The Service System Committee (SSC) is a multidisciplinary group addressing gaps in community services, as well as access to services. Collaborating on best practices for referrals, updates to openings and referral processes. Advocating for decreased barriers and increased access.

The April meeting of the Service System Committee will be a special open meeting hosting a Behavioral Health Resource Review that invites referral sources, resource mappers, and providers to collaborate on improving service delivery and access in our community.

Committee Chairs:

Erin Tucker, DBHDS

Shelly Wood, The Women’s Initiative

RSVP Link: https://forms.gle/6BXHL6Y7DUNVqvKQA

Shareable Flyer Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFBMXzbXRbiP6QoqKxNgdUPgOkqd91Ty/view?usp=drive_link

The Opioid Stakeholder Committee (OSC) is a multidisciplinary group addressing the growing opioid and stimulant misuse crisis in our community. We recognize that substance misuse is a complex community problem that requires a coordinated community response, and must include strategies in health systems, legislation, behavioral health, education, criminal justice, and communities. The OSC uses the evidence-based Strategic Prevention Framework to carry out its work, an approach that leverages local coalitions to address prevention, treatment, and recovery needs to address substance misuse.

Committee Chairs:

Virginia Leavell, Albemarle County Human Services Alternative Response Team

Wendy Carlton, UVA Office of Pain Management & Opioid Stewardship

REVIVE! is a free virtual training to learn how to administer and acquire naloxone.

Region Ten is now offering virtual REVIVE training classes monthly. The FREE training helps friends, family members, and other responders to learn to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose. Free Narcan is available to participants who want it after completing the course.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJRgZHC-tTresuA3NOU8XiPHQpbhH6pRX8JOumjNpdipLflg/viewform?usp=sharing

The Community Resilience Initiative (CRI) has developed courses to teach parents, schools, medical professionals, mental health practitioners, and any community member interested in learning more about toxic stress and how individuals and communities build resilience across the lifespan.

CRI Course 1: Trauma-Informed is a 6-hour course that covers NEAR Science (Neuroscience, Epigenetics, ACE Study, Resilience), Brain States, and ROLES strategies for individuals seeking a trauma-informed certification.

This training will be held in person at Region Ten at 500 Old Lynchburg Road, Charlottesville, VA  22903 in the 500A conference room.

For questions, please email prevention@regionten.org.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpYIiLJTBQxMReWXd_5fyCJb_qn7fLrhrBjXdJDtUwt2tZuA/viewform?usp=sharing

*You must complete CRI Course 1 in order to take Course 2.

This free training provides an introduction to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) study. You will learn about how early adversity as a child can affect one throughout their life and steps we can take towards addressing the trauma and creating safe environments and relationships. Understanding ACE’s will help support the work and relationships you have with others.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsciFhETEL9llg8bJhhhk7km2nHHMZr7VaWnVEwVWcnheUbQ/viewform

From Surviving to Thriving: Equipping Your Community to Heal

This workshop, presented by the Community Mental Health and Wellness Coalition, will provide participants with valuable skills to aid in community recovery following a disaster or traumatic event. Participants will be introduced to three evidence-informed interventions:  

• Psychological First Aid (PFA): An approach that helps people of all ages in the immediate aftermath of a disaster or traumatic event, reducing distress and promoting coping.  

• Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR): A modular intervention that aims to help survivors gain skills to manage distress and cope with post-disaster stress and adversity.  

• Stress First Aid (SFA): An intervention that aims to help survivors gain skills to manage distress in the weeks, months, and years following a traumatic community event.  

The workshop will cover the major principles of PFA, SPR, and SFA, discuss their application in supporting response teams, and provide opportunities to apply PFA/SFA assessment strategies to community recovery needs in trauma event scenarios.  

Facilitator:  Dr. Richard Westphal is a professor at the University of Virginia School of Nursing. He was the leader of the Stress First Aid (SFA) development team and a co-author with Dr. Patricia Watson in developing the Stress First Aid Training Manual for the National Fallen Fire-Fighters Foundation. Dr. Westphal has extensive experience in supporting and training first responders and mental health professionals to assess, engage, and support each other and the community amid high-stress life experiences.

Register here, spots are limited: https://forms.gle/nyLD4ixzy3yJX4j88

Shareable flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SBQqyh6BxPnu02Wt4VXWQ_VimgpOmr5q/view?usp=drive_link

The Coalition’s Anti-racism, Racial Awareness, and Intersectionality through Sensitivity and Equity (ARISE) Committee works to address interpersonal, institutional, and systemic racism in the behavioral health system.

ARISE promotes cross-racial conversations and offers training and tools to help local behavioral health staff and organizations integrate anti-racist values and practices into their work. Over 300 area providers have participated in ARISE-sponsored training since the committee’s founding in 2019!

Committee Chairs:

Gene Cash, Counseling Alliance of Virginia

Elizabeth Irvin, The Women’s Initiative

Full Coalition meetings are open to anyone interested in hearing more about the Coalition’s mission and opportunities to collaborate in the promotion of our community’s mental health and wellness.

Navigating Trauma, Fostering Hope: Lived Experiences in Behavioral Health Crisis Care.

The meeting will feature a panel discussion involving folks who have experience with crisis stabilization services, personally and professionally.

For additional meeting details, consider signing up for our mailing list.