SARAH RIEBELING - SECRETARY/RECEPTIONIST

 

Human Support Services (HSS) is pleased to announce the hire of Sarah Riebeling as an administrative support staff employee.  Sarah joined HSS in July 2012 as a student office worker through the Waterloo High School co-operative work program.  She resides in Waterloo and enjoys shopping, spending time with family and friends as well as watching sports.  As a Secretary/Receptionist, Sarah will complete clerical duties for our residential program as well as share receptionist duties with other support staff employees.  She will be supervised by Accountant/Office Manager Stacie Roy.  HSS employs nearly 70 staff.  In FY2013 (July 2012-June 2013), HSS served 681 clients in its mental health outpatient program, 178 in substance abuse outpatient, 81 in day training, 27 in supported employment, 31 in DD CILA, 29 in supported residential, and 21 in supervised residential.  HSS is a private not-for-profit agency established in 1973 and is always looking to serve additional clients.  Do you, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers know of someone in need of behavioral health services?  If so, please encourage him/her to contact HSS at 618-939-4444.  All services are confidential and all outpatient mental health and substance abuse clients are served on sliding scale fee basis that takes into consideration household size and income.  Fee adjustments are also available.  Cost should not be a barrier to services.  Due to funding from the United Way of Greater St. Louis and the local Monroe County Community Mental Health Funding Board (H.B. 708), HSS can set a fee that suits your budget.  Further information can be accessed on the HSS website at www.hss1.org.

 

DEBORAH JOELLENBECK - CASE MANAGER

Due to staff reorganizations, the Professional Counseling Department of Human Support Services (HSS) is pleased to announce the promotion of Deborah Joellenbeck to Case Manager.  Deborah joined HSS in August 2011 as an MHP/BSW at our Bradford apartments, providing services to mentally ill clients in need of 24-hour support.  In March 2013, she moved to a secretary/receptionist position at the main office where she provided support to our residential programs.  Deborah enjoys spending time with her 5 ½ month old son and her husband.  She also likes to read fantasy and sci-fi fiction.  She holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.  As a Case Manager, Deborah will be providing on site supervision and guidance to clients residing at our Columbia apartments and will be supervised by Clinical Director Julie Ruckman, LCSW.  HSS is a private not-for-profit agency established in 1973 and is always looking to serve additional clients.  Do you, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers know of someone struggling with mental illness?  If so, please encourage him/her to contact HSS at 618-939-4444.  All services are confidential and all clients are served on sliding scale fee basis that takes into consideration household size and income.  Fee adjustments are also available.  Cost should not be a barrier to services.  Due to funding from the United Way of Greater St. Louis and the local Monroe County Community Mental Health Funding Board (H.B. 708), HSS can set a fee that suits your budget.  Further information can be accessed on the HSS website at www.hss1.org

ERRICK (RIK) TAYLOR - NEW PRODUCTION MANAGER

 

 

Due to the out of state relocation of our current Production Manager, Human Support Services (HSS) is pleased to announce the promotion of Errick (Rik) Taylor.  Rik joined HSS in January 2008 as a production trainer in our sheltered workshop.  He resides in Belleville and enjoys cycling, photography, scouting, camping and cooking.  Rik holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.  With this promotion, effective January 27, 2014, Rik will be overseeing the day-to-day operations of the sheltered workshop – to secure meaningful and paid work for our clients.  He will supervise a staff of five as well as nearly 70 clients.  Projected contract income for FY2014 is $90,000.  HSS is always looking for additional contract work.  Do you, your friends, your neighbors know of light assembly work we could do?  If so, please contact Rik at 618-939-4444.

 

 

DARRYN HAUDRICH, THERAPIST/SUBSTANCE ABUSE CLINICIAN

 

 

Human Support Services (HSS) is pleased to announce new staff member Darryn Haudrich.  Darryn joined HSS on January 7, 2014 as a therapist/substance abuse clinician.  He resides in Columbia and enjoys watching professional sports, especially hockey, baseball and soccer; he is the assistant boys’ soccer coach at Gibault Catholic High School.  Darryn holds a Master of Arts in Community Agency Counseling from St. Xavier University in Chicago.  Most recently, he worked as a therapist serving foster care children and has also worked as a substance abuse counselor with Comtrea in Arnold, MO.  He will primarily provide substance abuse counseling and will deliver some mental health services as well.  HSS is always looking to serve additional clients.  Do you, your friends, your neighbors know of someone struggling with substance abuse?  If so, please encourage him/her to contact HSS at 618-939-4444.  All services are confidential and all clients are served on sliding scale fee that takes into consideration household size and income.  Fee adjustments are also available.  Cost should not be a barrier to services.  Due to funding from the United Way of Greater St. Louis and the local Monroe County Community Mental Health Funding Board (H.B. 708), HSS can set a fee that suits your budget.

