May is Mental Health Awareness Month and our Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement, Justin Chenette, appeared on Newsradio WGAN‘s Maine Points to talk about the important work Sweetser is doing to reduce stigma and increase access to mental health across our state.
Take a listen: https://wgan.com/podcasts/102771-2/
This May marks the 1-year anniversary of the Child Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program! Since its launch, the ACT Team has supported 33 youth on their mental health journeys, successfully discharged 11 clients, with 9 stepping down to a less acute level of care, and 2 entering residential programs where they can continue their progress in a supportive environment.
As of today, we serve 22 active clients, with 4 more on our waitlist, soon to be admitted. This increase in our capacity is a direct result of our growing and dynamic team, allowing us to better tailor services to each youth and their caregivers.
Over the past year, we’ve expanded our staffing and introduced specialized roles to more effectively meet the needs of both older and younger youth. This is demonstrated in the way that our older participants benefit from our Youth Peer Support and Employment Specialists, while younger youth and their families often thrive through the guidance of our Behavioral Health Specialists and Family Support Specialists.
Wendy Anders – Senior Director
Taylor Paquin – Clinical Supervisor
Sonya Hawkins – Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Eve Palmatier – Team Clinician
Arie Salisbury – Case Manager
Kayli Gertsen – Behavioral Health Professional
James Howard – Employment Specialist
Stephanie Lacourse – Nurse Care Manager
Becky Place & Tina Simas – Family Support Specialists
Hayleigh Bolduc & May Hohman – Youth Peer Support Specialists
Katreena Keefe – Program Administrative Support.
We are also grateful for our Relief Clinicians:
Willa Stockwell, Linda Berg, Meghan McCrillis, Chelsea Rose, Ellen Haney, and Terri Wentworth Bennett.
We appreciate our dedicated Relief Case Managers:
Laine Tapan Kane, Kris Gross, Meghan Kerry, Eileen Quimby, and Bridget Hester.
Thank you to all our staff, partners, youth, and families for making this year one of growth, resilience, and healing. We look forward to continuing this important work and celebrating many more milestones to come.
What a night in Old Orchard Beach! Our Spring Into Hope Maine Fashion Show, organized with our friends at WMTW Channel 8, was a big hit. Together, we were able to raise over $14,000 for Sweetser. Everyone had a blast walking the runway, enjoying the live DJ music, and hopping in front of the fun photobooth.
Check out some of the highlights of the night!
Sweetser has been in the news recently highlighting the state awarding the organization $2 million to construct and operate Maine’s first Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility on the Saco campus. See the media stories below.
WGME Channel 13
WMTW Channel 8
Bangor Daily News
“Sweetser is proud to lead the effort to bring our kids home from expensive, out-of-state care,” said Sweetser CEO Jayne Van Bramer. “Our goal over the next year will be to create a therapeutic space in Saco that families can be proud of. With this decision, the state has taken a significant step toward filling a critical gap in the continuum of care and ultimately strengthening our youth behavioral health system.”
News Center Maine
Portland Press Herald
“Being able to have an available locked residential program for children who require that level of service is long overdue,” Van Bramer said in an interview Thursday. “The absence of that has resulted in children being sent out of state, away from family, languishing in emergency rooms for weeks or months at a time.”
Sweetser’s Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement, Justin Chenette, appeared on the TV show Saco River Chronicles to discuss Sweetser’s latest programs and available resources for those in the area. The show is broadcast in select towns throughout York County on the Saco River Television channel. Check out this segment to hear the latest.
Our Senior Director of Public Relations & Advancement Justin Chenette stopped by Inside Maine’s Best with WGME’s Adrienne Stein for a segment about mental health resources and how our Hope & Healing Centers are reducing barriers to accessing care.
Watch below.
Recently, Sweetser’s President & CEO Jayne Van Bramer joined with other partner organizations as part of the Behavioral Health Priorities Coalition to release the legislative package we are advocating for this session. Some of our priority legislation includes bills like An Act to Expand Child Assertive Community Treatment and An Act to Provide Grants to Schools That Contract for Behavioral and Mental Health Services.
View the full legislative package below:
Sweetser’s longtime Educator & Farm Manager Julia Birtolo was a guest on WMTW’s Mental Health Moment where she discussed the amazing experiences students at our K-12 Special Purpose School in Saco get to have out on our farm.
Sweetser has been out front on the current $118 million MaineCare funding shortfall the state is currently faced with. Sweetser’s Chief Financial Officer John McAnuff has been crisscrossing multiple media outlets to make the case for why it’s critical for providers like us to be made whole and avoid any delays in MaineCare payments. While the supplemental budget failed to get to 2/3’s support, legislative leadership is proposing a MaineCare fix as part of the regular budget process. We remain hopeful for a solution. See articles and clips below…
MAINE MORNING STAR
“The clients that we serve are not numbers on a spreadsheet,” McAnuff said. “They are real people with real challenges, and disruptions in service will negatively impact their lives and the communities in which they live.”
NEWS CENTER MAINE
WGME CHANNEL 13
“We are greatly concerned that this will impact Mainers in all parts of the state,” Sweetser Chief Financial Officer John McAnuff said.
Take a listen to our latest radio Mental Health Minute with Lori Voornas from 94.9 WHOM discussing Sweetser’s Special Purpose K-12 School.