St. Vincent Healthcare Foundation

Lockwood Integrated School-Based Health Center

This project will strengthen Lockwood School’s progressive discipline and restorative practices while also strengthening the local continuum of health and behavioral health care available to students, their families, and the Lockwood community. The project will implement an integrated school-based health clinic at Lockwood Schools; the clinic will be staffed with health professionals from St. Vincent Healthcare and with behavioral health specialists employed by or interning at Lockwood Schools. Services will include screening for behavioral health concerns among primary care patients, providing brief treatment or referral for longer-term care, and aligning behavioral health care with the multi-tiered levels of support for students at Lockwood Schools. Grant funds will be used to provide key staff to the clinic, to include behavioral health specialists and nurse coordinators, and to help project leaders and partners (St. Vincent Healthcare, Lockwood Schools, and Walla Walla University-Billings) refine the clinic implementation plan and train Lockwood Schools staff in how to integrate the clinic’s services into their regular school day operations. The project’s overall goal is to improve the academic outcomes for all students at Lockwood Schools.

Grant Amount

$72,250

Term

24 month

2019

St. Vincent Healthcare Foundation

Look Closer: Addressing Perinatal Behavioral Health in Eastern Montana

This project will help St. Vincent Healthcare increase access to mental health and substance use disorder care for pregnant women in Eastern Montana. The project will do this by developing an integrated prenatal care program and expanding it to four additional OB sites affiliated with St. Vincent Healthcare and Riverstone Health Center. Grant funds will primarily be used for hiring a prenatal services liaison who will provide coordination to women in all participating sites. Partners include Rimrock Treatment Center and associated prenatal care providers in Eastern Montana (Billings OB/GYN Associates, St. Vincent’s West Grand Family Medicine, St. Vincent Maternal Fetal Medicine, St. Vincent’s Midwifery and Women’s Health, and RiverStone Health). The project’s overall goals are to increase the rates of women who receive prenatal care and substance use disorder screening, intervention, and treatment, and to reduce the rate of infants who are substance-exposed before birth.

Grant Amount

$150,000

Term

24 month

2019

St. Vincent Healthcare Foundation

Comprehensive Prenatal Care with Integrated Substance Abuse Treatment for American Indian Women

This planning grant resulted in a collaboration between the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and Saint Vincent Healthcare to establish a collaborative program to provide and coordinate care for pregnant women with substance use disorders. This tribally-led pilot program worked to increase early entry into prenatal care by refining a trusted model of care for prenatal care and integrate supportive services and substance abuse treatment. This work will continue with support from a new MHCF implementation grant.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2015

St. Vincent Healthcare Foundation

Integrated Prenatal Care Model for Native American Women: Reducing Substance Abuse during Pregnancy

This grant will provide case management and program coordination for pregnant Native American women struggling with addiction by developing a program that creates supportive, integrated access to perinatal care and addiction treatment. The program will support sobriety and provide evidence-based treatment during pregnancy to decrease the occurrence of neonatal abstinence syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome, as well as to support a path to long-term recovery. The care coordinator position will be a part of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Health Department. Key partners include the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Board of Health, Indian Health Service, and Rimrock Foundation. Expected outcomes include improved access to prenatal care and substance abuse services for pregnant Native women on and off the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, decreased substance abuse in pregnant women, and a reduction in negative birth outcomes and medical costs associated with drug use during pregnancy.

Grant Amount

$150,000

Term

24 month

2016

St. Vincent Healthcare Foundation

Building out the Continuum of Care for Integrated Behavioral Health

St. Vincent’s integrated behavioral health services into nine primary care clinics and created a virtual connection between these clinics and specialty behavioral health. With the virtual health technology infrastructure in place, warm hand-offs to virtual visits with behavioral health specialty providers are happening at each site. St. Vincent also began using SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment) for primary care patients in all its sites, which is a significant accomplishment. This project is sustainable through billing and reimbursement. St. Vincent will continue working with national payers to explore how it can extend its integrated behavioral health infrastructure to support access to behavioral health services in rural eastern Montana communities.

