The City of Missoula, Office of Housing and Community Development 2019

Missoula FUSE Supportive Housing

The Missoula Supportive Housing Collaborative used this grant to develop and implement a three-phase approach to provide housing, care coordination, and wrap-around support to people who are homeless and frequently use high-cost medical services. The approach includes housing sites scattered throughout Missoula that provide mobile services, clustered housing units with both onsite and mobile services, and a standalone facility that incorporates a medical clinic with a wide array of medical, behavioral health, and supportive services. Members of the coalition working on this project include St. Patrick Hospital, Partnership Health Center (PHC), Open Aid Alliance (OAA), the Poverello Center, and the Missoula Housing Authority. Cornerstone Apartments, the first physical unit developed for this population, opened last year and houses seven previously homeless people. Trinity Apartments will open in 2023 with 202 units, 30 of which will be permanent supportive housing for this population. The project is still working on the integrated services component, but OAA is currently providing services to Cornerstone residents. PHC has hired a tenancy support specialist and will hire a Native American peer support specialist. The Missoula Coordinated Entry System (MCES) gathers data from a variety of agencies to identify those in need of support. Despite the challenges of having an overwhelming number of eligible clients to house along with a scarcity of housing options, this project serves as a model for other communities throughout Montana.

Grant Amount

$150,000

Term

24 month

2019

The Montana Racial Equity Project 2019

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

United Way of Yellowstone County 2019

Bilings Homelessness Planning

The Billings Continuum of Care (CoC), led by the United Way of Yellowstone County, is a coalition of diverse organizations dedicated to reducing homelessness in Yellowstone County. CoC is developing a collaborative plan to address the homeless crisis using a Frequent User System Engagement (FUSE) framework, which identifies individuals who are homeless and have complex medical needs, and aligns housing, health care, and social service resources to provide permanent supportive housing. This project leverages the CoC’s past success in collaborating with a wide variety of local partners involved in health care, city government, substance abuse, housing, social services, and other areas to develop a shared plan that addresses the problem in a focused way. With the help of a consultant, the project conducted an in-depth assessment of housing needs, resources, and gaps that was used for strategic planning. The project has worked to increase connections with the City Council and County Commissioners, create a formal partnership with the Substance Abuse Connect Coalition, develop data sharing agreements with key partners, and identify opportunities for partners to share resources. The combined coalitions were able to leverage this MHCF grant to secure $1 million from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, $200,000 in County Matching Grant funds, and $70,000 in local donations, which will be used to establish diversion and treatment services such as a community crisis line, a mobile crisis response team, and training for law enforcement and first responders in de-escalation strategies.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

24 month

2019

University of Montana 2019

Improving Access, Training, and Recruitment for American Indian Healthcare

The University of Montana used this grant to improve health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIs/ANs) in Montana by increasing cultural awareness among medical residents and health profession students at the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana and the University of Montana. The project created and piloted resident clinical rotation experiences with Tribal Health of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and now consistently offers them to residents. The rotation includes working with and learning from other health care professionals in areas such as physical therapy, pharmacy, and social work. The project also developed and incorporated a cultural humility curriculum as part of its didactic training for all residents, and it is providing a Community and Culture Retreat each year for all residents, faculty, and staff, incorporating sessions on identity, diversity, values, and cultures of individuals and groups. A REACH (residency equity, anti-racism, and cultural humility) committee consisting of residents, faculty, and representation from Tribal Health was created to develop and refine the cultural humility training and curriculum to encourage interest among residents in working with tribal populations. This grant helped the project secure a Primary Care Training and Enhancement/Rural Training in Primary Care grant of $2.5 million over five years from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Grant Amount

