latino 42%, African American 14%,White 10%, Hmong 8%, Vietnamese 6%
Chinese 4% , Asian Indian 2%, Pilipino 2%, Russian 1%, Laotian 1%, Other 10%

Languages (ELL): Spanish, Hmong, Vietnamese, Hindi, Cantonese, Panjabi


Data Sources: (6) SY 07/08 CDE - Data Quest ELL; (7) May 09 DHA MA

Interpreter Services for the Sacramento County Division of Mental Health

Sacramento County Division of Mental Health
Interpreter Services

1. Eastern European Interpreters
7740 Polo Crosse AvenueSacramento, CA 95829Contact: Mary Meekay
(916) 682-8768
(Arabic, Afghani, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Cambodian, Chinese, (Cantonese, Mandarin), Farsi, French, German, Italian, Greek, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Ilacano, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Mien, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Tongan, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Serbo-Croatian, and others)

2. Carmazzi Global Solutions65 Quinta Court Ste GSacramento, CA 95823
Contact: James Carmazzi
(888) 452-6543
(Spanish, Lao, Tagalog, Farsi, Arabic, German, Punjabi, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Chinese, Mandarin, French, French Creole, Greek, Hindi, Hmong, Ilocano, Korean, Mien, Urdu, Russian, Swedish, Visayan, Vietnamese, Yugoslavian and others)
3. Language World Services
Contact: William Glasser
(916) 473-0100
(Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bosnian, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Toishanese), Croatian, Farsi, French, German, Punjabi, Portuguese, Romanian,
Italian, Greek, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Mien, Polish, Russian, Samoan, Serbian, Sindhi, Spanish, Thai, Tongan, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese)

4. ATT Language Line LLC
(800) 752-6096
(Spanish, Lao, Tagalog, Farsi, Arabic, German, Punjabi, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Chinese, Mandarin, French, French Creole, Greek, Hindi, Hmong, Ilocano, Korean, Mien, Urdu, Russian, Swedish, Visayan, Vietnamese, Yugoslavian and others.

C. Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreter Services:

1. NOR-CAL Center on Deafness
(916) 349-7500 24 hour TTY line
Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00am – 4:30 pm (closed 12:00pm – 1:00pm) after hours Emergency 800-504-3009

2. Carmazzi Global Solutions 65 Quinta Court Ste G Sacramento, CA 95823
Contact: James Carmazzi
(888) 452-6543

3. ATT Language Line LLC
(800) 752-6096

Calling All Providers: Outpatient Treatment Schedules

Is your waiting list growing longer by the day? Do you need to refer a client to another provider, but don't want to spend time calling around to check availability and service schedules? At our last YSOC meeting, it was suggested that sharing outpatient treatment schedules (AOD, anger management, sibling and family support groups, etc.)would be helpful in referring clients and managing wait lists. If you would like to send your outpatient treatment schedule to me, you can email me at mhazzard@ac-ac.org or SacYSOC@gmail.com, or fax to (916) 388-9273. With everyone's information, I can create a comprehensive outpatient treatment schedule and distribute at our next YSOC meeting.

Referral forms, please!

As you all probably know, our evaluation consultant, Allison, is working on creating a universal referral form for the YSOC to present at July's meeting. She has collected several forms, but is still missing some. I know everyone is swamped with things to do, but if you have not sent Allison or I your referral form, could you please do so? You can email it to me at mhazzard@ac-ac.org or SacYSOC@gmail.com or fax it to me here at ACAC at (916) 388-9273. Thank you!

June 16th, 2009 YSOC Meeting Update

Here is a recap of the last YSOC meeting in the form of an annotated meeting agenda:

1:30 – 1:40 p.m. Welcome & Introductions
• Brooke explained that an “interim meeting” took place on 6/9 to discuss a shift in the direction of the planning group. The consensus was that the planning group had done an excellent job creating a strategic plan and the idea to transition into an “implementation group” should be brought to the group at the YSOC meeting. (Interim meeting notes also attached).
• The new YSOC Project Coordinator, Melody Hazzard, introduced herself to the group, noting that she is currently working on identifying, contacting, and inviting private pay, insurance, and non-medical funded providers to participate in the YSOC. Thus far, TerraNova and Safety Center have expressed interest in participation.

1:40 – 2:30 Focus Group Discussion, facilitated by Allison Burke (LPC Consulting)
• Allison posed a series of questions to the group for the purpose of evaluating the process of the planning group to date. Questions focused on successes, challenges, limitations, lessons learned, unmet needs, and ideas for moving forward.
• The overall consensus was that being part of a collaborative process has been positive, instilling group members with a sense of ownership in the YSOC. Group members noted that while it was sometimes difficult to maintain motivation to attend the YSOC meetings, they are committed to the goal of better serving youth in the county. Members also noted that in moving forward, they would like to see other providers (especially juvenile justice, CPS, and education), as well as upper-level management and EDs of currently involved providers, become involved in the process.

