CESSA Communication, Information Sharing & Public Messaging Subcommittee Meeting - Approved Minutes 12/14/2022

Meeting of the Technical Subcommittee on Communication, Information Sharing, and Public Messaging

December 14, 2022 2:30-4:00 pm via Zoom

Meeting Minutes - Approved by Members 01/11/2023

  • Call to Order:
    • Meeting called to order via Zoom at 2:31 by Dr. Allison Brown, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Behavioral Health Crisis Hub, Jane Addams College of Social Work, Jane Addams Center for Social Policy and Research (partner to Illinois DHS-DMH in support of CESSA implementation)
  • Member Roll Call and Minutes Approval:
    • Emily Miller, Chair of CESSA Technical Subcommittee on Communication, Information Sharing, and Public Messaging; Vice-President for Behavioral Health Policy, IL Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (IARF) -Present and approved the minutes. Ms. Miller began chairing the meeting at the point of roll call at 2:38 pm and approved the minutes.
    • Jim Kaitschuk, Director of IL Sheriff's Association - Present and approved the minutes
    • Lee Ann Reinert, DMH Deputy Director, Policy & Planning (designee for David Albert, DMH Director) -Present and approved the minutes. She designated Jessena Williams, DMH to participate in her absence beginning at 2:57 pm. ?
  • Expert Consultants:
    • Scott Block, Statewide Behavioral Health Administrator, IL Supreme Court
    • Dr. Allison Brown, UIC
    • Peter Eckart, UIC
    • Jessena Williams, DMH
    • Dr. Mary Smith, UIC
    • Christina Smith, DMH
    • Matt Wells, DMH
    • Dr. Lorrie Jones, UIC (joined at 2:39 pm)
    • Patrick McLaughlin, Deputy Director of DHS Communications
    • Marisa Kollias, Director of DHS Communications
  • Other (public) participants:
    • Matt Fishback, Cook County Sheriff's Office
  • DMH/UIC Behavioral Health Crisis Hub State Updates (Lee Ann Reinert, DMH):
    • The original Act set a goal for completion of all protocols and procedures for the coordination with 911 to occur by Jan 1, 2023, which is in the process of being extended through July 1, 2023 (pending the governor's signature). The extension's purpose is to ensure that CESSA planning is thoughtful and thorough with safety in mind.
    • Messaging to law enforcement, EMS responders, and MHC providers/MCR teams- This messaging is aimed at communicating to rank-and-file LEOs, EMS responders and MHC providers/MCR teams respectively that nothing has changed yet and they should proceed as business as usual. Status of dissemination: Still awaiting internal IDHS approvals. Anticipated to disseminate messaging via the Law Enforcement Training Standards Board and IL Sheriff's Association and their associated stakeholders.
    • 988 Outage Nationwide at beginning of Dec. It was reported at a recent meeting yesterday with SAMHSA and the States' Leadership in Crisis and 988, that there is a continued focus at the federal level that this huge transformation is successful. CESSA was featured in Crisis Jam (weekly meeting), as a model to ensure that 988 considers responses to individuals with DD/ID and how to meet those challenges as it relates to how CESSA came to be. Canada is in the process of enacting a three-digit dialing code for their behavioral health crisis system. Their three-digit dialing code would NOT be 988.
    • UIC Hub is expanding, most recently with Dr. Mary Smith as a policy expert. There will also be five additional positions added to support the regional work with CESSA. New project plan is being developed relating to completing the CESSA conditions by the July 1 deadline. Will share that project plan with the SAC and regional committees after being vetted with the State.
  • Meeting Logistics/OMA:
    • Meeting cadence and schedule:
      • Brown: With the extension of the CESSA deadline awaiting Governor's signature, it is proposed to set the meeting schedule from January through June 2023, occurring the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.
      • Reinert: Agreed
      • Kaitschuk: Agreed
      • Miller: Agreed
      • Block: Agreed
      • Brown: Recommended canceling December 28, 2022 due to holiday and UIC Crisis Hub staff will be off work.
      • Miller: Agreed with that recommendation.
      • No objections to the December 28, 2022 cancelation.
      • Next meeting: January 11, 2023, from 2:30-4:00 pm via Zoom
    • The meeting minutes will be posted on the IDHS-DMH (CESSA) OMA website after approval by members of the subcommittee.
  • Review of CESSA legislation and public messaging (PM)
    • Sub-committee role: providing guidance and recommendations to SAC and regional advisory committees.
    • All communications shall be coordinated with the DHS Office of Communications.
  • Recommendations to implement CESSA Communications (Slide)
    • Emily reviewed these four recommendations, with associated discussion
