The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s GAINS Center hosts Virtual Summits to share expert perspectives and ground-level learnings on key topics with a national audience. Click on the links below or scroll down to explore the details of recent or upcoming summits.

Virtual Summits are open to the public, and recordings are posted after the event. For updates on future Virtual Summits and other opportunities, join the GAINS Center mailing list.

Advancements in Crisis Response: Preparing to Pivot

Recording link is forthcoming.

This Virtual Summit took place on May 18, 2022, and covered critical updates and implementation strategies around new and emerging resources and policy expectations to support diversion opportunities for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

Learning Objectives

After viewing the Virtual Summit recording, individuals should be able to:

  • Understand basic principles of the “Someone to Talk to, Somone to Respond, and a Place to Go” approach.
  • Understand the primary functions of 9-8-8 as an alternative to 911 for behavioral health crisis calls.
  • Discuss implementation strategies and barriers to operationalizing 9-8-8 locally.

Presentation and Discussion 1: Leveraging the Opportunity for 9-8-8 in Your Community

This presentation focused on the implementation of the 9-8-8 national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system as a tool to support public access to the local continuum of crisis care services. Despite the rapidly approaching timeline for when the 9-8-8 line is anticipated to “go live,” many communities are still grappling with the implications of implementing this hotline and how it will impact the use of 911, law enforcement, and local crisis services. A national subject-matter expert opened the presentation with an overview of 9-8-8 implementation and critical considerations at the state and local levels for successful utilization of this new resource. This was followed by presentations from two state presenters on their current progress in working towards 9-8-8 implementation. A Q&A followed to provide attendees an opportunity to discuss questions and ideas regarding the implementation of 9-8-8 in their communities.

Presenters

  • John Draper, PhD, Executive Director, Lifeline; Executive Vice President of National Networks, Vibrant
  • Lucrece Pierre-Carr, MSSW, Director, Crisis Services Unit, Mental Health Programs, Policy, and Planning, Chief Program and Services Office, Behavioral Health Services, Texas Health and Human Services
  • Jennifer Battle, MSW, Director of Access, The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, Houston, Texas

Panel Presentation and Discussion 2: Ensuring Meaningful Crisis Response—Utilizing a Three-Point Approach of “Someone to Talk to, Someone to Respond, and a Place to Go”

This presentation focused on SAMHSA’s three-point “Someone to Talk to, Someone to Respond, and a Place to Go” approach for crisis response. The panel featured three programs that model this approach, providing attendees with a greater understanding of how to incorporate the three-point model in local crisis response efforts. A moderated discussion and Q&A followed to provide attendees with an opportunity to explore the application of “Someone to Talk to, Someone to Respond, and a Place to Go” to local programming.

Panelists

  • Michael G. Claeys, MBA, LPC, Acting CEO, Behavioral Health Link, Atlanta, Georgia
  • Arnold A. Remington, MA, LIMHP, CPC, Director, TASC Program, Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Krista Lewis, MHR, LPC, Chief Program Officer for Crisis Services, Family and Children’s Services, Tulsa, Oklahoma

A Review of the Work: States’ Efforts to Improve Competence to Stand Trial and Competence Restoration Processes

Click here to access the recording.

When an individual’s competence to stand trial is raised, the criminal justice process is paused, and the “competence process” begins. It is common for a person facing charges to experience extended wait times before receiving a competence evaluation and, if found incompetent to stand trial, competence restoration. Typically, there are limited resources for providing competence services, resulting in significant delays not only in court proceedings but also in accessing critical behavioral health care services. This Virtual Summit, which took place in December 2021, featured national experts along with state and local stakeholders to present and discuss common barriers in the competence process and strategies for improving evaluation, restoration, and treatment. System-wide restructuring as well as targeted, small-scale process changes were covered. The summit highlighted work done through SAMHSA’s GAINS Center’s Competence to Stand Trial Community of Practice over the past 3 years to illustrate recommendations, barriers, lessons learned, and outcomes to date.

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Federal Representative Providing Opening Remarks

  • Roxanne Castaneda, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, Center for Mental Health Services Task Lead, SAMHSA’s GAINS Center Contract, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Keynote Presentation: Competence to Stand Trial and Competence Restoration—A National Scan of Key Issues and Ways to Address Them

This keynote presentation covered critical topics drawn from the national landscape of competence to stand trial and competence restoration. These topics included the legal framework and considerations for evaluation of individuals for whom competence to stand trial has been raised, jail-based and community-based restoration, and other strategies for addressing delays and demands in the competence system. Key learnings from SAMHSA’s GAINS Center’s 3-year-long Competence to Stand Trial Community of Practice were presented to provide participants with information on strategies to address common issues in improving the competence system.

Keynote Presenters

  • Debra Pinals, MD, Director, Program in Psychiatry, Law, and Ethics, University of Michigan Medical School; Senior Consultant, Policy Research Associates and SAMHSA’s GAINS Center
  • Lisa Callahan, PhD, Senior Research Associate II, Policy Research Associates and SAMHSA’s GAINS Center

Panel & Discussion 1: Toward a Comprehensive Approach to Competence Restoration Reform—Operationalizing System-Wide Change

In this panel, three states that previously participated in SAMHSA’s GAINS Center’s Competence to Stand Trial Community of Practice presented approaches to system-wide restructuring to improve the competence restoration process. Panelists shared Texas’s multi-pronged method for improving the competence system, Nebraska’s process for changing state legislation around competence and restoration, and Oregon’s statewide strategic action planning to identify resources and priorities.

Moderator

  • Debra Pinals, MD, Director, Program in Psychiatry, Law, and Ethics, University of Michigan Medical School; Senior Consultant, Policy Research Associates and SAMHSA’s GAINS Center

Panelists

  • Jennifer Cimpl Bohn, PsyD, Licensed Psychologist/Forensic Program Director, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
  • Linda Wittmuss, PA, Deputy Director, Behavioral Health, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
  • Debra C. Maryanov, PhD, JD, Senior Assistant General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, Oregon Judicial Department
  • Nan Waller, Judge, Multnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon
  • Jennie M. Simpson, PhD, State Forensic Director, Texas Health and Human Services
  • Kristi Taylor, JD, Executive Director, Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health

Panel & Discussion 2: Improving Local Competence Restoration Systems through Incremental Steps toward Change

In this panel, three states that previously participated in SAMHSA’s GAINS Center’s Competence to Stand Trial Community of Practice presented on targeting specific points in the competence restoration process to improve outcomes. Panelists shared key findings from a research project in Washington, DC; learnings from a hospital-based restoration pilot and expansion of community-based restoration in North Carolina; and a statewide strategy to improve competence evaluations in Florida.

Moderator

  • Lisa Callahan, PhD, Senior Research Associate II, Policy Research Associates and SAMHSA’s GAINS Center

Panelists

  • Philip Candilis, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC
  • Chad Tillbrook, PhD, Director, Forensic Services Division, Department of Behavioral Health, Washington, DC
  • Trina Ford-Raynor, Mental Health Program Manager, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities
  • Aaron Rogoff, JD, Associate General Counsel, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities
  • Tracy B. Ginn, MS, LCMHC, CPM, Mental Health Program Manager, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities
  • Tracie Moorer, MSW, Adult Care Coordinator, Pre-commitment, NWF (North West Florida) Health Network