CJMHSA TAC Offers Virtual Technical Assistance in Wake of COVID-19

A major role of the CJMHSA TAC is to offer training and technical assistance to grantees of the DCF reinvestment grant. When USF COVID-19 travel restrictions were put in place, the TAC team immediately began exploring ways to meet their required TA deliverables while also adhering to travel restrictions. What resulted was the use of virtual interactive TA sessions, which has proven to be both valuable to grantee communities and the TAC team.

Through the use of video conferencing the TAC recently facilitated a mini-mapping of Okeechobee County's crisis system. This was a fully team-based approach with one team member facilitating discussion among participants and another taking notes in real-time for the attendees to view and comment on. Following the mapping, the TAC conducted a training on crisis intervention models, including CIT, ACT/FACT, and mobile crisis. Oftentimes, in-person interactions can leave attendees feeling uncomfortable sharing openly and being candid. The TAC found that the safety of being behind a screen enabled attendees to alleviate that discomfort and honestly reflect on areas where activities or program implementation could use improvement. The TAC was able to adjust content to truly reflect the direction that the attendees took the discussion versus strictly following a didactic presentation outline as is typical when convening a large group in-person. This led to meaningful discussions on areas of improvement for current Okeechobee County grant practices.

One participant said it best in their evaluation of the event: "not for nothing but this format with leaving things open to choose direction as we go, I think was most beneficial in that we talked about what we have, found the areas that were lacking and chose a direction based on that. I have been to TA's were the problem or subject was chosen and focused on prior to the event and then strayed away from the actual needs."

Although in-person interaction is often preferred for TAC events, it has been illuminating to see where the value of virtual interaction lies and may be more widely utilized even after travel restrictions are lifted. With assistance from USF Faculty and TAC subject matter experts Dr. Norin Dollard, Dr. Randy Otto and Dr. Annette Christy, the TAC is facilitating four additional virtual technical assistance events over the next two months for Duval, Seminole, Okeechobee, and Pinellas Counties

We invite you to share your COVID-19 stories in Communique. Let us know how you are coping with working remotely. Submit your photos and captions to cbcsmarketing@usf.edu

As always, you should refer to the official USF coronavirus webpage for the most up to date information. 

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Congratulations to Brenda Brinson, director of the Hillsborough HIPPY Parent Involvement Project for receiving the Avima Lombard Award at the 2020 HIPPY National Virtual Conference: Together We Are HIPPY Strong, held May 14-15.

Each year the conference recognizes and honors HIPPY's founder, the late Dr. Avima D. Lombard, by recognizing the Administrator, Community Coordinator, and Home Visitor who evoke the spirit of her work and the mission of partnering with parents to prepare their children for school success. Whether physically among peers, in person, or online, the Avima D. Lombard Awards Ceremony provides an opportunity to reflect on the transformative nature of HIPPY's work in early childhood academic success, school readiness, and home visiting.

Ms. Brinson received the Avima Lombard Award for Most Outstanding Program Coordinator. She has been with HIPPY for almost three decades and is responsible for growing the Tampa program from its inception to a staff of 15 serving more than 350 families and 20 childcare centers each year. Brenda's program is the only independent HIPPY Program in Florida, having received a five-year collaboration grant from the Children's Board of Hillsborough County. Extending HIPPY beyond the traditional model, she worked with the Director of CARD to provide HIPPY services to families with children diagnosed with Autism and recently piloted the HIPPYCare project that brings HIPPY training and materials to family childcare homes.

Amber Gum (MHLP)
Primary Care Patients with Trauma History: Expanding a Safety Research Partnership and Network
Sponsor: Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Dates: 1/1/2020-12/31/2021
Amount: $250,000

This grant is a Eugene Washington Engagement Award to build capacity to conduct patient-centered research addressing trauma for primary care patients. A patient-professional partnership has met monthly since 2017, and this grant allows the partnership to expand its membership, build relationships with larger networks, conduct training so that all stakeholders are knowledgeable about conducting collaborative patient-centered research and trauma-informed care, and build an online collaborative to sustain collaboration for future research. Collaborating networks include USF CBCS, USF Health/Internal Medicine, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, Central Florida Behavioral Health Network, NAMI-Florida, and University of Florida James H. Free MD Center for Primary Care Education and Innovation. After this grant, the partnership and larger collaborative will be prepared to conduct research to compare interventions for primary care patients with trauma histories on outcomes that matter to patients. For more details, please see: https://www.pcori.org/research-results/2019/primary-care-patients-trauma-history-expanding-safety-research-partnership-and

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