HomeMy WebLinkAboutMental Health Minutes 2018-01-26Brookings City/County/School Mental Health Task Force
January 26, 2018
A meeting of the Brookings City/County/School Mental Health Task Force was held on Friday, January 26, 2018
at 12:00 p.m. in the Brookings City & County Government Center. Present: Mary Beth Fishback, Craig Pahl,
Andrea Bjornestad, Hande Briddick, Sylvia Buboltz, Dan Hansen, Brookings City Council, and Mike Bartley,
Brookings County Commission. Others in attendance were: Brookings County Commission Department
Director Stacy Steffensen.
Task Force member Dan Hansen called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m. Fishback arrived.
A motion was made by Bartley, seconded by Briddick to approve the agenda as presented. All members voted
“aye.” Motion carried.
A motion was made by Hansen, seconded by Bjornestad to approve the minutes from the December 15, 2017
meeting. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried.
The group discussed their next meeting date, however they did not set a date and are waiting to hear back
from the full group on which day and time works best for everyone.
Fishback presented the subcommittee reports. She said the Mental Health Resource Guide information that
was sent to the city, county and school was part of the packet. Fishback also updated the group on the Google
Drive folder.
The committee discussed the needs assessment. Fishback and Bjornestad provided a report on their SDSU
sub-group. Fishback said they can talk through the questions they proposed for SDSU. She said they could
produce a single survey, but have several questions specific to each sub -group. Pahl said having similar
content would make it easier to analyze the data. Hansen agreed that they should have questions that
overlap each sub-group.
Bjornestad said they wouldn’t need IRB approval if they weren’t using the information they receive from the
survey for research. Hansen suggested getting IRB approval if they are going to get the final information out
to the community.
The committee discussed how to disseminate the survey to the public. Hansen said they could put hard copies
at the library, have electronic copies on social media, use the Chamber to contact businesses, as well as get
the survey out to the elderly, caregivers and providers. Bjornestad suggested military as a potential sub-
group, as well. Buboltz said they could also reach out the Brookings Area Human Resource Association.
Fishback said they could target specific populations with focus groups, but also utilize a broad community
survey. Pahl said he would like to know why people aren’t seeking mental health services, or what barriers
people have to seeking mental health services. Buboltz said there may be a cultural component as someone
tries to find someone they can connect with. Hansen said they should also include insurance questions on the
survey.
Bartley asked about people who may not know they have a mental health issue. He said that population
hasn’t been addressed. Briddick said the survey could include questions asking if someone knows of someone
who may need mental health services. Bjornestad said it is often difficult for someone to recognize they need
help. Hansen said they may need to rely on national data for this information. Bu boltz said there is also a
need to educate the public on recognizing mental illness and what it could look like. She said there is a
general lack of awareness and cultural understanding.
Pahl asked about surveying the jail population. Buboltz said she has data from a recent study done in the
Codington County Jail that she could share. Pahl said it seems like there is only a concern for mental illness
commitments or jail time. He said there are many other crises processes that are getting missed.
Briddick discussed the school sub-group and said they will need to get the school counselors involved. She
said there is also concern about people getting saturated with the survey, especially if they are getting it more
than once through various sub-groups.
Fishback said they need to look at the populations within each sub -group and decide what information they
want to get from each. She said there may be some where they want a broad look and some they will want to
conduct focus groups with. Briddick said they need to define what the purpose of the broader survey will be.
Hansen said they can do one general survey for everyone and identify specific groups they want more detailed
information from. He said they will also have to promote this. Hansen sa id they won’t be able to get
everyone to fill it out, but they can try to get the best data possible.
Fishback said that the next step is for everyone to develop survey questions and submit them into a document
on the Google Drive. Briddick asked what information that want from the survey so they can develop
appropriate questions. Hansen said this is a needs assessment; he wants to know what the needs are in the
community. He said there are examples of survey questions out there that they can use. Bart ley said he
would like to know what the public’s awareness is of services provided in the community and how they could
serve the community better. Pahl said he would like to understand what the barriers to access are and if there
are enough services available. Hansen said they will need to address prevalence. He said there is a difference
with someone who doesn’t identify themselves with having a mental health issue, versus someone who self -
identifies as having a mental health concern. Briddick said they also need to see if there are things the city,
county and school could do to promote wellness.
Fishback said she will create the document and suggested that the individual sub -groups develop questions
and put those questions into that document prior to the next meeting.
Motion by Hansen, seconded by Briddick to adjourn at 1:30 PM.
Submitted by Stacy Steffensen