Category: Hamilton Center, Inc. News

Hamilton Center, Inc. (HCI) held its 27^th Annual Sheriff Shootout on May 11^th at Rae Park in Terre Haute, IN. There were nearly 50 teams in attendance from the local and surrounding counties, seven of which were County Sheriffs’ teams. The top seven finishers were: Old National Bank, Andy Jones, IUOE Local 841, Terre Haute Boys & Girls Club, Vanderburgh County Sheriffs, Indiana Business Equipment, and Vermillion County Sheriffs respectively. Collectively, the event raised over $29,000 and will go towards Adolescent Addiction Services, for which the need for treatment is abundant.

Statistically, 75% of high school students have used addictive substances, including cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana or cocaine. While 46% of all high school students currently use addictive substances, 12% meet the clinical criteria for addiction. For Americans who meet the medical criteria for addiction, 90% started smoking, drinking or using other drugs before age 18. Other studies show that 1 in 4 Americans who began using any addictive substance before age 18 are addicted, compared to 1 in 25 who started using at age 21 or older.

With the money raised through the Sheriff Shootout, Hamilton Center, Inc. will begin to address this problem in its service areas. HCI knows that through offering quality treatment for these adolescents, the organization can begin to create impact, breaking the family cycle of addictions.  More importantly, HCI can impact the lives of these youth to give them a positive future.

Hamilton Center, Inc. is a regional behavioral health system in Central and West Central Indiana with corporate offices located in Terre Haute, IN. Services are provided to children, youth and adults, with specialized programs for expectant mothers, infants, and people who may be struggling with stress, life changes, or relationship issues as well as more serious problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, and serious mental illnesses.

For information on Hamilton Center Services call (800) 742-0787.

Hamilton Center, Inc. has qualified for and been designated as the first certified site for The Matrix Model in the State of Indiana.  This three year Certification with Excellence for the Matrix Model program is one of 17 sites in the United States, with the next closest certified sites being in Wisconsin and Tennessee.

Hamilton Center is now recognized nationally and internationally as a Certified Matrix Facility on the Matrix website.  This certification assures its referral sources and the State that the Matrix treatment program is delivered as it was designed to be delivered.  HCI now has membership in an elite supportive network with other certified programs, sharing information, innovations, support, and encouragement for others.  The Matrix Institute stated that Hamilton Center is a “stellar organization that …met fidelity to the Matrix Model with Excellence.”  HCI is proud to continue to provide excellent service to the communities served.

According to the Matrix website, the Matrix Model is a style of treatment designed to aid in recovery from stimulant substances like methamphetamine and cocaine. The method was created in the 1980s and has seen widespread success. The ability of the Matrix Model to bring together the most effective facets from the most effective styles makes it a successful treatment type for people new to recovery as well as those who have not found success previously.

Hamilton Center is a regional behavioral health system in Central and West Central Indiana with corporate offices located in Terre Haute, IN. Services are provided to children, youth and adults, with specialized programs for expectant mothers, infants, and people who may be struggling with stress, life changes, or relationship issues as well as more serious problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, and serious mental illnesses.

For information on Hamilton Center Services call (800) 742-0787.

Societal trends and lifestyle changes have altered how families access parenting support from their families, neighborhoods and communities. As concerned, involved citizens, we must also think about changing how we view parent support in our communities. We must change the way parents learn their job as parents. Instead of waiting for parents to fail, we must help parents learn how to teach, love and care for their children.

 

Infant mental health focuses on the social and emotional well-being of young children and their caregivers. Having a child can be both a welcome addition and a stressful time of family transition. All parents have common questions about their child’s development. Recent findings suggest that 1 in 3 parents have very little understanding of their new infant. Additionally, parent survey results routinely indicate that it is more normal to not know how to comfort a crying baby or respond to a two year olds’ temper tantrum, than to know how to.

