Traci Russo, a juvenile case supervisor with the county's Probation Department, speaks about options for helping troubled youths during the Systems of Care Summit at Terry Hills on Tuesday morning.

The event was hosted by Genesee County Mental Health.

Lynda Battaglia was the featured speaker and there were three panels of professionals in the area's agencies that deliver mental health-related services and other services for children in the community.

The Batavia City School District is proud to announce it has received $1.4M in grant funding from the New York State Office of Mental Health under the “Student Mental Health Support Grants to School Districts” program to assist with mental health issues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a national survey described in a recent publication of Pediatrics: An Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, “The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted both parent’s and children's mental health. The need to address the emotional and psychological wellbeing of children has never been more important.”

New York State’s Office of Mental Health announced the grants in March of 2022 specifically developed for public school students, families, faculty, and staff with the purpose of “improving access to mental health resources, support students who have experienced stress, anxiety and/or trauma, and to support the adults that surround them.” 

According to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), “Research demonstrates that students who receive social-emotional and mental health support perform better academically.”

“This grant will provide much-needed assistance to our students and staff,” said Superintendent Jason Smith. “We are still evaluating the learning loss associated with the past two years of the pandemic, but it’s safe to say it’s had an extraordinary impact on our students’ mental health. We thank the Office of Mental Health for prioritizing students in our state and will certainly put these funds to good use.” 

According to the grant information, “The expectation is that this enhancement will be utilized to address inequities and provide additional availability and access to the continuum of strategies and supports that address the mental health of students. The objectives of this grant include enhancing access to mental health services, implementing integrated mental health supports, and strengthening community partnerships.”

“The impact of the pandemic across all areas of our students' lives cannot be underestimated,” said Dr. Molly Corey, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction. “With grant programs like these, we can fill in the gaps with our curriculum, programming, and resources to make sure no student falls through the cracks and gets the support they need to be successful and get back on track.” 

BCSD’s plans for the funding are currently under review and will be announced to the community at a later date.

 

After biding her time with a glaring vacancy, Mental Health and Community Services Director Lynda Battaglia broached the topic during Tuesday’s Human Services meeting.

“So this is one that I've talked about for well over a year now, and it's finally time to bring this one forward. This is a creation of a full-time, Genesee County psychiatrist position for the Department of Mental Health. There's no doubt that this is a bigger ask, considering the salary. But it's a specialized service. And it's definitely something that's needed within the department,” Battaglia said to the group of committee members. “Right now, our wait time for somebody to get in with a psychiatrist is about six weeks. And that's when we have all of our providers. I'd like to create this position so that it benefits the community, and it benefits the clients that need to get access to provider treatments. I have to think about stability within the department as well as future planning and longevity for psychiatry.”

She requested an amendment to the 2022 management salary schedule to create one full-time staff psychiatrist (Community Mental Health) position at a base salary range of $292,500 to $331,500. That would mean an estimated salary of between $73,125 and $82,872 for the remainder of the year’s last quarter, at a fee of $150 to $170 per hour.

Fringe benefits would add up to about $21,000 more, for a quarter total of up to $103,814, according to the resolution. Battaglia doesn’t expect these costs to impact the existing 2022 budget, considering the unstaffed positions within the Mental Health Department.

There are four clinical positions and three in the finance area that have been vacant, she said. It may not be an easy job to recruit a psychiatrist to a rural area, but it would certainly add some consistency to the department, she said.

“For the last three years, we've worked with an agency to provide us with services. And that has been helpful, it has definitely been a Band-Aid and has helped fill the gap. However, in the three years, I've had my third psychiatrist. And you think about a person that comes through mental health for services, you're taking a risk every time you have a doctor that's providing the telehealth services. And if it doesn't work out, then I'm bringing in a new psychiatrist. And if that one doesn't work out, I'm bringing in another one,” she said.

“And the agency that I've gone through has been absolutely tremendous," she added. "They’re very accommodating, with excellent communication. The doctor has to be the right fit. And so to have one client have to work with three different doctors over the course of their treatment, it's very challenging, and it's frustrating the clients.”

An upside is that the position could generate revenue and potentially become self-sustaining and not cost the county additional money, she said. It could also reduce the wait time from six to three weeks, which still isn’t ideal, but “if we can cut it in half,” that’s an improvement.