2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Next Steps Discussion
• Would like to see more mental health providers, such as Families First/EMQ and River Oak.
• The group would like the coordinator to “chase” them/check-in to see how they are doing on their action steps. The coordinator will be in touch with the teams in between meetings to see how she can be a resource/support to help teams complete their action steps.
• The group would like to retain copies of the action plan after they work on them. They would also like to see a date, as well as the team lead identified on the action plan.
• There will be a second YSOC Stakeholder’s meeting held in October, for which invitations will be sent out. The group hopes to elicit involvement from upper-level management, EDs, and local elected officials at this meeting. It was suggested that each participating YSOC agency identify a youth that has been particularly successful to give a testimonial at the meeting. It was also suggested that each team prepare a brief presentation about their progress and successes, as well as remaining needs to present at this meeting.

Resolutions
• Agency/organization presentations will continue, with TerraNova presenting at July’s meeting.
• Sacramento PD will continue to attend YSOC meetings.
• Coordinator will get the out-patient treatment schedules for participating providers so the group can better serve clients through referral.
• Planning Group will transition into Implementation Group.
• Coordinator will add title, date, designate team leader on Action Plan and send to group (also attached).

Advocate For Minor Consent Medical!

One of the most basic fundamentals of the services our agencies and organizations provide to youth is Minor Consent Medical. Recently some of the providers in the YSOC have been involved in a series of meetings with the county regarding Minor Consent Medical access at school sites. Due to budget cuts, the county had to look at ways to consolidate services areas within the county to continue going out to school sites. Given that it would be a huge loss for our clients if they were unable to sign-up for Minor Consent Medical at the place where they access services, imagine what could happen if the entire Minor Consent Medical program were to be cut in the on-going budget revision process.
Part of our strategic plan is to advocate for state, federal, and local policies to support the YSOC. Given the current budget crisis that has already had a huge impact on our field, now is a critical time to advocate for our cause. Let's tell our legislators that many of our clients need Minor Consent Medical in order to access services and to get their lives back on track. The following is an example of an advocacy letter I drafted. It is addressed to Senator Darrell Steinberg, one of our representatives. Our assemblyman is Dave Jones. You could also send your letter to the County Supervisors. Another idea is to have clients at your agency write letters; this could be done in groups, and the agency could collect the hand-written (un-signed) letters and send them to a legislator (or multiple legislators!) along with a letter of explanation as to who wrote the letters and why they are anonymous.

Example of Advocacy Letter:

Dear Senator Steinberg,

I am a social worker who works at a substance abuse and mental health services agency, Another Choice, Another Chance, for youth ages 12-19. Our agency not only provides valuable services to youth, but also to their families through various supportive services, including family advocacy, sibling support groups, and help finding employment. Many of our clients access our services via Minor Consent Medical. Many times, youth are unable to access the services they so desperately need, either because they are afraid to tell their parents they need help, or, because their parents refuse to allow them to access services. Minor Consent Medical allows youth who would not otherwise be able to access services to receive confidential treatment in mental health, alcohol and other drug, or both. Minor Consent Medical opens up a variety of treatment opportunities for youth, including on-site treatment at middle and high schools.

I am writing to you because during this budget crisis, while every sector of the economy is suffering, the area of social services has been particularly devastated by state budget cuts. While we as social workers work with the most vulnerable members of society, the youth we serve are especially vulnerable given their status as minors. Minor Consent Medical is a valuable and empowering resource for youth, allowing them to exercise agency in choosing what is best for them when their parents or guardians are unable to make the right decisions with regard to their treatment needs. Without Minor Consent Medical, many youth would be unable to access services that can help them end harmful behavioral patterns that limit their opportunities for successful futures.

The youth who access Minor Consent Medical resources and the workers that serve them need your support; I would like to ask you to please consider these youth during the process of revising the budget for next year.

Thank you for your support and consideration.

Sincerely,

Melody Hazzard

Contact Information for Local Legislators:

Senator Darrell Steinberg
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814

Assemblyman Dave Jones
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0009

Sacramento County Board of Supervisors

Roger Dickinson (D-1), Jimmie Yee (D-2), Susan Peters (D-3), Roberta MacGlashan (D-4), Don Nottoli (D-5)
700 H Street, Suite 2450
Sacramento, CA 95814

Welcome to the Sacramento AOD Youth System of Care Blog!

Hello, YSOC Implementation Group! I sent you all an invitation to be an author of this blog; that means you can all post to this blog once you sign up to be an author. You need a google account to be an author, I hope you will take a few minutes to sign up as I think it is worth the effort! The purpose of this blog is to communicate, network, share resources, brainstorm, and anything else to help each other in the process of creating an AOD Youth System of Care for Sacramento County. If you use Google Reader or another reader application to organize and track your favorite websites, you can add the RSS feed for this site to your Reader and then you will know immediately whenever someone has posted something new to the blog.

As the project coordinator for the YSOC, I will be posting updates on what am I up to, including any new/useful information I come across, resources, new providers I have made contact with, policy updates, etc. I hope this will be useful for our group, if not, we can forget about it--but let's try it out for a while and see how we like it.