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Community Resources Online | 2-1-1 | Where to Turn | Brochures | Archive | Crisis Clinic | Subscribe |
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Statewide Recovery Help Line Started July 1
Teen
Link, the statewide teen-answered help line, operates each evening between
6-10pm. Trained teen volunteers are able to talk to other teens about a wide
range of issues, including drugs, alcohol, depression
and gambling and make referrals to service providers. The phone number is
866-TEENLINK and website is 866-TEENLINK.org Check
out the new website, full of
information on resources including how to find treatment providers,
information for family or friends, downloadable brochures and links to other
websites with information about drugs, alcohol, gambling and mental health,
plus page for just for teens. The
website also offers a career center page where behavioral health job seekers
can post resumes and behavioral health agencies can post job announcements
for free. Users will also find a link to colleges offering behavioral health
training. Service
providers are encouraged to add the new WA Recovery Help Line telephone
number to materials prepared for their clients, and to post information on
bulletin boards to help us publicize this new service. Downloadable posters
and advertisements are located on the website. Crisis
Clinic, established in 1964 as a non-profit organization, is one of the
oldest crisis lines in the nation and is licensed as a Crisis Telephone
Services Provider and a Chemical Dependency Provider by DSHS/DBHR.
Additionally, Crisis Clinic is accredited by CONTACT USA, making it one of
the leading crisis lines in the nation. Questions
about the program can be directed to Robyn Smith, MSW, CDP, WA Recovery Help
Line Coordinator at 206-436-2982 or recovery@crisisclinic.org. Homeless
Youth Count Results On
May 25th United Way of King County and a collaboration of multiple
homeless youth providers from across the county orchestrated a synchronized
event called “Count Us In.” The goal was to achieve a more
accurate count of the number of homeless and unstably housed youth in King
County, as well as to identify which resources they use and what services
they need. The eight different partners, each running their own site with
funding from Teen Feed, offered free meals and other community activities in
order to draw in youth from the surrounding area. The youth were then asked
to complete a survey, which assisted in identifying the number of homeless
youth participating and the service gaps for youth in King County. Of
the 374 people who showed up to the various events across the county, 341
filled out a survey. 93% were within the targeted age range of 12-24 years
old. 56% were male and 21% identified as LGBTQ. 56% identified as a racial
minority, with 25% African-Americans, 13% Hispanics, and 10% selecting
multiple ethnicities. 81% answered that they had been or are currently
homeless. Of the people that said they had never been homeless or chose not
to respond, 50% met United Way’s definition for being homeless or
unstably housed within the last 3 months. United
Way and the broader community intend to continue expanding and refining this
effort. The goal is a better understanding of how many youth and young adults
in King County are struggling with housing stability. This summer, United Way
will be in conversation with the organizations that went the extra mile and
volunteered to be site coordinators: Auburn Youth Resources, Friends of
Youth, New Horizons Ministries, Peace for the Streets by Kids from the
Streets, Seattle Parks & Recreation with Seattle Human Services
Department, Teen
Feed, YMCA Young Adult Services and YouthCare. We
will also be talking with key members of the community in order to get a
better picture of how the event went and how it can be improved. Further
research on other youth counts across the nation will give us a better
perspective on how other communities have conducted such counts and how King
County’s efforts can be tailored to better suit our region and the
young people struggling with housing stability. Most importantly, we’ll
be identifying other groups and organizations in the community who will be
key players in bringing in unreached populations of homeless youth. Moving
forward, we will incorporate suggestions heard from partners and the
community in order to develop a more effective and comprehensive homeless
youth and young adult count. Interagency collaboration throughout this past
count was phenomenal, and it was exciting to see what could be accomplished when
so many organizations work together in order to better serve one population:
young people in need. With an increase in planning and outreach we hope to
see better representation of homeless and unstably housed youth and young
