The SPARC Leadership Team

Teri Herrmann, MA

CEO

I have been working in the NC Mental Health system since 2003 when I started with The Institute for Family Centered Services. I have experience being a direct practitioner of the Evidenced Based Practice Family Centered Treatment®. I also have over 8 years supervising and overseeing the service delivery of FCT. I am an experienced leader in Behavioral Health Programing including clinical oversight, quality management, fiscal oversight, and managing day to day operations. I also have experience with National Accreditation processes and participating in integrated care workgroups across the state. I am passionate about keeping children at home with their families and out of residential placements. I believe in the power of team and The SPARC Network culture is an environment in which the power of team is valued..

Amy Proffitt

CFO

amy@thesparcnetwork.net

My passion for helping people has come by way of performing administrative and financial tasks for an amazing agency that supports the amazing staff working with adults, children, and families to keep these kids and adults out of institutional care, and providing skills to parents and family members so that they can stay together. I’m passionate about the mission and vision of The SPARC Network, and strive to support it with all the skills that I possess. I have over 15 years’ experience in the medical and mental health arena with both billing and administrative tasks. I enjoy these tasks, as well as all the financial aspects of building and growing innovative programs, and supporting the communities that we serve.

Helen Austin

CCO

haustin@thesparcnetwork.net

After 10 years of providing child Mental Health services in various settings, I began working in quality assurance. For the past 7 years I successfully provided guidance to mental health service providers on compliance to rules and regulations of the state, MCOs, and other regulatory entities. I enjoy finding creative and user-friendly ways to make sure our teams are meeting expectations and providing quality care. I believe in a trauma-informed approach to providing care both for the client and the service provider. My mission is to ensure that our agency’s providers are educated, protected, and fulfilled in their work, and that the agency is free from risk as much as possible. I’m excited to grow with SPARC and believe that by contributing to the stabilization of clients in their natural home environment, we can make the world a better place.

Jeremy Proffitt

Information Technology Director

jeremy@thesparcnetwork.net

In 1994, at the age of 14 I decided to very sneakily list the four wheeler my father had gotten me for sale in the newspaper, sold it and bought my first computer, the Apple IIe. Once I was ungrounded, I began deconstructing and rebuilding it over and over. That brief curiosity in 1994 has now turned into a full blown career. I’m curious, and I enjoy work that challenges me to learn something new and stretch in a different direction. I do my best to stay on top of changes in the state of the art so that I can meet challenges with tools well suited to the job at hand.

Fred Ingram

Adult Services Director, Southern Piedmont Region

fingram@thesparcnetwork.net

I am a Graduate of N.C A&T state University (AGGIE PRIDE). I have been in the mental health field since 1997, and have worked with both youth and adult populations. I have done everything from direct care, to supervising group homes and CBS services, to training in TCI(therapeutic crisis interventions) I have worked with the (DD) population Autism Spectrum as well as MH population. I truly have a passion to empower, advocate and improve quality of life for those who can’t manage those things on their own. I now supervise a great group of individuals from the Transitions Management Services (TMS) and Individual Support staff at SPARC Network. I value the wealth of knowledge that I have endured while working for The SPARC Network Family. I believe in the power of the team and The SPARC Network Values and Culture in which the power of the team is valued. The opportunity for growth for my team and my own development is very exciting

Tailored Care Management (TCM)

Tailored Care Management (TCM) is a service where a Care Manager can help meet the health goals by coordinating medical, social and behavioral health services and by assisting in finding access resources like transportation, healthy food and safe housing. A Care Manager is a specially trained health care worker who works with the client and all health care providers, including doctors, to make sure clients get the right care when and where they need it. The Care Manager knows what resources are available in the community and will work with local providers.

SPARC is a proud member of the Collaborative Health Network as a participating provider in the Clinically Integrated Network that will allow us to deliver high quality care management services.

