o Establish a U . S . Postal Service “ Mail Room ” where individuals experiencing homelessness can have a mailing address . Lack of a mailing address is a significant barrier faced by homeless individuals when seeking employment or permanent housing .
• Expand youth- and senior-focused services .
o Establish mentoring and access to care programs to provide case workers / mentors for disadvantaged youth ( e . g ., “ JUMP ” programs ,
https :// ojjdp . ojp . gov ; or others ). o
Execute MOUs with Agency Area on Aging , Meals on Wheels , Rehabilitation Hospitals ( and similar outpatient service providers ), local and County public safety and other first responders to manage a database of higher-risk seniors . Expand proactive outreach services using CHWs ) or others ) to engage high-risk seniors who are likely to suffer from social isolation and may lack support or motivation to seek behavioral health and chronic condition care .
o Develop outreach programs to provide companionship and support to senior citizens , such as Project VITAL sponsored by the Alzheimer ’ s Association and Florida ’ s Department of Elder Affairs , which provides tablets to nursing homes and senior care facilities .
2 . Create a Polk County behavioral health coalition ( or assign the oversight to an existing entity ) to coordinate diverse activities designed to address Polk County behavioral health initiatives emerging from this , and similarly focused , projects .
• Create a central entity to guide aggregate efforts noted above . The entity must have the authority to direct participating community partners , collect and publish dashboard items , initiate workplan items , and spearhead core role activities . Additional roles may include the following :
o Advocacy – Educate elected officials with a unified voice about behavioral health and substance misuse . Advocate at the local , state , and federal levels for changes that would allow community partners to share information ; remove restrictive regulations . Remove barriers to collaborative care ( low hanging fruit ).
o Create or adopt one central resource for behavioral health and substance misuse services , and ensure it is kept up to date . FORWARD may be a good option .
o Expand early intervention capabilities through Mental Health First Aid training , Trauma Informed Care Training , etc .
• Streamline and optimize the efficiency of care . i .
ii .
Co-locate counseling services and / or peer support services in hospital emergency departments . Co-locate care coordination services throughout Polk County , either telephonically or in-person .
Develop “ learning collaboratives ” for therapists and providers , or a way to bring private practitioners together for learning , networking , etc . Crescendo Consulting Group ’ s “ Harbor Performance Initiative ” model has successfully engaged inpatient psychiatric hospitals in a highly impactful learning collaborative for nearly ten years . Crescendo has offered to provide the HPI model for use in Polk County .
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