Full Agenda

7:30am – 8:45am

Registration & Coffee with Vendors (Breakfast is included in the host hotels or on your own)

 

8:45am – 9:00am

Welcome​

• Stacey Hale, Director, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, Treatment, and Care Coordination, NYS OMH

• Additional Representatives, NYS OMH (TBA)

 

9:00am – 9:45am 

Keynote Presentation

Culturally Responsive Care for Children and Families

• Melanie Funchess, CEO, Ubuntu Village Works, LLC

 

9:45am – 10:00am 

Break with Vendors

 

10:00am – 11:15am

Concurrent Sessions

1. The Added Value of Peer Support Specialists on ACT Teams

• Regina Shoen, Director Upstate Regional Bureau OAPSS, NYS OMH Office of Advocacy & Peer Support Services

 

Peer Support services can add value to ACT Teams through better engagement, sustainable community integration and improved symptom management. Using empirical data, we will share information on how Peers can assist in the work of ACT teams, what the role should be and resources for hiring and implementing Peer Support Specialists.

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2. How to Work Collaboratively and Communicate Effectively with Bureaucracies and Institutions

• Derrick Manigo LCSW, Director of Act Teams, GODDARD-RIVERSIDE Community Center

 

Working and communicating effectively with large institutions such as hospitals, the judicial system and mental health agencies can be challenging. This presentation will share tools and strategies that will not only improve your ability to communication effectively with these institutions, but also how to partner with and find camaraderie in the work that you do with your clients.

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3. Safety in the Community

• Catherine Mammoser, MHC, Vice President of Intensive & Rehab Services, BestSelf Behavioral Health

• Emily Keem O'Hare, MHC, Program Director ACT Aspire, BestSelf Behavioral Health

• Dr. Julia Ringel, Psychiatrist over 5 ACT Teams, BestSelf Behavioral Health (invited)

 

Every one of us has experience working within our communities. In recent years, we've grown too comfortable, often lowering our guards. Recognizing safety concerns, we've redoubled our efforts, working diligently within our ACT teams to enhance community safety. We have a robust process in place to safeguard our staff, ensuring that each team member returns home to their family at the end of every day. This session will showcase our process and share our insights, strategies and experience with other teams.

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4. The Power, Importance and Impact of Language

• Mya Haley, Coordinator of Fidelity and Best Practices, ACT Institute at Center for Practice Innovations

• David Lowenthal, Medical Director, Center for Practice Innovations, ACT Institute at Center for Practice Innovations

Participants will join in a discussion that will focus on the impacts of using recovery and strength-based language in all parts of ACT service delivery from outreach to engagement and support to transition. Because language matters and impacts those that we work with (participants, their natural supports as well as co-workers), the aim of this discussion is to raise awareness around the power we hold as providers through our language and the ways we can either oppress or empower those whom we serve.

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Moreover, while the words we use matter, more importantly they also reflect the attitudes and beliefs we hold. Utilizing recovery-based language is a great start but as providers, embracing recovery-based practices are the true goal so that we can empower and truly center the participants, families and communities we serve through ACT work.

 

11:15am - 11:30am

Break

 

11:30am – 12:45pm  

Concurrent Sessions​

1. ACT and Employment: An IPS Perspective

• Gary Scannevin, IPS Trainer, Center for Practice Innovations

• Noah Lipton, Implementation Specialist and Project Manager for Special Projects, Center for Practice Innovations

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This forum will utilize a townhall-style format to engage participants in an open discussion about employment and ACT. Participants will learn about current OMH efforts to support employment across the state. Participants will be prompted to share their experiences, hopes, concerns, and felt needs with respect to supporting participants around employment. Presenters will discuss the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model and highlight some of the specific resources and tools available that support employment conversations and goals.
 

2. New York State Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT); A Systemic Overview and Engagement Considerations for Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)

• Tom Gottehrer, LCSW, New York State Director of AOT, NYS OMH

• Representatives, NYS OMH TBD

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Presenters will provide a systemic overview of the service system for which AOT falls under and offer some perspectives and considerations from multiple stakeholders in the community and how AOT can best be utilized within the recovery model.
 

3. New York State ACT Fidelity Scale

• Jay Shufelt, MPA, Mental Health Program Specialist II, NYS Office of Mental Health

• Mya Haley, Coordinator of Fidelity and Best Practices, ACT Institute at Center for Practice Innovations

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The New York State (NYS) Office of Mental Health (OMH) in partnership with ACT Institute are excited to announce the up-and-coming New York State Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Fidelity (NYSAF) Scale. This new ACT fidelity scale will be used by teams across NYS to assess ACT program fidelity and improve program quality and implementation efforts. In this presentation NYS OMH and ACT Institute will review the NYSAF Pilot and validation process for the scale, highlight components that make NYSAF unique to NYS ACT providers, and hold an open discussion for providers around the anticipated rollout

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12:45pm – 1:30pm

Lunch

 

1:30pm – 2:45pm

Concurrent Sessions​

1. Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (Forensic ACT)

• Wendy M. Vogel, MPA, Forensic Program Administrator, NYS OMH, Division of Forensic Services

• Erica Kwan, LMHC, Senior Director, ACT Services, CASES

• Jessica Klaver PhD, Chief Program Officer, CASES

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This presentation will introduce the Forensic ACT model in New York State, an adaptation of ACT for people involved in the criminal legal system (CLS). Forensic ACT clients are ACT eligible with concomitant CLS involvement. Teams have additional specialized staffing and receive enhanced CLS training, including in risk assessment. Key partnerships are developed with CLS stakeholders, such as mental health courts, jails/prisons, and probation/parole. There is an explicit treatment focus on preventing criminal recidivism in addition to reducing psychiatric hospitalizations. This presentation will provide an overview of Forensic ACT, including risk screening, assessment, intervention, and the unique challenges and opportunities associated with clinical forensic work.