The Care Manager can:

Ensure clients have access to the physical health, pharmacy, behavioral health, and social resources you need to live their best life
Help arrange appointments and transportation to and from the doctor
Support clients in reaching their goals to better manage their ongoing health conditions

Answer questions about what their medicines do and how to take them
Follow up with client’s doctors or specialists about their care
Connect clients to helpful resources in your community
Help clients continue to receive the care they need if you switch health plans or doctors

MORES Program

MORES is a team-based service and will respond within 45 minutes of the member/guardian call, when a child is experiencing an emotional or behavioral crisis. The immediate face-to-face response is designed to better address the needs children and families in their homes, schools, and communities. MORES staff comprises a team which includes clinicians, qualified mental health professionals, Family Partners, and access to child/adolescent psychiatry. Interventions can include but are not limited to: - Crisis intervention and de-escalation, - Counseling, - Behavioral assistance, - Skill building, - Medication management, - And/or caregiver and youth engagement/support/stabilization services. The service is intended to prevent placement into more restrictive settings, unnecessary court involvement, and declines in functioning. The duration of a MORES episode of care can be up to eight weeks. This intervention can include: - Continued outreach, - Response, - Stabilization, - Engagement, - Referral, - And linkage to on-going care.

Peer Support Services (PSS) are an evidenced-based mental health model of care that provides community-based recovery services directly to a Medicaid-eligible adult beneficiary diagnosed with a mental health or substance use disorder. PSS provides structured, scheduled services that promote recovery, self-determination, self-advocacy, engagement in self-care and wellness and enhancement of community living skills of beneficiaries. PSS services are directly provided by Certified Peer Support Specialists (CPSS) who have self-identified as a person(s) in recovery from a mental health or substance use disorder. PSS are based on the belief that beneficiaries diagnosed with serious mental health or substance use disorders can and do recover. The focus of the services is on the person, rather than the identified mental health or substance use disorder and emphasizes the acquisition, development, and expansion of rehabilitative skills needed to move forward in recovery. The services promote skills for coping with and managing symptoms while utilizing natural resources and the preservation and enhancement of community living skills.

Intensive In-Home Service (IIHS) is a team approach designed to address the identified needs of children and adolescents who, due to serious and chronic symptoms of an emotional, behavioral, or substance use disorder, are unable to remain stable in the community without intensive interventions. The 3-Person IIHS Team works as a collaborative unit to support the child and their family by providing individual and family therapy, skill building, psycho-education, advocacy, and case management services The service is intended to accomplish the following: 1. reduce presenting psychiatric or substance use disorder symptoms; 2. provide first responder intervention to diffuse current crisis; 3. ensure linkage to community services and resources; and 4. prevent out of home placement for the beneficiary. • The Evidenced Based Practice Model, Family Centered Treatment is the treatment model utilized by all IIHS Teams • Services typically last for 6-8 months

Outpatient Plus (OPT Plus) is a combination of therapy services, monitoring, support, and management of care interventions to be provided for individuals with complex clinical needs that traditional outpatient cannot adequately address. This services can be provided to children and their families as well as adults.

OPT Plus is a home and community-based treatment service focused on decreasing psychiatric and behavioral symptoms in order to reduce the need for higher levels of care or increase the likelihood of a successful transition to Outpatient Therapy from higher levels of care. OPT Plus will improve the beneficiary’s ability to navigate systems and improve functioning in familial, social, educational, or occupational life domains.

OPT Plus is designed to:

Reduce psychiatric or substance use disorder symptoms and promote symptom stability and recovery;
Assist the beneficiary with transition to a community setting and to navigate the skills to live independently in the community;
Prevent the need for enhanced services or provide a step down from enhanced services; and
Ensure linkage to community services and resources.

We currently serve Gaston, Cleveland, Lincoln, Iredell, Catawba, Burke, Rutherford, Yadkin, and Surry counties.

Individual Support Services are “hands-on” individualized assistance with everyday activities that are required by a member with severe and persistent mental illness in order to live independently in the community. The services are intended to support adults ages eighteen (18) and older living in a private home, a licensed group home, an adult care home or a hospital that have a documented plan to transition to independent or shared housing.

