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Louis Albert (left), executive director of Jewish Family & Children's Service receives congratulations from Board President Fred Steinbach (right) upon getting the announcement of the more than $1 million St. Louis County contract for children awarded to their agency.

Jewish Family & Children's Service (JF&CS) has received a$1.04 million contract from the St. Louis County Children's Service Fund. The award fully funded each of the four proposals in the applications beginning August 1 to extend through December 31, 2011.

The four categories and individual funding are as follows: Home and Community Based Intervention Services, $200,000; Individual Group and Family Counseling, $460,000; Outpatient Psychiatric Services $176,000; and The Child Abuse Prevention Program, $208,000.

A news release from JF&CS noted that the award is "particularly wonderful news in light of the budget cuts that agencies throughout the state have been experiencing.

"St. Louis County was one of the last to pass the ¼ cent sales tax to be used for both existing and expanded children's services thus avoiding some drastic budget cuts or elimination of vital community programs in our area," the release states.

The scope of the four grants includes services for children under the age of 19, to offer direct counseling and therapies for behavioral and mental disorder, psychiatric services, in-school programming for child abuse prevention, family therapy (with child present) for counseling issues and identification of at poverty level at-risk youth to move them beyond situational or generational poverty life styles.

"The potential of the Putting Kids First campaign has now turned into the reality of the Keeping Kids First initiative," said Louis Albert, JF&CS Executive Director. "With the funding contracts recently awarded to JF&CS, it will be possible to provide a wide range of mental health services to help many more children and their families in St. Louis County. We applaud all of those who worked so hard to make this possible, in particular the Boards of JF&CS and the Jewish Children's Home who helped to lead the way through their vision for the community."

In a statement, JF&CS President Fred Steinbach said the funding will help the agency provide additional social services to the community. "With cuts from other charitable funds and from the state of Missouri these dollars are a most welcome addition. We will continue to be the preeminent social service provider to our community."

For more information about JF&CS, call 314-812-9000 or www.jfcs-stl.org.

Jewish Connections, a program of Jewish Family & Children’s Service

presents

A community screening and discussion of the eye-opening public television program

MINDS ON THE EDGE: Facing Mental Illness

Moderated by Lesley Levin President and CEO of Behavioral Health Response

Sunday, August 22, 2010 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Saint Louis Holocaust Museum

Jewish Federation Kopolow Building

12 Millstone Campus Drive, Creve Coeur, MO 63146

Free and open to the public.

This program depicts, through role playing, all perspectives of the mental health issue; from politician, to health care administrator, to parent, to the individuals dealing with their illness daily. See how the participants assume the different roles and creatively introduce us to the issues and discussions in an effort to improve support and treatment for people with mental illness in our community.

For questions or to RSVP please contact Liz at (314) 812-9366 or esinger@jfcs-stl.org.

Jewish Connection’s aim is to broaden awareness, sensitize, and educate the Jewish community about at-risk populations.

Published in Behavioral Healthcare 2010 June, 30 (6):25-27

New Approach Energizes Agency Dialectical Behavior Therapy program builds reputation and referrals for St. Louis agency by Della Kinsolving Benham, LCSW and Shannon Harting, LCSW. In the behavioral health field, it is commonly believed that the introduction of new, evidence-based treatment approaches into agency practice meets many challenges including excessive startup costs, staff turnover, difficulties in “fitting” the new treatment approach to the agency's target populations, and insufficient training of staff. JF&CS staff includes (from left to right): Simon Koski, Shannon Harting, Esther Scharf, Smadar Shenhav, and Peter Walker Jewish Family & Children's Service (JF&CS) of St. Louis has a success story to share regarding the planning and implementation of a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program. Originally developed by Marsha Linehan, PhD, to treat consumers with borderline personality disorder, DBT has been shown to be beneficial in treating other high-risk clients as well. Dr. Linehan's research demonstrated that clients who participated in DBT experience a significant reduction in hospitalizations, self-injurious behavior, substance use, trauma-related symptoms, anxiety, and depression, along with an overall improvement in their quality of life.

