Community Partners Board launches a new behavioral health collaborative, HealthyMINDS, focused on improving health outcomes from birth to 18 years of age.
This summer, grant funders and other community stakeholders invited Buffalo County Community Partners Board to develop new coalitions for early childhood behavioral health, suicide prevention and school mental health. Community Partner’s Board asked key community stakeholders to join together as a behavioral health advisory board to review and report recommendations back to the board to meet these emerging community needs.
The behavioral health Advisory Board members include: Beth Baxter, Region 3 Behavioral Health Services; Carol Renner, Kearney Public School; Dr. Ken Shaffer, UniNet; Kathleen Cranley Gallagher, UNK; Michelle Hansen, CHI Health; Nikki Gausman, SAFE Center; Shawn Eatherton, Buffalo County Attorney; and Wendy Schardt, UNK. After meeting, the Advisory Board recommended Community Partners develop a new collaborative to tackle the behavioral health issues.
This new collaborative was recently named HealthyMINDS. Funding for the new collaborative has been awarded by CHI Mission and Ministry Grant Funds for Violence Prevention and Behavioral Health as well as funding from the Nebraska Children and Family Foundation to start a Rooted in Relationships coalition.
Community Partner substance abuse prevention coordinator, Tana Miller was promoted to the Behavioral Health Collaborative Coordinator, supporting the work of the HealthyMINDS Collaborative. Tana will be working with grant funders and community members to enhance behavioral health systems in the community.
Miller comes to this position having led successful substance abuse coalition, Positive Pressure, over the past three years as a part of Community Partners. With support of the coalition she secured a five-year federal grant award of $625,000 to reduce youth substance abuse and gathered partners together to form the Be Safe Be Smart Task Force to curb unwanted behaviors during annual cruise night activities.
Community Partners has also contracted with Jesica Vickers, licensed mental health practitioner, to facilitate the work of HealthyMINDS. Jesica will assist in the development of community processes to launch the new HealthyMINDS Collaborative. Vickers is the director, owner, and mental health practitioner at Center for Psychological Services. She has practitioner experience at Richard Young Hospital and the S.A.F.E. Center.
If interested in suicide prevention, contact Tana Miller at HealthyMINDS@bccchp.org or join as a volunteer at www.bcchp.org/volunteers. Rooted in Relationship meetings are held monthly to assess early childhood behavioral health needs and develop a coaching model and curriculum for licensed daycares.