A Newsletter For NET Staff, Clients, and Friends In This Issue Lawrence J. Devlin: n Lawrence J. Devlin: Honoring An Extraordinary Commitment to NET 1 Honoring An Extraordinary n NET Steps: Delivering Results for Opiate Addiction 2-3 n Behind The Scenes: Melissa Harvey 4 On the Radio: NET’s Peer Specialists 4 n Terence McSherry: Staying ahead of the curve for 30 years! 5 n CARF Corner James Larks Summer 2010 Commitment to NET In March, Lawrence J. Devlin, NET’s Chairman of the Board, became the first recipient of the Dolores De Francesco Award, which recognizes outstanding service to the social service and behavioral health system of the Delaware Valley. Terence McSherry (left), NET President and CEO, presents the Dolores DeFrancesco Award to Larry Devlin, NET’s Board Chairman of 30 years. Mr. Devlin has had a long and distinguished career as a health services administrator and consultant. In 1976, while serving as Deputy Health Commissioner under Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, he was given the responsibility of closing the behemoth Philadelphia General Hospital. He went on to serve as CEO of Philadelphia Health Management Corp. and in 1981 started his own company, Alternative Delivery Systems. Ten years later, Mr. Devlin went to work for Gloucester County as Director of the Health Department. He retired in 1999. “By his steadfast devotion to the vision and mission of NET and by his expenditure of time and energy over the past 30 years as Chairman of the Board, Lawrence J. Devlin has shown extraordinary leadership,” said Terence McSherry, President and CEO of NET, who has worked side by side with Mr. Devlin for three decades. “He’s an example and inspiration for all who work here and all who have benefited by coming into contact with this organization.” In a recent interview, Mr. Devlin talked about his longtime association with NET. How did you first get involved with NET? “In 1980, when I was CEO of Philadelphia Health Management Corp., I was approached by the Director of CODAAP (Coordinating Office of Drug & Alcohol Abuse Program), who asked if I would continued on page 7 6 n Above and Beyond: Employee Recognition Awards 8 HAPPY 40th Anniversary, Forty years ago… In 1970, the Lower Kensington Environmental Center developed an alternative school in Philadelphia for youth unable to thrive in a traditional public school setting. www.net-centers.org • Richard Nixon was president of the United States. • The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. • Gas sold for 36 cents a gallon. • James Taylor and Carole King performed together for the first time • Paul McCartney announced that the Beatles had disbanded, and • NET was founded and incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. NET! Clearly, there have been enormous changes in the past 40 years – in our country, around the world – and at NET. We’ve grown from a single entity – the Lower Kensington Environmental Center – into a multifaceted, comprehensive network of services that change the lives of people day after day. We’re proud of that evolution and grateful for the role you’ve played in our growth. We also appreciate the work of those who came before us. While Friday, March 5 marked our official 40th anniversary, we’ll be celebrating the occasion throughout the year. Thank you for your role in NET’s success. 2 NET Steps: Delivering Results for Opiate Addiction WHO: John T. Carroll, Director “After experiencing a spiritual awakening, I decided to give up my corporate job in behavioral health administration and start a God-centered recovery program for opiate addiction. For a number of years, I worked independently. Companies would hire me to fix a broken program or put new ideas in place. But NET Steps, the 13th program that I’ve started or fixed, was the one that was intended to be the peak of my spiritual and creative energy, something built on my faith. I’d been training my whole life to do this,” explained Director John Carroll. “My wife, Annette Carroll, and I started this program in 2003 with nothing but a few empty offices on Bridge Street. When you own and operate a program yourself, you get too tied to the bottom line. I was looking for support. Terence McSherry, who I had known previously, agreed to be the ‘parent.’” WHAT: Medication Assisted Recovery for those who are opioid dependent NET Steps, which is licensed to provide methadone/ buprenorphine (suboxone) maintenance and ambulatory detoxification, offers five levels of outpatient treatment and currently serves about 370 persons. Targeted counseling groups include those for women, native Spanish speakers, alternative learners, and full-time workers. “We have a dynamic and innovative counseling model and very high sobriety levels and compliance rates,” Carroll said. “While most methadone clinics are required by regulation to have one hour of counseling a month, we average between 6 and 7 