DBT treatment principles combine cognitive behavioral therapy with eastern philosophical approaches, especially the mindfulness part of the treatment and skills training. A full DBT treatment program, to be considered evidence-based, must include the following: DBT skills training group: Classes to teach clients skills that help them cope with very painful experiences, improve their relationships, and focus on important priorities and their emotional ups and downs more effectively; DBT individual therapy: Psychotherapy to help the client apply skills learned in groups to their individual issues; DBT consultation team: Weekly meeting of DBT therapists that enables them to consult, train, and help each other to maintain the most effective balance (validation of the client along with challenging the client) in their therapeutic work; and DBT phone consultation: 24-hour coaching of the client in using and applying skills. Other critical components of a DBT program include: Leveling/elimination of the traditional therapy hierarchy where the staff members are positioned as experts/superiors relative to the consumer; Staff who practice the same skills that are taught to the consumers; Creation of a specific treatment contract between the therapist and the consumer; Dialectical interventions (balancing of validation and challenging of the client); and Use of daily diary cards by consumers to reinforce their use of skills. In early 2007, the JF&CS manager of clinical services set a goal of having the clinical services staff trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy within 12 months. Initially, she thought that it would be necessary to bring in outside trainers, since none of the existing staff had experience with DBT. She planned to host a DBT workshop and invite enough community professionals to defray the expense of training our own staff. However, following staff vacancies in August and December of 2007, our clinical services manager was fortunate to find and hire two well-qualified staff members who were in the midst of completing DBT training. In February 2008, the manager hired a third individual trained in DBT who had conducted DBT skills training groups for over four years in a previous position. Soon, we realized that about two-thirds of our potential DBT clients were referred from a specialized, county-funded program for residents with incomes at or below the poverty level who lacked health insurance. We subsequently negotiated a group therapy rate with the steering committee for this program and, as a result, were able to significantly underwrite the costs of providing DBT to this group. Consumers with other payer sources included group insurance, Medicare, and Missouri Medicaid “carve out” programs. We found it easy to fill up DBT groups, usually consisting of a maximum of 13 to 15 consumers, and found that group attendance typically averaged 10 attendees. Our DBT skills training group for adults was originally divided into the four modules-core mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness-with each module presented in eight to 10 group sessions. More recently, the consultation team at JF&CS modified the DBT module structure. Modules presenting distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness are each preceded by three sessions devoted to core mindfulness. This change aligned our group structure more closely to DBT research models and acknowledged the huge significance of core mindfulness to the entire practice of dialectical behavior skills. With the support of our executive leadership and necessary budget-related approvals, we also reconceptualized the DBT training workshop idea into a workshop aimed at community professionals. Our first workshop, held in January 2009, brought in 35 professionals, reflecting increased interest in DBT as a therapeutic intervention among mental health professionals in St. Louis. Marketing and recruitment costs for the workshop were minimal since they relied primarily on electronic communications and networking by staff with members of local professional networks. We continue to build on our DBT skills through a variety of opportunities: Opportunities for direct service staff with incomplete DBT training to join our DBT consultation team; Continued refinement of our DBT consultation team, including the adoption of more frequent meetings to match the latest DBT protocol; Advanced DBT training, provided by the Missouri Department of Mental Health (MDMH) in June 2009; Development of the DBT telephone consultation piece of the DBT protocol; and Ongoing contact with and between the MDMH's DBT consultant and our local DBT team to foster greater knowledge exchange and improve our local training capabilities. A very positive result of the DBT consultation team has been our ability to provide greater support for staff working with consumers who present with the most challenging problems. The members of the DBT consultation team express a great deal of excitement about the ideas, knowledge, and hopefulness they receive from this aspect of DBT. It is important to note that, after two years of operating the DBT Skills Training Groups, we have no problem maintaining full groups. In fact, because of the many outside referrals that have been attracted by our DBT program, our agency found itself with a wait list of consumers seeking DBT programs. So, we created a second adult DBT group in March. Currently, we are focused on raising additional funds to implement an adolescent DBT program with a target launch date of September. More about Dialectical Behavior Therapy What is it? DBT is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy that incorporates elements of mindfulness from Eastern philosophies. When may DBT be indicated? DBT is a proven intervention model for consumers who: Struggle with suicidal thoughts or attempts; Engage in self-harming behaviors; Have frequent hospitalizations; or Meet criteria for borderline personality disorder. In what other circumstances may DBT be appropriate? DBT has been shown to be effective in treating eating and substance abuse disorders and may be a good alternative for consumers, regardless of diagnosis, who: Display impulsive behaviors; Require a more structured therapeutic approach to establish and maintain limits; and Have been in therapy for an extended period and appear “stuck.” What training is required to use DBT? Behavioral Tech (http://www.behavioraltech.org), founded by DBT creator Marsha Linehan, PhD, offers training for interested clinicians that typically involves: Completing a basic two-day course and an intermediate two-day course which cover the DBT philosophy and the skills to be taught in the skills training groups; Participating in ongoing DBT consultation groups regularly to continue developing and practicing skills and interventions that are used in DBT work with individuals and groups; and Moving on to advanced training that typically involves modules geared to working with specific populations, such as adolescents. In March 2008, our DBT program expanded in two ways as we launched a DBT skills training group for consumers and committed to training all clinical services staff through scheduled in-service programs. The in-service program introduced the skills taught to DBT participants in the four modules of the program: Core mindfulness, Distress tolerance, Emotion regulation, and Interpersonal effectiveness. Why did DBT work for JF&CS? We have clinical staff that were very interested in this model of treatment and willing to study, debate, and embrace the DBT treatment approach. We have a committed, enthusiastic clinician who championed the process, helped staff work through the initial challenges of the DBT approach, and who remains our “point person” for the program with our manager of clinical services. We had 100 percent support from senior executives and management, who recognized that our agency's consumers would have better outcomes, that our reputation would be enhanced, and that the revenues realized would more than cover the costs of DBT planning and startup. Della Kinsolving Benham, MSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and manager of clinical services, and Shannon Harting, LCSW, is a clinical social worker at Jewish Family and Children's Service (http://www.jfcs-stl.org) in St. Louis, Missouri. Behavioral Healthcare 2010 June;30(6):25-27