 

Today, we have more information than ever before about what young children need to grow up happy, healthy and ready to learn. We have greater understanding of what an infant mental health (or relationship focused) approach looks like when supporting parents in enhancing their child’s health and development. We know that for children to thrive, they must know that their parents or other significant adults in their lives love them unconditionally. So what can we do?

 

5 Great Ways to Take Care of Your Child:

1. Take good care of yourself. When you stay healthy, you can help your child stay healthy, too.
2. Take your child for regular health care “check-ups”, even when they’re not sick. These offer an opportunity for children to have an exam, receive vaccinations and you can ask your questions.
3. Play with your child. Babies and young children are learning all the time – from you, and from everything, they see, hear and touch.
4. Do all you can to keep your child safe. This includes physical safety at home, in the car and out in your community. Safety also includes emotional well-being and promoting your child’s self-esteem. Respond quickly to your crying baby, talk to your young child with respectful words and follow through with action. Tell your child every day that you love him or her.
5. Be present and purposeful. It only takes a minute. Smile, laugh and have fun with your baby or young child each day.

 

For additional support, call 812-231-8362 or 812-231-8436. Infant and Toddler Services at Hamilton Center, Inc. Healthy Families and Early Head Start are available to families with children age birth to 3 years. Enrollment is free, voluntary, and available in your home for qualifying families. Services focus on supporting parents during stressful times, promoting healthy child development and creating a safe home environment.

April 6, 2018, Terre Haute IN – Governor Holcomb and State Legislators met at St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis today to sign three mental health bills into law : HB1007 – Mental Health Access, SB 139 – Investigation of Overdose Deaths, and SB 221 – INSPECT Program.

HB1007 – Mental Health Access, authored by Representative Cindy Kirchhofer, requires the office of Medicaid policy and planning to implement a centralized credentials verification organization and credentialing process. It allows the division of mental health and addiction (division) to grant approval for nine additional opioid treatment programs that: (1) are operated by a hospital; and (2) meet other specified requirements; if the division determines that there is a need for the program in the proposed location.

SB 139 – Investigation of Overdose Deaths, authored by Senator James Merritt, Senator Ed Charbonneau, and Senator John Ruckelshaus, requires the county coroner to meet specified requirements if he or she reasonably suspects the cause of a person’s death to be accidental or intentional overdose of a controlled substance.

SB 221 – INSPECT Program, authored by Senator Erin Houchin, Senator Ed Charbonneau, and Senator Joseph Zakas, allows a dispenser of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or a controlled substance to transmit certain information to the INSPECT program by any electronic method that meets specifications prescribed by the state board of pharmacy (board).

The signings of the aforementioned bills were attended by Hamilton Center representatives, CEO, Melvin L. Burks, Executive Director of Government Affairs, Hans Eilbracht, and Acting Chief of Addictions Services, Dr. Jennifer Hutchens.

To read more about these bills, visit iga.in.gov.

Hamilton Center, Inc. is a regional behavioral health system in Central and West Central Indiana. Services are provided to adolescents and adults, with specialized programs for expectant mothers, infants, and people with drug and alcohol problems. Counseling services are provided for people who may be struggling with stress, life changes, or relationship issues as well as more serious problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, and serious mental illnesses.

For more information, please contact Travis Coffman at 812-231-8115 or tcoffman@hamiltoncenter.org.

“On my twenty-fifth birthday, I was called upon to sign my twenty-seven year old sister over to the custodial care of those appointed by the State of Massachusetts to care for its people with mental illness.  Burnt deeply into my heart is that frightening experience when that heavy door, which shut my sister in, also shut me out.  I was terrified.  What would those people do to her?  Would they be kind to her?  I was soon to learn they could not.  They could neither help, nor did they have the least idea why she had become ill.  In the end the summation was simple:

diagnosis, schizophrenia.  Recommendations, none.  Prognosis, steady downhill course’.”