hours a week. “A lot of opiate treatment programs maintain someone on a legally prescribed medication, but there’s no desire to change the underlying behavior. In contrast, our model is based not only on stabilizing the brain chemistry, but also on the idea of spiritual health and getting one’s life back in balance. I believe this contributes greatly to our success.” WHERE: 2205 Bridge Street, Philadelphia, PA NET’s population comes mainly from Northeast Philadelphia. In addition to their treatment, members of the NET Steps community decorate hallways and therapy rooms at the center, create gardens, publish consumer-created news articles, and participate in some public events, such as Recovery Walk. In 2004, in partnership with the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Prison System, NET began providing methadone maintenance services for incarcerated persons, one of the first such programs in the country. Now the program also provides counseling and innovative re-entry services to 400-plus inmates a year. Results have been extraordinary. WHEN: Daily from 5:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Methadone is taken once a day seven days a week. “We start counseling and medication early in the morning, and people can come in before work,” said Carroll. Success stories can happen any day of the week. “A young woman in our Saturday program recently had a baby. She had come to us pregnant, and her boyfriend came with her. They graduated from NET Steps together, and he’s now a junior in college. One of their mothers was there on a Saturday; she shared how she was ashamed of them when they started at NET, but now she appreciates all their hard work and is proud of their achievements.” WHY: Methadone treatment has proven to be extremely effective “Methadone is considered a miracle drug in most places of the world because it’s cheap, has very few side effects, and when patients get on a stable dosage they can function perfectly well,” Carroll said. A Newsletter For NET Staff, Clients, and Friends “I served on the board of an international association of opiate treatment providers. I was nominated for achievements in the field and had to speak in front of 1200 people. While I was waiting to go on, I talked to a guy from the Netherlands who had been using methadone successfully with 13- to 15-year-old street kids. He couldn’t understand why Americans hate methadone so much. and sober. Then people tell them they’re not clean because they’re on methadone, but people with opiate addiction need medication for stable behavior.” “In America, the biggest side effect of methadone is the disdain and prejudice toward it. This is one of our biggest struggles. Our folks get off drugs, take medications as they are supposed to, and are clean Medication Assisted Recovery in Action: From the Streets to Sobriety Growing up was hard to do for T. His mother was streetwise, and drugs and parties were a regular part of family life. His father, who was incarcerated the year T was born, served 21 years. Fortunately, his grandmother and great grandmother were regular and positive presences in his early life, instilling faith and dedication to hard work. During his teen years, T showed great scholastic promise and natural leadership skills. Although he was admitted to Central High School, he didn’t attend. He admits in retrospect that he was scared. “I didn’t know what I’d do at Central, and I’d be away from my friends. I wanted to be with my buddies.” T was a hard worker and had held a job since he was 14. He assumed responsibilities for his house, a little brother, and his baby (born when he was 18). He was able to survive—albeit by hustling on the side as well. When his father returned from prison, T bonded closely with him. They did many things together, including heroin. (T notes that he never mainlined.) Over the next two years, he bottomed out. He lost his house and his baby. He impregnated another woman and stayed with her. He was apprehended for possession and served 2½ years in prison, where he reconnected with his faith. When he was released, he relapsed. By this time, he had been using heroin for 10 years. With encouragement from his fiancée, T sought help. He happened to come across NET Steps and asked about methadone therapy. He says that, at first, NET Steps was reluctant to admit him for treatment, because it didn’t look like he used. They thought he was going to hustle people and deal at the center. Fortunately, T was admitted, met therapist Lou Cain, and learned how to handle his feelings. When parole officers entered NET Steps in search of someone who had violated parole, one of the officers recognized T as also having a parole violation and immediately arrested him. Although NET protested the arrest—T had been living clean and sober in the program—he was returned to jail. Fortunately, T was able to continue his NET Steps treatment in