The Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services
Mental Health and Recovery Services Crisis Response and Community Recovery Plan:
In response to the tragic shooting on February 27, 2012 at Chardon High School, Chardon,
Ohio, the Geauga County Board of Mental Health & Recovery Services has initiated extraordinary measures to meet the crisis needs of the Chardon School District, and the Geauga community atlarge. As the behavioral healthcare authority for the county, the Board has attempted to supplement the services supplied by the school, as well as address the full scope of the tragedy, both in Chardon and throughout the catchment area. The ongoing safety of our children, including their recovery from this tragedy, as well as the recovery of the entire community is our ultimate goal. To better identify service needs, address specific approaches to meet those needs, and to foster recovery for the entire community, the Board has identified targeted populations that will benefit from specific programs, during both the short-term crisis, and for the foreseeable future. For many, this will not be a quick process. For others, recovery will come sooner. In both cases, to the extent possible, the
Board is committed to working with our contract agencies in providing the mental health services that are necessary to heal our wounded community.
School-Aged Youth:
Continue crisis counseling availability.
Advertise Copeline, media campaign.
Initiate brief therapy and long-term treatment models.
Initiate and increase in-home therapeutic family interventions.
Address additional 6 school district requirements on an as-needed basis.
Increase access to child psychiatry.
Initiate group counseling, as needed.
Review all potential funding sources to supplement mental health services.
Parents:
Media Campaign on child risk behavior and safety.
Provide a range of appropriate written resources relevant to parenting and trauma.
Provide 24/7 access to information and referral through Copeline.
Chardon School Staff:
Hold training within 45 days on children’s long-term response to trauma.
Provide peer-to-peer training on compassionate support.
Hold planning meetings with administrative staff and representatives to provide information for submission of any applicable grant funding.
Community:
Provide information on currently available resources and educational resources.
Provide local libraries with resource materials.

Meet with local law enforcement and first responders to assess needs.
Collaborate with Lake County Mental Health to address needs of Auburn Career Center,
Lake Academy
Hold training and planning sessions for all districts on planning phases and next steps.
Increase outpatient and psychiatric services to meet increasing demand.
Administrative:
Begin Advertisements and hiring of new clinical staff.
Provide written plan to all funding institutions.
Increase financial resources to meet the behavioral healthcare needs of the community.
Provide clinical and administrative oversight to follow-up on high risk students and adults.
A. School Aged Youth Recovery Plan Detail:
1. Continue crisis counseling availability. a. Continue in-school counseling as long as requested. Coordinate with out-of-county agencies for referrals to Ravenwood and Catholic Charities for children with higher-level therapeutic needs. b. Increase clinical counseling by 2 FTE’s and psychiatric care by .20 FTE’s to reduce wait time for children and adults seeking mental health services.
Issues:
Waiting lists are the immediate impediment to continuity of care. Referral protocols are not clearly articulated. Adequately trained mental health professionals are overextended in their utilization and we have too few to meet the current demand.
1. Are adequate referral mechanisms in place for seamless movement of children and families from one provider to another? Have they been over or under utilized?
2. How do schools contract for behavioral health care services- for those that do not utilize local providers? What funds are used?
3. How will short term and long term services for victims be funded and for how long?
4. Will the system of care be able to recruit enough professionals to meet the demand?
5. When and if the need drops at some time in the future, what will happen to those professionals brought into the system of care?
Next Steps:
1. Collect information from each school district on what referral mechanism(s) each uses for mental health assessment and care. Determine the number of referrals made each year.
2. Examine protocols for making timely referrals to local providers.
3. Provide help in clarifying roles and responsibilities of clinical providers, and improving referral procedures when it is beneficial.
4. Review availability of funding for new clinical and psychiatric costs.