Specifically, this service provides assistance with Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) including preparing meals, managing money, shopping for household necessities, using the telephone, housecleaning, laundry, transporting the member to access the community, medication management, supervision and cuing. The goal is to provide coaching to the member in areas of need and fade this support over time.

We currently serve Mecklenburg, Union, Rowan, Cabarrus, Stanly, Davidson, Stokes, Davie, Rockingham, Alamance, Caswell, and Halifax counties.

Community Support Team (CST) provides direct support to adults with a diagnosis of mental illness, substance use, or co-morbid disorder and who have complex and extensive treatment needs. This service consists of community-based mental health and substance use services, and structured rehabilitative interventions intended to increase and restore a beneficiary’s ability to live successfully in the community. The team approach involves structured, face-to-face therapeutic interventions that assist in reestablishing the beneficiary’s community roles related to the following life domains: emotional, behavioral, social, safety, housing, medical and health, educational, vocational, and legal.

This is an intensive community-based rehabilitation team service that provides direct treatment and restorative interventions as well as case management.

CST is designed to provide:

a. symptom stability by reducing presenting psychiatric or substance use disorder symptoms;

b. restorative interventions for development of interpersonal, community, coping and independent living skills;

c. psychoeducation;

d. first responder intervention to deescalate a crisis; and

e. service coordination and ensure linkage to community services and resources.

We currently serve Mecklenburg, Union, Rowan, Cabarrus, Stanly, Davidson, Stokes, Davie, Rockingham, Yadkin, Surry, and Iredell counties.

Shared Risk Contracting

Medicaid Managed Care Organizations and Behavioral Health Providers have the potential to partner and improve health care quality and control rising costs, particularly for complex, high-need members. Coordinating behavioral health and medical services, and/or providing evidenced-based programs, may help to dramatically improve quality of care and reap significant savings from avoidable emergency room and inpatient utilization.

The SPARC Network will custom design shared savings programs that work to reduce health care spending for high-cost member populations, while simultaneously increasing the quality of service delivery and outcomes.

If you would like more information, please email dan@thesparcnetwork.net

Transition Management Services (TMS)

The SPARC Network uses Transition Management Services (TMS) to provide services to individuals participating in the Transition to Community Living Initiative (TCLI). TMS is a rehabilitation service intended to increase and restore an individual’s ability to live successfully in the community by maintaining tenancy.TMS focuses on increasing the individual’s ability to live as independently as possible, managing the illness, and reestablishing his or her community roles related to the following life domains: emotional, social, safety, housing, medical and health, educational, vocational, and legal.TMS provides structured rehabilitative interventions.

Services Available in: Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union, Stanley, Davidson, Forsyth, Davie, Rockingham, Stokes,

Enhanced Crisis Response

The ECR Program works with youth with behavioral health needs who are at risk for abandonment in a hospital setting, at risk for DSS custody due to potential abandonment, and are experiencing crisis episodes and are at risk for restrictive levels of care

· Service elements include comprehensive assessment, crisis management, case management linkage to appropriate levels of care/therapeutic services, and discharge planning

· The program utilizes fully licensed clinicians who provide an immediate comprehensive clinical assessment along with 24-7 service delivery

· For youth in the Emergency Department (ED) or in a non-therapeutic DSS home/placement at risk of admission to the ED, the ECR staff will respond within 2 hours of referral and for other referrals, response will be same day or by end of the following day

· The program is short term, with services lasting on average 60-90 days. During this time, the staff will work with the child and family to diffuse the imminent crisis and link the family to the appropriate community-based services that will allow the child to thrive and meet their goals

· Family settings vs congregate care settings will be utilized whenever possible, as these are consistent with best practices for treatment of youth

Services Available in: Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, and Union counties, and neighboring counties on a case by case basis

Case Management

The SPARC case management system works to create a comprehensive, integrated system of supports and services which provide effective interventions for the most difficult to treat conditions.

Our Case Managers coordinate closely with Care Coordination in an effort to provide seamless care.