Grant Amount

$150,000

Term

24 month

2017

Teton County Health Department

Addressing Substance Use Disorders in Teton County through Community Partnerships

The goal of this project was to support the Teton County Community Alliance for Resiliency and Educational Support (C.A.R.E.S.) in developing an evidence-based planning process to address substance use and mental health issues in Teton County. The Alliance hired a coordinator; convened 24 partners from a variety of sectors, including public health, health care, law enforcement, education, mental health, faith, and social services; and merged with the existing Local Mental Health Advisory Council. The Alliance used the Strategic Prevention Framework developed by SAMHSA as its guide, and key members attended a four-day training on how to implement the framework. The Alliance published the Teton County C.A.R.E.S. Strategic Plan for Behavior Health Priorities in Teton County, which included data and statistics about substance use that were used to select appropriate interventions and activities and establish metrics to evaluate those interventions. Teton County C.A.R.E.S. collaborated with Choteau, Dutton-Brady, and Power school administrators to secure funding for the Paxis Institute to provide behavioral health training to school administrators, teachers, and staff. It also helped the Teton County EMS director secure funding for two EMTs to attend a Mental Health First Aid Train the Trainer five-day workshop.

Grant Amount

$25,244

Term

12 month

2018

The City of Missoula, Office of Housing and Community Development

Missoula FUSE Supportive Housing

The Missoula Supportive Housing Collaborative will implement a three-phase approach to providing housing, care coordination, and wrap around support for 53 people who are homeless and require frequent, high-cost medical services. This project will implement a 3-phase approach:  By August 2020, phase 1 will house people in housing sites scattered throughout Missoula and provide mobile services; by November 2020, phase 2 will house additional people in a cluster of housing units served by both on-site and mobile services; and by May 2022, the project will house 30-40 additional people in a newly-constructed supportive housing facility that incorporates a medical clinic with a wide array of medical, behavioral health, and supportive services. Grant funding will be used to pilot a service delivery model in the first two phases of the project which will help identify both the ideal configuration of services and innovative billing models that will integrate Medicaid and ensure the success and sustainability of the project. Partners include St. Patrick Hospital, Partnership Health Center, Open Aid Alliance, and the Poverello Center. Through strong partnerships and innovation, Missoula aims to end chronic homeless and ensure better individual and community outcomes for people who are high utilizers of shelter systems, hospitals, and the criminal justice system.

Grant Amount

$150,000

Term

24 month

2019

The Montana Racial Equity Project

The Allostatic Load Project

This project will research, identify, and connect black, brown, and indigenous people of color to the critical health resources they need to heal from the effects of acute and chronic racism. Along with identifying resources for individuals seeking care across the state, the project will develop a curriculum to train mental and physical health practitioners in multicultural assessment and treatment of black, brown, and indigenous people of color. The project will convene meetings and focus groups with key partners and potential practitioners. These meetings will be provided to stakeholders who will not only offer services at low-to-no cost for referred clients but also assist with the development of a training plan based on their existing knowledge and needs to treat minority patients adequately. Grant funds will be used for travel costs associated with this project, and part of the salary for a part-time employee to conduct the research and develop a training curriculum. The project’s overall goal is to serve the needs of people of color in Montana better and reduce the rates of prevalent racial health disparities in Montana.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2019

Townsend Health Systems

Enhancing Rural Health Through the Expansion of Integrated Behavioral Health Services

This expansion grant supported a sustainable integrated behavioral health model at Broadwater Health Center (BHC) in Townsend. BHC redesigned their existing behavioral health services by educating their providers, systematizing their screening for depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders, developing new workflows and care pathways, and engaging the school and community in their efforts. Through this project, BHC is now successfully generating a net income and has developed a clinically appropriate and financially viable model.