2. Advertise Copeline, media education and prevention campaign. a. Provide links to literature and clinical resources through advertising campaign. b. Include availability information to parents regarding 24-hour accessibility.
Issues:
While there are a wide variety of pamphlets, brochures, training literature, and internet resources available today, there is no perfect filter for identifying which are the best.
Parents and community residents should have access to the best information possible to address their questions and concerns. The Board will utilize federal agencies, and nationally recognized non-profit and for-profit service providers who have worked with school grief and trauma settings, and particularly those who have worked in school shooting situations, to recommend and provide materials that have been utilized at the national level for education and prevention purposes. Whenever possible, recommended materials will be deemed “evidence based”.
Next Steps:
1. The Board will provide access to a variety of resources including but not limited to information on: trauma, grief and bereavement, children’s development, parenting issues, where to go for help, etc. Access points for these materials will include the
Board’s web-site, newspaper articles and advertisements, public events such as the
Geauga County Maple Festival, KidsFest, the Geauga County Fair, and other community activities where the Board provides materials or resources.
2. Information regarding the 24 hour a day hotline will be made available through all the avenues described above. All advertising done by the Board will include information regarding Copeline and the Chardon School District web-site.
3. Initiate brief therapy and long-term treatment models. a. Increase assessment and referral staff to accept additional client needs. b. Hire additional master’s level clinical staff for long-term trauma treatment. (See A.1 above).
Issues:
The initial increase in case referrals will not only affect long term clinician to client ratios but will also impact the assessment and intake process of behavioral health care agencies. Current waiting lists for both master’s level clinicians and Board-certified psychiatrist were up to 10 weeks before the tragedy and are growing as referrals and inquiries increase.
Next Steps:
1. Begin advertising immediately for the staff needed. Recruitment usually takes 6- 8 weeks and delays will be detrimental to the long term recovery of victims, family members, and others seeking mental health services.
4. Initiate and increase in-home therapeutic family interventions. a. Hire in-home children’s therapist to address behavioral and psychological issues identified in children impacted by the shooting.

b. Create a referral mechanism to move children from initial contact into home-based treatment as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Issues:
Children with a higher level of distress are being identified by parents as needing a level of care. In-home treatment will be available utilizing our current children’s in-home model, but modified to shorter-term interventions. Parents and children will benefit from in-home therapy and modeling in a non-clinical setting, reducing the chances of longterm clinical issues.
Next Steps:
1. Advertise, interview and hire master’s level clinician with specialty in children’s therapy and familiarity with in-home treatment models.
2. Develop referral form and protocol to move children into in-home system of care quickly to address behavioral and mental health issues in a timely fashion.
3. Educate external agencies on the in-home treatment model and how to make referrals on a timely basis.
5. Address services to all school districts on an as-needed basis. a. Hold meetings with 7 School District Superintendents and/or their representatives to identify larger county response needs in schools. b. Provide training to all county teachers, staff, and community professionals, at least 1 time per year, for the next 5 years, on trauma and grief.
Issues:
The Chardon shooting has had an impact on the entire community. Referral calls for increased mental health services have come from throughout the catchment area.
Inorder to assure area schools and the surrounding community of coverage the Board will hold meetings with school districts to discuss their perceived needs and address services available to them. Research indicates there may be individuals who are affected by this tragedy for many years to come, therefore community training will be made available to school personnel and community professionals to help identify behaviors and interventions that may be beneficial to professionals working with children in the area.
Next Steps:
1. Schedule a meeting with School Superintendent and their staff to discuss ongoing needs and available resources.
2. Modify the Community Crisis Response and Recovery Plan to address any unmet needs.
3. Identify potential training professionals and schedule the first community training for
Geauga County by June 1, 2012.
6. Increase access to child psychiatry. a. Provide an additional 8 hours per week in child psychiatry to meet increased need.
(See A.1. above).

Issue:
The waiting list for child psychiatry in the public mental health system was between 6 and 12 weeks before the events of February 27, 2012. The need for child psychiatry will increase as more children and teens are identified at higher risk and in need of more intensive services.
Next Steps:
1. Begin recruitment of an additional child psychiatrist to meet the previous and current needs of the community.
7. Initiate group counseling and other services as needed. a. Assess need for in-school group counseling on a quarterly basis. b. Provide clinical staffing required to address the needs of children in school. c. Provide access for services through summer vacation.
Issues:
Individuals exposed to trauma and/or experiencing grief and bereavement often benefit from the use of group counseling, however the need for counseling services often is not identified at the time of the event, and often becomes evident much later. Continuity of care is problematic as the school year comes to an end.
Next Steps:
1. Develop a plan for review and referral of students and other individuals throughout the community that may benefit from group counseling or other mental health services.
2. Identify appropriate staff to provide the required services and initiate programming as indicated.
3. Design a transition plan for all in-school mental health services to provide continuity of care throughout the summer months.
4. Assess the need for a summer camp setting, to provide a supportive environment for youth in the Geauga catchment area.
B. Parents Recovery Plan Detail
1. Media Campaign on child risk behavior and safety. a. Gather recommendations from national sources on materials available to parents, and compile a comprehensive list of those resources. b. Submit press releases, newsletter articles, and purchase advertising space to highlight risky behavior and safety issues for teens.
2. Provide a range of appropriate written resources relevant to parenting and trauma. a. Provide the recommended resource list to the Chardon Libraries, contract agencies, schools, and through our media campaign. b. Provide copies of the resource material at all public functions of the Board. c. Make all approved resources available via the Board’s web site, Geauga.org.