      • #1: Identify key stakeholders and local constituencies Lee Ann: Good start is using the 988 implementation plan that had an area of PM. Jessena Williams, DMH chaired a subcommittee on PM. The subcommittee members all agreed that a condensed summary that PM area be added to next meeting's agenda. Lorrie: Stakeholders relating to human service field are needed to share messaging, but there is also a need for other stakeholders relating to the other fields: LEO, EMS, State, and community partners. This is a broad multi-system endeavor. Emily: Agreed with that. Additionally, simple and clear messaging across the state is crucial, with PM dissemination to legal community including judiciary, probation and bar associations. Marisa: All of these aforementioned groups put into a master listserv with email addresses can be used to send mass emails as a tactic to message in an efficient way. Emily: Does the UIC Crisis Hub have the capacity to do that? Allison: UIC can explore a broader list of stakeholders that may not be included in the DMH Comm Alert. Marisa: Very beneficial to make that happen, with communicating externally. Allison: New UIC Marketing Director and will follow up on ideas for a new website and can address that listserv and mass email during that upcoming meeting. Jim: Question to Marisa: Would that mass email master list include all constituencies? Concern that recipients may not pay attention to it, and PM is too crucial to be at risk of getting lost. Marisa: Agreed with that. Emily: Agreed that there is a risk that the email from UIC would get lost. Not against a master listserv. Maybe have it and then have additional outreach from individual organizations, so ppl are getting it twice instead of not at all. Marisa: That could strengthen the master list. Have a sub-master list also. Emily: See both sides of it. Can see a positive with people getting it multiple times from different contacts.
      • #2 Identifying local media outlets, streaming radio, radio, streaming TV, social media Emily: Crucial to partner with DHS Communications Team relating to this. Also relying on the regional advisory committees and their contacts. Best way to funnel communications down to the local level. Allison: Prompted Marisa to provide comments on what she has seen to work in sync with CESSA messaging Marisa: Building and creating strategic content that we will share that is CESSA focused. Share that overall communication strategy with 988. Earned media where one or two reporters are mobilized to help tell the story on the efforts to address this across the state. That's where to start.
      • #3 Along with clear, accurate info to disseminate broadly Allison: What are good strategies to get the PM to stakeholders that you are aware of, in order to get it to constituencies? Emily: Most orgs have their own trusted contacts who come to them and vice versa. Media side of things. IARF has our specific groups that we gravitate towards. Distributing communication. Ensuring that we are all sharing the same information, that is very crucial. Have a commitment to working towards developing a toolkit of some kind. Toolkit would have any kind of PSAs, social media content, etc. Additionally, important that we are all sharing it in the same manner to make sure it is out there in the original form in which it is intended. Jim: Agree with that. At the same time, we all must be in agreement with the material before it goes out. Lorrie: There are important considerations to logistics and approvals that are required when the messaging is from DHS. Would defer to Lee Ann to explain that clearly so that it is understood. If we send something through our partners, then that would be appropriate. Jim: Concerns with sharing information if it is something that he doesn't agree with. Allison: Ensuring consistency of communications across all media is key. Emily: Is there a need for some type of town hall format to be provided, regionally or statewide, to help garner such an approach? That needs to be considered. Any and all types of information sharing and education with this. Also important that we all have realistic difficulties with coordinated efforts, as it is not as simple as handing out a fact sheet.
      • #4- Guidance for information sharing when transferring calls from 911 to 988 and 988 to MCR: Emily: That's another layer of difficulty that was discussed in the CESSA SAC. When CESSA was being enacted, there was another huge planning and implementing with 590 and 988 implementation grant. There is a unique overlap of this with all three in IL, and this creates its own set of challenges. Probably an accurate description is the analogy is "building the plan as it flying". There are many moving pieces and parts, so there must be very thoughtful planning with information or guidance. Each CESSA regional advisory committee is chaired by a 590 provider, and this is another crucial element in assisting with developing that guidance. Jessena: Leveraging regional advisory committees for local communication funneling is key.
  • Public Comment:
    • None
  • Adjournment:
    • Chair Emily Miller asked for a motion to adjourn, was moved by Jim Kaitschuk, and passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 3:26 pm.