CESSA Protocols and Standards Subcommittee Meeting - Approved Minutes 04/17/2025

 April 17, 2025 2:30-4:00 pm via Zoom

Meeting Minutes - Approved by Members 04/17/2025

Call to Order/Review of Official Notices (Cindy Barbera-Brelle)

  • Meeting called to order by Cindy Barbera-Brelle at 2:31pm (via Zoom)
  • Cindy Barbera-Brelle reviewed OMA Official Notices

Roll Call (Cindy Barbera-Brelle)

  • Members present: Brittany Watson, James Hennessy, Brent Reynolds, Pete Dyer, Justin Houcek, Cindy Barbera-Brelle, Jessica Gimeno (designee for Candace Coleman), Christina Smith (designee for David Albert), Rachael Ahart, Bobby Van Bebber, Drew Hansen
  • Members absent: Blanca Campos
  • Quorum is present.

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes

  • Bobby Van Bebber made a motion to approve meeting minutes from March 6, 2025, and March 20, 2025. Pete Dyer second this motion.
  • Approved for Both Dates:
    • Bobby Van Bebber
    • Brittany Watson
    • Christina Smith
    • Cindy Barbera-Brelle
    • Justin Houcek
    • Pete Dyer
  • Abstained from March 6 and Approved March 20:
    • Jessica Gimeno
    • Rachael Ahart
  • Abstained for Both Dates:
    • Brent Reynolds
    • Drew Hansen
    • Jim Hennessey
  • March 6, 2025 and March 20, 2025 meeting minutes are approved.

State Updates:

  • Cindy Barbera-Brelle and Christina Smith:
    • SB2500, CESSA amendment bill, was approved in the Senate and moved into the House which is a move in the right direction.
  • Mary Smith:
    • Forum updates:
      • Behavioral Health Crisis Hub will be re-formatting the Forum to be virtual. It will feature three mini-forums, on three consecutive Wednesdays in June (June 11, June 18, and June 25).
      • The theme will be the same moving forward: strengthening crisis services in a new era, collaboration, resilience and innovation.
      • The Hub is working with presenters to make sure they are available on the different days.
      • We hope to have something out next week that lays out more information about registration and sessions.
    • Training: A revised de-escalation training is scheduled for May and email will go out for registration soon.

Pilot Updates (Cindy Barbera-Brelle and Dr. Mary Smith):

  • Total Response (formerly PowerPhone)
    • Weekly meetings with PSAP Site Administrators (State 911 Administrator and the BHCH)
      • Troubleshoot and problem solve implementation issue
      • Working with Total Response Implementation Team and the UIC Behavioral Health Crisis Hub Data Manager to refine data collection processes and trouble-shoot reporting issue
      • Reviewing case studies and hypothetical scenarios to enhance TC training opportunities
    • Bi-weekly meetings with Centerstone (988)
    • Bi-weekly meetings with MCRTs Serving PSAP coverage areas
  • Priority Dispatch
    • Pre-Test began with four sites March 3 and was completed March 31st
      • Weekly meetings
      • Finalized response type recommendations for type of condition and response urgency codes (Determinant Codes)
      • Tested and finalized methodology for incorporating these updates into protocols and IT systems
      • Tested reporting strategies and finalized reporting format
      • Reporting on the number of possible Level 1 mental health calls eligible for transfer to 988
      • Pre-test site executives initiated conversations with EMS Medical Directors and other parts of the dispatching system to discuss pilot initiation
    • The Pilot
      • The Pilot launched April 1st
      • 3 Sites; 7 Additional will launch by the beginning of May
    • Reviewed Priority Dispatch Pretest and pilot sites chart
    • Priority Dispatch Pilot Preparation Activities
      • Demos on technical integration of 988 transfers
      • Demonstration re: report creation
      • Vendor provided training video and reporting manual
      • Reminders/guidance re: conversations with EMS Medical Directors and other parts of the dispatching system
      • Development of internal policies/procedures within the PSAPs
      • Training for the telecommunicators
      • Meetings with MCRT teams assigned to Priority Dispatch PSAPs
      • Update to 988 Centerstone
      • Sharing and development of tools to assist with implementation
  • APCO
    • Completed internal review of protocols and recommended changes to protocols
    • Discussed reporting needs with the vendor
    • Confirming sites-will likely be four for both the pre-test and pilot
    • Met with the vendor to discuss initial recommendations
    • Next Steps: Work with vendor around updating software and addressing reporting needs
  • Tools Developed to Assist in Pilot Implementation
    • Webinars
    • Guidance documents
    • Training
    • Reporting Guidance
    • Checklists
    • Flow Charts
  • Pilot Training
    • Each entity participating in the Pilots was required to have staff complete core training.
      • Training completed as of April 3rd:
      • PSAP Telecommunicators: 155
      • 988 Crisis Counselors: 128
      • Mobile Crisis Response Team Members: 492
      • Other: 47