prison, because NET offers methadone services to incarcerated persons. There were no missed steps, and upon release, he returned immediately to NET Steps for continuing therapy. T has been clean since ’07. He describes himself as a “grateful recovering addict” and credits much of his recovery to the lingering influence of his grandmother and great grandmother. Now a Certified Methadone Advocate, he has spoken with treatment program administrators from around the world. He is currently completing his Associate’s Degree and looks forward to completing a college degree at Drexel University or Villanova University, with the eventual hope of being a drug treatment counselor. — May 2010 NET has a new toll-free intake admissions line: 800-860-0703 3 4 Behind The Scenes: Melissa Harvey n Hometown: Lansdale, PA n What is unique about your hometown? It has all the amenities of modern life, but still has the oldfashioned friendliness that can be sometimes hard to find. Melissa Harvey and son Gryffin n What is your dream job? I’m actually pretty happy doing what I’m doing right now. n Three adjectives that best describe you: Serious, organized, thoughtful. n Favorite food: Anything with salt – chips especially! But I love a nice wine and cheese platter as well. n Education: BA in Psychology from Houghton College, Houghton, NY. n Favorite movie: It’s a tie between Amelie and The Breakfast Club. n Job title: Director of Operations, Children’s Behavioral Health n Favorite book: Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo. n Favorite thing about your job: All the great people. I have a wonderful team. n First job: Babysitting at 12 years old for $2 dollars an hour, and I thought that was a lot of money! n Hobbies: Cooking, gardening, chasing after my son, Gryffin. n What do you wish people knew about you? I’m not nearly as serious as people may think. I actually can laugh and be funny once in a while. n What gives you inspiration? The arts, nature, knowing that I can have an impact on people’s lives. n If you had $1 million, what would you do with it? Pay off my debts, invest the rest, and set aside a little for some new shoes! n Hidden talents: I’m great at doing impersonations of people and characters from TV. I’m like that frog from the WB (when it still was the WB): I only do them when no one is expecting it. n If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? I would go to Italy for a year and stay in a big villa with the family. We would explore the arts, eat fresh pasta every day and go to all the beautiful wineries. O n the R adio : NET’s Peer Specialists NET got much more than 15 minutes of fame when four of our Peer Specialists were featured guests on The Rick Ford Show on March 24. The talk show airs on 900AM WURD Radio on Wednesday nights in the 8-9 p.m. time slot. Rick Ford WURD Radio Host Wanda Hudson, Angelo Colon, James Somerville and Greg Dettmar were in the studio to answer questions from listeners about recovery. They spoke from the heart – and from experience. All have completed NET programs, and three are now full-time employees. The program was such a success that NET’s peer specialists were invited back for the April 7 show. “Rick Ford’s ratings went up when we were on,” said Mendelovich. “We’ll be on the air once a month to discuss the services that NET provides – not just our D&A work. We’ll have the opportunity to send people to answer questions, which gives us a lot of exposure.” “A lot of listeners, including people from my Wharton Residential Center, called in with questions and personal stories regarding treatment. It created a dynamic radio show,” said Sonya Mendelovich, Wharton Director and NET’s Community Liaison. Rick Ford, a longtime friend of NET, has spoken at past NET Recovery Recognition Days. WURD is an interactive, information-based talk radio station founded on the concepts of empowerment, community focus and enlightened conversation. 5 Terence McSherry... Staying ahead of the curve for 30 years! As NET’s celebrates its 40th anniversary, Terence McSherry is marking his 30th anniversary at NET’s President and CEO. At its June meeting, NET’s Board of Directors honored Terry for the years of dedication and time he has given to NET. For a perspective on Terry’s tenure, we turned to Gene Derrick, Director of Research and Professional Development at NET: I was working at the John F. Kennedy Community Mental Health Center when a co-worker asked me for a resume. I wasn’t looking to change jobs, but I gave it to him. He passed it along to Terry, who called to offer me the position as NET’s Director of Quality Assurance. When I drove up to Bridge Street to meet Terry for the first time, the (original) building was horrible looking, and I almost turned around and left. But I decided to go in, and we talked for more than two hours. It was an instant connection. I told Terry I’d think about the job. He was very patient, and in