Following that experience, Katherine Hamilton began a quest to improve conditions and services for people with mental illnesses. Entering the field of mental health on the professional level, Hamilton devoted six years of her life as a medical social worker at the University of Chicago Clinic. For three years, she served on the staff of Union Hospital School of Nursing, teaching psychiatry, psychology, and sociology. In 1950, after several years of professional psychiatric service and many years of organizational experience in the health and welfare field, she accepted the challenge to help create a band of interested citizens who would stand up and speak on behalf of those with mental illnesses.  Before the end of the year, the Vigo County Association for Mental Health was created.

During her tenure as president of the Vigo County Association for Mental Health, she served the mentally ill in many ways, serving the Indiana Association for Mental Health for 10 years as a board member, secretary, and delegate to the National Association for Mental Health. She eliminated the practice of patient jailing in Vigo County. She provided transportation for patients and families to state hospitals. She helped develop the Adopt-A-Patient program in which people assume the role of a relative of a patient. She lobbied for increased appropriations for the Department of Mental Health so that patients could be provided better care and treatment. She helped expand the National Association for Mental Health so that there was equitable representation throughout the United Stated on the Board of Directors.   She also contributed tremendously to the growth of the Indiana Association for Mental Health from a struggling handful of interested citizens to a statewide organization of 30,000 people. In total, Katherine Hamilton dedicated 33 years of her life to serving those with mental illnesses.

In May of 1961, Katherine Hamilton had passed away after battle with a lingering illness, but her service to those in need continued after her death.  The development of Hamilton Center Inc. is a story of citizens, volunteers and professionals in a six county area, over a period of years, organizing, planning, and working together for the establishment of a Mental Health Center in west central Indiana.  It is a story of people infused with the belief that mental illness was a major illness in the community and that the dire lack of facilities for treatment need to be addressed.   It was believed that people could best be treated in their home communities rather than having to travel long distances and perhaps being institutionalized.

In a short period, the Katherine Hamilton Mental Health Center was incorporated and its first outpatient office opened in 1971. Named in honor of Katherine Hamilton, Hamilton Center has grown to become a regional behavioral health system. Hamilton Center serves central and west central Indiana providing the full continuum of mental health and addictions treatment to children, adolescents and adults.  Currently, the organization serves approximately 13,000 clients a year, employs 550 staff and has outpatient offices in 10 counties in Indiana. The work of Katherine Hamilton continues and will go on until the need for mental health treatment is no longer.

For additional information on services, call (800) 742-0787.

March 13, 2018, Terre Haute, IN – Since 1987, March has been designated National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. During this month, we celebrate the many contributions people with developmental disabilities make to our community as well as seek to raise awareness about the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in all facets of life. We also want to raise awareness of the barriers that people with disabilities face in connecting to the communities in which they live.

According to the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD) over 5 million Americans are estimated to have a developmental disability. The DD Act defines a developmental disability as a severe, chronic disability that occurs before an individual is 22 and is likely to continue indefinitely and results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of the following areas of major life activity: self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity for independent living, or economic self-sufficiency. These impairments require the individual to sustain lifelong or extended supports or assistance.

Hamilton Center offers a unique, business-led transition program designed for young adults 18-24 years of age, with barriers to employment. Project SEARCH is targeted for those whose main goal is employment and career exploration. These young adults, or interns, learn competitive employment and life skills while participating in a variety of unpaid work site rotations throughout Union Hospital, with the possibility of being hired at the hospital or in our community.

“Individualized job development and placement occurs based on the intern’s experiences, strengths and skills,” said Nichelle Washington, Program Manager of Employment Solutions at Hamilton Center. “Project SEARCH exists to provide quality training and employment services to young adults with physical, mental, and/or social limitations to foster independent living and inclusion into today’s workforce,” she said.

Hamilton Center, Inc. is a regional behavioral health system serving central and west central Indiana.  Offices are located in ten Indiana counties with the Corporate Office in Terre Haute.  Hamilton Center serves people during their entire life cycle, birth through older adulthood with programs specifically designed for young children, adolescents, adults and families.

Hamilton Center, Inc. has announced several staff changes in the Addiction Program serving central and west central Indiana.

