ABC15 follows up on a mental health pilot program started in 2022.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Valley is seeing success in its mental health program, aimed at addressing the needs of underrepresented communities and kids after the negative impacts from the pandemic.
“The Whole Child Approach” pilot program started in Maricopa and Pinal counties in 2022 as a partnership with Terros Health. The organizations aimed to work with children and teens for three years to boost behavioral and mental health through games, art therapy, and other therapeutic interventions.
Flagstaff’s Community Alliance Response and Engagement (CARE) Unit, the “alternative response” program that assists individuals experiencing substance use or mental health crises without involving police, hired three new emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in May. The unit is run by Terros Health, which specializes in crisis services.
The unit’s approach differs from traditional emergency medical response. Rather than defaulting to taking a patient to the hospital, CARE’s EMTs and behavioral health specialists focus on “meeting people where they’re at” and stabilizing them as much as possible unless hospital care is absolutely necessary, Terros Health regional manager Thea Sherman said.
The new EMTs are Marshelle Yazzie, Sonia Olson, and Adam Reed. “I think they’re all really excited to get started,” Sherman said, noting that all three were enthusiastic about the nontraditional approach the unit brings to mental health intervention. Though already trained in emergency medicine, the new staff members have been undergoing additional training specific to mental and behavioral health.
Originally, the CARE Unit was staffed by Terros behavioral health specialists and Flagstaff Fire Department EMTs. Now, the newly-hired EMTs are “shadowing” their fire department predecessors, and will step up to replace them within the week. The hands-on, practical experience is a major component of the training process for the new hires. “A lot of this training happens on the job,” Sherman said. “You kind of figure out what works best… as you continue to run calls, over and over.”
Ahead of their transition, Yazzie and Olson received a traditional Navajo blessing from Dorothy Denetsosie Gishie – former chairperson of the Coconino County Intertribal Council, and community development director at Native Americans for Community Action – at the Flagstaff Fire Department’s Station 6 on Friday, June 6.
Since the CARE Unit first launched in the spring of 2022, there have been discussions about expanding its capacities. Right now, the unit operates from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day and responds to between 150 and 200 calls per month. The program employs two full-time EMTs and one on-call EMT, along with two full-time behavioral health specialists and two on-call.
At this point, Sherman said, there’s no plan to add a night shift or additional full-time staff — though Terros does plan to hire up to two more on-call EMTs to ensure shift coverage. “We want to look at data first, to see if it would be feasible and if data supports us going to a 24-hour staffing model,” she said. But Terros will be presenting to the Flagstaff City Council next month, and that discussion could influence the program’s future direction.
“We want to continue with the good work we’re already doing,” Sherman said.
Combined, the two organizations operate 13 mental health clinics.
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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Terros Heath is expanding its reach by taking health care services on the road. With the growing number of community members experiencing homelessness, the Terros vans try to meet people where they are by going to different parks across Phoenix.
“We’re just really trying to close the broken health care system when it comes to the unhoused,” said Cassandra Hagglund, a registered nurse who believes homelessness shouldn’t keep people from receiving health care.
The vans are part of a three-year, $2 million Outpatient Portable Pilot Program funded by the U.S. Department of Health Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Terros Health joined the City of Vernon, Calif. and the University of California, San Francisco, as the nation’s three organizations awarded SAMHSA-funded minority AIDS/HIV grants focused on homelessness and HIV prevention.
“We have two vans, so basically we have two units,” said Karen DiFrancesco, director of Recovery Services at Terros Health.
The retrofitted vans have retro-themed designs, “Disco” and “Groovy.” Each has a registered nurse, peer outreach specialist and clinician or counselor covering basic medical needs, including STI/HIV testing and even helping people make appointments with primary care or behavioral health.
“I am able to do, obviously, blood sugar checks, blood glucose, blood pressure checks,” Hagglund explained. “I do a lot of wound care. A lot of these people do have wounds that have been quite a struggle for them.”
Patients who are beyond those basic needs are sent to Terros Health clinics, and they’re driven there in one of the vans.
“You can hop on in, and we will bring you literally anywhere you need to go, medical-wise, of course,” said Hagglund. “We’ve brought people to DES (Arizona Department of Economic Security) for food stamp cards or health insurance.”
The program launched last month and already surpassed its objective of serving up to 150 in its first year, scheduling follow-up appointments for at least 80% of those with behavioral health needs. It has also referred at least 80% of those who test positive for an infectious disease for treatment.
Hagglund says some days are busier than others.
“Some days, it’s maybe five, and sometimes it’s 20,” she said. “I mean, of course, some people don’t really want too much from us, but what Terros offers, we are able to get them to those appointments and bring them to their park.”
The team hopes to also become the bridge to other services by offering housing resources, mobile charges and food. The vans are currently going out three times a week, but they’re hoping to eventually build out to five days. They’re also working to come up with a plan to let community members know where they are on what days.