August 1987, I started at NET. What drew me to Terry 23 years ago was that he was a visionary, even though NET was a small mom and pop organization back then. The field was just beginning to change over to managed care. Terry got out in front of that, and instead of fighting the change, he understood that it was the wave of the future and he worked with it. We were one of the first agencies to do delegated credentialing for CBH, the main funder in Philadelphia, and we may have been the first to do a credentialing manual for our staff. I suppose that 30 years is a long tenure for a CEO. I think it has to do with Terry’s rapport with the board, their confidence in him, and that he has produced. I later became Division Director of Adult Behavioral Health and since 2000 I’ve been in charge of all training and development. Terry’s been very committed to research. In fact, NET was one of the original providers that worked with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an NIH agency that’s in the forefront of drug abuse and addiction research. Terry and I started out as colleagues and quickly developed a friendship. The passion that brought us together was scuba diving. Every chance we got, we’d dive – in Belize, Aruba, Grand Cayman. We eventually purchased a time-share together so we had a set place to go. Terry’s my boss at the office, but we’re also friends. We manage to travel that parallel road without it bothering our work relationship, and on vacation we don’t talk about work. We dive and enjoy good food. Terry always looks ahead strategically and has the ability to stay ahead of the curve. As a result, NET is a very different company from those early days. We’ve had some lean times, but we’ve always come through. And in the last couple of years, in a difficult economic climate, NET has been able to acquire other companies. From early on, Terry planned to be here for the long-term. He’s made extremely good hires, many of whom have been at NET for 15-plus years, and his choices have really helped the company. I suppose that 30 years is a long tenure for a CEO. I think it has to do with Terry’s rapport with the board, their confidence in him, and that he has produced. Terry’s lasted, too, because he’s fiscally responsible. While he might want to give salary increases, if the money is not in the bank, he doesn’t write the checks. He has made NET a presence, a name, and a competitor in the behavioral health and social services market. I admire Terry and am honored to be his colleague and friend. — Gene Derrick Reduce your stress, your waistline, and your expenses... There is still time to enroll in NET’s Healthy Motivations Wellness Program. Questions? Call: Jonathan Solomons at 215-451-7159 or Larry Kovacs at 215-408-4942 6 Corner CARF By James Larks, Director of Performance Improvement In September 2009, NorthEast Treatment Centers (NET) was awarded a three-year accreditation by CARF (the CommisJames Larks sion on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) for Behavioral Health (BH), Children and Youth Services (CYS), and our Opioid Treatment Program (OTP). In addition to the accreditation, we also received three exemplary conformance commendations for the Clubhouse Program, Peer Specialist Program, and the Peoples Advisory Committee. This commendation, reserved for organizations that demonstrate exemplary conformance to the standards, is rare for an organization undergoing an initial survey. We are all stakeholders in this process. Having accreditation from an internationally renowned accrediting organization and recognition as “exemplary” are accomplishments that should make each of us extremely proud. Since our survey, I have joined CARF International as an administrative and program surveyor for BH, CYS, and OTP. These experiences have afforded me the unique opportunity to learn more about the accreditation process from two perspectives, i.e., internal and external. Internally, as the Director of Performance Improvement for NET, I have the privilege and pleasure of facilitating our organization-wide performance improvement (PI) activities. Ongoing monitoring occurs primarily through our Performance Reporting System (PRS), which has been revised to accommodate CARF 2009 standards. The PRS is accessible via NET’s intranet portal, which enables aggregate data collection and program-specific quantitative analysis and reporting. Through the automatic process, data collection, analysis, and PI reporting occur quarterly for areas identified as needing further review or enhancement. The Quality Council of the Executive Committee completes an annual review of NET’s PI process. Other monitoring activities include review of corporate and divisionlevel meeting minutes to see how our programs are interpreting and implementing CARF standards. In a nutshell, a brief scan of the minutes for legend codes that correspond to CARF core functions