Grant Amount

$75,000

2017

Two Eagle River School

Two Eagle River School Wellness Project

Two Eagle River School partnered with Freedom Lodge and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe (CSKT) Tribal Health Department to bring a licensed mental health counselor into the school to provide behavioral health services to the students. Two Eagle River School is a tribal alternative middle and high school serving 110 students on the Flathead Reservation. After multiple suicides in the community over the year before the grant, the school identified an immediate need to address the mental health and historical trauma needs of the students. The project helped equip students and staff with tools and knowledge to address trauma. They are now providing prevention services and CSKT has applied for a grant to support the behavioral health position within the school for the next five years.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2018

United Way of Yellowstone County

Billings Homelessness Planning

The Billings Continuum of Care will join theHousing is Health Care Initiative cohort and develop a collaborative plan to reduce homelessness in Yellowstone County.The cohort is using a FUSE (frequent user system engagement) framework toidentifyindividuals who are homeless and have complex medical needsand to provide permanent supportive housingby aligninghousing, healthcare, and social service resources.The Billings Continuum of Care Coalitionhas createda solid foundation of collaboration and infrastructurein their community.This project will leverage their successand develop a shared plan to address homelessness in a focused way. Funding will be used for consultation and guidance from the Corporation forSupportive Housing. Partnersinclude SaintVincent Healthcare, Riverstone Health, theHuman Resource Development Council, Montana Rescue Mission, the City of Billings, and Yellowstone County.

Grant Amount

$58,898

Term

12 month

2019

United Way of Yellowstone County

Collaborating to End Homelessness and Addiction in Yellowstone County

United Way of Yellowstone County brought together two groups working on related challenges in Billings—the Billings Substance Abuse Connect coalition and the Billings Continuum of Care—to develop a working partnership through which to pool resources, share data, and make significant progress in reducing substance abuse and homelessness. As part of the project, each coalition completed a needs and resource assessment, a joint strategic plan, a governance structure, and they built a shared data platform to guide and track their activities. As a result of this collaborative work, United Way received over $1 million from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, $200,000 in County Matching Grant funds, and $70,000 in local donations. The coalitions are using these grants to establish diversion and treatment services, like a community crisis line, a mobile crisis response team, and training for law enforcement and first responders in de-escalation strategies. An innovation spotlight summary of the project can be found here.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2018

United Way of Yellowstone County

Billings Permanent Supportive Housing Implementation

United Way of Yellowstone County will build on their previous Housing is Health Care initiative planning grant to develop permanent supportive housing units for people in Billings who are homeless and have complex medical and behavioral health conditions. A strong partnership among local health, housing, and city/county agencies was built through the MHCF planning grant. The project will create a coordinated system for service delivery and financing and a process for identifying, connecting with, and serving the people in Yellowstone County who have the highest medical need and are experiencing homelessness. This grant will support the creation of systems for service delivery and data matching using the Corporation for Supportive Housing's frequent user system engagement (FUSE) model. Funding will be used for project coordination, technical assistance from the Corporation for Supportive Housing, and developing data systems to track progress and allow for shared data and outcome measures across partner agencies.

Grant Amount

$98,400

Term

24 month

2021

University of Montana

Improving Access, Training, and Recruitment for American Indian Healthcare

The University of Montana will work to improve care for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in Montana by increasing cultural awareness among medical students and improving access to care for specific medical services. Medical residents and health professions students at the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana and the University of Montana will learn cultural humility through the development of a didactic curriculum for both learners and practicing professionals, as well as an immersion clinical experience at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Tribal Health. The clinical experience will enhance cultural training and allow active recruitment of residents and students to work in AI/AN health care upon graduation. This project will also development models for new services to be provided by resident and faculty physicians at CSKT Tribal Health, beginning with maternal and obstetrical care. New services will help to address current barriers to care experienced by Tribal Health recipients. Grant funds will help develop curricula, provide resources for the creation of new models of care, and improve and expand the clinical training opportunities in AI/AN settings. This will help meet the overall goal of improving care for one of Montana’s largest underserved populations.

