In today’s episode, Dr. Ashley and the Boss discuss three programs that are making a difference in the Ashland community. Whether you or a loved one is experiencing a crisis, needing housing assistance during recovery, or doesn’t know where to turn, today’s episode is for you! Follow the hyperlinks for additional information about Recovery Housing, the Hospital Liaison Program, and Information & Referral, or call the Board at 419.281.3139.
(Record Date: April 10, 2025)
(Record Date: April 10, 2025)
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome. You're listening to the Keeping Ashland Healthy Podcast, a
podcast production of the Mental Health and Recovery Board of
Ashland County, Ohio. Thanks for joining us, and welcome back
to another episode of the Keeping Ashland Healthy Podcast. On
today's episode, Doctor Ashley and I discussed three great programs
(00:24):
of the Mental Health and Recovery Board and we wanted
to cover recovery, housing, hospital, liaison services in our community,
resource and referral. Hopefully folks will either learn a little
bit about something they did not know or learn more
about something maybe they had heard of in today's episode. Regardless,
(00:44):
I hope that our audience has a better understanding of
how to use these resources that are a real advantage
to the community. Thank you for listening. Well, good morning,
doctor Ashley. How are you doing this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I'm doing great. How are you doing this morning?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Well question, yeah, that is the question. I'm doing well,
Doctor Ashley. We appreciate you joining us audience for another
edition of Keeping National and Healthy. Today. I'm excited, Doctor Ashley.
We are going to talk about some of the programs
and services that the Board funds. Yeah, you know, you
know a lot of people don't know that we have
(01:23):
just about fifty programs and services.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I would say most people don't know that that is
a lot of programs for viruces for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So you know, we're not going to talk about all
fifty today, doctor Ashley. We could, we could, that would
be a long, long podcast, But we do want to
begin to discuss and educate the public that these services
exist and just a high level view of how they exist,
you know, for the purposes of access general education. My
(01:54):
hope is that if folks hear about something that they
weren't aware of before, that they could either call the
agency or call the Board to get additional information for
either themselves or a loved one. So the whole idea is, yes,
what are the types of programs and services that are
funded by the board and how could somebody access those
if they were at all interested? So you ready to
(02:15):
dive in?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I'm ready, yep, okayks to it.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Well, our first program is through a CATA. So again
the Board contracts with three agencies here locally in Ashton County,
a Cada apple Seed in Catholic Charities. This first program
is at a CATA and it's called recovery housing.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yes, what's recovery housing?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, I'm glad to ask that, Bak Ashley. So the
idea sometimes ow when an individual is in recovery from substances,
there's a lot of things going on where the person is. Yes,
they're getting treatment services, individual group services, sometimes medication assisted
treatment if the issue was opioids. But as you might
(02:59):
imagine and doctor Ashley again, we're both therapists. When we
work with individuals in recovery, all aspects of their life
sometimes needed to be rebuilt. So sometimes there were financial issues,
sometimes there were legal issues, relationship issues definitely, but another
big area had to do with housing and where are
(03:20):
they going to live while they're in this recovery process.
So some years ago the board began talking with a
director at that of a CADA at that time about
developing recovery houses, which was basically a place temporary, short
term housing for individuals that were in recovery that didn't
have a place immediately to go and live. But we
(03:43):
wrapped services at the house and around the house. It
created an environment within the house of two to three
different people that are in that same stage of recovery
that all understood that this was an opportunity for them
to continue to work on the recovery, all the treatments,
all the self help, but have a safe place to live,
(04:05):
begin work again, start to save money, with the idea
being at a point in the future and hopefully not
too distant future, they would be able to move out
of the recovery house into more of a permanent placement. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I think that's great. It's like a transition sort of.
So they're going from a place of you know, using,
and then they have this kind of step down to
like they're in recovery and they're out of that system though,
but they're still being supported, so they're not just back
thrown into the world doing it on their own exactly.
