Memorandum
Date: February 27, 2024
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Elise Jones, Director Lake County Behavioral Health Services Department
Subject: Approve travel exceeding 1,500 miles for Behavioral Health staff to attend the annual Behavioral Health Management Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, from March 25-26, 2024
Executive Summary:
Behavioral Health Services Department is requesting approval to send the following staff to the annual Behavioral health Management Summit in Las Vegas, NV in March 2024: Elise Jones, April Giambra - Deputy Director, Christine Andrus - Deputy Director, Amber Westphal - SUD Program Manager, and Bonnie O’Donnell - Supervising Behavioral Health Clinical Specialist.
This annual Summit is hosted by BRI Network, nationally known for organizing conferences that tap into leading issues in healthcare. As you are aware, Lake recently launched the new Mobile Crisis benefit on January 1, 2024. Shortly following this, the Department of Health Care Services reached out to let Lake know of a funding opportunity to support the Mobile Crisis program available to County Mental Health Plans that did not receive a Crisis Care Mobile Unit planning or implementation grant (Lake did not). The award amount is $1M and is not competitive. The grant award supports training, among other activities and purchases.
The staff selected to attend this conference are central to the implementation of Mobile Crisis Services and integrated care and will provide opportunities to network with other health care entities implementing Mobile Crisis or similar benefits. Although this Summit requires out-of-state travel, the benefit far outweighs the cost with regard to learning and networking opportunities.
Therefore, pursuant to 1.6 E of the County of Lake Travel policy, we request your Board approve travel exceeding 1,500 miles to facilitate BH staff accessing this valuable training and networking opportunity. The total cost which includes the Summit registration fees, airfare, and lodging is $8,273, or $1,654 per person.
If not budgeted, fill in the blanks below only:
Estimated Cost: _$8,273_ Amount Budgeted: _$20,000_ Additional Requested: ________ Future Annual Cost: ________
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Recommended Action: Approve travel exceeding 1,500 miles for Behavioral Health staff to attend the annual Behavioral Health Management Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, from March 25-26, 2024