Workshops - Session F
Thursday, October 7, 11:15 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.

W45 - What Remains “Mission: Possible” for OMHSAS?
Joan Erney, JD, Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS)
Determining “possibles” in the ongoing work and oversight of government agencies is just as challenging as making those determinations as providers. Striving, transforming, and thriving in complex policy and economic environments involves the same focus on mission and strategy. PCPA has asked Deputy Secretary Erney to share and clarify her top “mission possible” activities for the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to achieve during the remaining time of the current administration and to discuss what efforts she hopes will continue following the transition to a new administration. Time for questions specific to this information will be available.

W46 - Best Practices for Promoting Staff Retention: A Process Benchmarking Workshop
Paul M. Lefkovitz, PhD, Behavioral Pathway Systems
Additional Material
Process benchmarking is an innovative investigative tool that seeks to identify best practices. In this workshop, a hands-on process benchmarking investigation will be conducted to identify best practices associated with high rates of staff retention.  While all are welcome to attend, those that wish to actively contribute data to the exercise should come with their organization’s annual staff retention rate.  Electronic polling technology will be used to anonymously gather and analyze data.  Attendees will leave with a list of potential best practices that promote staff retention.

W47 - “You Can’t do That!” Reflections on Discovering and Implementing Organizational Change
J. Todd Barlow, MS, Penn Foundation
Regardless of what level of leadership your position may garner, you better be ready for all-too-familiar phrase “You can’t do that!” All of us want to rise above the chaos of day-to-day survival; however it feels like there is far more energy against change than there is for change. For most of us, big change freezes us; we may know that we don’t have the energy, resources, or skill to coordinate the “home run.” This presentation looks at how to take big change tasks and reduce them into smaller, coordinated, and continuous changes.  It will look at different types of real life change events that have occurred at an addiction treatment center over the past 20 years.  Change that had to occur involving county administrators, state licensing officials, staff, and programmatic change. This presentation will present real life examples of big problems being resolved in small ways over time. Perhaps smaller is better, at least when it comes to change.

W48 - The SBBH Team: A Behavioral Health Home for Youth and Families
Kate Nicholson, MS, Community Care Behavioral Health Organization
Nicole Brojakowski, MS, NCC, Children’s Service Center of Wyoming Valley
Mara McLaughlin, LSW, Northeast Counseling Services
This session examines a school based behavioral health team (SBBH) program developed through a collaborative partnership among families, educators, county administrators, community provider agencies, and a managed care organization.  The clinical underpinnings of the model include a focus on the family as a system and on trauma informed care, combined with positive behavioral approaches and principles of resiliency.  The model requires enhanced educational and training backgrounds for team staff and weekly consultation from a team psychiatrist or psychologist.  SBBH teams are physically housed in the school but extend outside the school setting to provide services to youth and their families in their homes and communities, as needed. Presenters will review the program model, distinguishing how the SBBH model differs from behavioral health rehabilitation services.  A description of a typical SBBH week highlights implementation issues, lessons learned, and pitfalls to avoid.  Outcome measures will be introduced.

W49 - The Dynamic Duo; Effective Strategies for Managing the Offender/Addict in Drug and Alcohol Treatment Settings
Steve Devlin, LCSW, LPC, CAC, CCDP, CCS, Renewal, Inc.
It is no secret that by the time most addicts end up in the criminal justice system they have failed treatment many times.  Could it be the treatment itself causing the problem and not the person? Because of the difficulty with differentiating criminal behaviors from symptoms of addiction, evaluation and assessment is critical to the management, treatment, and outcome of the offender/addict. In this workshop, you will be presented with effective strategies for the management and treatment of the offender/addict, focusing on what works and evidence-based practices.

W50 - There Ought to Be a Law: Autism Living and Working
Frank Unger, MEd, Autism Living and Working
Cynthisa Hennessey, MSW, NHS Human Services
Leasing a Home, Management Agreement Example, Successful Community Living, Operating Agreement Example
This session will describe a unique model program that began from the wisdom of parents.  Several years ago, a group a diligent parents predicted that their adult children with autism would need supports that did not readily exist in the mental health or intellectual disability systems.  This session will describe the collaborative that was able to develop two limited liability corporations for home ownership, negotiate the OBRA waiver for services, and implement a true team approach with the overarching goal of community independence for adults with autism spectrum disorders.

W51 - Good Morning Mr. Phelps: Supervising Those Out on Assignment
Christopher M. Owens, MA, LPC, Drexel University College of Medicine
Research demonstrates that positive outcomes are more frequently achieved when mental health workers meet with people in their natural environments. This useful treatment paradigm has necessitated a change from the delivery of “standard” supervisory practices. Trying to balance the development of working relationships, managing productivity, and administering to the agency’s policies are challenges when employees are on-site full time; in supervision for mobile workforces, these tasks become increasingly complex. This workshop has been designed to address the important issues supervisors face specific to administering policy, managing people, and supervising tasks when dealing with programs employing mobile staff. Developing working supervisory relationships and keeping the mobile employee connected to the department/agency will be explored.

W52 - Personality Disorders and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities:  Facts and False Leads
Donna N. McNelis, PhD, Drexel University College of Medicine
When thinking about personality disorders and persons with intellectual disabilities one must avoid twin traps, on one hand declaring that persons with intellectual disability are immune from some personality disorders or, on the other hand, suggesting that these individuals present in ways grossly divergent from individuals without intellectual disability.  This session will look at the emerging literature and present adaptations of the DSM-IV TR diagnostic criteria on personality disorders for persons with moderate and mild intellectual disability.

W53 - Revenue Cycle and Accounts Receivable Management: Understanding the Impact of Mental Health Parity, Act 62, and the Economy
Steve Kohler, McBee Associates, Inc.
A variety of factors including Act 62, economic conditions, and mental health parity are impacting the mix of payers for Pennsylvania community-based providers. As the mix of payers changes, so do the requirements for reimbursement, even for established customers.  Additionally, internal factors such as adding a new service or location, changing patient accounting systems, or enrolling with a new payer present an equal number of opportunities for improvement and risks to financial operations.  This session will identify the impact of these factors on the revenue cycle and accounts receivable.  Attendees will learn solutions to maintain efficiency and ensure consistent reimbursement.

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