Partners is committed to community engagement. We believe in active participation, collaboration and innovative approaches to achieve individualized goals within each of our communities. Our Community Engagement department works with internal partners and community partners through a variety of outreach methods. We promote awareness of the special populations we serve in order to address their unique needs. We believe by working together and sharing resources, we can collectively create a system of care with the most focused, positive impact for the members and recipients in our communities.
The Community Engagement Team includes Regional Directors, Community Engagement Specialists, Community Trainers, a Geriatric Adult Specialty Team, a Family Representative and a Tribal Liaison.
- Regional Directors work with county management teams and county commissioners to supervise the Maintenance of Effort dollars. The Regional Directors are responsible for reporting outcomes and providing oversight for county-funded programs and projects. Coordination of catchment-wide collaborations with stakeholders such as Juvenile Justice, Public Health Directors, and Superintendents also falls under the wheelhouse of the Regional Directors. The Regional Directors serve as liaisons and advocates for stakeholders, which includes troubleshooting and helping them find creative solutions to community health issues.
- Community Engagement Specialists engage providers, advocacy groups and other stakeholders to understand and support community needs through facilitating collaboration in the community. They also serve as a point of contact for community resources. These collaborations include Community Collaborative groups (held in each county) such as Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health (JJBH) meetings, Partners-led community events, and project management for System of Care community funding.
- Family Representative Specialists articulate lessons learned from their own experience parenting a child, youth or emerging adult with behavioral health issues. Our family representative specialists have received specialized training to assist in empowering families experiencing emotional, developmental, behavioral, substance use, or mental health concerns.
- Tribal Liaisons serve as the primary point of contact for tribal leadership, tribal council and advisory boards. The tribal liaison will work with tribal leadership to customize training curricula and communication to reflect each tribe’s unique identity; develop a community integration plan that is non-intrusive to the Native American culture; and serve in an advisory capacity within Partners to help shape policies and practices as it relates to Native American business practices. The Tribal Liaisons will play a vital role in brokering an understanding of tailored plan operations and what Partners Health Management can offer to Native American members.
- Geriatric Adult Specialty Team (GAST) is charged with increasing the community’s understanding of mental health and substance use issues facing older adults. The team of registered nurses, licensed clinicians and mental health professionals host educational events and teach free training sessions.
- Community Trainers provide free, evidence-based training to the community. These trainings help decrease stigma, raise awareness of behavioral health issues and link individuals and organizations to resources. Some of the trainings offered include Community Resilience Model (CRM), Trauma 101 and Trauma Informed Care, Risk and Resilience: Buffering Toxic Stress, Human Trafficking and Sexting, and Domestic Violence. Our Community Trainers also work closely with law enforcement to provide Crisis Intervention Team Training (CIT). CIT provides law enforcement officers and first responders with tools and resources to safely address and de-escalate behavioral health crises in the community. Please visit our calendar to find and register for upcoming trainings.
For questions about Community Engagement, email us at CommunityEngagementDepartment@partnersbhm.org.