Questions from the Committee:

  • Jim Hennessy: You mentioned some issues with Centerstone, there was the one we were advised of. What were the other incidents?
    • Cindy Barbera-Brelle: Most of them were not critical, more procedural. Dr. Smith, can you discuss some of the issues you've talked to Centerstone about?
    • Mary Smith:
      • One issue related to a Centerstone 988 training issues. A couple of call-takers were unaware that 911 telecommunicators would be transferring well-being call checks to 988 so they could pass it on to a mobile crisis response team for an on-site response. We've talked about that and asked Centerstone to go back and re-train staff to make sure that everyone understands what types of calls will be transferred to them so there's no confusion when 911 calls.
      • I want to be even-handed, because we also have similar reports from 988 about issues with 911. For example, the concern from 988 is that sometimes the 988 call-takers are receiving "cold transfers" where not all of the pieces of information are not being transferred. I think that's been the biggest issue for 988 crisis counselors. Jessica, any input?
    • Jessica Atassi: That is one major issue we've seen a couple of times, and that we're actively addressing. And then, a lot of it is kind of more in the minutia of the information exchange and the transfer processes, and making sure that the right information is going both ways.
    • Cindy Barbera-Brelle: If someone sends something to me, then I send it off to the Hub so that they can investigate, and then we follow up if on that particular situation in the touch base calls that we have. The issues haven't been monumental events, but they're more mechanical. I think everybody is getting used to this change in process that they've been working on for a year or many, many years.
    • Jim Hennesey: I trust you are completely handling all those things. It's just we are going to be evaluating eventually how these protocols are working, and what we need to change, and so we want to trend the complaints/issues to help address those things. The other question I had is based on feedback from PSAPs about 988, such as when they give us calls like a suicidal subject with not much information. Where should PSAPs be bringing that information?
    • Cindy Barbera-Brelle: You can direct those to me. I got a similar complaint today, where a 911 TC got an IP Address from a 988 call-taker. That takes too long and there has got to be a better exchange of information. I sent that out to the Hub who can do a little more investigation. The 911 to 988 exchange needs to be streamlined. I'll make a mention of that on my next calls. If there's any information you have on a call send it to me, and even better if you have a recording. That would yield a better investigation to determine what the situation is and how to rectify it.
    • Jim Hennessy: Alright, Cindy, thank you, I appreciate it.
    • Mary Smith: We are tracking issues so that at the end of the pilot, we have qualitative as well as quantitative data. Even though issues come up, one takeaway is that the pilots are doing exactly what we want them to do. We're identifying issues that need to be addressed before we push to full implementation.
    • Cindy Barbera-Brelle: As far as the protocols go, we haven't had many issues reported. Maybe in a couple of them there are too many questions being asked, and we'll make note of that in the after-action that leads to the formal evaluation. Total Response reached out earlier in the week to see if there's anything with the protocols that we need to change. Any changes we will need to make will be minor, but we are looking at that as well.

Next Meeting Dates:

Meetings are held virtually 2:30-4:00 PM on the first and third Thursdays of each month, unless otherwise noted:

  • May 1, 2025
  • May 15, 2025

Public Comment:

  • None

Adjournment:

  • Cindy Barbera-Brelle requested a motion to adjourn. Jim Hennessey motioned to adjourn, Brent Reynolds seconded.
  • Members who voted to adjourn:
    • Brent Reynolds
    • Brittany Watson
    • Jessica Gimeno
    • Cindy Barbera-Brelle
    • Christina Smith
    • Drew Hansen
    • Jim Hennessy
    • Justin Houcek
    • Pete Dyer
    • Rachael Ahart
  • Motion passed and Cindy Barbera-Brelle adjourned the meeting at 3:08pm.