So I like that it's kind of transition space for them.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, and I like it because it's it's incremental. So
one of the things we've heard a lot about is
when somebody is in recovery and they're dealing with so
many things all at the same time, it's overwhelming and
it makes relapse and failure more likely. So, for instance,
if you're trying to work out all your relationship issues,
(04:58):
you're trying to stay clean and st over, you're trying
to find a job, keep a job, do well at
a job, also secure you know, housing and food, and
deal with legal challenges, deal with if you have a
spouse or boyfriend, girlfriend or kids. All those things they're
trying to juggle simultaneously, so it can be overwhelming and
it can be i think a trigger for a slip
(05:22):
or relapse. So you know, allowing more of a safe
space to land with the housing, I think can allow
them to focus on some of those other areas.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Absolutely, And also to add to that, when you're when
you're using substances, the environment has a lot of triggers
and queues in itself, right, So being in that same
environment can be triggering. And if you're trying to stay
you know, clean and sober not using, it can be
harder in that old environment. So it provides a new space.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up, because there's no
use at the houses, so they maintain in their sobriety
when they're in the houses, in that peer that recovery environment,
there's a and again the current director at AKADA is
Rick Ford, and he's got Laurie who's a peer recovery
supporter who she's in that house. She's working with folks
(06:15):
individually and in groups, and that's she really creates, I think,
a great environment for recovery to happen. Laurie's great, Yeah
she is so. Again, this program at a KADA four one, nine, two, eight, nine, seven,
six seven five is a Catas number and we'll put
all this in the episode description, but this would be
so if you're listening, either yourself or you know somebody.
(06:37):
If the person is serious about the recovery, they are
engaged with treatment services at a CADA. And again this
would be primarily for folks that are engaged with treatment
at a kedah. They could be involved with other services too,
but I think a kada has to be one of
the people they're involved with. Because a kida owns the
houses and operates the houses. You want to give them
(06:58):
a call talk to rick Ford Kada about you know,
does this make sense for me? Again, it's short term.
The rents, how much is paid, can be as low
as zero, so they work on that. So they want
the person to be successful. And we know that safe
housing is a key part of recovery and folks need
(07:20):
the help. And I think we've seen we've been doing
these for about three or four years and they've seen
quite a bit of success. I won't I won't say
that everybody comes in, you know, gets out of the
house and is successful, but by and large, most of
the folks that are going through this recovery house program
is successful in their recovery. Yeah, that's great, So talk
(07:41):
with mister Ford. I think folks, it's one of those
things that a lot of people don't know about, but
it's a critical part for a lot of people in
their recovery. So Recovery Housing through CATA our second service
and program that the board funds that I wanted to spotlight.
Doctor Ashley is over at apple Seed again. Apple Seed
(08:02):
is one of our largest contract partners, and they have
a program and a person that we call the hospital liaison.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah that's a fancy name, right, sounds fancy.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, So let me explain this to the audience a
little bit and hopefully they can see why this is
such a critical position. So crisis services, So if you
were a loved one is experience what we call a
psychiatric or emotional crisis. Again, this is usually when the
person not always feeling like they want to harm themselves
or somebody else, but they just they're very out of
(08:37):
sorts that they're not sure, you know, that they can function,
they can live in their own house, they can interact
and go to work, all the things that they want
to do. They're just struggling in the.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Moment, struggling to cope with something.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And again I'm a little bit I don't want to
be too specific because everybody defines crisis a little bit differently.
And the hospital liaison, we wanted somebody in charge of
crisis services in our county that could kind of, you know,
oversee it all the whole process. Not only does this
person engage with persons that are in crisis, but she
(09:14):
also oversees the workers that are doing crisis services. So
it's good to have somebody that kind of oversees and
supervises all the crisis services that the individuals are receiving.
But then also doctor Ashley, where do people go? So
sometimes we've talked about hospitals, you know where somebody who
might be struggling in crisis needs to go to either
(09:35):
the state hospital in Masslin or private psychiatric hospital. They
could go as to somewhere like oh Ohio Hospital over
in Mansfield. That's probably the closest private or hospital based
and we wanted to make sure we had somebody that
was coordinating with all those different hospital systems the workers
(09:56):
there to make sure that folks are treated well. So
if you're from Ashen County and you do need to
go to one of those places, whether it's a state
or a private hospital, that the services you receive are
quality services, good services, helpful services. So we really wanted
to have somebody who could monitor all that could actually
talk to you or your family members about your experience
(10:18):
to make sure and if there were issues that she
could take those back to that hospital to talk those
through to see if we can't make any improvements.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, it's great that she's like communicating and helping. I
mean when people are going into the hospital, when they're
coming back out, I think it's a really helpful, really
helpful position.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
So yeah, I agree, And again we've had instances just
so the audience knows where in her name's Pam right now,
Pam is our hospital leities. And if Pam doesn't feel
like our folks are getting the right kind of care,
we just don't admit there, you know, So we take
that off our list until they get their act together.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Yeah, because we want people to have the best care that.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
They can, right. Yeah, one of the standards is, you know, listen,
if I wouldn't go there or my mom or my relative,
if I wouldn't put a family or friend or recommend
it to a family or friend, why would I recommend it?