Battaglia proposed creating the position as a hybrid, including in-person visits and telehealth appointments, as an incentive for the right person. She doesn’t want to offer 100 percent telehealth and feels that a hybrid model offers two options to deliver the service. That might better accommodate an applicant, and “we have clients and community members that like to do either way,” she said.

“I think for 2023, it would definitely save the county some money,” she said. “I feel like it’s a win-win all the way around.”

County Manager Matt Landers reiterated how Battaglia has been talking about this need “for quite some time.” Simply put, it sounds like a breakeven proposition, he said.

“Instead of contracting out, you're paying a county employee, and there’s potential for generating additional revenue — more billable hours — which would generate more revenue. Now we're not doing this to make money. And at the same time, if this ended up being a subsidized effort, but ended up providing better service to the community, again, it will be something that the manager's office would support,” he said. “Even going down this route and approving this, that's step one, and it's really going to be a challenge to find a qualified doctor willing to come to us, you know, rural counties have this difficulty. So, in general, I support the effort going forward, because it's not going to be budgetarily … negative to our county budget. And it's got the full support of mental health, but I think we can provide better service.”

Battaglia also requested a budget amendment to hire a full-time mental health financial program specialist position, which would cost $19,553.50 for the remainder of this year. There are funds available in the 2022 budget to cover this expense due to unstaffed positions within the department. This position for a full year will cost $78,214, according to the resolution.

The committee approved the requests, which will continue on the process for committee approval until they finally reach the Legislature for final adoption.

Photo: Lynda Battaglia, Director of Mental Health and Community Services. Photo from the county website.

That’s part of the message shared by Lynda Battaglia, Genesee County director of Mental Health & Community Services, in a phone interview with The Batavian.

“As a result of the pandemic, I think the mental health field has been recognized as essential. It's definitely received more recognition now than it ever has, and it's unfortunate that it took a pandemic to have that happen,” said Battaglia (photo above).

While there has been a renewed focus on mental health, substance use disorder, social services and developmental disabilities over the past two years, a by-product of that is the difficulty in finding qualified professionals to serve those in need.

According to information from LeaderStat, a national staffing agency for healthcare organizations, “The shortage of mental health care professionals coupled with the increased demand for services has led to a grim situation for many patients and providers, and there is no quick fix on the horizon.”

Projections by the Health Resources and Services Administration indicate the United States will need to add 10,000 providers by 2025 to close “the increasing divide” and more than half, over 24 million, of persons dealing with a mental health condition are going untreated and one in five adults seeking treatment is finding his or her needs unmet.

Battaglia said she is feeling a similar crunch in Genesee County as her department currently is not taking any new clients because she has five openings on her counseling staff.

“It's the times that we're in right now,” she said. “I do foresee things getting better. We are not currently taking brand new clients, but our Open Access (crisis walk-in) has remained open throughout the pandemic and remains open today.”

She said Genesee County Mental Health is at a “triaging stage” now.

“We’re taking individuals who are high need or high risk. We're really trying to triage people that call -- individuals that are being discharged from the hospital,” she advised.

Officials at other human services agencies, such as Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, also are reporting numerous job openings – from nurses to counselors to support staff.

Battaglia said she is hoping the staffing situation will get better in May and June “when we will get some clinical people who graduate with their master's in mental health counseling or social work who want to work here.”

“We do have a couple of prospective individuals who are looking to work here and have to go through that hiring process that we have here,” she said.

Currently, each of the dozen or so professionals employed at GCMH have a caseload of 90 to 110 patients.

“That’s high,” she said. “That’s not ideal, but that's what we have to work with. Our supervisors are working at high capacity and high caseloads in addition to providing supervision to staff. And that's not isolated to Genesee County Mental Health. That’s a trend across the state in regard to caseload capacity and (job) vacancies. So, my counterparts are feeling that, too.”

What that does is place additional stress on the counselors, Battaglia said.

“I have to applaud my staff. Their dedication and their resiliency and their ability to do this every day because the work in and of itself, can be challenging on a person in the field,” she said. “And then you couple that with a multitude of additional stressors -- family and all the hats that you wear and trying to put more individuals on your caseload and providing the services that you want to provide.”

Battaglia mentioned the mental health field carries a high rate of burnout.

“Self-care is essential to try to prevent burnout. There’s a lot of things that can help staff with burnout. But isolating during the pandemic was not helpful,” she explained.

“Now, with things opening up (from the COVID-19 restrictions), I can feel a shift in energy here with just more people being able to talk with one another. We still have to wear masks here, because we're considered a healthcare setting, but just the shift in energy of things being more open.”

