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42nd National Council Conference

A COMCARE Scholarship Lottery Opportunity!

COMCARE is pleased to announce a scholarship lottery for the 42nd National Council mental health and addictions conference! The conference will be held April 15-17 in Chicago.

We're thrilled to be sending two members this year! Follow this link to the National Council website and get the latest information on the conference plans.

Winners will attend the conference with expenses paid by COMCARE! To enter to win, simply complete and return the attached form by Monday, February 20, 2012.

For more information, contact Christie Ward at (800) 895-9039.

2011 COMCARE Award Winners Recognized

At the COMCARE Delegates meeting held November 22, 2011, the following six individuals and organizations were recognized for their outstanding contributions to behavioral health through HealthChoices.

Commissioner of the Year

George Hartwick, Dauphin County

MH/MR Administrator of the Year

Cindy Zembryki

County Behavioral Health Collaboration

Bucks' Children's Coordination Committee

Model Program

RASE Project Buprenorphine Coordinator Program

Provider of the Year

Recovery Revolution Inc.

SCA Client Advocacy

Pennsylvania Recovery Organizations Alliance

Congratulations to our distinguished award recipients!

2011 COMCARE Awards

By Christie Ward, Captive Programs Manager

July 29, 2011

In November COMCARE will again honor the best and brightest of the county behavioral health system. The awards will recognize the experience, dedication and creativity of those working in HealthChoices behavioral health.

The counties of Pennsylvania are our members and all elected officials as well as those employed in COMCARE member counties are eligible to nominate or be nominated for an award. Programs and providers must operate within member counties to be eligible.

Who will you nominate this year?

Awards Program Flyer

Commissioner or Council Member of the Year Award

SCA Client Advocacy Award

MH/MR Administrator of the Year Award

Excellence in Quality Award

Model Program Award

Provider of the Year Award

County Collaboration Award

Please note: Under certain circumstances, COMCARE may not give each award every year.

State to Roll Out STAR Data System

By Christie Ward, Captive Programs Manager

June 2, 2011

The PA Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs (BDAP) will roll out a new client data management system, STAR. The pilot will begin July 1 with the full roll out in January.

This web based application for drug and alcohol and co-occurring treatment providers as well as state and county agencies, should allow client tracking through all levels of care as well as multiple agency access. According to DOH, the new system will allow new items required by the federal government to be included and will allow new functionalities for the management of clients and costs to be initiated. These will include the capture of cost per service and cost per client, for different funding streams; an ability to track a client’s use of multiple service episodes funded by both departments; capture of provider performance measures and client outcomes as required at the state and the federal levels.

For more information on the STAR Data System, visit the Department of Health website.

COMCARE is obtaining a copy of the short training video. Please check back soon for a link.

County Managed Care Resource (COMCARE) Lending Library:

9/20/2010

By Eric Mallon, Captive Programs Associate

COMCARE is pleased to offer our members various books uniquely applicable to managed behavioral healthcare. See below for a list of books available.

The Innovator's Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care
By Clayton M. Christensen, Jerome H. Grossman, Jason Hwang

McGraw-Hill (2009) - Hardback - 441 pages - ISBN 0071592083

Implementing Evidence-based Practices in Mental Health

By Jeff Capobianco, Mary Ruffolo, James Svensson, Stephen Wiland, Caroline Fricker

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare - Paperback - 102 pages

Effective Grant Writing and Program Evaluation for Human Service Professionals

By Francis K. O. Yuen, Kenneth L. Terao, Anna Marie Schmidt

Wiley (2009) - Paperback - 265 pages - ISBN 9780470469989

We will ship the book including return mailing dated for two weeks. For more information contact Christie Ward, Captive Programs Manager, by e-mail or call (800) 895-9039.