So that's kind of our standard, and I think that
makes sense to folks. We want to do our best
to make sure that the services were recommended. Referring individuals
(11:20):
to our quality, you're going to get help, respectful help,
timely help, efficient help, et cetera. So the hospital liaison
kind of stands above all the crisis services, coordinates with
all these professionals at the different hospitals. Some of the
other important things. We don't talk about it a lot
because it hasn't because of a lot of circumstances, that
(11:42):
hasn't been such an issue. But the hospital liaison works
on discharge planning, right, And what I mean by that is,
so if the person's in crisis and it seems like
a hospital placement would be a good idea, in usually
apples will facilitate that indmission. Well, the hospital liaison is
working to make sure that the person doesn't stay there
(12:04):
too long or too short, and I say too short
because doctor Ashley, as you know, because we've got such
capacity issues in Ohio right now, more often than not
now people are being discharged quicker than maybe they should be,
just because they are at such capacity. There's such demand
for the limited number of beds that we have in
(12:26):
Ohio that folks sometimes they're not getting a whole lot
of help before they're discharged. So we want to make
sure that the person isn't kept for too long, which
used to be a problem years ago. But on the
flip side, we want to make sure that they're not
discharged like immediately.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Right, Yeah, that it's actually helpful for that that's actually helpful,
so that's great.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That's another thing Pam does is she monitors what we
call length of stay, so the length of time somebody
is actually in the hospital setting. So in addition to
coordinating the care, you know, just that length of stay,
making sure that any changes with medications, other changes that
might have curred or started, that that gets communicated back
to whoever's going to follow up. Because if somebody is
(13:06):
going to go to a hospital, whether it's private or
the state, we want to make sure that there's a
plan when the person comes back to the community to
follow up to make sure that that person gets the support,
the skills, tools, whatever they need to be successful. Because
you and I trained on QPR all the time, and
one of the things we say is most folks that
maybe are feeling suicidal, that's a once in a lifetime
(13:28):
kind of situation for most folks. We rally, we get
all the supports around that person that we can't and
usually that that's a one time event for that person.
You know, they're going through a particularly challenging time and
don't feel like their coping skills we're sufficient, you know,
and they might think about harming themselves, you know, because
they just don't can't see the other options that are available.
(13:50):
So but once they get that support, you know, folks
going forward don't usually end up in that same place.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, So that after care is important, so you know,
going forward, to have the support they need and it
doesn't end up like they're back in this cycle of
going to the hospital, right, you're actually resolving something exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah, And you know that, you know, individuals that are
going to the hospitals, you know more than once in
say a thirty or sixty or even ninety day period
that would rise to the attention of the hospital liaison.
What that would tell her and us If somebody is
returning to the hospital again and again, that would tell
(14:27):
us we're we are failing that person and their family
in some major way. So we need to get to
the bottom of that. Absolutely, I can tell you the
good news doctor. Actually, since we implemented the hospital liaison,
and this goes back several years, we've really cut that
to a minimum. It's very rare that somebody goes multiple
admissions to a hospital in Ashley County, and I wanted
(14:48):
the audience to know that if that were to happen again,
that's not the person's failure, that's our failure as a system.
If we're we're we're missing something.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Obviously, I will say that is unique to some other counties,
like so Ashland County has this program and we see
lower numbers of crisis admission here, and I think it's
because of the work that the board has done over
the years. But other counties I've worked in it's not
necessarily that way, and there is that cycle. So I think,
I mean, I'm really thankful that we have that here.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah, agreed, Trias so that's the hospital Liaison program that
is offered through Appleseed. Again, most folks that receive services
in the county, you know, never end up in the
crisis realm, but if they do, ask for the hospital liaison.
Her name is Pam. She's great, she is wonderful. Last,
but not least, on our listing of three wonderful programs
(15:42):
that the Board funds is a program through Catholic Charities
called the Community Resource and Referral Program. And I'll tell
you doctor Ashley, the history on this one. Again. All
these programs have been around for years and they are
really effective. That's why the Board continues to fund them.
The Resource and Referral the genesis of this program, and
it's kind of a funny story, So bear with me, audience.
