Local Agency Turns 30 Years Old This Year

By By

Founded in 1972 as Four Corners Community Mental Health Center, Four Corners Community Behavioral Health, Inc. has been providing extensive mental health prevention and treatment services for the last 30 years to residents of Emery, Carbon, and Grand Counties. About 15 years ago, substance abuse prevention and treatment services were added to the Center’s offerings. Four Corners’ staff of over 60 professionals includes psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, licensed substance abuse counselors, registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, case managers, family advocates and more. Services offered include mental health evaluations and assessments, psychotherapy, inpatient care, crisis intervention, psychotropic medication management, case management, community support, referrals, consultation, education, preventative services targeted at high risk groups, in-home services, housing, family support, respite care, collaboration with other agencies, and public information. Four Corners has always placed a high priority on working with other community care givers such as doctors, nurses, teachers and law enforcement to make scarce service dollars go further and keep service quality as high as possible.
October was mental health awareness month. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 10 children and teenagers in the U.S. suffer from a diagnosable mental illness in a given year. Mental illnesses account for 4 of the top 10 leading causes of disability. The most common mental disorder, depression, afflicts 9.5% of adults and 12 % of women in a year’s time. And, many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a time.
The good news is that mental illness is treatable. Evidence based practice – treatments that have been researched and proven effective – are allowing people with even the most serious of mental illnesses to manage or eliminate their symptoms and lead productive and meaningful lives.
Locally, Four Corners celebrated its 30 year anniversary in October. A private, not-for-profit agency, FCCBH, Inc. provides services to Medicaid recipients and is the sole source mental health and substance abuse program provider for Emery, Carbon, and Grand Counties. Four Corners’ top priorities are serving severely and persistently mentally ill (SPMI) adults, severely emotionally disturbed (SED) children and persons with substance abuse problems.
During FY2001, Four Corners provided 66,634 hours of service to 2,076 individuals. Thirty-three percent of individuals served were children and 67% were adults. While Four Corners’ serves an area with 1.88% of the State’s population, the agency serves 4.78% of all public mental health recipients in Utah.
FCCBH, Inc. has successfully competed for several grants, allowing for the development of cutting-edge, evidenced-based treatment programs:
An ongoing state grant in collaboration with the 7th District Court, Emery County Sheriff’s Office and the Emery County Attorney funds the Emery County Drug Court. Services are available to adults and teenagers in Emery County who have been arrested for alcohol and/or drug offenses who enter pleas in abeyance in District or Juvenile Court. After successful completion of the 18-month treatment and monitoring drug court program the original charges are erased from the person’s record. Drug court participants are thoroughly assessed by Four Corners’ substance abuse counselors and typically attend both one-on-one counseling and the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), which meets four evenings a week. An Emery County Deputy assigned as the drug court tracker supervises numerous random urine tests and visits drug court participants in their homes and at work or school. The drug court program gives participants an opportunity to stop their use/abuse of substances, to decrease the likelihood of subsequent arrests through intensive treatment and monitoring, and to allow participants a second chance through a clean court record. In Grand County, a limited drug court has just been started with DWS funding in collaboration with the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, DCFS, the Utah Attorney General and the 7th District Court to help parents who are loosing or have lost custody of their children due to their substance use.
Based on a nationally recognized model and with a special demonstration grant from the state, the Carbon/Emery Community Outreach Treatment Team (COTT) provides intensive case management services to persons with severe and persistent mental illness whose needs have not been well met by traditional services. A team of professionals goes out of the office to clients’ homes and community locations to provide the range of services clients need to live successfully in the community, including: mental health treatment, medication management and monitoring, substance abuse treatment, employment and education services, assistance with housing and benefits, advocacy, and other services. The purpose of the COTT program is to reduce hospitalization and incarceration of persons with mental illness, improve symptom stability, lessen any negative impacts on families and communities, and improve quality of life for persons with the most difficult to treat illnesses.
Four Corners is one of two model sites in Utah participating in a five year project to incorporate more family involvement in the treatment of seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) children. The Frontier Project employs a “wraparound service” model, which identifies individual service teams to meet the multiple needs of SED children. Teams – comprised of professionals from involved agencies and natural support persons, such as family and friends – focus on child and family strengths in developing treatment plans for children. The project works to improve the lives of children by mobilizing “family, faith, and friends”, eliminating boundaries between social service agencies and between agencies and community.
Four Corners’ Grand County office collaborates with the Department of Workforce Services and other agencies to provide resources and support for youth employment as well as education to prevent teenage pregnancy. With parental permission, social skills education combines information from Removing the Risk and Postponing Sexual Involvement (ETR Associates) and Step by Step (CHEF Associates) evidence-based prevention programs. Both programs are cited as effective and are approved by the Utah State Office of Education. The program provides education regarding high-risk behavior, abstinence, and contraception and provides opportunities to discuss pertinent teen issues and practice assertiveness, refusal and negotiation skills. Upon completion of this education, youth are eligible for several employment programs, giving participants the opportunity to accept responsibility, succeed at being productive, and make a contribution to their community.
Four Corners now has 30 years of service, partnerships and presence in Emery, Carbon, and Grand Counties. With an experienced professional staff, cutting-edge programs and extensive collaborative relationships, Four Corners looks forward to at least another 30 years of service.