Grant Amount

$97,359

Term

24 month

2019

University of Montana

Montana Interprofessional Student Hotspotting

This project will pilot a cross-disciplinary student hotspotting program to work with Partnership Health Center’s Complex Care program. Student hotspotting, an initiative of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, is a team-based, patient-centered approach to serving patients with complex medical and social needs. Led by University of Montana College of Health Professionals and Biomedical Sciences (CHPBS) faculty, the program will create student teams that provide home-based non-clinical interventions to high-utilizing patients in Partnership Health Center’s Complex Care program. Funding will be used for the operational, administrative, and training costs to develop and implement the training program at the University of Montana. Partners include the Montana Geriatric Education Center, Partnership Health Center, the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers and University of Utah Interprofessional Education and Student Hotspotting, who will provide training and technical support for the program. The project’s goal is to improve patient quality of life, integrate medical, behavioral, and social care, and increase utilization of primary care services through home-based, non-clinical interventions that address the social determinants of health.

Grant Amount

$95,967

Term

24 month

2019

University of Montana - Curry Health Center

Enhancing Behavioral Health Integration in the Curry Health Center at the University of Montana

This project’s goal was to strengthen the Curry Health Center’s level of behavioral health integration between their medical and counseling clinics. The health center succeeded in implementing a process change that promotes more consistent usage of depression screenings and coordinated follow-up care. The health center now exceeds national averages for college health centers for the care of depression with respect to use of the PHQ-9 depression screening at initial and follow up visits. In the fall of 2018, the health center will implement an integrated team including a primary care provider, a behavioral health clinician, health coach, and a university psychology student. This pilot was an innovative way to maximize existing resources at the university and support further integration of services. Technical assistance was provided by the National Council for Behavioral Health.

Grant Amount

$30,000

Term

12 month

2017

University of Montana - Department of Psychology

Effective Integrated Behavioral Health Partnerships for Rural Montana: A Collaborative Training Proposal

This project established the Rural Integrated Behavioral Health (RIBH) Program – a pilot training curriculum to train and certify integrated behavioral health providers across the state. A collaborative venture of the University of Montana’s Department of Psychology, School of Social Work, Montana Office of Rural Health and Area Health Education Center, and the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, the RIBH program developed two integrated behavioral health curriculum and has standing classes at the University of Montana. RIBH also developed a website, online modules, and began to explore an developing an integrated behavioral health certificate to be offered through the University of Montana. Additionally, RIBH is actively pursuing a licensed mental health center to endorsement to further expand and solidify sustainability of integrated behavioral health offerings.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

24 month

2015

University of Montana - Department of Psychology

Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Workforce Development

Through this grant, the University of Montana Department of Psychology, with Partnership Health Center (PHC) of Missoula and the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, developed a field placement experience for behavioral health graduate students to address critical workforce development needs in Montana. The project provides a structured, “hands-on” training experience for students interested in learning how to provide integrated behavioral health services, while simultaneously addressing key health needs (including managing chronic pain and promoting health behavior change) in PHC’s underserved and “at risk” patient population. The project built on a prior MHCF grant to the University to develop an integrated behavioral health curriculum.

Grant Amount

$44,821

Term

24 month

2016

University of Montana - Department of Psychology

Workforce Development Initiative

This project will plan for and implement an Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) Workforce Development Initiative at the University of Montana. This initiative will recruit students, expand IBH training opportunities, place students in rural integrated care programs, and provide appropriate supervision. Grant funding will be used to hire an assistant psychology professor to direct the initiative. This project will build on prior MHCF grants to the University which helped develop IBH training and certification curriculum for psychology, social work, and counseling students. The project has strong partners from other university departments, as well as the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, Curry Health Center, Missoula Urban Indian Health Center, and CSKT Tribal Health.