Genesee County is advertising for positions in the department on its website and also on the Indeed worldwide employment site.

“We did two job fairs -- two virtual job fairs at two different points during the year and we had zero candidates,” she said. “That just speaks to kind of where we are in the times right now with a lot of things virtual. And there are some things like a job fair that's really challenging to do virtually.”

Bob Riccobono, director of clinical services, and Nancy Hendrickson, supervisor of the CDT, on Monday presented a resolution to the Genesee County Legislature’s Human Services Committee that calls for the elimination of CDT programming within the next few months.

Reinforced through research conducted by Lynda Battaglia, Mental Health & Community Services director, and supported by the county’s Community Services Board, Riccobono shared a brief history of CDT and some factors that entered into the decision to shift to more clinical and therapeutic outpatient programs.

“Back in the 1950s, clients were treated in hospitals, but then we developed medications to the point where clients could then be released and go back to the communities where they came from,” he said. “But the problem was that the communities that were receiving these mental health clients, they didn't have the resources available. So, the state was giving aid to all the counties to develop community mental health centers. And part of that was to create day treatment programs for the more severe mentally ill.”

He said these programs worked very well in tandem with community residences to house people with mental health issues.

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES CURTAILED

“When I started my career back in the early 90s, we did all kinds of programs with the clients. We did camping trips, ceramics, woodworking – all kinds of different things like that. Then the state came and starting telling us you can't do those kinds of programs; it had to be more rehab-oriented,” he explained.

Those restrictions, combined with a decline in referrals from state hospitals, led to a decrease in the day treatment program population, he said, and because of that, “the funding dried up.”

“(Previously) it was the day treatment programs that were carrying the clinic. Now it's the exact opposite -- the clinic is carrying the day treatment program,” Riccobono said. “It’s not anything that the day treatment program is doing; that’s just how the funding is allocated.”

Riccobono said the state changed its philosophy – advocating for mental health clients to be integrated into the community. As a result, community residences closed and clients were treated in apartment programs or at their own apartments. Today, GCMH is just one of 13 agencies in New York with a CDT and most of them are downstate.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 – making it more difficult to coordinate group settings – the handwriting was on the wall, he said.

“That was sort of the final nail in the coffin because the past two years we couldn't do the same kind of treatment we were doing before,” he said.

PANDEMIC HURT PROGRAMMING

The GCMH CDT program, prior to the pandemic, ran five days a week from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with clients coming in from one to five days, Hendrickson said.

“During that time, we were in group rooms where we sat very close to each other,” he said. “Clients milled around together in the hallways. When the pandemic happened, we had to maintain social distancing. And we are not able to accommodate it (very well) with social distancing in our buildings.”

Hendrickson said the state began reimbursing the department for daily phone calls made to clients, so the strategy changed to a combination of in-person and telephone sessions.

“Now, we have to talk to the clients in order to bill five days a week,” she said. “And groups are small. People can’t congregate in the hallways like they used to. We cannot serve lunch like we used to because of the lack of space and, primarily, the six foot distancing.”

Staffing is another issue, Riccobono said.

“The other thing that's going on is that I can’t hire clinical staff in the outpatient clinic. It’s that much harder to hire people to go into the day treatment program because most of them never heard of that,” he noted.

MOVING STAFF TO OUTPATIENT CLINIC

Going forward, the plan is to take four GCMH employees from the day treatment program and incorporate them into the outpatient clinic.

“So, most of your clients are going to remain with their therapist, and also be seeing the same psychiatrist that they're seeing in the day treatment program,” Riccobono said. “In addition to that, because we're going to have more staff available in the outpatient clinic, we're going to look at some different programs that we can do, such as an intensive outpatient program.”

He said a long-term approach hasn’t been finalized yet, but GCMH leaders are reaching out to other places that offer intensive outpatient services to see how they operate.

Legislator Gordon Dibble, who serves on the Community Services Board, said CDT “is just a program that seems like it just run its course.”

“And in the shutting down of the program, everything I’ve heard seems to be well thought out,” he said. “So, it's going to get done and get done right.”

Hendrickson said that no employee will lose their jobs. Two full-time therapists will move to the clinic with one of them assigned to develop the intensive outpatient program.

ALL CLIENTS WILL BE PLACED

Riccobono emphasized that the state Office of Mental Health will not allow GCMH to close the program until every client has been placed and is seeing a therapist.

