There is no recommendation until community partners support a chosen model and allocate dollars.

Below is from Jon Forte - Riverstone Helath

Mayor Cole, Administrator Kukulski, and Councilmembers - 

I've provided a similar update to our Board of County Commissioners and made you a similar promise, during the last SAC Executive Committee Meeting, that I would give you all an update in February on RiverStone Health's progress with taking over the Crisis Diversion Grant from Zack Terakedis and Substance Abuse Connect. Our Billings Gazette beat me to the punch after reviewing our Board of Health Meeting last month. 

Regarding the latest Gazette article, I believe we all agree the model needs to be changed and that the Substance Abuse Connect (SAC) name should be retired. However, I assure you that no one is folding and giving up the work. Several key members of the coalition will continue our efforts, and addressing the problem of crime and substance use will continue under my watch. I ask for your support!  With this transition, it has always been our plan to focus on building a stronger coalition around this work with new leadership, focus, and accountability by bringing it over to RiverStone Health, your city-county health department. Our primary goal with this transition will be to develop a core set of key performance metrics and deliverables which will direct our work and help you, the City Council, and our constituents hold us accountable for results. 

In January, RiverStone Health met with Zack Terakedis, prior SAC Coalition director, and agreed to take over the coordination of the activities that fell under the SAC umbrella as well as oversee the DPHHS Crisis Diversion Grant in partnership with Yellowstone County. We are in the process of developing a plan to move forward with an improved coalition and bring these efforts together in a meaningful way. Melissa Henderson, the Senior Director of Health Promotion, Eric Owen, Chief Operating Officer, and I have all engaged in overseeing this work and we are committed to moving it forward in partnership with a stronger coalition of agencies, as well as City and County Leadership that will be needed to meaningfully address mental health and substance use issues in our community.

Here are a few additional facts on our approach to the Coalition and Crisis Diversion work:

• RiverStone Health will be posting and hiring a coordinator position to ensure we have dedicated staffing capacity to act as a point person and lead the ongoing work of the coalition. We will be using the Collective Impact Model to move this work forward and are committed to transparent, open and continuous communication. We ask everyone for their little patience while we get this position filled and get a full understanding of where we are picking things up from. This position will be Yellowstone County and the City of Billings' Behavioral Health Systems Improvement Coordinator. Once filled, we will be reaching out to organizations/individuals to continue conversations about how to move forward. In the interim, Melissa, Eric, and I will be leading this work. 

• We recognize the need for a functioning mental health Mobile Crisis Response model as a part of a well-rounded mental health care continuum in Billings. As a community, we have learned valuable lessons from our previous experiences that we can consider while progressively moving this work forward. What I've learned over the past several months is that everyone involved lacks a clear understanding on the Crisis Now framework and there has been too much in-fighting amongst city/county agencies and other partners which led to its demise. The pilot program allowed us to learn valuable lessons about strengths and weaknesses across the community. Now, utilizing the resources of Public Health and best practices from across Montana as well as the United States, we will create a more sustainable model which brings partners to the table and has the support of our Department as well as our elected leaders. We are committed to fixing these issues and moving the mobile crisis program forward sustainably. We also know RiverStone Health cannot do this work alone. We will need the support and collaboration of multiple community partners to make it happen. Mobile crisis will take the most time to develop and we will take our time to ensure we get it right. 

• The crisis diversion grant from the state is still funded and being dispersed. At this time, all of the organizations that SAC had coordinated with to get contracts in place for funding have either completed their contracts or are in the process of completing them. It is our plan to ensure we work with DPHHS and Yellowstone County fiscal staff to administer this funding moving forward. We will also continue to engage all of you as we seek a better understanding of mill levy funds from the county and city funds through our 872 Commission, as well as other sources that will continue to be essential to this work. RiverStone Health has always been an incredible fiscal steward for our community, and we would welcome the opportunity to coordinate with you on creating the most efficient way to distribute those funds to create the highest level of impact for our community. 

My ultimate goal in all of this is to ensure that all public funds are utilized sustainably for public benefit with full accountability and transparency. We will continue developing innovative solutions to our greatest behavioral health, substance use, and crime issues facing our City and our County with existing and new partners who may not have had a seat at the table in the past. I appreciate the partnership we've developed throughout my tenure and look forward to continuing our work together on these difficult issues. We must also come together and generate new solutions, resources, and most importantly SUPPORT for our Crisis Stabilization Center. Marcee Neary and her team are doing amazing work for this community, and we must continue to support them during this critical time. Together with our Billings Healthcare Alliance CEOs (RiverStone Health, Billings Clinic, and Intermountain St. Vincent) we are committed to creating a behavioral health system of care for our region that works and generates results as we seek to improve life, health and safety for all who call Billings home. 

If you feel the time is right to provide this update to the City Council and community during a public meeting, please let me know so we can continue to be fully transparent in this process. Thank you. 

Jon

Billings Fire:
At a previous work session, the council was given the best options for Billings to support this opportunity. It was parked, waiting on several factors, such as budget, legislation, and finding a partner to meet the required rules for limited reimbursement. 
In the interim, the budget remains healthy for the one remaining employee. During this downtime, we supported Dr. Sarah Keller's Homeless High Utilizer Study and are now case-managing high-utilizer housed individuals. We are doing this from a staff of one EMT who works with every community member we can find to help these complex patients.
Our vacated position comes from employees who have moved on to a Portland Police Department position. She is active in the academy.

The budget for current spending is attached, and I will not fill the current vacated position until we are absolutely sure of the model for Billings and the surrounding area.



 




 

City Council update only

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