Grand Lake Mental Health Center, Inc

PROJECT PURPOSE

Children struggling with behavioral issues exacerbated by poor family interactions lead to children going to inpatient treatment or removal from their home due to abuse or neglect. Currently, two scenarios occur when families are functioning poorly: The first includes extreme behavior from the child, requiring inpatient treatment. Treatment focuses on the youth?s functioning and typically does not address family issues. In 2019 Oklahomans paid $58.5 million for 4,500 youth with an average 40 day stay. The second involves removal of children from their families by DHS due to abuse or neglect. Since 2018, DHS averaged 442 removals per year GLMHC is proposing Brief Stay Therapeutic Homes (BSTH): a single-family home in which families will volunteer to stay 72 to 120 hours and receive intensive treatment together using the following criteria: (1) families of youth needing inpatient treatment, (2) families of youth discharging from inpatient, (3) youth at risk of being removed by DHS, (4) youth reunifying with their family, (5) youth recently placed/reunified with foster family. Homes will be furnished, stocked with necessities, staffed with licensed mental health professionals/other clinical staff available to work with the family 24/7.

EVIDENCE

According to the California Evidence Based Clearinghouse (CEBC) for Child Welfare, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is well supported by research for parent-child relationship issues. PCIT provides coaching to parents while they interact with their children, to provide immediate feedback and intervention strategies. This is specifically for children ages 2-7. https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/parent-child-interaction-therapy/ According to the CEBC, Wraparound shows promising evidence for families with severe emotional disturbances to provide a collaborative plan to meet the needs of the family and reduce the need for removal or hospitalization. https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/wraparound/ The BSTH model is an innovative approach synthesizing these two promising practices/evidence-based models.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

GLMHC provides services at 21 clinics throughout a twelve-county area in rural Northeastern Oklahoma: Craig, Delaware, Kay, Mayes, Noble, Nowata, Osage, Ottawa, Payne, Pawnee, Rogers, and Washington counties. The area covers 10,390 square miles with a population of 611,000. County demographics include white (70%), Native American (18%), and African American (2%). 20.5% of the population is uninsured. GLMHC?s consumer base is currently white (75%) Native American (21%) and African American (4%). *US Census Bureau. Many families served by GLMHC have limited resources and transportation is oftentimes a barrier. Of the youth and families served by GLMHC, 64% are living in poverty. In FY19, DHS reports 15,809 children were confirmed victims of abuse. Of those, 4,673 left DHS custody and were successfully reunified with biological/adopted families or placed in guardianship (https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/okdhs/documents/okdhs-report-library/s19034_dhs2019annualreport_ccr_11122019.pdf). In FY19 DHS processed the removal of 465 children, in FY20 there were 448 children removed and in FY21, 414 children removed. While reports are still needed to confirm the impact of the pandemic, discussions with DHS reveal cases of abuse have been much more severe than before the pandemic. Also, many early reports of mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic have been noted by most publications.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

1. Decrease the number of youth(s) entering inpatient treatment. 2. Decrease the overall length of stay for youth(s) requiring inpatient treatment. 3. Decrease the overall number of youth(s) entering foster care. 4. Decrease the overall length of time for youth(s) in DHS custody. 5. Increase families functioning as evidenced by pre/post assessments.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma