SBIRT Update – 8/28/17

Dear School SBIRT Team members,

Please see the email below for important updates to the School SBIRT process related to referral and data collection!  In addition, please see the attached notice concerning the temporary position for a School SBIRT Coordinator!

Thank you for your efforts to provide substance use prevention and education for our students!  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns,

Mary Ann Gapinski, MSN, RN, NCSN

School Health Director/ School SBIRT Coordinator

NEW STREAMLINED YOUTH TREATMENT REFERRAL PROCESS

The MDPH Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS) announces a new streamlined process to access the developmentally appropriate residential level of care for adolescents and young adults, in order to better meet the needs of young people experiencing problems as a result of their use of alcohol and other drugs.  Effective August 15, 2017 Massachusetts residents and youth and young adult serving agencies can directly refer to any youth and young adult program in the BSAS continuum of care without necessitating prior authorization from Youth Central Intake Care Coordination.

More information and assistance with referral is provided by the Massachusetts Substance Use Helpline at 800-327-5050 or http://helplinema.org   The Massachusetts Helpline will continue to work with families and other key stakeholders to devise the most appropriate course of action for adolescents and young adults ages 13-24 in need of treatment for their use of substances. Options include:

  1. Placement in a stabilization program
  2. Placement directly at residential programs without a prior stay at stabilization level of care
  3. Referrals to statewide outpatient, community-based Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) services

The Massachusetts Helpline can also assist callers with information about access to BSAS adult treatment services.  Please refer to the attached list of BSAS youth and young adult service providers for direct referral placements.   For questions regarding this transition please contact Jessica Hudon from BSAS at 617-624-5330 or Jessica.Hudon@state.ma.us

UPDATED SBIRT DATA COLLECTION TOOL

There were a few technical issues with the SBIRT data collection tool that became apparent last school year.  Those problems have been fixed and a new version is available for this school year.  The tool appears almost exactly the same as it did last year. The most obvious difference in appearance is in the multiple-user version, where there is a new tab for school information so that the user does not have to re-enter the same information on each separate worksheet.  The other changes do not impact the appearance but are technical and make it easier to collect accurate data.  As with all SBIRT materials, the new version is available on the SBIRT in Schools website at: www.masbirt.org/schools

SCHOOL SBIRT COORDINATOR:

MDPH is looking to hire a temporary School SBIRT Coordinator.  The contract for this position would be now through June 30, 2018.  If you know anyone who may be interested (SBIRT Coordinator Position Description), please have them contact me as soon as possible.

Mary Ann Gapinski, MSN, RN, NCSN
Director of School Health Services/ School SBIRT Coordinator
MA Department of Public Health
250 Washington Street – 5th Floor
Boston, MA  02108
mary.gapinski@state.ma.us
Website: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/community-health/primarycare-healthaccess/school-health/
SBIRT information:  www.masbirt.org/schools