STEUBENVILLE – OhioRISE joined the fellowship of the annual Red Ribbon Walk at Jim Woods Park Oct. 25 to celebrate those who are getting free of substance abuse and send a strong message of hope to families struggling with drug addiction.
Jefferson County Educational Service Center (JCESC) OhioRISE is a Medicaid managed care program for children and youth with complex behavioral health and multisystem needs in Jefferson, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Monroe, Stark and Tuscarawas counties and operated by the Jefferson County Educational Service Center. OhioRISE was formed to coordinate resources and put families in touch with what is available.
Care coordinator Vicky Filtz greeted members of the community and shared news about what OhioRISE has to offer.
“It’s all about bringing the resources together,” she said. “We just want to be here and connect with folks that might need the support.”
Filtz said OhioRISE’s services are very relevant to the Red Ribbon Walk, since an individual harms more than themselves when they abuse drugs.
“Unfortunately, we see a lot of generational drug addiction and drug abuse within the family, so by working with OhioRISE and starting with the kiddos and the family, it’s trying to break that cycle.”
Laura Trifonoff, coordinator for the Phoenix Program offered through Jefferson County’s adult drug court, said she enjoys an invaluable partnership with OhioRISE.
“OhioRISE has been so vital to our program because most of our participants are parents and have children in the school systems and in our community,” she said, adding OhioRISE is even now making arrangements to help a Phoenix Program parent of children with disabilities.
“We could not do it without them honestly. It is such a vital program for us,” Trifonoff said. “I’m only one person. There are resources that I don’t know about that OhioRISE has been able to connect them with.”
Sean Young, a court-appointed guardian with Coleman Health Services, said OhioRISE is an important long-term resource after Coleman provides mobile response and stabilization during a crisis situation.
“We work with them rather intricately. It’s a good relationship. It helps coordinate services for people in crisis, children either in crisis or even post-hospital to provide wraparound services. We work rather closely with OhioRISE,” he said.
“Families need that support, so the care coordinators continue to follow them after we’re involved, to make sure they continue to have the appropriate services for the family and the children.”
Young added many of Coleman’s adult clients encountered difficult situations as children, making intervention at a younger age all the more vital.
Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla Jr. also has experience with OhioRISE.
“I’m familiar with the OhioRISE program from when I worked with juvenile court,” he said.
“It’s a good agency. Anything we can do to help juveniles and kids in need, especially with any type of disabilities or issues, the more assets we can bring to the table the better,” he said. “They have come to the aid of the community, and the collaborative efforts between them and juvenile court have been very impactful.”
Allison Boston, prevention supervisor with the Family Recovery Center’s prevention and education department is another involved partner.
“We’ve worked with OhioRISE. They’ve been able to refer some people to us for intervention services. It’s been an amazing relationship. Everyone is very communicative,” she said. “We all have the same goal of helping the kids.”
She also had praise for OhioRISE care coordinators.
“They’ve gone above and beyond, making sure the kids get connected with the specific interventions that they may need to help them get healthy again.”
Diane Sogan, a prevention educator also with the Family Recovery Center, worked with OhioRISE when they had a client with sexting issues and needed an intervention for safe technology use.
“They go into the homes and work with the families.”
Jenna Porter, community liaison and substance use disorder therapist with Chrysalis Health, has clients with children who are benefitting from OhioRISE.
“They have done exceptionally well with the OhioRISE program and it’s helped them a lot to get with different community resources,” she said. Porter also noted the importance of communication, adding OhioRISE plays a role in keeping all service providers on the same page as part of the “wraparound” philosophy of coordinating resources.
Lighthouse Counseling has already partnered with the adult education program Eastern Ohio Aspire, which also operates under the umbrella of JCESC. Alicia Maragos, COO, said OhioRISE was another important collaborator.
“It makes health care and mental health treatment readily available to the younger generation that needs it. It’s been an honor to try and impact the youth in our community.”
She said OhioRISE has facilitated accessible mental health counseling, anger management, and other services.
“We’ve worked closely with OhioRISE advocates and care managers,” she said. “It takes team to help treat the community.”
Jefferson County Juvenile Court Joe Colabella said OhioRISE was perfectly positioned to pull together resources to show families what help is available.
“OhioRISE is a great organization and a great resource to Jefferson County,” he said. “They do a lot of work in the community with families, so the county should be glad to have them and I know the court is glad to have them.”
Filtz also met members of Milton Jefferson Recovery, which will be opening soon. She said OhioRISE is a resource that might help their patients.
“It was really great to connect with the resources that we work with on a regular basis for our families here in Jefferson County, as well as make a couple new connections with folks who are new and providing services for this area.”
To learn more about OhioRISE, call 740-792-4011, email ohiorise.info@jcesc.org or visit OhioRISE online at https://www.jcesc.k12.oh.us/CareManagementEntity.aspx.
OhioRISE is also on the lookout for more care coordinators. Anyone interested in becoming a care coordinator, please apply at https://jcescvla.bamboohr.com/careers/23.