“No one is going to fall through the cracks,” he said.

The Human Services Committee voted in favor of the resolution, which indicates a loss of about $174,000 in anticipated state aid for CDT services. It also notes that staff reallocation will allow existing personnel expenses to be offset by Medicaid, Medicare and third-party insurance.

The resolution will be considered by the Ways & Means Committee on Wednesday.

Severe staffing shortages among emergency response units have Genesee County officials searching for the most effective ways to transport residents experiencing mental health episodes to qualified hospitals where they can receive the evaluation and treatment they need.

Tim Yaeger, Emergency Management Services coordinator, and Lynda Battaglia, director of Mental Health & Community Services, led an hour-long discussion via Zoom with county legislators and law enforcement personnel this afternoon about a severely compromised level of ambulance service in the county.

“Why this topic is even being discussed is because there's an EMS (Emergency Management Services) crisis in New York State,” Yaeger said. “We’re looking at counties that are really in a very much of a reactionary form to figure out what they're going to do because the EMS transporting capabilities of the commercial systems are diminished.”

Yaeger said counties across the state are searching for answers as they experience lengthy response times and situations where no ambulances are available at any given time.

“We can probably talk for a long time about it, but it really comes down to pay and work environment and working conditions of the EMS system. That’s why it’s in trouble,” he said.

Emphasizing that his responsibility is to make sure ambulances are there when “the citizens of this county” call for them, Yaeger said he has been talking at length with Battaglia, Mercy EMS and Le Roy Ambulance representatives and law enforcement agency leaders about how to handle mental health incidents that fall under New York Mental Hygiene Law 9.41 and 9.45.

LAW GIVES AUTHORITY TO TRANSPORT

Section 9.41 permits police officers and peace officers to facilitate emergency admissions for immediate observation, care and treatment for any person who appears to be mentally ill and is conducting himself or herself in a manner which is likely to result in serious harm to the person or others. Section 9.45 gives similar authority to directors of community services.

In both cases, transportation to specially designated health care facilities, such as Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, Erie County Medical Center or Wyoming County Community Hospital in Warsaw, likely is warranted.

So, the question facing Genesee County legislators is: Who should transport these individuals – emergency medical technicians (or paramedics) in ambulances, police officers (sheriff's deputies, Batavia PD, Le Roy PD) or – what currently is on the table – a combination of both?

With the number of ambulances on the road in Genesee County down from where it should be, Yaeger said he has been working with Mercy EMS to make sure it prioritizes service to Genesee residents.

“Counties outside of Genesee have been relying heavily on Mercy EMS to backfill their shortcomings, and have recently over the last five, six months, it got to a point that was just not manageable anymore,” he said. “So, we worked with Mercy and changed our policy from one ALS (Advanced Life Support) ambulance to two ALS ambulances in service in this county before we will honor an out-of-county ambulance request.”

While the revised schedule is working right now, that doesn’t address the primary focus of today’s conversation – transporting of those in a mental health crisis.

NOT 'LOW HANGING FRUIT'

Yaeger indicated that most surrounding counties use law enforcement personnel to drive the patients to the hospital, but Battaglia – along with Genesee County Sheriff William Sheron – said that, in the majority of cases, is not the way to go.

Calling it “a concerning topic,” Battaglia said those suffering from mental health issues by no means should be considered “low hanging fruit.”

“I wanted to just point that out … that the mental health individuals in the community are also those community residents that need medical services,” she said. “And I have to remind everyone, that somebody that's in a mental health crisis is ultimately considered a medical crisis.”

Battaglia said she was pleased to hear that both Yaeger and County Manager Matt Landers are looking at transports on a case-by-case basis, stating that persons exhibiting symptoms of psychosis are at acute risk of harming themselves or others need assistance from a mental health professional.

“I do have some concerns about EMS medically assessing an individual to determine whether or not police should transport or EMS should transport,” she said. “If somebody is making statements that they are going to die by suicide or if they are having suicidal ideations and deny taking any kind of pills, when in fact they did, and potentially negated telling that to any personnel, that places everybody at risk because they're not going to exhibit any kind of medical symptoms right away.”

WARNING AGAINST STIGMATIZATION

She agreed that the entire EMS and healthcare systems are stressed due to COVID and workforce shortages but warned against the marginalization of the mentally ill.

