School Based Services Expand to Provide Continuum of Care

The School Based Program under the Mental Health Promotion, Prevention, and Early Intervention (MHPPEI) Department was established in 2010 at The Hume Center by Dr. Lourdes Valdez. The program began with conducting a needs assessment for each of the school sites in the three school districts of the Tri Valley Areas of Dublin, Livermore, and Pleasanton. A workgroup of people, who were selected for specific skill set and knowledge worked together to respond to a the procurement of a Request for Proposal (RFP) released by the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency and Behavioral Health Care Services Agency. The process began with building a relationship with the school districts involved, assessing the school needs, and gaining trust in the community by being readily available to help when there was an urgent need. The Hume Center began at four schools in the three districts as part of the original contract. During the first year of the contract, tragedy struck in one of the school districts when The Hume Center was just beginning to develop services. Through working with the Unified School District to address the needs of their community and understanding the pressures that were being faced by the community the Hume Center was able to establish a trusting and collaborative relationship with the USD which led to the formation of the Mental Health Consultation Training Institute and by the second year of developing services The Hume Center procured additional funding to expand to two additional school sites. By 2013, the Hume Center was serving seven schools in the Tri Valley area. Services at the school sites included primarily prevention and early intervention services such as groups to parents and students, early intervention services to students who did not require treatment service and Mental Health Consultation to district and school site administrators and staff.  Through the programs under the the MHPPEI Department, individuals preparing to be professionals in the field of psychology were being trained with skills and knowledge on the implementation of Prevention and Early Intervention in schools and other community organizations. Over the course of four years, approximately 1,018 unique students, 203 unique parents, and 319 unique school staff were beneficiaries of the services. In 2012, Dr. Meji Singh, Chief Psychologist of The Hume Center and Dr. Lourdes Valdez, School Based Program and MHPPEI Department Manager were asked to present with Dr. Lisa Warhuus, Associate Director for School Based Behavioral Health, at Health Care Services Agency Center for Health Schools and Community Annual Conference: Vision and Voice for Healthy Students in Long Beach, CA to discuss Expanding Mental Health Consultation in Schools.

 In February of 2014, the School Based Program acquired Early, Periodic, Screening, and Treatment (EPSDT) funding to serve the population of students and families who have Medi-Cal amongst six of the school sites at which the Hume Center provides services.  This is a milestone for the program as it is now able to provide continuum of care for students and families who need services and may not otherwise access services. With the ongoing growth in the program and its start in providing treatment services in addition to the prevention and early intervention services, the program will become its own department and will be hereby known as the School Based Services Department which will continue to be headed by Dr. Lourdes Valdez, Psy.D.

Dr. Lourdes Valdez began working at The Hume Center in 2006 in the Behavioral Consultation Services (BCS) Department and Contra Costa Outpatient Clinic-Pittsburg providing services for the Spanish Speaking population. In 2007, Dr. Valdez began her Post-Doctoral Fellowship as a full time behavioral consultant in BCS and in 2008 became the Program Coordinator for the Regional Center of the East Bay contracts. In October of 2009, a request for proposal (RFP) was released by Alameda County Health Care Services Agency and Behavioral Health Care Services Agency to provide services in the Tri Valley which she applied and was granted funding for thus beginning the Hume Center’s School Based Program. She continued to work as the Program Coordinator for both BCS and the School Based Program until 2011 when she became full time in the School Based Program and in 2012 became the manager for the program and in 2013 the Department Manager for the Mental Health Promotion, Prevention, and Early Intervention Department.

Thank you to all the staff members of the School Based Services Program in the last four years for all your contributions to The Hume Center and the community:

2010-2011

Supervisors:

Joty Sikand, Psy.D

R.K. Janmeja Singh, Ph.D

Jennifer Madani, Psy.D

Staff:

Aric Jensen, Ph.D

Michelle Hayley, Ph.D

Anthony Miner, Psy.D

Nancy Han, Psy.D

Wendy McVey, Psy.D

Victoria Meraz, Psy.D

Natasha Molony, Ph.D

2011-2012

Supervisors:

Joty Sikand, Psy.D

R.K. Janmeja Singh, Ph.D

Aric Jensen, Ph.D

Natasha Molony, Ph.D

Staff:

Kimberly Barth, Psy.D

Adina Gociu, Psy.D

Courtney Meier, Psy.D

Brian Newton, Psy.D

Vanessa Quinteros, Psy.D

Sara Sorci, Psy.D

2012-2013

Supervisors:

Joty Sikand, Psy.D

R.K. Janmeja Singh, Ph.D

Aric Jensen, Ph.D

Natasha Molony, Ph.D

Victoria Meraz, Psy.D

Staff:

Hillary Burke, M.A

Natasha Radojevic, M.A

Brian Newton, Psy.D

Adi Zief-Balteriski, Ph.D

Jennifer Rodriguez, Psy.D

Shannon Stovall, Psy.D

Rachelle Zemlok, Psy.D

2013-2014

Supervisors:

Joty Sikand, Psy.D

R.K Janmeja Singh, Ph.D

Natasha Molony, Ph.D

Ramandeep Kular, Ph.D

Staff:

Hillary Burke, M.A

Natasha Radojevic, Psy.D

Nick duRivage, M.A

Christopher Jensen, M.A

Brandi Medearis, M.A.

Jamie Sayers, M.A.

Jennifer Sanchez, Ph.D