allows us to see how each program is applying these standards to their respective areas. Core functions include: Leadership, Strategic Planning, Risk Management, Accessibility, Health & Safety, Legal Requirements, Rights of Persons Served, Technology, Human Resources, Information Measurement and Management, Performance Improvement, and General/ Specific/Specific Population Behavioral Health Program Standards. From an external perspective as a CARF Surveyor, I am able to see how NET compares to similar programs across the nation and around the world. After these reviews, I’m happy to report that NET is in great shape. My major responsibilities include coordination and facilitation of the entire survey process. As team leader, I ensure that the team accomplishes the mission and the assigned tasks. I am also responsible for reviewing the ASPIRE to Excellence® standards, which include the input and change processes, specifically: assessing the environment, setting strategy, obtaining input from persons served, implementing plans, reviewing results, and effecting change. Finally, I am responsible for completing the electronic report and submitting it to CARF for finalization and the accreditation award decision, which is all usually accomplished within 72 hours while I am on the road. The perspectives I’ve gained by working with CARF International provide a great advantage for NET, however, it is our workforce that is most crucial in making our accreditation process successful. Each employee is encouraged to learn how his or her contributions apply to our accreditation process and our daily operations. NET relies on its staff to implement and carry out our mission of providing comprehensive behavioral healthcare and supportive social services to adults, adolescents, children, and their families. Therefore, it is imperative that we embrace our jobs and our commitment to the persons we serve as a privileged opportunity to put people first in our lives, in our organization, and in our community. I am proud to be a NET employee and I hope you, too, will join me in celebrating our continued success as a CARF-accredited behavioral health and social services organization. Terence McSherry shared these thoughts behind NET’s CARF accreditation: “While NET Steps, our Medication Assisted Program, must be accredited, NET’s other programs are not bound by the same requirements. NET chose to seek CARF accreditation because it provides a good structure for our being quality-driven and quality oriented. “Why CARF specifically? Rather than being purely medically driven, CARF is more consumer friendly and very all-encompassing in its program coverage. It’s more compatible with whom we have become and the length and breadth of the services NET provides. CARF’s administrative and program surveyors are practitioners in our field who generously volunteer their time. We’re proud that James Larks, our Director of Performance Improvement, is a CARF surveyor, and we are appreciative of his efforts.” A Newsletter For NET Staff, Clients, and Friends Lawrence J. Devlin: Honoring An Extraordinary Commitment to NET continued from page 1 When you get something turned around, you have pride of ownership. It gave me an incentive to stay involved. I felt good because I knew Terry had outstanding potential. He’s a guy you can put your faith in. accept the appointment of receiver at the Lower Kensington Environmental Center [NET’s forerunner]. LKEC was an alternative school for youth with behavioral and learning problems. It was a good program but it had management troubles. “I met with Wilson Goode, who was then Managing Director of the City. I wanted a commitment that after the problem was solved, they wouldn’t throw the agency away. I agreed to be receiver, and I asked Terence McSherry, who was one of my Division Directors at PHMC, if he would serve as Acting Executive Director of LKEC. “About 21 months later, the receivership was reversed. Terry left PHMC and became Executive Director of LKEC; I became President of the Board. I planned to be president for one year. I didn’t intend to stay.” Why did you change your mind? “They talked me into staying! When you get something turned around, you have pride of ownership. It gave me an incentive to stay involved. I felt good because I knew Terry had outstanding potential. He was a diamond in the rough – and he polished up good! He’s a guy you can put your faith in.” What are you most proud of? 7 NET in the News: Thanks for Giving Back to Our Communities March 28 –The Philly Feeds Haiti day of service brought 1,500 volunteers together to fill bags for Haitians displaced by January’s earthquake. In the Philadelphia Inquirer, Michael Matza reported, “They came from across the city and suburbs. . . At one table was Brandi Jefferson, 32, of Mount Airy, a counselor who works with troubled youth through NorthEast Treatment Centers. Along with Jefferson