“… What the system and the advocates have worked really hard about is to not stigmatize and to reduce stigmatization of individuals who are mentally ill,” she offered. “So, if police protocol is to handcuff somebody in a mental health crisis because they're being transported on a 941 and placed them in the back of a police car, that's criminalizing -- that is stigmatizing … and could have detrimental effects. It could possibly force that person to not want to reach out for help in the future; it could be very traumatizing …”

Sheron advised that the county transitioned from police vehicles to ambulances years ago “because of the more humane way to transport somebody that's in crisis.”

“To put somebody in the back of a patrol car behind a cage and in very limited space, I think is not the proper place for somebody who's in mental health crisis -- plain and simple,” he said. “Now, when we have an individual that is violent and we believe that they may become violent in the ambulance, we’ll send somebody along with the ambulance, either following the vehicle or inside the rig itself.”

Other key points brought up during the discussion are as follows:

• Yaeger and Landers agreed that the situation is “not a black and white thing,” with the former acknowledging that the EMS crisis now has taken precedence over the county’s efforts to fix staffing and other issues related to emergency response in the case of fire or motor vehicle accidents.

In response to a question from Legislator Rochelle Stein about the county’s contract with Municipal Resources Inc., a consulting firm based in Plymouth, N.H., Yaeger said MRI's mandate will be expanded from finding solutions to the widening gaps in fire department coverage to also include confronting the EMS dilemma.

• Legislator Gary Maha asked what happens if a call for a mental health transport comes in and no ambulances are available?

Yaeger responded by saying that request would be put on hold. “It’s either that or we’re going to try to get a volunteer ambulance to cover that call. They may cover it, or they may not, but it's going to end up waiting.”

• Legislator Marianne Clattenburg said it is incumbent upon the county “to change how we fundamentally are doing things” by removing elements of criminalization in mental health cases.

“(To place) someone ... in a cop car I just think escalates things and I worry about the liability on the county … if we were to do that,” she said.

She then asked if the county had a contract with Mercy EMS for a certain level of service, to which Landers answered that there is no formal agreement on staffing levels although the county does provide funding to the operation.

• Responding to questions from Legislator Christian Yunker, Landers said there are approximately 500 calls for mental health crisis intervention in Genesee County annually, although many of them end up as family member transports. The plan being considered is to shift up to half from ambulance to law enforcement transport to the three destination hospitals referred to previously in this report.

• Landers said the discussion will continue, and he looks to include Dan Ireland, president of United Memorial Medical Center, as legislators inquired about the possibility of the Batavia hospital becoming certified to accept individuals in the midst of mental health breakdowns.

“They're (Rochester Regional Health administrators) heavily invested in doing everything with the new campus (in Batavia), and obviously, they're doing great things there with the hospital expansion,” Landers said. “So, I would hope that this could be something down the road that we have in our own community, I think there's a need there based on what we're hearing about (the numbers) being transported out of our community.”

• Battaglia, upon hearing that paramedics are not provided with the training to properly handle mental health cases, said she would be willing to provide it.

“Law enforcement knows I've done some trainings for law enforcement. I was just at Le Roy Police a couple months ago, providing mental health training,” she said. “So, if you know that it’s not provided when they’re being trained and going to school, then that is definitely something that I can I can assist with.”

That was the message from Tharaha Thavakumar, a school-based therapist with Genesee Mental Health, during a Zoom meeting with media Friday. 

“I think we just need to be putting out more goodness, with the way everything is in society,” she said. “I think we have to not normalize violence. I think we need to start seeing the kindness and the goodness, and other things that are happening in the world that are not violent.” 

That’s a tall order, considering that social media has pushed the limits of fun and innocuous posts into dangerous territory. Thavakumar’s talk, sponsored by Rochester Regional Health, stemmed from a TikTok challenge to kids across the country. They were encouraged to participate in a “Shoot Up Your School” challenge on Friday, Dec. 17. While some districts across the country closed school for the day, many others, including Batavia City Schools, tightened their safety protocols and had school resource officers and/or local police on-site or nearby just in case of an event.

There were no reports of any shootings Friday, but even the anticipation of such events can make for “heightened awareness,” Thavakumar said. Although there were no imminent threats, the idea of someone bringing a gun to school and using it can definitely cause “a lot of anxiety to the parents, to the teachers, to the faculty, to the students,” she said.

Living in an online world ...
“It’s unfortunate that social media has this power to kind of cause these threats and anxieties,” she said. “We’ve already had a rough year, just coming off of remote learning and hybrid learning.”