(16:04):
You know, occasionally, you know, I would say five or
six times per year, I would get calls from members
in the community about impossible situations, individuals that weren't necessarily
involved with our system, but they had such challenging circumstances
going on in their life that I didn't know where
to start. And you know, a lot of people don't
(16:27):
know this, but the boards aren't allowed to provide direct
services and that's really what a lot of these calls
would need. They would need like case management. They needed
somebody to really dive deep into figuring out more about
the situation, what was needed, what was tried, what the
resources were, all the things that were not necessarily allowed
to do with the board, but I couldn't. Normally, what
(16:48):
WI would do is hand them off to somebody at
one of our agencies that does that direct work. But
I didn't feel like we had somebody that could really
do that because not most of the time most of
these calls, these weren't for individuals that necessarily had a
mental health issue per se. They were just struggling. They
were frustrated, and I think their anxiety was increasing because
(17:12):
they weren't sure where to go or how to get
help for their friend or their loved one. But they
weren't somebody that I necessarily thought needed to be a
client at our agencies or get a diagnostic label, right,
they were just struggling. If they didn't get help, I
think they would have increasingly got more and more distressed
and maybe would have ended up in crisis. Like in
the r SO, we saw the creation of the Community
(17:35):
Resource and Referral as a prevention approach, and Catholic Charities
really got this because they do a lot of prevention
type programming. So the thinking here is when somebody in
the community they just they don't know where to go
for help. And it could be any kind of help.
It could be housing, it could be food, it could
be primary medical health, it could be behavioral health services,
(17:55):
it could be any kind of helps. They just need
somebody that knows the community like the back of their
hand to say, oh, you know, if that kind of helped,
you know, the best agency to provide help in that
area is this agency. The best agency can support you
in this area would be that, you know, So they
really are that resource and referral hub person. So it's
(18:15):
not just behavioral health, it's just all kinds of things
that can stress somebody out.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Absolutely, I think those things so basic needs, food, shelter, clothing, supports, Right,
if you don't have those over a period of time,
it's going to affect your mental health absolutely, and so
I really do think it is prevention.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah, and that was absolutely the thinking of our board.
Why should we not try to get ahead of this
and help people stay out of a system that they
really don't need. If they get those other things, we
would never see them, but we might see them in
crisis because, as you say, doctor, actually they didn't get
some of these basic needs met. So that's not necessarily
a treatment program obviously, and in fact, we don't want
(18:55):
it to be, you know, we wanted it to be preventioned.
So Catholic Charities understood this. Denise is the current resource
and referral person there and this is this is the
agency and Catholic Charities again, I'll put this in the
episode description four one nine two eight nine one nine
oh three. Catholic Charities in Denise the resource and referral person.
(19:18):
We read her reports on a regular basis over the
years and you can just see how many folks she's
able to help. And the vast majority of those folks
don't end up necessarily going to one of our agencies
or any agency for behavioral health help. But she does
connect them with all the other kinds of resources and
agencies in the community and it really helps them stabilize
(19:40):
their life situation.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Absolutely, she knows a lot about what's happening in Ashland County.
I love talking to her because I always learned something.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
So always and she's constantly talking to new folks. She's
at a lot of the meetings here in town to
make sure she knows who's here. Because things are right, people,
there's new organizations coming in, go in. So part of
Denise's job is just to stay current on what's available.
And that's what's so frustrating. So people, you know, maybe
(20:07):
they pick up a flyer that was maybe printed six
months ago or three months ago, they call the number
that kind of aligns with what they need, and that
agency no longer exists, yeah, or the person's gone. Things
can change quickly, So that's why you need a live
person who's scanning the environment trying to figure out, okay,
who's here, who's doing what, what's changed? You know, are
(20:29):
the eligibility requirements different? You know, do they move their
offices all these kinds of things. And Denise is wonderful
and she's so energetic and helpful to the folks that
call in. So that's the community resource and referral position
at Catholic Charities. In Denise's is that worker's name. So well,
there you have it. You've got you've got three programs wanted.
(20:50):
A CATA recovery housing one at Apples Hospital Liaison program
and one at Catholic Charities, a community resource and referral.
What do you think about all that.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
That's a lot of good stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I'll tell you it is an and that's the street.
We've got forty seven more to go.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, it's going to be a long podcast post.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Well, audience, do not fret. We are not going to
do the other forty seven programs over time, though, Doctor
Ashley and I will try to remind you of some
of the things and maybe if you didn't hear about
these things for the first time, educate you on some
of the resources that are provided by our Mental Health
and Recovery Board. And again the board contracts with agencies
(21:25):
were not allowed to do the work directly. The direct
work at the board, if you will, Doctor Ashley, is
understanding the community needs and finding the best providers and
services and programs to meet those needs, and we do
that through our contract partners Apple c Catholic Charities and
a KATA. Well, Doctor Ashley, if there is any parting
words for the audience, now is the time you always
(21:48):
say something really profound at the end of the podcast.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I don't know about profound, but thank you all so
much for your support and for listening.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Thank you for listening, Thank you for listening to another
episode of the Keeping National and Healthy podcast. The podcast
is a production of the Mental Health and Recovery Board
of Ashland County, Ohio. You can reach the Board by
calling four one nine two eight one three one three nine.
Please remember that the Board funds a local twenty four
to seven crisis line through Applesea Community Mental Health Center.
