Like the rest of our behavioral health partners, we are very busy trying to understand all of the changes being thrust upon us. These include the new Department of Labor overtime rules, Ohio Medicaid Behavioral Health Redesign, National Correct Coding Initiative and Medicaid managed care. All very interesting stuff (wink!). In the meantime, we've had a busy couple of months since our last newsletter and we'd like to share some of our most recent news.

Mahoning County Juvenile Court's Early Warning System

Mahoning County Juvenile Court, through a grant from the Department of Justice, has partnered with the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board and Alta Behavioral Healthcare to help young people who are struggling behaviorally and academically. The Early Warning System [EWS] program is designed to look at factors such as grades, classroom behaviors, and absenteeism to determine if students are at risk for failure, dropping out or are likely to become involved with the Juvenile Justice System. In addition, any student who is struggling with a life event such as trauma, loss of a loved one or illness can be refereed to the EWS team for a screening. Youth receive a free behavioral health screening looking at a variety of factors including any trauma or substance abuse. The team consisting of professionals from juvenile court, local schools and Alta then make recommendations to the parents or guardians which may include but are not limited to tutoring, positive social recreational outlets, mentoring, behavioral health services or substance abuse services.

William Swanston Charitable Fund Grant

Alta Behavioral Healthcare received a grant from the William Swanston Charitable Fund to assist Head Start Children and their families to identify and establish positive nutritional alternatives and to incorporate them into their lives. Lori Stellmar, Head Start nutritionist, has been working with Santisi's Wholesale Foods to expose children to a variety of fruits and vegetables that they may not be familiar with, or may see in a different state than they are used to such as carrots with their stems intact. The children are served fresh fruits and vegetables in various ways to enhance their appeal such as dipping them in humus. Information is sent home to parents and guardians on how to prepare various produce and how to incorporate them into their diets.

Alta Becomes Trauma Informed

Meg Harris, Alta Trauma Supervisor, has been training the entire staff on becoming more informed about those who have experienced trauma. This includes awareness of how a person who has experienced trauma may react to sounds, smells and conversations. By making our staff aware of some common triggers it can help to make us more emphatic and sensitive to children and families and make their visit and treatment at Alta a more pleasant and safe experience.

Head Start Expansion

Alta Head Start continues to expand and refine its preschool program in Mahoning County. There are 38 classrooms throughout the county servicing 845 children. Included are eight classrooms in Youngstown City Schools staffed by teachers from both Youngstown City and Alta Head Start. A new site at YSU will open this month and allow students from several departments to gain experience with the children on the university campus. A new classroom at Lockwood Boulevard is jointly run with the Mahoning County Educational Service Center. Alta has opened a new specialized classroom at our Camp Challenge site to work with children who present significant behavioral challenges in the classroom. The goal is to help mediate the difficulties so that children may return to their home classroom to continue their preschool experience. All Alta Head Start operated sites have achieved the 5-star step up to Quality rating or are in the process of working towards that status.

Circle of Friends Foundation

The First Annual World Series of Wine sponsored by the Donald P. Pipino Family, was held at the Lake Club in Poland on October 20th. Two Hundred and fifty guests in attendance were treated to a wine competition by area homemade wine makers. There were a total of twenty-four competitors and guests voted on their favorites. The favorites were advanced to a final round with a panel of judges who then selected the top three. The three winners were Rocky Mitolo who took the gold medal, Cloyd Abruzzo who won the silver medal, and the team of Phil Battafarano and Brian Laraway won the bronze medal. The event was enjoyed by all and was a successful addition to the Circle of Friends fundraising events.

From left: Joe Sylvester, Ed Skrobut, Frank Conti, Dr. Jerry Ralph, Rocky Mitolo, Tom Gisewhite, Cloyd Abruzzo, Dave Franken, Tony Perrone