Take the pandemic and related stress, and then add “those societal threats” to it, and it really has a negative impact to mental health, she said. 

“It’s initially always that humans go to the negative; it’s how we view things,” she said. 

Having children of her own, Thavakumar understands the need to weigh each situation to determine the level of safety or danger. Her teenage son didn’t want to go to school after hearing about the challenge the night before. His mom suggested that they wait and see what, if anything, happens on Friday before making a final decision. On Friday, they came to a mutual conclusion.

“My kids did go to school today, I felt confident enough in school safety. I knew my son would be surrounded by kids he knew,” she said. “The kids I work with had a lot of anxiety; they had lockdown drills. Actually experiencing it is scary, it is something very traumatizing the kids have to go through … a pandemic and masks, school shootings, and threats seem to be happening more frequently. This is a reality that kids have to deal with, so it’s a constant trauma.”

Those intense feelings can make it very difficult to focus on academics, she said, and kids adapt to being in “fight or flight mode” and acquire “a whole lot of” physical ailments, poor sleep and mental health issues. 

“And then we wonder why kids can’t do well in school, because they’re in constant survival mode,” she said. 

Communication is key ...
As pointed out by Batavia High School Principal Paul Kesler and senior Kylie Tatarka at this month’s city schools board meeting, good communication is crucial for helping kids cope. Both high school members talked about a strategy of having counselors visit students in class to check out how each is doing. That falls in line with Thavakumar’s advice.

“Talk to the kids and work on relationship building. If you as a parent notice your child is withdrawing, get them help,” Thavakumar said. “Just be aware … children are going through a lot. If they say they’re nervous, ask them why. Validate how they feel, and I think that’s the biggest thing that we miss. A lot of times were like it’s Ok, everything will be fine. No, it’s Ok to be upset.”

If one’s child doesn’t want to talk to his or her parent, then find a trusted person who they can and will talk to, she said. Kids are worried about what’s going on in the world, she said, and having a trusted relationship lets them know there’s someone they can go to when needed. 

How to begin ...
The School Mental Health and Training Center offers articles, assessment tools, and tips for how to deal with a mental health concern and emotional well-being. The site also provides mental health conversation starters to offer examples of what parents might say to get the ball rolling with a tight-lipped child.

This toolkit provides sample prompts for a variety of situations or concerns as well as tips on how to discuss good mental health habits in students and how to create a safe, caring, and age-appropriate atmosphere for ongoing conversation and dialogue with children and youth.

Instead of asking a yes/no question, such as “Are you okay?”, the site suggests to start a conversation that invites your child to share beyond a one-word answer. These may include:

• “It seems like something’s up. Let’s talk about what’s going on.”
• “I’ve noticed you’ve been down lately. What’s going on?”
• “Seems like you haven’t been yourself lately. What’s up?”
• “You don’t seem as ______ as you usually are. I’d like to help if I can.”
• “No matter what you’re going through, I’m here for you.”
• “This might be awkward, but I’d like to know if you’re really alright.”
• “I haven’t heard you laugh (or seen you smile) in a while. Is everything okay?”
• I’m worried about you and would like to know what’s going on so I can help.

Not all conversation starters need to be questions, the site states, and many times a caring statement and a moment of silence is all it takes for someone to begin sharing.
When noticing a change in behavior, it’s important to focus on the reason or emotion behind the action rather than the action itself. Avoid asking “Why are you (not) ______?” and, instead, state what you are noticing and what might be behind the behavior.

For example:

• “I’ve noticed that you seem more anxious on Sunday nights. What’s going on?”
• “Have you noticed that you’re not eating all of your dinner lately? I wonder if something is bothering you.”
• “I haven’t seen you playing basketball like you used to. What’s up?”

Noting, and asking about, a child’s behavior in a non-judgmental way avoids a typical “good/bad” dynamic that also demonstrates concern and care, it states. 
Thavakumar’s advice to highlight more of the good in the world diminishes what the site calls "a reinforcement of negative stigmas."  The Mental Health Association of New York State urges adults to watch for ways that students are practicing good mental health and wellness skills and to talk about it with them. 

For more information, visit the School Resource Center at mentalhealthEDnys.org.