(22:14):
It can be reached by calling four one nine two
eight nine sixty one one one. That's four one nine
two eight nine sixty one one one. Until next time,
Please join us in keeping Ashland Healthy.
Welcome. You're listening to the Keeping Ashland Healthy Podcast, a
podcast production of the Mental Health and Recovery Board of
Ashland County, Ohio. Thanks for joining us, and welcome back
to another episode of the Keeping Ashland Healthy Podcast. On
today's episode, Doctor Ashley and I discussed three great programs
(00:24):
of the Mental Health and Recovery Board and we wanted
to cover recovery, housing, hospital, liaison services in our community,
resource and referral. Hopefully folks will either learn a little
bit about something they did not know or learn more
about something maybe they had heard of in today's episode. Regardless,
(00:44):
I hope that our audience has a better understanding of
how to use these resources that are a real advantage
to the community. Thank you for listening. Well, good morning,
doctor Ashley. How are you doing this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I'm doing great. How are you doing this morning?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Well question, yeah, that is the question. I'm doing well,
Doctor Ashley. We appreciate you joining us audience for another
edition of Keeping National and Healthy. Today. I'm excited, Doctor Ashley.
We are going to talk about some of the programs
and services that the Board funds. Yeah, you know, you
know a lot of people don't know that we have
(01:23):
just about fifty programs and services.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I would say most people don't know that that is
a lot of programs for viruces for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So you know, we're not going to talk about all
fifty today, doctor Ashley. We could, we could, that would
be a long, long podcast, But we do want to
begin to discuss and educate the public that these services
exist and just a high level view of how they exist,
you know, for the purposes of access general education. My
(01:54):
hope is that if folks hear about something that they
weren't aware of before, that they could either call the
agency or call the Board to get additional information for
either themselves or a loved one. So the whole idea is, yes,
what are the types of programs and services that are
funded by the board and how could somebody access those
if they were at all interested? So you ready to
(02:15):
dive in?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I'm ready, yep, okayks to it.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Well, our first program is through a CATA. So again
the Board contracts with three agencies here locally in Ashton County,
a Cada apple Seed in Catholic Charities. This first program
is at a CATA and it's called recovery housing.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yes, what's recovery housing?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, I'm glad to ask that, Bak Ashley. So the
idea sometimes ow when an individual is in recovery from substances,
there's a lot of things going on where the person is. Yes,
they're getting treatment services, individual group services, sometimes medication assisted
treatment if the issue was opioids. But as you might
(02:59):
imagine and doctor Ashley again, we're both therapists. When we
work with individuals in recovery, all aspects of their life
sometimes needed to be rebuilt. So sometimes there were financial issues,
sometimes there were legal issues, relationship issues definitely, but another
big area had to do with housing and where are
(03:20):
they going to live while they're in this recovery process.
So some years ago the board began talking with a
director at that of a CADA at that time about
developing recovery houses, which was basically a place temporary, short
term housing for individuals that were in recovery that didn't
have a place immediately to go and live. But we
(03:43):
wrapped services at the house and around the house. It
created an environment within the house of two to three
different people that are in that same stage of recovery
that all understood that this was an opportunity for them
to continue to work on the recovery, all the treatments,
all the self help, but have a safe place to live,
(04:05):
begin work again, start to save money, with the idea
being at a point in the future and hopefully not
too distant future, they would be able to move out
of the recovery house into more of a permanent placement. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I think that's great. It's like a transition sort of.
So they're going from a place of you know, using,
and then they have this kind of step down to
like they're in recovery and they're out of that system though,
but they're still being supported, so they're not just back
thrown into the world doing it on their own exactly.
So I like that it's kind of transition space for them.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, and I like it because it's it's incremental. So
one of the things we've heard a lot about is
when somebody is in recovery and they're dealing with so
many things all at the same time, it's overwhelming and
it makes relapse and failure more likely. So, for instance,
if you're trying to work out all your relationship issues,
(04:58):
you're trying to stay clean and st over, you're trying
to find a job, keep a job, do well at
a job, also secure you know, housing and food, and
deal with legal challenges, deal with if you have a
spouse or boyfriend, girlfriend or kids. All those things they're
trying to juggle simultaneously, so it can be overwhelming and
it can be i think a trigger for a slip
(05:22):
or relapse. So you know, allowing more of a safe
space to land with the housing, I think can allow
them to focus on some of those other areas.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Absolutely, And also to add to that, when you're when
you're using substances, the environment has a lot of triggers
and queues in itself, right, So being in that same
environment can be triggering. And if you're trying to stay
you know, clean and sober not using, it can be
harder in that old environment. So it provides a new space.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up, because there's no
use at the houses, so they maintain in their sobriety
when they're in the houses, in that peer that recovery environment,
there's a and again the current director at AKADA is
Rick Ford, and he's got Laurie who's a peer recovery
supporter who she's in that house. She's working with folks
(06:15):
individually and in groups, and that's she really creates, I think,
a great environment for recovery to happen. Laurie's great, Yeah
she is so. Again, this program at a KADA four one, nine, two, eight, nine, seven,
six seven five is a Catas number and we'll put
all this in the episode description, but this would be
so if you're listening, either yourself or you know somebody.
