Archive: Around Town

The Tompkins County Mental Health Department has been awarded a three-year grant by the New York State Department of Health and Office of Mental Health to support the department's Open Access Program, begun on a pilot basis in 2014.

The nearly $700,000 grant, awarded under the State's Vital Access Provider (VAP) program, will fully fund three new positions at the Mental Health Department—a Psychiatric Social Worker, Community Mental Health Nurse, and Casework Assistant, including related expenses—to provide coordination, support, and management of the open access/intake process, with the new staff working together as a monitoring and tracking team for the program, and the professional staff also providing direct service.

Acceptance of the grant, creation of the three new grant-funded positions, and allocation of first-year funding of more than $300,000 was recommended by the County Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee January 7.

The Open Access initiative was initiated on a pilot basis in 2014 to address long waiting periods for new Mental Health clients to participate in intake and assessment for ongoing services, enabling them to walk in during scheduled open hours during the week and receive intake for services when they needed them most.  The State's VAP program assists healthcare entities within the state improve facility financial viability, meet community service needs, improve quality of care, increase health equity for populations at risk, and provide operating assistance for redesign of organizations' healthcare delivery systems to assist in financial stability.

Director of Public Health Frank Kruppa told the committee that the new staff team will be responsible for ongoing planning and development of an enhanced client engagement process and managing the Open Access/Intake process, including centralized staffing and scheduling.  Existing staff who have been involved in the Open Access pilot program will be freed up to work with other clients.  Over the course of the grant period, he said, the program will be monitored against established performance standards, with the intent that it will be self-sustaining by the time the grant ends as of the first quarter of 2018.

"The VAP grant provides the Mental Health Department an opportunity to fine tune our Open Access intake process which will not only provide a better client experience, but allow our providers to more effectively use their time with scheduled clients," Director Kruppa notes.

The committee's recommendation will be considered by the full Legislature January 19.

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