Chair Hudson questions DHS on SPOA training and ACT/SPAC coordination
Hudson asks about training to identify serious mental illness and make SPOA referrals. DHS says it collaborates with DOHMH on quarterly mandatory training and coordinates with ACT and SPAC teams.
What training does...
DHS provide to staff to identify clients with serious mental illness and make single point of access referrals for mental health services.
We collaborate with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to provide quarterly training for all shelter staff on the SPOA process.
This is mandatory for all of our social service directors across the system.
And we've implemented a post-test with a score to make sure that we know that staff who take the training know what the next steps are once the training is done.
Thank you.
And how do shelter partner, assertive community treatment, or SPAC teams work with DHS staff?
And can you describe the partnership?
Sure.
On the DHS.
Our leadership meets regularly with OMH and DOHMH
to participate in care coordination and meetings around ACT teams and SPAC teams and IMT to make sure that we're effectively coordinating service delivery.
At the shelter level, we expect staff to proactively coordinate with SPOA providers.
The shelter staff are the ones submitting the SPOA application, so we want to make sure that they're doing those applications timely, that they're helping clients to follow up, and to engage in the services.
They should also be allowing the SPOA providers to come on site to meet with clients, to advertise the services, to really be able to advocate for the benefit clients could receive from participating.
So I think both from the DHS and the provider level, we're trying to coordinate more closely to make sure clients are getting the services they're entitled to.
Thank you.