adults at the next event, in order to best serve a population that is often
underrepresented, misunderstood, and marginalized. If you have any comments,
questions or would like to be more engaged in future efforts to better
understand youth and young adults struggling with housing stability,
please contact Derek Wentorf at United Way of King
County for more information. Low-Cost Eye Wear for Medicaid Clients Legislation
passed during this year’s regular legislative session will help state
Medicaid clients affected by a budget cut that eliminated coverage of frames,
lenses and contacts from the medical assistance program this year. Under
the new law, Airway Heights’ Correctional Industries Optical center,
which has been the manufacturer of vision hardware for the Medicaid program
– will continue to make the items that are prescribed by Medicaid
providers. The Spokane center now will charge the doctors for the actual cost
of producing the glasses, and the doctors will be able to pass that same
charge along to the clients. The
legislation presumes neither eye doctors nor the center will make a profit on
the transactions. Prices are expected to range around $20 for a pair of
glasses. The
vision benefit budget cut was one of several cuts affecting benefits for
clients of the Medicaid program ages 21 and older. Others included
elimination of coverage for hearing aids and other hearing hardware, and
limiting the adult dental benefit to emergency treatments for pain, infection
or trauma. Persons with developmental disabilities were exempted from the
original cut in the dental benefit, and the final legislative budget directed
Medicaid to also restore the benefit for pregnant women later this summer. None
of the cuts affected children’s benefits, which are generally protected
under federal Medicaid law. The cuts also did not change coverage of eye or
hearing exams for adults. Those remain covered by Medicaid. Medicaid clients
who are interested in obtaining new eyeglasses should talk to their
optometrist, ophthalmologist or primary care provider for a referral to an
eye doctor. ·
Staff from Seattle Counseling Service and Navos have joined together to
facilitate a queer youth group in Burien on Wednesdays, from 3-5pm. The
group is for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning,
intersex, and ally youth and is a place for activism and support for students
ages 13-18. For more information call Meg at (206) 326-9112 or Jenny at (206)
323-1768 or email youthgroupinfo@navos.org. |
The
Street Outreach Workers Group and Seattle Parks & Recreation are looking
for agencies who serve unstably housed youth and young adults, ages 12-27, to
participate in an outreach fair. The fair will be Aug. 5, noon-3pm at Cal
Anderson Park. Programs should commit to providing a service on-site
or in some way making their table interactive. For questions or more details,
contact Katalin Hausback
at (206) 633-7639.
King County 2-1-1 collects information about local school supplies programs in July. If you would like your program listed in the King County 2-1-1 resource database, especially if you don’t think you have been listed in the past, contact the Resource Center at (206) 461-3210 or ResourceCenter@CrisisClinic.org
The Washington State Summer Meal Program provides free meals
and snacks during the summer months. All children and teens (18 years old and
younger) are eligible for the program. No proof of income, address or citizenship
is ever required. Visit www.parenthelp123.org
to use WithinReach’s summer meal site locator
tool.
The
Community Services Division statewide customer service center (CSC) has
adopted a new, simplified front end phone menu for (877) 501-2233. The change
allows an experienced financial worker to take quick case actions and then
triage more time consuming phone calls via a live transfer to the correct
team.
Volunteer Services
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Resource Talk, Crisis Clinic's free monthly e-newsletter,
provides critical resource changes, community events, feature articles on
important health and human service topics and updates to the annual
publication of the Where to Turn Plus directory. Click here to
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Resource Talk by clicking here. Crisis Clinic offers a variety of products
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Crisis Clinic's Where to Turn Directories, Where to Turn CD-ROMs,
customized reports, customized mailing labels and holiday lists can be found
online by clicking here. Crisis Clinic respects the privacy of our website users. For business purposes, please e-mail us at ResourceCenter@CrisisClinic.org or call us at (206) 461-3210. http://www.CrisisClinic.org Crisis ClinicCommunity Resources OnlineHousing and Emergency Services Brochures |
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