3. Provide 24/7 access to information and referral through Copeline. a. Include access information to Copeline through all advertising and media campaigns. b. Increase staffing at Copeline to accommodate increase in referrals.
C. Chardon School Staff Recovery Plan Detail:
1. Hold training within 45 days on children’s long-term response to trauma. a. Contract with nationally recognized training group to provide training to teachers, staff, and mental health professionals in child trauma. b. Provide all resources and planning materials necessary to supply all attendees.
2. Provide peer-to-peer training on compassionate support. a. Contract with nationally recognized training group to provide training to teachers and staff in peer-to-peer support. b. Hold training within 90 days in Chardon, Ohio on peer-to-peer supports.
3. Hold planning meetings with administrative staff and school representatives to gather information for the planned submission of a “Project Serve” grant through the U.S. Dept. of Education. a. Board staff will hold a minimum of three meetings with representatives of the Chardon
School District to consult with the district regarding available funding options through
Dept. of Education, process needs and priorities of the School District for funds, and provide an initial draft proposal to the district for revision and submission.
4. Submit written grant to U.S. Department of Education by June 15, 2012. a. The Board will provide technical assistance requested by the Chardon School District in order to submit a written document on or before June 15, 2012.
D. Geauga Community Recovery Plan Detail:
1. Provide information on currently available resources and educational resources. a. Assure that media campaign on currently available resources and educational resources, reaches all of Geauga County, including all local libraries.
2. Meet with local law enforcement and first responders to assess needs. a. Board staff will hold an information gathering meeting of all first responder departments within 60 days to assess behavioral healthcare needs of 1 st responders. b. Continue providing Crisis Intervention Training to all Geauga law enforcement and fire departments.
3. Collaborate with Lake County Mental Health to address needs of Auburn Career Center, Lake
Academy

a. Communicate with the Lake County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services at least one time per month to coordinate service efforts at Auburn Career Center and
Lake Academy.
4. Hold training and planning session for all school districts on planning phase and next steps. a. Provide at least one planning session for all school districts within 90 days to assess ongoing needs and evaluate the outcomes of our current system of care service mix. b. Hold training for school and professional staff in nationally recognized threat assessment procedures. c. Provide school districts with programs that allow students and teachers to safely report concerns regarding student behaviors, e.g. “Safe To Tell”.
5. Increase outpatient and psychiatric services to meet increasing demand. a. Increase clinical staffing by a minimum of 3 full time equivalent staff, and increase psychiatric availability by 20 hours per week. b. Increase staffing pattern at Copeline by a minimum of 1/2 full time equivalent staff person. c. Provide one full time master’s level staff clinician to the Chardon School District as a case manager and therapist for students identified as at-risk by their teachers or guidance counselors. d. One half- time counselor will be sought to boost service capacity for increased drug and alcohol abuse.
E. Administrative Recovery Plan Detail:
1. Begin Advertisements and hiring of new staff. a. Within 14 days, Ravenwood Mental Health Center will begin advertising to hire additional staff to meet the growing behavioral health care needs of the community. b. Catholic Charities will provide an additional master’s level clinician, hired for full time services within 3 months.
2. Provide a written recovery plan to all appropriate funding and governmental agencies. a. A written Recovery Plan will be approved by the Board and submitted to the Ohio
Department of Mental Health, Ohio Department of Drug and Alcohol Services, the
Chardon School District, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, U.S. Department of Education, and the Center for Mental Health
Services, by March 15, 2012. b. A review of the plan and any changes deemed necessary shall be carried out on a monthly basis through December of 2012, and on a quarterly basis thereafter.
3. Increase financial resources to meet the behavioral healthcare needs of the community.

a. Within 60 days, initiate grant requests with FEMA and SAMHSA to provide critical emergency funding for behavioral health needs in Geauga County. b. Request funding within 30 days from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug
Addiction Services to initiate a prevention program during the 4 th quarter of the State
Fiscal Year, 2012.
4. Provide oversight and consultation to all agencies and school personnel regarding the review and referral of all cases identified as “at-risk”, to assure the appropriate level of care is provided to individuals enter the mental health system.