Celebrating 30 years of partnership

During Mental Health Month, we’re highlighting our partnerships that are committed to improving mental health in our communities.

Since 2012, the Respite Partnership Collaborative (RPC) has supported projects to establish local respite care options for consumers, family members and caregivers experiencing or at risk of a mental health crisis as alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization. Ten organizations in Sacramento County have received funding to establish 11 mental health respite services, and RPC funding totals $5.25 million. See the article below about three of the funded organizations and more about the RPC.

In response to President Obama’s call for a national conversation to increase understanding of and awareness about mental health, in July 2013 Sacramento held the first National Dialogue on Mental Health — Creating Community Solutions. After that community dialogue, a planning committee developed the Sacramento Mental Health Action Plan: Breaking Through Barriers on Mental Health, which outlines eight strategies to address the needs of transition-age youth and improve mental health outcomes in the community. There now are 140 members in the Sacramento Creating Community Solutions Network, and 90 of them serve on a council and four action teams, which meet monthly to implement action plan strategies. Learn more on the Network web page.

#SHF30Years

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Respite service grantees open their doors

Three respite service grantees funded through the Respite Partnership Collaborative (RPC) opened between February and April and are now providing LGBT-friendly respite services in Sacramento County.

Sacramento LGBT Center, Gender Health Center and A Church for All: Ripple Effect received grant funding totaling $225,000 in December 2014 to increase mental health respite service options and offer alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization for unserved and underserved populations experiencing or at risk of a mental health crisis. These grantees are adding system capacity to a respite system that has been designed and implemented with significant stakeholder input over the past two years and has served more than 2,000 county residents to date.

The RPC is a public-private partnership of the County of Sacramento, Division of Behavioral Health Services, the Center for Health Program Management and the community at large. Funding for the project is provided by the County of Sacramento, Department of Behavioral Health Services through the Mental Health Services Act Innovation Component.

Learn more on the RPC web page.

Photo: Sacramento LGBT Center’s Lambda Lounge.

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Health Leadership Program Class XI celebrates graduation

The 18 members of Health Leadership Program Class XI successfully completed the seven-month leadership development program and were joined by family, friends and colleagues on May 14 at Sierra Health Foundation to recognize and celebrate their accomplishment.

Sierra Health Foundation President and CEO Chet Hewitt welcomed guests and congratulated the graduates. He challenged them to apply the program’s leadership lessons to strengthen their organizations so they can make an even greater impact on health equity in their communities. Program co-directors Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, and Richard F. Callahan, DPA, both addressed the graduates and guests. Commencement speaker Clark Kelso, professor of law at McGeorge School of Law and federal receiver for California Prison Health, provided the commencement address.

After the presentation of certificates to the graduates by Mr. Hewitt, Dr. Callahan and Dr. Kizer, Class XI members shared a video of their reflections about the program.

Learn more about the program on the Health Leadership Program web page.

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Youth Lives Matter theme of Solano County Youth Summit

More than 100 leaders from Solano County gathered on May 15 at the third annual Solano County Youth Summit. This year’s theme, Youth Lives Matter, underscored the importance of ensuring that all of the county’s young people – including crossover youth within the juvenile justice system – have the proper support they need to mature into healthy adults. The Vallejo City Unified School District, one of four grantees funded through our Positive Youth Justice Initiative (PYJI), hosted the summit.

One of the underpinnings of PYJI is helping to create a more just and effective juvenile justice system – one that is free of bias. The summit’s keynote speaker was Kimberly Papillon, Esq., who led a workshop titled, How We Make Decisions About Our Children: The Neuroscience of Decision Making. Ms. Papillion helped participants understand the scientific basis for implicit bias and how to develop systems that correct an individual’s biases.

Learn more about Solano County’s PYJI approach on the Vallejo City Unified School District web site.

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Sacramento releases My Brother’s Keeper recommendations for action

The Office of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Sierra Health Foundation and Sacramento City Unified School District earlier this month announced the release of the Sacramento My Brother’s Keeper Local Action Report. The report outlines recommendations to improve outcomes for youth in Sacramento, particularly boys and young men of color, by leveraging existing, evidence-based programs and by making investments in proven initiatives.

Learn more on our News page.

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Two Sacramento community health centers receive federal grants to expand services

Cares Community Health and Elica Health Centers in Sacramento will receive Affordable Care Act funding of $700,000 each to expand their facilities and increase services. Both community health centers also receive funding through our Sacramento Region Health Care Partnership’s Community Health Center Capacity Building Program.

The grants are part of about $100 million in Affordable Care Act funding to 164 health sites serving low-income patients.

The grant to Cares Community Health included a new Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) designation, which will help the organization treat more uninsured and under-insured patients. Elica Health Centers was designated as an FQHC in June 2012.

Read The Sacramento Bee article.

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HUD announces Sacramento as a Promise Zone

Sacramento recently was one of eight communities designated as a Promise Zone. Through the Promise Zone initiative, the federal government will partner with local leaders to create jobs, improve schools and community health, and reduce crime in Sacramento. As an implementation partner, Sierra Health Foundation will support the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, which leads the effort, and other Promise Zone partners.

Read the news release.

Photo: Sierra Health Foundation President and CEO Chet Hewitt speaks at the Promise Zone news conference in Sacramento.

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