(06:37):
If the person is serious about the recovery, they are
engaged with treatment services at a CADA. And again this
would be primarily for folks that are engaged with treatment
at a kedah. They could be involved with other services too,
but I think a kada has to be one of
the people they're involved with. Because a kida owns the
houses and operates the houses. You want to give them
(06:58):
a call talk to rick Ford Kada about you know,
does this make sense for me? Again, it's short term.
The rents, how much is paid, can be as low
as zero, so they work on that. So they want
the person to be successful. And we know that safe
housing is a key part of recovery and folks need
(07:20):
the help. And I think we've seen we've been doing
these for about three or four years and they've seen
quite a bit of success. I won't I won't say
that everybody comes in, you know, gets out of the
house and is successful, but by and large, most of
the folks that are going through this recovery house program
is successful in their recovery. Yeah, that's great, So talk
(07:41):
with mister Ford. I think folks, it's one of those
things that a lot of people don't know about, but
it's a critical part for a lot of people in
their recovery. So Recovery Housing through CATA our second service
and program that the board funds that I wanted to spotlight.
Doctor Ashley is over at apple Seed again. Apple Seed
(08:02):
is one of our largest contract partners, and they have
a program and a person that we call the hospital liaison.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah that's a fancy name, right, sounds fancy.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, So let me explain this to the audience a
little bit and hopefully they can see why this is
such a critical position. So crisis services, So if you
were a loved one is experience what we call a
psychiatric or emotional crisis. Again, this is usually when the
person not always feeling like they want to harm themselves
or somebody else, but they just they're very out of
(08:37):
sorts that they're not sure, you know, that they can function,
they can live in their own house, they can interact
and go to work, all the things that they want
to do. They're just struggling in the.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Moment, struggling to cope with something.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And again I'm a little bit I don't want to
be too specific because everybody defines crisis a little bit differently.
And the hospital liaison, we wanted somebody in charge of
crisis services in our county that could kind of, you know,
oversee it all the whole process. Not only does this
person engage with persons that are in crisis, but she
(09:14):
also oversees the workers that are doing crisis services. So
it's good to have somebody that kind of oversees and
supervises all the crisis services that the individuals are receiving.
But then also doctor Ashley, where do people go? So
sometimes we've talked about hospitals, you know where somebody who
might be struggling in crisis needs to go to either
(09:35):
the state hospital in Masslin or private psychiatric hospital. They
could go as to somewhere like oh Ohio Hospital over
in Mansfield. That's probably the closest private or hospital based
and we wanted to make sure we had somebody that
was coordinating with all those different hospital systems the workers
(09:56):
there to make sure that folks are treated well. So
if you're from Ashen County and you do need to
go to one of those places, whether it's a state
or a private hospital, that the services you receive are
quality services, good services, helpful services. So we really wanted
to have somebody who could monitor all that could actually
talk to you or your family members about your experience
(10:18):
to make sure and if there were issues that she
could take those back to that hospital to talk those
through to see if we can't make any improvements.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, it's great that she's like communicating and helping. I
mean when people are going into the hospital, when they're
coming back out, I think it's a really helpful, really
helpful position.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
So yeah, I agree, And again we've had instances just
so the audience knows where in her name's Pam right now,
Pam is our hospital leities. And if Pam doesn't feel
like our folks are getting the right kind of care,
we just don't admit there, you know, So we take
that off our list until they get their act together.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Yeah, because we want people to have the best care that.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
They can, right. Yeah, one of the standards is, you know, listen,
if I wouldn't go there or my mom or my relative,
if I wouldn't put a family or friend or recommend
it to a family or friend, why would I recommend it?
