By adapting their businesses to rapidly changing condition, the area's mental health and addictions provider agencies have been able to meet the needs of clients and an anxious public during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mental health crisis services are available, within the limits imposed on admission to public places such as jails and hospitals. Persons experiencing a mental health crisis, generally defined as severe, debilitating symptoms of anxiety or depression, loss of reality, or suicidal thoughts, should call the 24\7 Tri-County Crisis Hotline at 800-351-7347.

Persons who may be experiencing a crisis but can't don't want to talk may use the national Crisis Text Line by texting "4hope" to 741741.

Persons concerned about suicidal thoughts may also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). Talking about suicide is often the best way to prevent a suicide attempt.

Persons who are anxious but not in crisis may call the HOPE Line operated by SaveHaven Inc. The warm line - as opposed to a hotline for emergencies - allows people to talk about their concerns with a trained operator. The HOPE Line can be reached at 937-451-3232 or toll free at 855-276-HOPE (4673). Hours are Monday through Friday 4-11PM, and Saturday and Sunday 4-8PM.

Recovery and Wellness Centers of Midwest Ohio in Tipp City and Greenville asks that new or existing clients not come to the facility unless requested to do so, but rather call the central scheduling number, 937-423-6356, and to check the website, recoveryandwellnessohio.org for updates and information.

RWC Executive Director Cynthia Wion said their transition to alternative methods of meeting clients has gone relatively smoothly given the suddenness of the pandemic restrictions. "We can start clients with a phone call, email them the consent forms and other documents, and get them started without having to meet face to face." She added that many of RWC's professional staff are able to work from home. 

Miami County Recovery Council in Troy requests that new and existing clients call the main number, 937-335-4543 ext 155, before coming to the office. More information and updates can be found at mcrcinc.org.

MCRC Executive Director Thom Grim said, "We are still here for people. We are being careful for staff who are on the front lines, but we are still providing services for those who need them." Grim said MCRC is mostly providing telephone and telehealth services when possible for the safety of clients and staff. He added that group therapy, which has been temporarily suspended due to restrictions on the size of gatherings, will soon resume through an online format.

At Family Resource Centers of Northwest Ohio's Sidney office, clinical services via telephone and video will be available soon, according to a notice posted to the organization's website by CEO John Bindas. Persons seeking services should call first at the Sidney office number, 937-710-4616, or FRC's hotline 888-936-7116. Additional information can be found at frcohio.com.

At Safehaven's three locations in Piqua, Greenville and Sidney, staff is available by phone and online, but on-site activities have been curtailed. Executive Director Doug Metcalfe, in statement circulated Wednesday, stated that while SafeHaven is unable to open to members, they are adapting services to provide meals to current members along with activities and online group meetings. Online support sessions will take place at 11:30AM, 1:00PM and 2:30PM, and will be site-specific.

SafeHaven staff is making daily outreach and wellness calls to members, and welcomes incoming calls for peer support in addition to the HOPE Line services. Payeeship services continue, except that appointments will be by phone only. For a complete rundown of services available to SafeHaven members, go to safehaveninc.com.

The Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services has been closely monitoring updates from the Governor's office and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to help provide guidance to local providers of services.

For example, existing Medicaid rules do not allow agencies to bill for counseling services by telephone. However, once the scope of the pandemic became apparent, the Governor's office and OhioMHAS expressed a strong inclination toward services by phone. Tri-County Board Executive Director Terri Becker communicated to the provider agencies that, pending changes in Medicaid billing rules, the Board would use local mental health levy dollars within existing contracts to enable agencies to start providing services by phone as soon as they are ready to do so.

Tri-County Board staff are transitioning to work from home as much as possible. The Board office remains open for business but no members of the public are permitted into the office, in compliance with a directive from Miami County officials. Persons wishing to contact the Board office are requested to call 937-335-7727 and press 7 for a staff directory. More resources and information can be found at the Board's website www.tcbmds.org.

​In response to state and federal mandates and guidelines regarding COVID-19, SafeHaven will TEMPORARILY alter its delivery of services to those in need of mental health support.  Beginning Wednesday, March 18, 2020, SafeHaven sites in Darke, Miami, and Shelby Counties will not be open for members or other individuals in need of mental health support to attend.  Instead, in our mission to still provide caring services in this time of caution, SafeHaven and our committed staff will offer the following for each county until further notice:
 

• SafeHaven will cook and deliver meals to each current member requesting lunch each open day.  Delivered meals will also include worksheets from our library of evidence-based wellness groups (for discussion via phone and online group), an activity, and a quote of hope.
• SafeHaven will make daily outreach and wellness calls to our membership.  SafeHaven staff will also welcome incoming calls offering peer support and caring in addition to regular HOPE-Line hours and services.
• SafeHaven will go Live from each county site multiple times daily with private Facebook groups and/or Zoom support meetings that feature evidence-based classes, support groups, and virtual social time.
• Organizational Payeeship services will continue with no changes to the security of all bills being paid.  The only adjustments will be that all appointments will be via telephone, and all checks will be mailed.
• HOPE-Line services will continue with no changes.