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2. Utilizing Recovery Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CTR) for ACT Teams

• Peter William Przeradzki, DSW, LCSW-R, Program Director, South Richmond ACT, South Beach Psychiatric Center

• Darren Walker MS, CAS, Treatment Team Leader, Bensonhurst ACT, South Beach Psychiatric Center

 

South Beach Psychiatric Center's ACT teams have been utilizing Recovery Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R) with their clients for the last 3 years and it has effectively built healthy therapeutic relationships with our clientele. By focusing on this evidence based and person-centered model, clients and their ACT team members work together so clients can achieve reaching, what we call their "adaptive mode", which is a confident and self-reliant presentation that assists with transition to a less intensive service. Our ACT teams help the client see themselves as the “expert” in their own lives and root out the interests and abilities that can lie dormant within. Bensonhurst and South Richmond ACT team will give a brief overview of CT-R and provide examples of how using a CT-R modality can change the mindset of a client from system dependent to confident and self-reliant.
 

3. Reexamining our Approach when Working with People that are Using Drugs and Alcohol on ACT

• Noah Lipton, Implementation Specialist and Project Manager for Special Projects, Center for Practice Innovations

• Grisel Estrada, MSW, CPS-P, Harm Reduction Specialist, Community Access

• Allashia Smith-Harris, LMHC, CASAC Advanced, ACT Institute Director, Center for Practice Innovations

• ​Dwayne J. Mayes, Implementation Specialist, Center for Practice Innovations

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According to the CDC, as of June 2020, 13% of Americans reported starting or increasing substance use as a way of coping with stress or emotions related to COVID-19. Overdoses have spiked since the onset of the pandemic. This trend has continued throughout 2020 and to date. These statistics also include the ACT participants we serve. How can we, as ACT providers, effectively work with individuals that are using substances, especially when some of those individuals may not want to make a change to their substance use? In this workshop we will discuss some trauma-informed approaches that may be helpful. We will also explore how our own expectations, attitudes as “helpers,” and implicit/explicit biases may play a role in how we view the work we do and those we are supporting. In addition, participants will learn 3 ways for managing personal/team wellness to sustain hope and prevent burnout.
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2:45pm – 3:00pm

Break

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3:00pm – 4:15pm

Concurrent Sessions​

1. How Are You Doing?

• Allashia Smith-Harris, LMHC, CASAC, Director, ACT Institute, ACT Institute at Center for Practice Innovations

• David Lowenthal, MD, JD, Medical Director, Center for Practice Innovations, ACT Institute at Center for Practice Innovations

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Since the inception of the model in the 1970s, a core feature of ACT is for the team to operate as the first responder to service recipients who are in distress and/or crisis. Corresponding in part with the COVID-19 pandemic and related societal consequences, mental health distress and increase demand for services is increasing, while availability of qualified staff to do community-based work is decreasing.

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As providers, it is important that we recharge and rejuvenate, leading to increased productivity, improved concentration, and better problem-solving abilities. When you prioritize your well-being, you have more energy and mental clarity to tackle daily tasks.

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This session will provide an overview of wellness (8 dimensions of wellness); review a range of contributing factors to one’s wellness and share resources and tools to assist in one’s efforts of attaining and maintaining optimal wellness.
 

2. Your Partners for Success - NYESS Regional Employment Liaisons

• Chris Coyle, Regional Employment Liaison, NYESS - OMH

• Jennifer Semonite, Regional Employment Liaison, NYESS - OMH

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Presenters will provide an introduction about their role and the level of support that ACT Teams can expect from them, in regard to the ACT initiative. Topics of interest include: a breakdown of the individual ACT Teams by NYESS Regional Employment Liaison, contact information, training opportunities, and ongoing support and technical assistance available.
 

3. Cultivate Our Workforce: Provide Input for Recruitment & Retainment Strategies for ACT Teams​

• Sam Fletcher, Ph.D., MSW, Director of Workforce Development, New York State Office of Mental Health

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This session will be facilitated by the Director of Workforce Development unit in the OMH Office of Planning. This unit is charged with addressing the public mental health workforce crisis. This crisis is well-documented and complex with multiple causes that call for a multitude of creative solutions. The first part of the session will focus on current workforce initiatives, including the creation of a paraprofessional credential, a registered apprenticeship program, paid community college internships, free trainings for public mental health staff, wellness toolkits, and programs targeting the unique challenges of rural communities. The last part of the session will be interactive with participants. The facilitator will solicit feedback on the initiatives and listen to other suggestions to ensure the interventions match the needs of the ACT teams.