So that's kind of our standard, and I think that
makes sense to folks. We want to do our best
to make sure that the services were recommended. Referring individuals
(11:20):
to our quality, you're going to get help, respectful help,
timely help, efficient help, et cetera. So the hospital liaison
kind of stands above all the crisis services, coordinates with
all these professionals at the different hospitals. Some of the
other important things. We don't talk about it a lot
because it hasn't because of a lot of circumstances, that
(11:42):
hasn't been such an issue. But the hospital liaison works
on discharge planning, right, And what I mean by that is,
so if the person's in crisis and it seems like
a hospital placement would be a good idea, in usually
apples will facilitate that indmission. Well, the hospital liaison is
working to make sure that the person doesn't stay there
(12:04):
too long or too short, and I say too short
because doctor Ashley, as you know, because we've got such
capacity issues in Ohio right now, more often than not
now people are being discharged quicker than maybe they should be,
just because they are at such capacity. There's such demand
for the limited number of beds that we have in
(12:26):
Ohio that folks sometimes they're not getting a whole lot
of help before they're discharged. So we want to make
sure that the person isn't kept for too long, which
used to be a problem years ago. But on the
flip side, we want to make sure that they're not
discharged like immediately.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Right, Yeah, that it's actually helpful for that that's actually helpful,
so that's great.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That's another thing Pam does is she monitors what we
call length of stay, so the length of time somebody
is actually in the hospital setting. So in addition to
coordinating the care, you know, just that length of stay,
making sure that any changes with medications, other changes that
might have curred or started, that that gets communicated back
to whoever's going to follow up. Because if somebody is
(13:06):
going to go to a hospital, whether it's private or
the state, we want to make sure that there's a
plan when the person comes back to the community to
follow up to make sure that that person gets the support,
the skills, tools, whatever they need to be successful. Because
you and I trained on QPR all the time, and
one of the things we say is most folks that
maybe are feeling suicidal, that's a once in a lifetime
(13:28):
kind of situation for most folks. We rally, we get
all the supports around that person that we can't and
usually that that's a one time event for that person.
You know, they're going through a particularly challenging time and
don't feel like their coping skills we're sufficient, you know,
and they might think about harming themselves, you know, because
they just don't can't see the other options that are available.
(13:50):
So but once they get that support, you know, folks
going forward don't usually end up in that same place.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, So that after care is important, so you know,
going forward, to have the support they need and it
doesn't end up like they're back in this cycle of
going to the hospital, right, you're actually resolving something exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah, And you know that, you know, individuals that are
going to the hospitals, you know more than once in
say a thirty or sixty or even ninety day period
that would rise to the attention of the hospital liaison.
What that would tell her and us If somebody is
returning to the hospital again and again, that would tell
(14:27):
us we're we are failing that person and their family
in some major way. So we need to get to
the bottom of that. Absolutely, I can tell you the
good news doctor. Actually, since we implemented the hospital liaison,
and this goes back several years, we've really cut that
to a minimum. It's very rare that somebody goes multiple
admissions to a hospital in Ashley County, and I wanted
(14:48):
the audience to know that if that were to happen again,
that's not the person's failure, that's our failure as a system.
If we're we're we're missing something.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Obviously, I will say that is unique to some other counties,
like so Ashland County has this program and we see
lower numbers of crisis admission here, and I think it's
because of the work that the board has done over
the years. But other counties I've worked in it's not
necessarily that way, and there is that cycle. So I think,
I mean, I'm really thankful that we have that here.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah, agreed, Trias so that's the hospital Liaison program that
is offered through Appleseed. Again, most folks that receive services
in the county, you know, never end up in the
crisis realm, but if they do, ask for the hospital liaison.
Her name is Pam. She's great, she is wonderful. Last,
but not least, on our listing of three wonderful programs
(15:42):
that the Board funds is a program through Catholic Charities
called the Community Resource and Referral Program. And I'll tell
you doctor Ashley, the history on this one. Again. All
these programs have been around for years and they are
really effective. That's why the Board continues to fund them.
The Resource and Referral the genesis of this program, and
it's kind of a funny story, So bear with me, audience.
(16:04):
You know, occasionally, you know, I would say five or
six times per year, I would get calls from members
in the community about impossible situations, individuals that weren't necessarily
involved with our system, but they had such challenging circumstances
going on in their life that I didn't know where
to start. And you know, a lot of people don't
(16:27):
know this, but the boards aren't allowed to provide direct
services and that's really what a lot of these calls
would need. They would need like case management. They needed
somebody to really dive deep into figuring out more about
the situation, what was needed, what was tried, what the
resources were, all the things that were not necessarily allowed
to do with the board, but I couldn't. Normally, what
(16:48):
WI would do is hand them off to somebody at
one of our agencies that does that direct work. But
I didn't feel like we had somebody that could really
do that because not most of the time most of
these calls, these weren't for individuals that necessarily had a
mental health issue per se. They were just struggling. They
were frustrated, and I think their anxiety was increasing because
(17:12):
they weren't sure where to go or how to get
help for their friend or their loved one. But they
weren't somebody that I necessarily thought needed to be a
client at our agencies or get a diagnostic label, right,
they were just struggling. If they didn't get help, I
think they would have increasingly got more and more distressed
and maybe would have ended up in crisis. Like in
the r SO, we saw the creation of the Community
(17:35):
Resource and Referral as a prevention approach, and Catholic Charities
really got this because they do a lot of prevention
type programming. So the thinking here is when somebody in
the community they just they don't know where to go
for help. And it could be any kind of help.
