Connect Electronic Referral discussed at Trauma Sensitive School Initiative meeting

Hill County Public Health Director Kim Larson said Thursday that the county is one step away from medical practitioners and officials having instantaneous access to more information for taking care of medical patients.

“Pretty exciting stuff,” Hill County Public Health Director Kim Larson said.

She gave an update on Connect Electronic Referral System during the Havre’s Trauma Sensitive School Initiative meeting Thursday.

Connect’s website says the Connect is a secure, web-based system for sending and receiving health and medical referrals while remaining confidential. It said that in the program agencies are brought together under a single information-sharing agreement. There are no incentives outside of client advocacy and a desire to increase performance, it said.

Agencies also are allowed to request reports such as referrals to or from agencies and referral outcomes. The website said these reports track the number, status and outcomes of referrals sent and received. It added that the information is put as a priority and allows other agencies to easily evaluate service delivery to patients.

Larson said that Connect is not a new program, but Hill County had not obtained funding previously. She said that the trauma sensitive group has helped get the program up and running. She added that the program itself is experiencing an update so the state of Montana will be funding the program to cover all the regions across the state through the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Bureau.

Hill County Health Department Family Planning assistant Diona Buck, who is serving as the Hill County coordinator for the Connect system, said the system has updated its closed-loop capabilities — meaning no one but the people sending and receiving the information can see it — statewide. The program will also include built-in safeguards to assure referrals are going to appropriate agencies, she said. She said the update and the enhancements should be completed within the next three to four months.

For Hill County the system should be up and running by late summer or the beginning of fall, she said. Noble Software Group, the software developer for the Connect system, she said, will also be responsible for the management and maintenance of the updated system.

Larson said that the state is also going to cover the statewide user fees.

“It was very exciting to hear that they are going to cover those,” she said.

Larson said funding is from the Chronic Disease Prevention Bureau.

Buck said the state also has hired a state coordinator for the program.

Larson said that the Connect system will include Havre Public Schools, with either the school counselor or a school nurse at each school included so they can obtain information if needed.

Montana State University-Northern Professor Curtis Smeby said that means a person will be available for students in every school.

“I think it’s pretty cool we’ll be able to to do that,” he said.

Buck said that for more information people can visit Connect’s website at https://connectmontana.org/. She added that there are updates available of Connect’s monthly blog that can be found on its website as well.

Representatives of the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, Havre Public Schools and Rocky Boy Public Schools gave updates on plans for events for the year in relation to the Trauma Sensitive Initiative.

Smeby said a Mental Health Film Festival will be held at a variety of locations from April 3 to April 7. The featured films will be “Resilience,” “Paper Tigers” and “Wrestling Ghosts,” shown at the Havre-Hill County Library and Van Orsdel Methodist Church. The screenings are open to the public.

Suicide awareness talks will be held throughout August to educate the public about the growing mental health crisis in the state, he said.

The talks will be followed by the annual Suicide Awareness Walk Sept. 12, which will be followed by a suicide awareness discussion.

Smeby said the initiative is applying for a grant from Havre Elks Lodge #1201 to help fund the initiative’s work. The orignal grant was $1,000, Smeby said, but he spoke with Havre Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Kyle Leeds, and Leeds said the lodge will increase the amount to $2,500.

Trauma Sensitive Initiative also is bringing in a documentary, “The Kids We Lose” for educators, based off the work of Ross W. Greene and Stuart Ablon.

Smeby said the film is a philosophical model of why students aren’t successful and how they can be successful and how educators can help them with the skills to be successful. The method shown in the film is called collaborative problem solving, he said.

“The Kids We Lose” is a 90-minute documentary about the human side of being a child or student with behavioral challenges, Smeby said. It also shows the struggles faced by parents, educators, staff members, mental health clinicians and law enforcement professionals face trying to ensure the children get the help they need, he said.

“These are also the most expensive kids in our society,” he added. “Doing the wrong thing costs a fortune. If we don’t help the most vulnerable kids, we all lose.”

The screenings for “The Kids We Lose” will be May 9 and June 13 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Smeby said that the Trauma Sensitive Initiative has bought materials for planning and informational packages for Havre schools, the Head Start Program and the Boys & Girls Club, and has bought 25 books called “Take Time for You: A self care action plans for educators,” because it is important for educators to take care of themselves, as well, he said.

Larson said Hill County Health Department could also help the Trauma Sensitive Initiative with purchasing more of these materials.

Boys & Girls Club is hosting speaker Ganel-Lyn Condie, who will speak to middle school and high school students at the Teen Center next Friday at 4 p.m., Susan Brurud of Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line said.

The speaker will talk about suicide prevention, self esteem awareness and building healthy connections, she said. Condie will also be speaking at the Best Western Plus, Brurud said. The event will be free and open to the public.

Smeby said a theater troupe is coming to Havre Saturday, June 22, which will be working with Montana Actors’ Theatre in a performance addressing suicide.

The performance will be funded by Blue Cross/Blue Shield, he said, and the showtime will be at 7:30 p.m. followed by a forum about the issue at 8:30.