“My name is Meredith Minier and I am a suicide survivor.  That was so hard – impossible - to say and write for a long time, but it is true.  Many people think it refers to a person who has survived a suicide attempt.  Not true.  It means we lost someone we loved dearly - and still love - to suicide. Some days it seems like it was a long time ago, and sometimes is seems like my husband, Lee, died just last week.  If you know me or anyone who has lost someone to suicide, you are a suicide survivor – in fact, I can almost say everyone who is reading this is a suicide survivor.  Perhaps it was a cousin, a work associate, your best friend’s mother, the neighbor down the road, or your spouse or child. 

We ‘suicide survivors’ are a unique group of grievers with unique challenges; one of the most challenging is fighting the stigma associated with suicide.  Many of us feel frozen, in so much pain we don’t know how to move forward. It is not something our loved ones would want for us.  I felt that way for a long time until I finally took action to turn my pain into something positive and help those in my community find the help and resources they need to heal and be productive and honor the one they loved and lost.” 

To help the process of healing, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (www.AFSP.org) has sponsored the International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day.  AFSP sponsors this special day the Saturday before Thanksgiving of each November. The GOW Pathway to Hope Steering Committee and the Orleans County Suicide Prevention Coalition have planned a week of special online activities preceding the 20th for all the residents of Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming County communities to come together and reach out a hand to those grieving following the loss of a loved one to suicide.

Please go to the following Facebook pages Orleans County (www.facebook.com/OrleansCountySuicidePreventionCoalition), Wyoming County (https://www.facebook.com/wyomingcountySPC) or the GOW Pathway to Hope page (https://www.facebook.com/GOWPathwaytoHope/)  for positive thoughts, ideas and activities for positive action during the Week of November 15th. 

International Survivors of Suicide Loss day is observed worldwide as a way of showing support to survivors who are struggling.  Please light a candle on Nov. 20 from 7-9 p.m. to bring these survivors out of the darkness and into the light with your support.  If you are on Facebook, please take a picture and post it on your page and tag it #LightAPathway2Hope2021 so we can share it on our social media platforms.  For those who are not on Facebook but would like to share a remembrance of a loved one or share words of encouragement for those who are grieving, you can send an anonymous message via survey monkey and we will share them as we are able: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GOWPathway2Hope2021

“Suicide survivor’s put a face to suicide…by sharing their personal stories, they are able to turn their grief into action and communicate the urgent need to take concrete steps to prevent more deaths by suicide.  Their openness also sends a message of hope that there is always a tomorrow after suicide.”  Author unknown

If you are struggling with depression, anxiety and/or thoughts of suicide it is important to reach out for help.  The Care + Crisis Helpline is a free, confidential helpline available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  You can call 585-283-5200 or text ‘Hope’ to 741741 and they will help connect you with appropriate assistance.  For the Genesee County Mental Health at 585-344-1421.  The Orleans County Mental Health Department can be reached at 585-589-7066.  In Wyoming County you can reach out to Spectrum Health at 585-786-0220 or Clarity Wellness at 585-786-0790.  For Veterans, please call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1. If you are having a mental health emergency, please call 9-1-1 for assistance. 

You are not alone, there are people who want to help.

Press release:

The Regional Transit Service (RTS), longtime employee Alan Moore, and scholarship winner Ava Flores were honored at the annual meeting of the Mental Health Association of Genesee and Orleans Counties (MHAGO). The event took place on Oct. 7 at Terry Hills Golf Course with 24 people attending.

MHAGO Executive Director Tom Christensen credited the dedication of the staff for keeping the agency open through the pandemic, noting that as an essential business, MHAGO has remained open to in-person services, with no staff layoffs or reduction of hours.

“The COVID-19 crisis highlighted for us how important everyday mental health and wellness practices are to managing social isolation, anxiety, and stress,” Christensen said. “We believe MHAGO services contributed to the emotional resilience of both our participants and our community during these uncertain times.”

RTS also contributed to the community’s well-being, according to MHAGO, by providing free rides to and from medical appointments – including visits essential for mental health – for the two counties’ residents. John Arneth, RTS’ Regional Manager for Genesee & Orleans, accepted the Constance E. Miller Award of Excellence on behalf of the organization. Constance E. Miller, along with a small group of dedicated volunteers, founded the Mental Health Association in 1993. This award honors her commitment to excellence by recognizing individuals and organizations who work to promote mental wellness, instill hope, and improve the quality of life for people living in Genesee and Orleans counties.

“We had some rigorous protocols to follow in order to keep everyone safe, but we were really happy to be able to continue to provide medical transport services during a time that created a lot of anxiety and fear for people,” Arneth said.

