HomeMy WebLinkAboutMHTHMinutes_2018_04_30Brookings City/County/School Mental Health Task Force
April 30, 2018
A meeting of the Brookings City/County/School Mental Health Task Force was held on Monday,
April 30, 2018 at 12:00 p.m. in the Brookings City & County Government Center. Present: Mary
Beth Fishback, Nikki Eining, Andrea Bjornestad, Hande Briddick, Sylvia Buboltz, and Dan Hansen,
Brookings City Council. Others in attendance were Brookings County Commission Department
Director Stacy Steffensen.
Co-Chairperson Fishback called the meeting to order.
A motion was made by Eining, seconded by Buboltz to approve the agenda as presented. All
members voted “aye.” Motion carried.
A motion was made by Eining, seconded by Briddick to approve the minutes from the March 26,
2018 meeting. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried.
Eining presented the Resource Review Subcommittee report. She said the city and county have
paid for the two years they agreed to pay for the Resource Guide through the 211 service. Eining
said she is working with United Way Director Heidi Gullickson on a timeline for 211 taking over
the responsibilities of the Resource Guide.
Bjornestad updated the committee on the Needs Assessment SDSU Subcommittee. She said she
and Fishback have held several focus group discussions and heard similar themes at each of them.
Bjornestad said the members of the focus groups said mental health services are hard to get into,
with waiting times anywhere from one week to two months. She said services beyond the
Wellness Center aren’t well known, with no one being familiar with the services in the
community. But, Bjornestad noted, those services aren’t free for the students either.
Bjornestad said services being more visible may be beneficial. Examples she gave were having a
presence at the Student Union or bringing on an intern to conduct educational o utreach to
classrooms. She also suggested expanding hours beyond 8:00 to 5:00, Monday through Friday.
Bjornestad said the next focus groups will be with faculty, staff, as well as the counseling center.
Fishback said they want to make sure they aren’t analyzing the counseling services on campus;
not evaluating or being critical.
Eining asked if they’re missing the group on campus that isn’t accessing services. Bjornestad said
they aren’t sure they can reach them, especially with it being year-end. Fishback said they would
like to get more student feedback and they’re thinking through how to make that happen.
Buboltz said there may need to be education on what alternative options are available if they
can’t get into a counselor right away. Fishback said there are immediate services available in
crisis situations, but the waits can be longer for other appointments. Briddick asked if there was
interest in large group counseling services. Fishback said the students said they were worried
about taking on others’ feelings when they are struggling themselves and they were also
concerned about privacy.
Briddick updated the task force on the Needs Assessment K-12 Subcommittee. Briddick said they
created a survey and are waiting for results from school counselors throughout the county. She
said what she has received shows that common issues are family problems and neglect. She said
barriers include the lack of referral resources, lack of parental consent and the stigma of mental
illness. Briddick said availability of service providers is also a concern. She said another concern
is with students relying on social media and technology. Briddick said there are not enough
mental health professionals. She said she would like to see how they can normalize the
counseling process for everyone.
Briddick said they are looking at doing focus groups, as well. Eining discussed the Parent
Symposium that was held in Brookings. Hansen said the parents that attended are probably the
most engaged parents in the district. He said they need to reach out to those who need this
information. Briddick said there needs to be parental education and support groups in the
community.
Fishback updated the group on the Needs Assessment City Subcommittee. She said they are
looking at target populations and creating questions for the survey. She said populations they’re
looking at are the Harvest Table, Feeding Brookings, NAMI, Brookings Empowerment Project,
Activity Center, Boys & Girls Club, hospital, and law enforcement. Fishback asked if there needs
to be a separate survey between the city and county. Eining said they can be consistent between
the two and share survey questions. She said that they will ask for zip code information from
those responding to the survey so they have specific information for different areas of the county.
Eining updated the task force on the Needs Assessment County Subcommittee. She said they
have sent information to township clerks to try to reach the rural areas. She said they are also
looking at holding a focus group with First Responders.
Fishback said next steps are to continue to conduct focus groups and target surveys to keep
moving forward. She said she would like the full task force to finalize the broad survey so they
have the questions that will give them the best results.
Briddick asked once they have the results, what can they do to put pressure on the three entities
to move forward with the recommendations. Eining said they will need to have specific
recommendations and realistic expectations. Hansen the city, county and school are expecting
a presentation and recommendations by the task force eventually.
Buboltz said she would like to find the cost to send an individual outside the community for care
or to find resources. Eining said the county is looking at the cost for involuntary committals,
including the cost of staff time and transportation. Buboltz said if they can connect this
information, they can show what the loss is for everyone. Hansen said the legislature is
conducting a summer study on mental health concerns in South Dakota. He said these studies
typically lead to bills being introduced in the next session. Hansen said Representative Tim Reed
is on that summer study committee.
Eining discussed the Community Coalition concept and said this is one opportunity for everyone
to take part in this issue. She said she thinks it could decrease the feelings of frustrations in the
community. Fishback said they can put that topic at the top of the next agenda for discussion.
Motion by Hansen, seconded by Briddick to adjourn. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried.
Submitted by Stacy Steffensen