It could be housing, it could be food, it could
be primary medical health, it could be behavioral health services,
(17:55):
it could be any kind of helps. They just need
somebody that knows the community like the back of their
hand to say, oh, you know, if that kind of helped,
you know, the best agency to provide help in that
area is this agency. The best agency can support you
in this area would be that, you know, So they
really are that resource and referral hub person. So it's
(18:15):
not just behavioral health, it's just all kinds of things
that can stress somebody out.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Absolutely, I think those things so basic needs, food, shelter, clothing, supports, Right,
if you don't have those over a period of time,
it's going to affect your mental health absolutely, and so
I really do think it is prevention.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah, and that was absolutely the thinking of our board.
Why should we not try to get ahead of this
and help people stay out of a system that they
really don't need. If they get those other things, we
would never see them, but we might see them in
crisis because, as you say, doctor, actually they didn't get
some of these basic needs met. So that's not necessarily
a treatment program obviously, and in fact, we don't want
(18:55):
it to be, you know, we wanted it to be preventioned.
So Catholic Charities understood this. Denise is the current resource
and referral person there and this is this is the
agency and Catholic Charities again, I'll put this in the
episode description four one nine two eight nine one nine
oh three. Catholic Charities in Denise the resource and referral person.
(19:18):
We read her reports on a regular basis over the
years and you can just see how many folks she's
able to help. And the vast majority of those folks
don't end up necessarily going to one of our agencies
or any agency for behavioral health help. But she does
connect them with all the other kinds of resources and
agencies in the community and it really helps them stabilize
(19:40):
their life situation.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Absolutely, she knows a lot about what's happening in Ashland County.
I love talking to her because I always learned something.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
So always and she's constantly talking to new folks. She's
at a lot of the meetings here in town to
make sure she knows who's here. Because things are right, people,
there's new organizations coming in, go in. So part of
Denise's job is just to stay current on what's available.
And that's what's so frustrating. So people, you know, maybe
(20:07):
they pick up a flyer that was maybe printed six
months ago or three months ago, they call the number
that kind of aligns with what they need, and that
agency no longer exists, yeah, or the person's gone. Things
can change quickly, So that's why you need a live
person who's scanning the environment trying to figure out, okay,
who's here, who's doing what, what's changed? You know, are
(20:29):
the eligibility requirements different? You know, do they move their
offices all these kinds of things. And Denise is wonderful
and she's so energetic and helpful to the folks that
call in. So that's the community resource and referral position
at Catholic Charities. In Denise's is that worker's name. So well,
there you have it. You've got you've got three programs wanted.
(20:50):
A CATA recovery housing one at Apples Hospital Liaison program
and one at Catholic Charities, a community resource and referral.
What do you think about all that.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
That's a lot of good stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I'll tell you it is an and that's the street.
We've got forty seven more to go.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, it's going to be a long podcast post.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Well, audience, do not fret. We are not going to
do the other forty seven programs over time, though, Doctor
Ashley and I will try to remind you of some
of the things and maybe if you didn't hear about
these things for the first time, educate you on some
of the resources that are provided by our Mental Health
and Recovery Board. And again the board contracts with agencies
(21:25):
were not allowed to do the work directly. The direct
work at the board, if you will, Doctor Ashley, is
understanding the community needs and finding the best providers and
services and programs to meet those needs, and we do
that through our contract partners Apple c Catholic Charities and
a KATA. Well, Doctor Ashley, if there is any parting
words for the audience, now is the time you always
(21:48):
say something really profound at the end of the podcast.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I don't know about profound, but thank you all so
much for your support and for listening.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Thank you for listening, Thank you for listening to another
episode of the Keeping National and Healthy podcast. The podcast
is a production of the Mental Health and Recovery Board
of Ashland County, Ohio. You can reach the Board by
calling four one nine two eight one three one three nine.
Please remember that the Board funds a local twenty four
to seven crisis line through Applesea Community Mental Health Center.
(22:14):
It can be reached by calling four one nine two
eight nine sixty one one one. That's four one nine
two eight nine sixty one one one. Until next time,
Please join us in keeping Ashland Healthy.
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