* Clinical Home- coordinates and/or provides comprehensive assessment, and ongoing basic benefits (as needed) for each member.

* Integrated- maintains medical and behavioral provider relationships for supports and services.

* Coordinated- All aspects of the person-centered plan are carried out in such a manner that reflects the interrelationship of each individual service or component, and does not allow gaps in service or wait times between necessary levels of care.

* 24-7 Crisis-Our Case Managers are trained in crisis response and will go into the field as necessary to ensure continuity of care and safety to members.

Outpatient Therapy

Children and adults can receive home and office-based Outpatient Therapy by a licensed therapist. Telehealth options are also available based on insurance allowances. Outpatient Therapy includes Individual, Family, and Group Therapy. A Comprehensive Clinical Assessment helps identify the specific needs and then a treatment plan is developed to address those needs. Outpatient Therapy can be used as a step down from more intensive services or in conjunction with some of our adult services. The services are flexible and can range in intensity of 2-4 times per month.

In Home Therapy Services (IHTS)

In Home Therapy Services (IHTS) is a combination of the Evidenced-Based Therapy Practice Motivational Interviewing and coordination of care interventions provided in the home and community to children and their families where there are complex clinical needs that traditional outpatient therapy cannot adequately address.

IHTS is a time limited service, approximately 6 months, in which the Therapist and the QP work with the child and their family to meet the therapeutic needs as well as provide linkage to professional and natural supports. The Therapist will provide individual and family therapy to address the child’s mental health needs as well as family systems issues and needs that may complicate traditional outpatient therapy from being successful. The QP will approach the care coordination through the philosophies of System of Care and will work with the various systems involved with the child and family, such as DSS, DJJ, Primary Care, and School System. Upon discharge from IHTS services, children and their

families will be able to continue to receive Outpatient Therapy from the Therapist to ensure continuity of care. The child/family will receive a minimum of 2 hours/week of therapy and care coordination activities.

The goals of IHTS are to:

1 Reduce presenting mental health/psychiatric symptoms

2 Ensure linkage to and coordination with community services and resources

3 Prevent out of home placement

Services Available in: Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union, Stanly, Davidson, Forsyth, Davie, Rockingham, Stokes, and Rowan Counties.

Family Centered Treatment® (FCT)

Family Centered Treatment® (FCT) is an evidence-based practice (EBP) that is currently being provided in various states. FCT has been gradually formalized into a model of home-based treatment that lowers rates of out of home placements. It has been refined based on research, experience and evidence of effectiveness derived from practice. The foundations of the model are from eco-structural family therapy (Minuchin) and emotionally focused therapy (Johnson). FCT is a systemic family systems change model. The third phase of treatment, valuing changes (through use of paradoxical and experiential exercises), seeks to confirm and capitalize on internal changes within the family so that the family is not dependent on the therapist once services terminate. Services are intensive with a minimum of 10 hours per month provided to the family. FCT incorporates coordination with other systems, such as MCO, DSS and DJJ as well as 24/7/365 Crisis Intervention.

This service is targeted towards:

1. Consumers with prior treatment episodes of residential treatment with unsuccessful  family reunification,

2. Consumers at risk for higher levels of residential, such as Level III,

3. Consumers who have been hospitalized with little prior treatment where hospital is  recommending residential services,

4. Consumers currently in residential treatment where discharge is being prolonged due  to lack of family systems work to make this successful Consumers with extensive histories of utilizing enhanced services without successful  outcomes.

To learn more about Family Centered Treatment, please click here http://familycenteredtreatment.com/ or email Teri Herrmann at therrmann@thesparcnetwork.net

Services Available in: Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union, Stanly, Davidson, Forsyth, Davie, Rockingham, Stokes, Gaston, Cleveland, Lincoln, Burke, Catawba, Iredell, Yadkin, Surry, and Rowan, counties

If you would like Family Centered Treatment brought to your area (including anywhere in the USA) please contact Dan@TheSparcNetwork.net