Grant Amount

$141,104

Term

24 month

2017

University of Montana - ORSP

Assessing Access to Asthma Education Services

For this project, the Pharmacist Managed Asthma Clinics Program at the University of Montana-Skaggs School of Pharmacy assessed current access to asthma self-management education and determined the feasibility of multi-disciplinary, pharmacist-led managed asthma care in Montana’s American Indian communities. Survey and focus group results found that there is indeed a need for asthma self-management education in American Indian communities and health care professionals in Rocky Boy and Missoula Urban Indian Health Center expressed interest in becoming certified asthma educators. A toolkit for health care professionals was successfully developed providing statistics, educator benefits, patient and practitioner resources, and guidance for billing insurance.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2016

University of Montana Foundation

Capacity Building for the University of Montana Public Health Training Institute

The University of Montana (UM) will develop a Public Health Training Institute within the School of Public and Community Health Sciences. Training opportunities will be developed to build the capacity of public health practitioners and the broader health care system. Through a partnership with the Public Health Workforce Development Group, made up of members of the non-profit public health entities and the state health department, nine training topics have been identified as areas of need to build the capacity of Montana’s public health workforce. Through this project, the needs of the broader health care system, including primary care, behavioral health, and tribal and urban Indian health centers, will be identified and five additional trainings will be developed to meet those needs. Trainings will be delivered online for free or, for sustainability purposes, for a nominal fee. Grant funds will be used to cover the cost of program staff to carry out the data gathering and analysis, for consultation with subject matter experts as the training modules are developed, and to cover the costs of travel for meetings and marketing. Through this project, UM will strengthen the partnerships it has developed with the state health department, the non-profit public health entities, and local health departments. New partnerships will be developed with the boarder health care field, including the Montana Hospital Association and Montana Primary Care Association. The project’s goal is to build the capacity of the public health and broader health workforce while simultaneously building the capacity of the School of Public and Community Health Sciences to establish a Public Health Training Institute that will serve as a state-wide resource for health training.

Grant Amount

$96,683

Term

24 month

2019

University of Montana Foundation

American Indian Governance and Policy Institute

The University of Montana’s American Indian Governance and Policy Institute (AIGPI) will develop a comprehensive tribal public policy needs assessment. The assessment will inform AIGPI’s tribal policy research and analysis agenda for the next ten years. AIGPI’s mission is to coalesce the research and service resources available within the Montana University System and work with tribes to address core causes of poor socioeconomic conditions and health on Montana reservations. This work will be achieved by enhancing tribal governing structures through tribal-level policy changes to improve government function, strengthening regulatory authority, and supporting self-governance. AIGPI will provide tribal policymakers with a critical service consisting of credible, in-depth research and analysis to further tribal leader’s efforts to strengthen reservation economies and build community and individual health and prosperity. Partners will include Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council and representatives from each Montana Tribe. Grant funds will be used to support the time, effort, travel, and meeting costs for AIGPI’s director to conduct outreach, data collection, data analysis, and convening an advisory committee.

Grant Amount

$99,956

Term

24 month

2020

University of Montana Foundation

Development and Implementation of the Montana Prevention Certification Board

The Montana Public Health Training Center (MPHTC) is housed in the School of Public Health and Community Health Sciences at the University of Montana. MPHTC provides training and professional development to public health professionals and health care providers throughout Montana. This grant will help establish a Montana Prevention Certification Board (MPCB) through MPHTC, whose purpose is to set and maintain professional certification standards for prevention specialists. MPCB will be a member of the International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium, a national body whose function is to grant reciprocity from state to state, set appropriate standards for credentials, and administer a national prevention specialist examination. MPCB will build capacity to supply a well-trained substance abuse prevention workforce by increasing retention, strengthening the knowledge and skills base, creating a supportive network, establishing career paths, and expanding the bench-strength of the prevention workforce through active recruitment and cross-training. Official certification ensures public safety and oversight of the profession, requires professionals to demonstrate competency through experience, education, supervision, and passing of a rigorous examination, promotes knowledge and skills to provide evidence-based practices, and keeps updated on the science of prevention. Grant funds will be used to support the program manager, hire contracted trainers for training, and support the development of the MPCB.