$97,359

Term

24 month

2019

University of Montana 2019

Montana Interprofessional Student Hotspotting

The University of Montana used this grant to collaborate with Partnership Health Center’s Complex Care Program to implement the Montana Interprofessional Student Hotspotting program, a team-based, patient-centered approach to serving patients who have high utilization of health care services in Missoula County. Through home-based, nonclinical interventions that address the social determinants of health, the program seeks to improve patients’ quality of life; integrate medical, behavioral, and social care; increase utilization of primary care services; and decrease emergency department visits and inpatient stays. During its first three years, the program trained 31 students from the university’s health profession programs using online learning modules, twice monthly team trainings, and patient engagement. Students learned about interprofessional collaborative practice and gained an understanding of how to work with patients with complex medical and social needs. The student teams provided seven patients with a combination of in-person and virtual visits, and they regularly attended primary care and physical therapy appointments with patients who previously struggled to attend these office visits. The program achieved positive outcomes during its first three years and secured approximately $10,000 from the Montana Geriatric Education Center to supplement program costs. It also received $11,654 from the University of Montana College of Health and the L.S. Skaggs Institute for Health Innovation to support a fourth year of programming. One of the program’s students created a video about the program, which can be seen here https://vimeo.com/752786523.

Grant Amount

$95,967

Term

24 month

2019

University of Montana Foundation 2019

Capacity Building for the University of Montana Public Health Training Institute

This grant facilitated the successful implementation of the Montana Public Health Training Center (Center). The new Center developed and implemented online training in multiple core public health topics, and also pivoted to create COVID-related training as the pandemic accelerated during the course of the grant. The grantee also leveraged the grant to secure additional funding from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) to develop and implement a Public Health Wellness Program to support public health professionals throughout the state. This multi-faceted program delivers online wellness breaks, personal health coaching, training webinars, and access to wellness resources to support a public health workforce that is worn out from the pandemic. Similarly, the grantee also implemented a workforce program that will assist in filling open public health positions in the state and retain those employees for years to come. The additional funding through DPHHS and the Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center has allowed the grantee to continue to offer training year-round to both public health and health care workforces beyond the term of the grant.

Grant Amount

$96,683

Term

24 month

2019

Western Montana Mental Health Center 2019

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

This project helped the Ravalli County Strategic Alliance for Improved Mental Health and Wellbeing redesign its behavioral health crisis system to reduce emergency department admissions, criminal justice encounters, and recidivism. The Western Montana Mental Health Center (WMMHC) and Marcus Daly Hospital established the alliance, along with community stakeholders such as Sapphire Health and the Ravalli County Sheriff. The partners agreed to a formal charter that establishes project goals and each partner’s commitments. The Alliance began 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. It then conducted a comprehensive data analysis of behavioral health needs in the county, completed a sequential intercept mapping, developed a strategic plan, and applied for and received a county tribal matching grant. After outlining a set of strategic priorities, the Alliance took the initial steps of implementing mobile crisis services, which was the top priority identified. It will continue implementing the strategic plan and use a dedicated project manager to ensure coordination of the work continues. COVID-19 delayed the work substantially, and project oversight shifted from WMMHC to Marcus Daly, but the project goals were ultimately realized and partnerships were strengthened.

Grant Amount

$35,000

Term

12 month

2019

Women's Rescue/Community Support Center 2019

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 grant, CSC was able to implement policies and procedures to bill insurance companies for the counseling services it provides. The overarching goal was to reduce CSC's dependence on grant funding and donations by creating a sustainable revenue stream through billing for services that were already being provided. CSC used this funding to support its staff, train a new billing specialist, and contract with a technical assistance provider. It has successfully contracted to bill with the following insurance carriers: Allegiance, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Pacific Source, and Medicaid. It is now looking to expand its programming and services throughout its service area.

Grant Amount

$15,000

Term

12 month

2019

YWCA Great Falls 2019

Great Falls Healthy Housing Project

The YWCA Great Falls developed the Great Falls Healthy Housing Project to provide permanent supportive housing (PSH) to people who are homeless and frequently use high-cost emergency, hospital, and other services. A working group was created with key stakeholders, including Cascade Sheriff’s Office, Benefis Healthcare, Alluvion Health, St. Vincent de Paul, Indian Family Healthcare, and Opportunities Inc. This group worked to identify 17 individuals in need and was able to house and serve nine of them. Due to funding challenges and employee shortages, the project was not able to establish a single-site PSH complex, but the partnership will continue its efforts to achieve that goal, as well as to provide more case management services to people in need. The project has applied for a HUD Continuum of Care grant to provide vouchers for clients. Additionally, it will work with NeighborWorks and Homeward to complete the rehabilitation and building of new PSH units, and will engage with a consultant to develop the service delivery, operating, and training plan for the community’s first single-site PSH development.

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

24 month

2019