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Mental Health Collaboration between the Schools and the County <br /> The Board of County Commissioners authorized funding for a Behavioral Health Systems of Care Analysis <br /> in the FY2017-18 Budget. The funding will be used to hire a consultant to prepare the analysis and make <br /> recommendations on system improvement and will focus on services available to residents up to 25 <br /> years old. A Request for Proposal (RFP) has been developed to solicit proposals from consultants with <br /> three primary deliverables: <br /> 1. Create an inventory of existing resources for mental health, substance abuse, and intellectual <br /> and developmental disabilities in Orange County serving ages 0-25. <br /> 2. Create a systems map of the existing mental health (including substance abuse, intellectual and <br /> development disabilities) resources for residents ages 0-25, identity areas of strength and <br /> weakness, and make recommendations for improvements to gaps in services, access to care, <br /> quality of care, ease of referral, etc. <br /> 3. Work with both the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) and Orange County Schools (OCS) <br /> in developing Behavioral Health Systems of Care assessments and scheduled implementation of <br /> programming as deemed necessary by the assessments over a multi-year time frame.The <br /> implementation phase could be piloted in the Family Success Alliance zones 4 and 6 in Year 1 of <br /> the program. <br /> In developing the RFP, the County engaged both school districts to review and provide input on the RFP <br /> document in early September. The proposals are due in early October, and school district staff(Janet <br /> Cherry—Systems of Care Director for CHCCS and Sherita Cobb—Director of Student Support for OCS) <br /> have been invited to serve on the proposal review committee. <br /> Outside of the RFP process, the Health Department has also worked with representatives from both <br /> districts on the Cardinal Innovations Mental Health Collaborative where school based mental health has <br /> been a priority focus this year. The agencies partnered on direct mental health service provision at A.L. <br /> Stanback for children and families using Family Success Alliance funding and non-profit providers such as <br /> El Futuro and Boomerang and on coordinating care for children of immigrant patients attending CHCCS <br /> schools who were experiencing bullying, language barrier issues, and bus safety concerns. <br />