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

24 month

2021

University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research

Affordable Housing Study

The University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), in partnership with the Helena Housing Authority, Homeword, NeighborWorks Montana, the Montana Housing Coalition, and others, completed a policy analysis to identify potential solutions to Montana’s affordable housing shortage. The goal was to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts of the affordable housing shortage and create a repository of actionable information for how to approach the issue. The project achieved three outcomes: (1) conducting a survey and cataloging federal and state public finance programs for housing affordability in Montana and comparable states, (2) creating a detailed database of affordable housing units in the state, with information such as type of property, unit attributes, targeted population, geolocation, programs utilized, and age and condition of the structure, and (3) developing an analysis of the demand for and impact of low-income housing in the primary population centers of Helena, Great Falls, Kalispell/Flathead County, Missoula, Billings, Bozeman, and Butte. This analysis supports the Montana Healthcare Foundation’s Housing is Health Care initiative by helping organizations working to create permanent supportive housing in Montana track and identify available housing units.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2020

Watson Children's Shelter

Healthy Foundations – Access to Primary Care and Mental Health Assessment and Treatment

The Watson Children’s Shelter implemented the Healthy Foundations program, a new home visiting program that targets at-risk pregnant women and women who have recently given birth with the goal of preventing child abuse and neglect. Through a newly strengthened relationship with Saint Patrick’s Hospital, Watson Children’s Center was able to expedite appointments for parents participating in the program who displayed emergent behavioral health needs such as anxiety and postpartum depression and even acute mental health crisis. While several options for revenue generation were explored throughout the course of this project, ultimately the Watson Children’s Shelter opted to maintain fidelity to the Health Foundations program model which restricted their ability to implement changes that could potentially lead to new sources of revenue. However, the children and families served through the Healthy Foundations project gained expedited access to needed mental health outpatient services. The program achieved its goal of increasing access to needed mental health outpatient services to children and families, and while establishing a new source of revenue was not achieved, Watson Children’s Center believes the information gained through this project was valuable and may lead to organizational changes in future.

Grant Amount

$15,000

Term

12 month

2018

Western Montana Mental Health - Gallatin Mental Health Center

Integrated Behavioral Health for Western and South Central Montana

With this grant, the Western Montana Mental Health Center (WMMHC) consulted with the National Council for Behavioral Health to provide training on integrated behavioral health (IBH) to 11 health center directors, and to incorporate IBH into WMMHC’s mission and vision. In addition to IBH strategic planning, WMMHC led an effort to review the integration of behavioral health services in the community of Livingston by bringing together health leaders and stakeholders. After the initial meeting of stakeholders, task forces were created to focus on developing a community care pathway for youth, increasing utilization of volunteers, improving management of individuals in crisis, and strengthening partnerships among organizations. The task forces met individually and collectively on multiple occasions throughout the course of the grant. The crisis management team reviewed data on how many people have been to the emergency department during a mental health crisis. Challenges that they identified included transportation, response time by the crisis response team, lack of prompt access to care, and the need to divert people from the emergency department to more appropriate levels of care. The crisis management team will continue to meet monthly to improve admissions from the Livingston emergency department to WMMHC’s crisis facilities.

Grant Amount

$22,400

Term

12 month

2015

Western Montana Mental Health Center

Ravalli County Strategic Alliance for Improved Mental Health and Well-Being

Ravalli County will develop a plan for redesigning the behavioral health crisis system to reduce emergency department admission and criminal justice encounters and recidivism. The Western Montana Mental Health Center (WMMHC) will serve as the lead organization, with partners including Sapphire Health, Marcus Daly Hospital, and the Ravalli County Sheriff. The partners have agreed to a formal charter that establishes project goals and each partner’s commitments. The project will begin with an analysis of the existing crisis system and how behavioral health, emergency department, and corrections resources are currently used to respond to people in crisis. Based on this analysis, the grantee will develop a plan for crisis diversion that aims to de-escalate crises and thereby reduce reliance on high-cost emergency care and corrections system resources. MHCF funding will be used to hire a project coordinator to oversee the project.