 

CLIENT TESITMONIAL - LINDA'S STORY

Linda Hatch, 42, has mild developmental disabilities and bipolar disorder. She was placed at a local nursing home due to several suicide attempts. A heavy drinker and drug abuser, she was unstable throughout her stay at the nursing home, fighting with other residents and constantly requiring hospital stays.

In December 2002, she came to Human Support Services, a United Way-funded agency since 1985. Her adjustment there was also difficult. She had many breakdowns, a suicide attempt and wanted approval from everyone.

“She complained that she wanted to go home with her mother where she would not have to cook or clean,” said Bobbi Walters, residence site manager. “So we met with her and her mother to establish a behavior plan.”

The staff worked hard to convince her that she was a good person and that no one was going to hurt her. They also worked with her on daily living skills and assured her that she had many abilities and could become independent with the needed skills. Nurses at Human Support Services met with her daily due to her medical issues. She was on a number of medications because her psychiatric issues had manifested as physical complaints.

Linda was eventually able to attend the Human Support Services workshop. This workshop provides clients with job training as well as other social skills needed to help them succeed in the community. At first she cried a lot and complained about the jobs. She soon learned vocational skills, as well as social and relationship skills with the support of workshop staff.

In 2005, she transitioned to the supported employment program and began working at a local nursing home helping patients set up their trays for meals and filling their drinks. Thanks to this job and her Human Support Services financial case manager; she was able to pay off the thousands of dollars in medical bills which were not covered by Medicaid.

Able to start saving some income, Linda moved into a supervised apartment with a roommate. In November 2007, she was able to move into her own apartment with no supervision. She has been learning to get around using the public transportation system and hopes to be able to drive soon. Although she now lives on her own, Linda still has a case manager to ensure that she has the necessary access to meet her medical, social and financial needs.

“Linda is happy to tell anyone that will listen how hard she has worked and how far she has come,” says Bobbi. She tells Human Support Services staff that while she has come a long way, nothing will stop her from reaching her dream of complete independence.

United Way funds several Human Support Services programs in addition to Outpatient Mental Health Services of which Linda was a part.

Human Support Services would not be able to adequately work with patients like Linda without United Way funding.

“She wouldn’t receive the services she has,” said Deb West, Director of Residential and Day Services. It is with this funding that they are able to work with Linda to help her strive toward her dreams of success and independence.

COMPUTER IMPROVEMENTS

Twenty years ago, when HSS was a much smaller organization, about $1.5 million, in a less demanding regulatory environment we had about 8.5 support staff in areas like accounting, reception, billing and secretarial support.  Today we are a roughly $5 million organization in a much more demanding regulatory environment but we still have only 8.5 support staff.  This has been possible because we have used computerized systems as much as possible to extend the productivity of our support staff. 

Recognizing the importance of using computer systems to improve productivity, we have continued to add enhancements to our computer systems as new needs arrive and as new technology becomes available.  One improvement we added this year is desktop network scanning capabilities.  Desktop scanning has allowed us to take clinical and administrative files that were on paper and scan them into digital records.  This not only eliminates the need to store paper records, but it makes the information stored more available to staff throughout our agency.  We also have added E-prescribing for our psychiatrist.  E-prescribing is an enhancement that allows our psychiatrist to complete an electric prescription and automatically send it to the client’s pharmacy.  This eliminates the need for paper prescriptions.  It also allows for automatic checking of prescription against the client’s health insurance drug formulary and E-prescribing automatically checks for drug incompatibilities. 

 

HSS RE-ACCREDITED

Human Support Services was visited by a team of reviewers from the Council on Accreditation COA) in May of this year as we underwent a re-accreditation audit.  Agencies such as HSS are required to have their programs reviewed by a national accreditation agency that measures their operations against established industry standards.  This lengthy process required many months of preparation for the on-site audit that covered all of our clinical programs, our administrative services and even the operation of the agency’s Board of Directors.  Two COA reviewers were here for three days and reviewed documentation, observed programs in operation and spoke with clients, staff and Board members and community members. 

 

We are proud to say that results from this intensive review were positive and we were awarded full re-accreditation for four more years.