Mental Health: Systems Transformation

OKLAHOMA

Grant Information

Name of Grantee

Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

Title of Grant

Oklahoma Evidence-Based Practices Implementation Project

Type of Grant

Mental Health: Systems Transformation

Amount of Grant

$299,820

Year Original Funding Received

2004

Contact Information

Terri White, Management Analyst
1200 NE 13th
PO Box 53277
Oklahoma City, OK 73152–3277
405–522–3841
tlwhite@odmhsas.org

Subcontractor(s)

Daniel Sorrells, Research Consultant
320 South Crawford
Norman, OK 73071

Target Population(s)

Adults with mental illness or substance abuse who are eligible to receive Medicaid or State-purchased services.

Goals

  • Develop policy and program framework for evidence-based practice.
  • Develop policy and program framework for Recovery Support Network.
  • Create Recovery Support Network.
  • Develop a collaborative relationship with the behavioral health provider community that supports the continuing implementation of recovery-oriented and evidence-based practices.

Activities

  • Identify clinical policies from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Implementation Toolkits.
  • Identify operational procedures for Recovery Support Specialists.
  • Create policy documents for the Medicaid and behavioral health State agencies.
  • Develop a credentialing process, training modules, and training materials for Recovery Support Specialists.
  • Train Recovery Support Specialists and administer and score credentialing exams.
  • Conduct follow-up visits with Recovery Support Specialists and their supervising behavioral health clinician.

Abstract

The Oklahoma Evidence-Based Practices Implementation Project is an extension of the Oklahoma Adult Outpatient Behavioral Health Collaborative. The Collaborative is sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS), which is the State Mental Health Authority, and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), the State Medicaid Agency. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services and the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitative Services also participate in activities of the Collaborative as needed.

The mission of the Collaborative is to implement modifications to the Oklahoma adult outpatient behavioral health delivery system that will enhance the quality of services provided, focus those services upon recovery and the needs of the consumer, and ensure that State and federally funded health care is purchased in the most efficient and comprehensive manner.

The Collaborative will implement two evidence-based practices—the Family Psycho-education Program and the Illness Management and Recovery Program. These initiatives fall within the purview of the Collaborative to implement the six evidence-based practices suggested by SAMHSA.

The Collaborative will use grant funding to add one full-time staff member at ODMHSAS and one full-time staff member at OHCA. These individuals will develop a statewide network of Recovery Support Specialists who will collaborate with the current network of behavioral health practitioners to form a multidisciplinary team that will serve as providers of Illness Management and Recovery Services and Family Psycho-education. The new staff members will develop policies, procedures, reimbursement strategies, credentialing standards, outcome measures, and provider contracts that will serve as the foundation for these two programs.

Network development and provider training activities will begin in late 2004 and will continue throughout 2005. It is anticipated that the practitioner training sessions conducted through the funding of this grant will continue developing a collaborative relationship with the behavioral health provider community that will serve as the foundation for this effort and the continued implementation of evidence-based practices in the future.