Grant Amount

$35,000

Term

12 month

2019

Western Montana Mental Health Center - Recovery Center Missoula

Recovery Center Missoula Pregnant and Parenting Women

The Western Montana Mental Health Center expanded its treatment services to pregnant and parenting women in Missoula and Lake Counties. The treatment center opened two new residential treatment step-down facilities and treated 33 women during the project. Unfortunately, one of their service centers in St. Ignatius (The Nest) faced significant challenges and shut down in the fall of 2019. Aspen Home in Missoula made substantial improvements in staffing, adding peer support services, updating its policies and procedures, and increasing staff training on therapeutic practices and the use of treatment concepts in direct care. Aspen Home continues to provide services to women in both Lake County and Missoula.

Grant Amount

$150,000

Term

24 month

2017

Western Native Voice

HELP Act Outreach and Assistance in Native American Communities

Western Native Voice will engage in outreach and coordination activities to support enrollment of Native American people across Montana in Medicaid or other insurance. The project seeks to identify people (primarily Native Americans living on remote reservations or in urban areas) who may be eligible for coverage, and regional resources available to assist with enrollment, and connect them.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2016

Women in Action, Inc.

Identifying and Addressing Gaps in Big Sky’s Mental Health Services

This grant will support initial steps to strengthen behavioral health and address gaps in Big Sky’s behavioral health resources. Women in Action will work with the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation to bring together stakeholders including Big Sky Medical Center, mental health and substance use providers, the Help Center, the Big Sky school district, and Haven, to catalog existing resources and create innovative solutions to Big Sky’s unique behavioral health demands. Funds will be used to support a partial FTE to help initiate the planning, coalition building, and develop a strategic plan for the community.

Grant Amount

$14,760

Term

24 month

2018

Women's Resource/Community Support Center

Sustainability Through Billing for Mental Health Services in Southwest Montana

The Community Support Center (CSC) provides behavioral health services to women and children who have experienced violence and trauma in Madison and Beaverhead counties. Through this project, CSC plans to begin billing for these services and creating partnerships with other health providers in order to maintain timely behavioral health service provision and generate revenue. Funding will support staff time to carry out the necessary job duties of this project and for contracting with the technical assistance provider, Aune Associates. CSC also plans to contact with an experienced medical biller in order to begin billing as soon as possible. CSC has developed relationships with other social service providers in the area, including Youth Challenge; through these relationships, CSC is already offering behavioral health services which are also likely billable. CSC will also explore building new partnerships with other service providers operating in Dillon, MT. The overarching goal of this project is to reduce CSC's dependence on grant funding and donations by creating a sustainable revenue stream through billing for services that are already being provided.

Grant Amount

$15,000

Term

12 month

2019

Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch

Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program

The Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch expanded their substance use programming – including prevention and treatment – for young people in Yellowstone County. While they tried to expand services into counties outside of Yellowstone, their efforts were not successful. They did, however, complete the state certification process to provide substance use disorder services, secured contracts with three high schools and six middle schools, and engaged multiple counties outside of Yellowstone. They also integrated substance use treatment into residential and community-based treatment and implemented substance use prevention programming.

Grant Amount

$75,000

Term

24 month

2017

Youth Dynamics

Becoming an ARC-Informed Agency

As one of Montana's largest children's mental and behavioral health agencies, Youth Dynamics provides family-focused behavioral health treatment in 30 locations throughout the state. Nearly 90% of the youth it works with have experienced severe trauma and have problematic behaviors associated with that trauma. This project will help Youth Dynamics become an Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Informed Agency to provide more effective interventions for youth that have been traumatized and reduce the number of young people sent to out-of-state facilities. Becoming a trauma-informed agency requires three years of staff training in the ARC model. In addition to helping staff understand how to treat youth experiencing trauma, the ARC model will also help parents and direct-care staff understand and learn interventions for treating secondary trauma. As part of this project, Youth Dynamics will explore partnerships with other organizations going through the ARC training process to collaborate on training and strengthen referral relationships. Grant funding will hire an ARC consultant who will provide assessments, conduct training, and offer team consultations.