MHAGO recognized Alan Moore as a 25-year staff member. Colleagues described Moore as a mild-mannered, versatile, reliable team member who “quietly supports and encourages (MHAGO) participants.” It was also noted that he models self-care by walking regularly and “getting his steps in” each day.

MHAGO awarded the Board of Directors’ Educational Scholarship to Ava Flores, 2021 graduate of both Oakfield-Alabama High School and Genesee Community College. Flores is now studying psychology at Roberts Wesleyan College. The MHAGO scholarship program provides financial support to individuals pursuing higher education in the fields of human or social services. Flores received $500 toward her studies.

Kylee Criscione, a mental health program specialist from the state Office of Mental Health – WNY Field Office, gave a presentation via Zoom. She noted, aptly, that telehealth visits represent one of several ways MHAGO has stepped up to address

the challenges of meeting community needs.

In the annual report distributed at the meeting, Christensen noted that MHAGO Medicaid Managed Care HCBS services increased in 2020 to become the largest local provider of Mental Health HCBS, with 267 combined in-person and telehealth visits across 271 hours of service. “We look forward to further expansion of managed care services through the State’s newly proposed CORE (Community Oriented Empowerment Services) model,” he wrote.

Other noteworthy 2020 stats:

• A total of 256 persons were served by MHAGO programs, including 186 in the Recovery Center, 147 in the Social Club, and 50 in the Drop-In Center.
• MHAGO’s Recovery Center provided 5,009 combined in-person and telehealth visits across 3,028 hours of service.
• Social Club: 3,397 combined in-person and telehealth visits
• Drop-In Center: 1,726 combined in-person and telehealth visits
• Warmline: 2,852 outreach messages and 5,879 completed calls
• The agency also provided 1,014 one-way trips. All transportation staff also provided outreach telehealth calls and wellness checks during office hours.

MHAGO reported $576,030 total support and revenue, with $618,689 in total expenses. The agency ended 2020 with $129,358 cash on hand. The 2020 Financial Statement and Auditors’ Report were prepared by EFPR Group, CPAs, PLLC. Copies of the Audit and Form 990 may be obtained by request from the Mental Health Association of Genesee and Orleans Counties, 25 Liberty Street, Batavia, NY 14020.

“Even in good times,” Christensen said, “a lack of social engagement has been a leading predictor of poor health outcomes, poor quality of life, and shortened lifespans. With Covid bringing out the worst of these troubles, our staff really stepped up and made a big difference. I’m very pleased with our team.”

Coordinated by the University of Albany’s School of Public Health,    the listening tours will consist of two 90-minute forums in four rural New York counties. One forum will include community members at-large (Sept. 30) and the other will consist of community providers/stakeholders (Oct. 1).

“Each county setting has its own unique aspects and cultural norms that can influence people’s mental wellness,” said Lynda Battaglia, Genesee’s director of Mental Health & Community Services. “We expect that our participation in these Listening Tour forums will generate valuable information that will enable us to better serve our residents.”

Battaglia advised that the purpose of the program is to gain insight on the following questions:

• What are the main factors that contribute to increased risk of suicide in rural New York? What factors contribute to positive mental health and wellbeing?

• How do community members seek help for behavioral health concerns, and what factors influence these help-seeking preferences?

• How can rural communities – individually and as a whole – improve availability, awareness, access, and utilization of mental health services and resources?

At the conclusion of the project, each county will receive a presentation (in-person or virtual) and written summary of the results and recommendations coming out of their forums, Battaglia said.

Furthermore, information gained across all eight forums conducted in the four counties will also be aggregated to develop an overall set of recommendations to present to the Rural Suicide Prevention Workgroup and to the New York State Suicide Prevention Council.

“Ultimately, the listening tour protocol will be refined and disseminated statewide so that all counties will have the tools to conduct their own forums in the future,” she added.

The forums, which will be confidential in a Virtual private group setting, are scheduled as follows:

Sept. 30, 4:30 p.m., for Genesee County residents (no other requirements are necessary).

Oct. 1, 1 p.m., for community providers/stakeholders (requirements are that participants must be service providers/stakeholders who provide services to Genesee County. This could include school personal, law enforcement, emergency management services, religious establishments, etc.).

Those interested in participating are asked to contact Brenda Reeves at 585-344-1421, ext. 6681, or at brenda.reeves@co.genesee.ny.us. The deadline to respond is Sept. 27. A Zoom link will be provided upon registration.