Highland Rivers Behavioral Health begins each year with several goals and specific plans to realize them. But we also know being able to adapt, innovate and collaborate can lead to even better results. So as I do each year, I want to share some highlights of the past year and what we’ve been able to accomplish for the communities we serve by being purposeful but always flexible.
In January, Highland Rivers announced a partnership with Findhelp, an online social help platform that allows users to search for local resources by zip code. From Jan. 1 through Dec. 15, 2023, there were nearly 8,400 searches on the Highland Rivers Findhelp site, with searches related to housing, healthcare and food the most common. You can access our Findhelp page from the Highland Rivers website at www.highlandrivers.org by selecting the “Find Community Resources” link on the top of the home page.
This fall, Highland Rivers Behavioral Health received a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) International; it is the highest level of accreditation CARF awards and is in effect through 2026. Highland Rivers has been accredited by CARF since 2003, but this was the first time the accreditation survey included our services in Cobb and Haralson counties, which were both consolidated into Highland Rivers in 2022.
This year we also added several new co-response partnerships. These programs pair a uniformed law enforcement officer with a licensed behavioral health clinician to respond to individuals in the community in behavioral health crisis. In Cobb County, a highly effective co-response program called PATH (Partnership for Assistance, Treatment and Health) has operated since 2019, a partnership between the Cobb County Police Department and Highland Rivers (originally established with the Cobb County Community Services Board).
In 2023, in addition to adding another PATH co-response team in Cobb County, we also established new co-response programs with sheriffs offices in Cherokee, Pickens and Catoosa counties, as well as with the city of Marietta Police Department. Highland Rivers also began providing a licensed mental health clinician to work full time in the Cobb County 911 center.
Veterans continue to be a priority for our agency, and this year we began to offer services through the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention grant, which Highland Rivers received from the U.S. Departmet of Veterans Affairs in 2022. Through the grant, Highland Rivers established a veteran response team to link veterans and their family members in Cherokee and Pickens counties to needed services (the program is also expanding into Cobb County). The grant also allowed Highland Rivers to sponsor a community forum on veteran suicide prevention last spring, and a veteran suicide prevention symposium in September.
Another highlight of 2023 was the opening of a youth mental health services center in Cobb County, using space in the former Cobb County Community Service Board administration building. The new center houses a youth outpatient clinic and the Bright Changes youth mental health resiliency clubhouse, along with System of Care coordination services. In addition, through a grant from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, we are now offering first episode psychosis services for youth in Cobb County, called the Light Program.
Finally, I must mention that Highland Rivers experienced an immense loss this year with the passing of our Fannin County governing board representative Keith Ledford in November. Keith was an entrepreneur well known in Blue Ridge, and was a true ambassador for Highland Rivers Behavioral Health in the Fannin County community. His advocacy, curiosity and can-do attitude is truly missed on our board and by our agency.
As always, what I’ve highlighted here is but a small sampling of everything that Highland Rivers accomplished in 2023. None of this could have happened without our outstanding team of employees, as well as the valuable partners and local leaders in every county we serve. On behalf of Highland Rivers Behavioral Health, I wish you Happy Holidays and a happy and healthy New Year.
Melanie Dallas is a licensed professional counselor and the CEO of Highland Rivers Behavioral Health, which provides treatment and recovery services for people with mental illness, substance use disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities in a 13-county region of Northwest Georgia that includes Murray and Whitfield counties.