Grant Amount

$34,050

Term

24 month

2021

Youth Dynamics

Substance Abuse Treatment Program Expansion Pilot Program

Youth Dynamics worked to expand its Billings-based program for treating co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders to Cascade and Missoula counties. Ultimately, it was not able to expand its services to these communities because of leadership and staff turnover. However, through the process, Youth Dynamics reassessed its continuum of care, the communities it currently serves, and its partners. They also successfully advanced a telehealth platform to connect addiction counselors to communities in need of services and implemented an in-house curriculum and pathway to get their license for addiction counseling.

Grant Amount

$136,146

Term

24 month

2016

Youth Homes

Enhancing Wilderness Therapy through Aftercare and Parent Programming

This project’s goal was to enhance the wilderness youth therapy program’s services by adding case management and expanding programming for caregivers. The wilderness youth therapy program offered a 45-day wilderness trip for youth ages 13-17 with co-occurring behavioral issues and a simultaneous program for parents and family members. The program sought to reduce criminal justice involvement and placement with child and family services, as well as to increase family placement and academic achievement. As a result of this project, 88 percent of the youth who participated were placed with their families and 94 percent continued to earn high school credits following the program (prior to participation, 82 percent of youth demonstrated academic failure). In addition, the percentage of youth employed in their communities increased from 6 to 24 percent within two months of program completion. Unfortunately, Youth Homes’ wilderness youth therapy program was closed due to state budget cuts and the long-term impacts on child welfare, criminal justice, family engagement, and academic performance of the youth who participated in the program could not be evaluated.

Grant Amount

$26,088

Term

12 month

2017

YWCA Great Falls

Great Falls Healthy Housing Project

The YWCA Great Falls will complete a plan and develop permanent supportive housing in Great Falls. The YWCA Great Falls’ prior FUSE planning grant identified eight individuals who are homeless and frequently using high cost emergency, hospital, and other services. This project will prioritize housing vouchers and provide supportive services in scattered housing sites by piloting a system that coordinates supportive services and case management for the target population, with the goal of serving at least 10 people over the next five years. Grant funds will be used to support project coordination, piloting supportive services, and technical assistance from the Corporation for Supportive Housing. The previous MHCF planning grant allowed the grantee to establish partnerships among 20 organizations including government agencies, law enforcement, health, and a range of service providers.

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

24 month

2019

YWCA of Helena

WINGS Reentry Transitional Housing Program

This project’s goal was to integrate a behavioral health clinician into the YWCA’s transitional women’s housing program and secure state approval for a level three sober living home for women and children, which would allow for a range of reimbursable services for behavioral health. Through this project, the YWCA successfully completed a building inspection, developed the policies and procedures, and planned for the programming that will be implemented once state approval is obtained. In the course of the project, the YWCA experienced a leadership turnover which created challenges in applying for state approval and this objective was ultimately not achieved. However, the YWCA did hire a behavioral health clinician, which was a major achievement in advancing programming and strategies and positions the organization to successfully obtain state approval in the future.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2017

YWCA of Helena

Implementing Behavioral Health Services

Through this grant, YWCA Helena submitted their application to become a state-endorsed Substance Use Disorder Facility that provides intensive outpatient therapy. YWCA also established a new relationship with Intermountain who will be assisting with billing. YWCA experienced turn over during this project but was able to maintain momentum through their work with the consultant for this project, Dan Aune. The need for updated technology was identified to aid in billing for services. YWCA is exploring ways to obtain funding to purchase the software needed. Through this grant project, YWCA developed a new working relationship and established the capacity to begin providing a new behavioral health service, through their substance use disorder endorsement; this will result in a new service being provided to the YWCA’s clients and new, sustainable revenue for the organization.

Grant Amount

$15,000

Term

12 month

2018