Please Share Your Harvest with the

Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry!

This summer the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry would welcome a donation of home-grown fruits, vegetables or herbs from your garden. 

The guidelines for donating garden food are simple:

• If possible drop off produce on Tuesdays, from 8:30am to 5pm.
• If you can’t come during those hours please call the pantry ahead of time at 314.812.9309 to tell them when you are coming.
• Deliver your donation to the pantry during its designated hours for accepting food.
• All donations must be fresh and undamaged homegrown fruits or vegetables.  Do not donate what you yourself would not enjoy eating.

Thank you!  Any questions or ideas please contact Sue Rundblad, Program Coordinator-Community Outreach of the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry at 314.812.9307.

Join the Jewish Family & Children’s Service

Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry

Food Drive

As you plan your dinner with family and friends, pause for a moment to remember those who are hungry. While you are shopping for your dinner, consider purchasing additional food items to donate to the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry. Or if you are hosting a dinner consider asking your guests to bring along a bag of donated food to help stock the pantry. People like you help those who cannot afford to put food on their table every day.

Suggested donation items include:

• Canned Vegtables
• Mashed Potatoes
• Canned Meat
• Rice
• Pasta
• Pasta Sauce
• Soups
• Beef Stew
  

Donations can be dropped off at JF&CS located at: 10950 Schuetz Rd., St Louis, 63146 (No glass items please)

Please ask your guests and friends to forward this email to help create an awesome grassroots – electronic food drive.

Thank you!

Susan Rundblad, Program Coordinator – Community Outreach

(314) 812-9307 srundblad@jfcs-stl.org