 
Further Details:

• Free Lunch requests will work in the same fashion as members previously calling for transportation.  Members should call by 9am each morning to be included in the daily meal delivery. 
  • Meals will be placed at the door of the requesting member residence between approximately 11:15am and 1:00pm, depending on the number of meals per county.  Delivery drivers will call shortly in advance of dropoff for more exact times.  (No face-to face delivery.)
  • For Darke County members:  937.548.7233.  For Miami County members:  937.615.0126.  For Shelby County members:  937.658.6930. 
  • A few additional lunches may be available daily for delivery to adult individuals in Darke, Miami, or Shelby Counties that are not yet SafeHaven members, with confirmation required that those individuals receive clinical mental health services.
  • Lunches will be basic part of this week until we receive required delivery supplies to keep meals hot and fresh.
• Confidential Facebook Live groups and Zoom meetings, for members with available technology, will be set up by controlled technological invitation only.  Interested current members may request invitation, or other interested adults receiving clinical services may request invitation and orientation by calling each site via the numbers listed above.  SafeHaven will be calling current membership to walk them through, if interested.  While building staff comprehension of using this technology, these live/online groups and meetings will slowly roll out Thursday, March 19th and expand for full utilization Monday, March 23rd. 

 
 
Please call our administrative line at 937.615.9534 with any questions during this TEMPORARY change.  Thank you for your understanding and support in this challenging time, and may God bless you and yours with health and peace.
 
 
Douglas Metcalfe
Executive Director:  SafeHaven, Inc.

Mark McDaniel, Executive Director of the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services, has announced he will retire effective June 30, 2019. He is the longest-serving Executive Director in the Board’s 50-year history.

At a special Board meeting in December, the Directors of the Tri-County Board voted to name Terri Becker as McDaniel’s successor, effective July 1, 2019. Becker is currently Associate Director and Chief Finance Officer. Becker has served with the Board for 32 years.

McDaniel has been Executive Director of the Tri-County Board for more than 20 years, having joined the Board August 3, 1998. He has more than 40 years in social services, both public and private, including a time as executive director of a substance abuse agency in Van Wert. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Indiana Weslyan University.

McDaniel was named Administrator of the Year in 2002 by the Ohio Advocates for Mental Health, and the Board Director of the Year in 2005 by NAMI Ohio.

​McDaniel will oversee the transition in day-to-day leadership throughout the balance of his tenure. He will also be working to close out public fundraising for the One Wellness Place building project, and overseeing the opening of the STAR House transitional housing facility in Shelby County.

Sixteen law enforcement officers from Darke, Miami and Shelby Counties completed the 14th Crisis Intervention Team Academy presented by the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services December 3-6 2018. The December Academy is the second of 2018, the first time the Tri-County Board has conducted two Academy classes in the same calendar year. To date 268 law enforcement professionals have been trained in CIT in the Tri-County Board service area.

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training is a nationally recognized program that teaches law enforcement safe and effective approaches to handling crisis incidents involving a mentally ill individual. The intensive 4-day training is  conducted under the instructional supervision of local CIT-trained police officers, mental health professionals, consumers, and family advocates and offers practical techniques for de-escalating crisis situations.

CIT Coordinator Kim McGuirk, Director of Clinical Services and Evaluation for the Tri-County Board, said, "CIT continues to be one of our most requested programs. Officers tell us they now feel better equipped to handle calls involving mental health crisis, and those of us involved with mental health services have a better understanding of what the law enforcement officers deal with in the field." McGuirk added that the Board is already receiving requests from departments to sign up officers for the April 2019 Academy. Information about the April 2019 Academy and a registration link are online at www.tcbmds.org/cit-academy.

The training is underwritten by the Tri-County Board's mental health levy, by grants from the Ohio chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness and NAMI of Darke, Miami and Shelby Counties, and by in-kind donations of food by local vendors.

The Tri-County Board also presents CIT companion courses and other training for mental health professionals, dispatchers, court personnel and other groups. For more information about the CIT Academy or companion courses, see the Tri-County Board's website at www.tcbmds.org/community.

Family Resource Center (FRC) is enhancing the array of mental health and addictions services available in Shelby County while it moves to its new location at 1101 N. Vandemark Road in Sidney, the current site of Shelby County Counseling Center.

FRC, which has been providing youth-oriented services out of its office on 2nd Avenue, will move current services to the Vandemark Road location in early August and expand its service array beginning in September. SCCC clients will continue to receive services from current SCCC staff and treatment providers in addition to having access to the expanded menu of services offered by FRC.

FRC will add a team of nurse practitioners, under the direction of Medical Director Dr. Richard Nockowitz, to its medical department beginning Sept.1. Dr. Nockowitz and his team are specialists in providing psychiatric care to children, youth and adults through telemedicine, which connects providers to clients via secure two-way video. Benefits of telemedicine include improved access to a wider array of services than can be provided in a physical location, cost effectiveness, improved quality of care, and meeting increasing patient demand.

Included in the full menu of services available to Shelby County residents will be: youth prevention programs, school navigators, intensive home-based services for families, comprehensive outpatient adult and youth mental health and addiction treatment, detox, crisis services, and expanded medication management services.

Mark McDaniel, Executive Director of the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services, pointed to the broad array of services brought to Shelby County by Family Resource Center. "The new and expanded services FRC brings to the Vandemark Road location helps the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services move closer to its strategic goal of establishing a Centralized Service Facility in Shelby County,” McDaniel said. “We expect FRC’s service array in Shelby County to continue to grow to meet the ever-changing needs of the community. The Tri-County Board welcomes this opportunity to ensure the most efficient and effective use of local mental health levy resources."

FRC Chief Executive Officer John Bindas said his recruitment of Dr. Nockowitz, a nationally-known lecturer on psychiatry and an expert in psychiatric diagnostics and psychopharmacology, “underscores our commitment to reshaping the scope and quality of services we want to deliver for the community.”
​
Bindas explained the mission of Family Resource Center is “to provide specialized behavioral health services to individuals, children and families in our multi-cultural communities in order to strengthen family life and promote personal growth through treatment that works.” He added, “The increasing need and demand for our services as well as the constantly changing health care industry will continue to present challenges and we will continue to adjust, always with quality client care as our central focus.”