came two teenage clients. One had been ordered by the Juvenile Court to perform community service, and helping Haiti seemed like a natural fit.” “When we started, we had a $1.3 million budget and 100 employees. Through the years, we’ve expanded from being a provider of drug and alcohol treatment to a provider of behavioral health services, from caring for children to caring for entire families. Now, our budget is about $36-$38 million and we have 700 employees. We’ve gotten more and more certifications through the years. We’re about the best at what we do. All of this makes me proud.” What’s your role on the board? “When you spend so much time with an organization, you know when you have to get involved and when you don’t. I’ve stayed in the background. I know what NET does and I can oversee it, but I can’t do what NET does. Having the ability to recognize the difference has been useful. “Years ago, I worked for Mayor Frank Rizzo, who didn’t have a formal education. He did have street smarts, and that served him well. He recognized that he couldn’t do it all himself; he needed good people. His was a good model. At NET, I believe we’ve hired good people and brought good people onto the board.” What are you doing now? “I’m retired and living in Florida. I come up quarterly for board meetings, and I am in frequent touch with Terry and other board members. When you retire you can lose touch. Serving on the board keeps me in touch with the profession, and many of the board members are former colleagues as well as longtime friends. Our meetings are congenial. Terry is a good communicator. I’m pleased that we’re moving forward at a good pace and doing good things.” Brandi Jefferson Youth Worker April 14 – Philadelphia’s citywide Spring Cleanup attracted over 11,000 volunteers, but when the Northeast Times’ John Loftus wrote about the event, he focused on the efforts to remove trash and debris – more than 50 bags of it – from Overington Park in Frankford. He wrote that the volunteer team included “members of the Frankford Garden Club, church groups, students and some of the clients at the Northeast Treatment Center.” Their efforts “were fantastic,” he wrote. www.net-centers.org Administrative Offices 499 N. 5th Street, Suite A Philadelphia, PA 19123 A Newsletter For NET Staff, Clients, and Friends 8 Above and Beyond: Employee Recognition Awards Congratulations to these three NET employees who were honored at a NET board meeting for their productivity and outstanding performance: Nicole (Nikki) Phillips Clinical Coordinator, Kirkwood Detoxification Center Nikki started as a driver at NET, and she hasn’t stayed still since. In her 10-year career here, she’s held positions ranging from resident manager to after-care coordinator to counselor to her current job as Clinical Coordinator, responsible for “getting our consumers placed in the next level of care. I have to get 25 percent of them placed within 7 days of discharge.” Ian Barnes Treatment Foster Care Supervisor New Zealand native Ian Barnes came to Philadelphia in 1990, planning to stay for three years. “It’s nearly 20 years later, and I’m still here”! He began working at NET in 2006. In addition to supervising four case managers, Ian also manages a case himself—a way, he notes, to “keep me grounded and help me be a better supervisor.” To what does Nikki attribute her success? Her motto is similar to Nike’s. “I just do it. I’ve done all the jobs here and I could do the job from home with my eyes closed. My boss could call my cell phone at 3 a.m. and I could give him an answer. And I’m here when I’m supposed to be.” About his award, he says, “I don’t like these individual honors, because it’s never about one person. This work is very much a team game, and you can’t do anything successfully without a team around you.” He describes his team as “dedicated to what they do; it’s not just a job, and my direct supervisor is very supportive.” When she can, Nikki takes her lunch break at home in order to spend time with Wyatt and Zachary, ages 3 and 4. Then she returns to what she calls her other baby – “after care.” Though adventure and education might have brought Ian to America, love has kept him here. He’s married to a woman he met in the States and together they have three children. AJ Mitchell Client Benefits Manager, NET Steps In the two-plus years that AJ Mitchell has been at NET, he’s become an integral part of NET Steps’ infrastructure. After starting as a data manager, AJ expanded his role to include benefits management and, most recently, client intake. “AJ is dependable and a great worker. He started in data entry and now does everything, and it unique to take on both clinical and administrative challenges,” said John Carroll, Director of NET Steps. We’d love to hear from you! E-mail your newsletter ideas, comments and questions to: [email protected]
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