Vol6 | July | View Archive

The Kim Foundation, in collaboration with individuals, organizations, and healthcare providers throughout Nebraska, is pleased to bring you a monthly e-newsletter addressing mental health care.

We will provide you with access to valuable resources, connections to individuals and agencies working toward behavioral health reform, insight into successful programs offered in Nebraska, and updates on the latest news and events.

If you have comments, questions, or information you would like to share through the electronic newsletter, please email us at info@thekimfoundation.org.

For more information on mental health issues in Nebraska please visit www.thekimfoundation.org.

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Lincoln/Lancaster County Launches LOSS Program

You’re Invited: Town Hall Meetings Addressing Peer Support

Behavioral Health Oversight Commission Releases Final Report

Region V Announces Upcoming Training Opportunities

Not Alone Radio Program August Schedule

The nationally recognized LOSS (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors) program is now available to residents of Lincoln and Lancaster County. Officially launched on July 1, 2009, LOSS is an effort to bring immediate support to family members and loved ones who are left behind following a suicide.

The LOSS program operates by dispatching teams of volunteers who are made up of both individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide and mental health professionals alike. Team members act as a first response when a suicide occurs and work together with law enforcement officers, fire fighters, EMTs, and other first responders. Members of the LOSS team have completed training focused on issues surrounding suicide as well as draw upon their own personal experiences in offering resources and support to the newly bereaved.

Through the Lincoln/Lancaster County partnership the Lincoln Police Chaplain will contact a designated LOSS team leader following a report of a possible suicide. The team leader will then arrange for other team members to be dispatched to the scene accordingly. Team members are present to offer resources, support, and serve as sources of hope to the newly bereaved and additionally provide follow-up contact with surviving loved ones and help coordinate the utilization of services within the community.

Research has established that through programs such as LOSS survivors of suicide are not only more likely to seek help for their own emotional response to the suicide, but are also at a significantly reduced risk to attempt/complete suicide themselves.

It is anticipated that the pilot program in Lincoln/Lancaster County will set a strong foundation and encourage the expansion of the LOSS program into other Nebraska counties.

For more information on the LOSS program please contact Travis Parker with the Community Mental Health Center of Lancaster County at tparker@lancaster.ne.gov.

Nebraska’s Office of Consumer Affairs invites you to participate in an upcoming town hall meeting addressing issues surrounding peer support services.

Peer support is a service in which persons living with a mental illness or addictive disease encourage and engage other individuals in recovery. Discussion at the town hall meetings will address the following questions and gather additional ideas and information from participants:

• What is peer support service?
• Why is peer support important?
• How will we support our current peer support workforce in Nebraska?

Stuart Perry and Charles Willis, Certified Peer Specialists in Georgia, and Heather Peck from the state of Virginia, will serve as guest speakers for the tour.

Presentations will be held in various locations throughout Nebraska from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch provided. Tour dates and locations are as follows:

• August 31 – Bennett Martin Library, 14th and ‘N’ Street, Lincoln
• September 1 – Omaha Public Library, 15th and Douglas, 4th floor, Omaha
• September 3 – Lifelong Learning Center, 801 E. Benjamin Ave., Norfolk
• September 4 – Hastings Public Library, 517 W. 4th Street, Hastings
• September 15 – Hampton Inn Conference Center, 301 W. Hwy 26, Scottsbluff
• September 16 – Hampton Inn, 200 Platte Oasis Pkwy., North Platte

Please select the date and/or location most convenient for you.

For additional information or to RSVP for a meeting, please contact Dan or Carol at 1-800-836-7660. Requests for interpretive services must be received by August 14, 2009.

A report was recently released by the Behavioral Health Oversight Commission. This 12 member commission follows the work of a previous commission by the same name that operated following the passage of legislative bill 1083, the Nebraska Behavioral Health System Act, which was signed into law in 2004. After four years of work the original commission expired on June 30, 2008 with the new 12 member commission beginning their work in July of 2008 and ending on July 1, 2009.

The latest commission was created as part of legislative bill 928 in 2008. This commission is responsible to the Division of Behavioral Health and was charged with overseeing and supporting the implementation of the Nebraska Behavioral Health Services Act. In his welcoming comments to the commission at their first meeting, Governor Heineman encouraged the new commission’s efforts to assist the Department of Health and Human Services in developing a strategic vision for the behavioral health division while working with limited resources.

Acknowledging their limited timeframe, the commission adapted a charter and identified three areas of focus. The areas included:

1. Moving behavioral health forward
2. Behavioral health workforce shortage
3. Enhanced communication and partnering

Discussion, legislative action, and recommendations pursuant to each of these areas are explored and identified in the final report.

Meeting agendas, minutes, as well as the Behavioral Health Oversight Commission Final Report is available on the Department of Health and Human Services website at www.dhhs.ne.gov/Behavioral_Health/BHcommission/.

Region V Systems announces two upcoming training opportunities available to residents of the Region V service area (Butler, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Lancaster, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee, Polk, Richardson, Saline, Saunders, Seward, Thayer, and York counties).

Intentional Peer Support (IPS) Training will be held September 14-18, 2009 at Lutheran Family Services, 2900 “O” Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. The target audience for this training includes peer support workers, both paid and volunteer, and other individuals who have received training on peer support services and programs and would like to learn more. IPS certified trainers Judie Moorehouse and Ken Timmerman will facilitate the training.

Intentional Peer Support (IPS) is a nationally recognized program developed by Shery Mead and Associates that looks at the role of peer support services and therapeutic relationships from new angles. IPS is a process used by peer support specialists in a variety of venues such as crisis respite centers, day rehabilitation programs, and in residential, outpatient, and inpatient service settings.

This training is available at no cost; however, due to space limitations advanced registration must be received by September 1, 2009.

In addition, Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) Facilitator Training will be held August 24-28, 2009 also in Lincoln. Using WRAP individuals identify personal resources available to them and use such resources to stay well and assist them when they may be feeling badly. WRAP training is open to individuals who have completed a WRAP course previously and who have and use a personal WRAP. Upon successful completion of the training individuals will become certified WRAP educators who are then able bring the WRAP concept to other residents throughout the Region V service area.

For additional information or to register to attend either of the trainings, please contact Lisa Rehwaldt-Alexander, Regional Consumer Specialist with Region V Systems, at (402) 441-4361 or via email at lalexander@region5systems.net.

Remember to join The Kim Foundation and KCRO channel 660 AM for Not Alone, a live talk radio program focused on behavioral health and recovery.

Airing every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Not Alone hosts guests from throughout Nebraska addressing a variety of topics. The schedule for August includes:

• August 4 - Community Alliance
  Aileen Brady, Chief Operating Officer with Community Alliance discusses the mission of Community Alliance and services, supports, and programs offered through the organization to individuals with mental illness.
• August 11 – Relationships and Peer Support Services
  Carol Coussons de Reyes, Office of Consumer Affairs Administrator with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, explores the topic of relationships and the important role they play in an individuals recovery and shares information with listeners on peer support services.
• August 18 – Blue Valley Behavioral Health
  Representatives from Blue Valley Behavioral Health discuss services and programs they provide to residents of southeast Nebraska.
• August 25 – National Library of Medicine
  Medical librarians Marty Magee and Siobhan Champ Blackwell, representing the National Library of Medicine, discuss the library, resources available, and how individuals can easily access reliable information related to mental health.

Listeners outside of the broadcast area can access the radio program through KCRO’s website at www.kcro.com.

For more information on Not Alone or the Mental Health Minutes, please visit www.thekimfoundation.org.