Leading Hamilton Center’s Addiction Services is Jennifer Hutchens, PsyD, HSPP, Acting Chief of Addiction Services.  Dr. Hutchens will report to Hamilton Center’s Chief Medical Officer, Ashan Mahmood, MD.  In addition, Karen Moore had been named Director, Richey Adderley, MS, Vigo County Program Manager, John Paulson, LMHC, LCAC, LPC, ACRPS, Acting Clinical Supervisor and  Jessica Nevill, LMHC,  Satellite Coordinator of Addiction Services.  Lastly, Stacey Totten has been promoted to Transitional Living Manager and will oversee two residential units for consumers recovering from a mental illness and an addiction issue.

“Our focus is to put a structure in place that will allow delivery of the highest quality services in all of the communities we serve,” said Melvin L. Burks, CEO.   “We want to be in a solid position to address the opioid crisis occurring across the nation,” he said.

“Hamilton Center is committed in providing evidence based programs to consumers suffering from mental illnesses and/or addiction issues,” said Jennifer Hutchens, PsyD, HSPP.  “The structure we have put into place will elevate the services we are able to provide,” she said.

Hamilton Center was recently the recipient of a State License to open an Opioid Treatment Program which is expected to open by July 2018.  The program will be operated by Hamilton Center Inc. and Sagamore Recovery Services, who have experience in operating a opioid treatment program.

Hamilton Center, Inc. is a regional behavioral health system in Central and West Central Indiana with corporate offices located in Terre Haute, IN.  Services are provided to children, youth and adults, with specialized programs for expectant mothers, infants, and people who may be struggling with stress, life changes, or relationship issues as well as more serious problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, and serious mental illnesses.

The Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA) notified Hamilton Center Inc. that the Vigo County, 620 8^th Ave, Terre Haute site, has been found in compliance with the standards and requirements necessary to implement the Indiana’s Primary Care Behavioral Health Integration (PCBHI) Service Delivery System. The identified site has successfully completed the required processes and actions during the launch period from March 1, 2017 to October 31, 2017 to become an approved Integrated Care Entity (ICE).

 

The Indiana Family and Social Service Administration (FSSA) and the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) established a process by which Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Community Health Centers (CHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) may become a state certified integrated care entity (ICE). Hamilton Center staff worked for over six months to achieve this designation.

 

 Indiana Primary Care Behavioral Health Integration (IPCBHI) was developed through agency partnerships, commitment to collaboration, and creating the opportunity for the promotion, development, and implementation of bi-directional integrated primary and behavioral health best practices across Indiana. Indiana’s initiative to formally state approved agencies as Integrated Care Entities (ICE) is intended to provide quality, access, and long term sustainability for integrated care across Indiana. Behavioral Health includes both mental health and substance use disorders. National research has shown that a whole person approach to integrated primary and behavioral health service delivery facilitates and supports the triple aim of health care: improving the health of our population; enhancing the individual’s experience of care (including quality, access, and reliability), and reducing the per capita cost of care. An ICE, serving its local and regional areas, will deliver best practice integrated primary and behavioral health care to meet the health needs of the individuals in the communities where they live. This model of care requires a collaboration between the ICE and its community partners.

 

“We recognize that addressing our consumers’ primary and behavioral health needs at one time and in one location significantly reduces the barriers of seeking treatment,” said Melvin L. Burks, CEO of Hamilton Center Inc.  “Not only does this provide quality care, but it is more convenient to the client,” he said.

 

“People with serious mental illnesses many more years earlier than those without mental illnesses,” said Ahsan Mahmood, MD, Hamilton Center’s Chief Medical Officer. “Our goal is to positively impact those numbers by addressing both the mental illness and chronic health conditions that many of our consumers face,” he said.

 

Hamilton Center is a regional behavioral health system in central and west central Indiana.  The organization provides the full range of behavioral health and addiction services to people through the entire lifecycle – birth through older adulthood.  The organization is certified through the State of Indiana and accredited by The Joint Commission for behavioral health.