Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority FY06/07 Trust Beneficiary Group Initiative Grants

    Organization Information


Organization Name  

 		 Soteria-Alaska  
Organization Type  

 		 Non-Profit  
Organization Mailing Address  

 		 406 G Street, Suite 206  
City  

 		 Anchorage  
State  

 		 Alaska  
Zip Code  

 		 99501  
Organization Physical Address  

 		 406 G Street
Suite 206


  
City  

 		 Anchorage  
State  

 		 Alaska  
Zip Code  

 		 99501  
Organization E-mail Address  

 		 office@soteria-alaska.com  
Organization Phone  

 		 907/274-7686  
Tax ID Number  

 		 84-1641533  
WWW Address  
web site address  

 		 http://soteria-alaska.com/  
Primary Contact's Last Name  
Project Manager or primary contact's last name  

 		 Gottstein  
Primary Contact's First Name  
Project Manager or primary contact's first name  

 		 Jim  
Primary Contact Office Address  

 		 406 G Street
Suite 206


  
City  

 		 Anchorage  
Zip Code  

 		 99501  
Primary Contact's E-mail  

 		 jim@soteria-alaska.com  
Primary Contact's Office Phone  

 		 907/274-7686  

    Project Summary


Request Date  

 		 June 10, 2005  
Project Title  
Please limit to one sentence  

 		 Soteria-Alaska Planning



  
Population Served  
Select the beneficiary category to which this request is targeted. For a detailed description of beneficiary groups, please visit the Trust website at www.mhtrust.org  

 		 Mentally Ill
      Chronic Alcoholics w/ Psychosis
         - Select One -		  
Project Need Area  
Please describe the need and/or the specific beneficiary group issue that will be addressed by this project/activity.  

 		 There is a great need to have an alternative to traditional hospitalization for people in acute psychiatric crisis who prefer not to take psychiatric drugs. The "Soteria-House" project, which was a randomized study conducted in San Jose in the 1970's is a specific type of program that has been proven at least as effective as hospitalization in the short run and with dramatically better outcomes for people in the long run.

A proposal for a Soteria-like project in Alaska for presentation to the Trust was requested last year, including data about these better outcomes, and that proposal has been uploaded as further information.

The Trust declined to fund the proposal saying that it needed more developement. This application is for planning funds to do the sort of further development on the proposal suggested by the Trust last year.




  
Beneficiary Oversight  
Please demonstrate the composition of the advisory or oversight group and the proportion of beneficiaries, family members of beneficiaries and other volunteer's status (connection to mission, professional occupations, financial experience, etc.) Upon successful receipt of the application, a full matrix will be sent to all applicants to provide complete information on Board/oversight composition.  

 		 Two-thirds of Soteria-Alaska's board of directors is composed of beneficiaries or family members of beneficiaries.



  
Project Description  
Provide a detailed explanation of the project: What do you plan to do? How will you implement this plan? Who will be responsible for implementation? What is your timeline? How will you receive referrals or find the beneficiaries you plan to serve? Provide as much information as possible to fully explain the scope of the project.  

 		 This project is to develop a fundable business plan to open a Soteria type of program in Anchorage.

The key people responsible, will be Dr. Aron Wolf and Jim Gottstein.

Dr. Aron Wolf, who is the primary consultant on this project is well qualified as per his Curriculum Vitae, which has been uploaded in support of this application. His extensive qualifications will not be set forth here, but some of the most relevent shall be mentioned. Dr. Wolf (1) has been practicing psychiatry in Alaska since 1967, (2) was the Regional Medical Director of Providence Health System, and (3) holds a Masters of Medical Management Degree, which is the equivalent of a Masters of Business Administration, but focused specifically on medical management.

Jim Gottstein, president of Soteria-Alaska, is a long-time Alaskan attorney and advocate for people diagnosed with serious mental illness. In addition to many other things he served on the Alaska Mental Health Board from 1998 to 2004 and was one of the four lawyers in the Alaska Mental Health Trust Lands Litigation case, which created the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.

There are many people around the country and even internationally who are very interested in helping getting Soteria-Alaska going. This includes psychiatrists Ann Silver, Peter Stastny and Luc Ciompi, all of whom have experience in this area.

Staffing levels, how to recruit and train staff and the billing options to obtain and maintain sustainability are key components of this planning effort. Also among the tasks is also planning for facility acquisition, including any regulatory hurdles (e.g., zoning) that might need to be addressed. Other regulatory requirements will be addressed as well.

With respect to the timeline, work on this can commence immediately upon notification of grant award and it is anticipated will be completed by the end of FY 2006 (June 30, 2006).

Referrals are not really relevant at this point, but there is no doubt that there will be a high demand for a Soteria-like setting. Every person facing involuntary commitment and involuntary psychiatric medication, for example, should be offered an alternative such as Soteria before such drastic measures are taken.

The CEO of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, for example, has written in support of the establishment of a Soteria-type program. See, last two pages of last year's proposal, which has been uploaded in support of this application.
























  
Project Methodology  
Please describe the methods or model that you will use to implement this project. Why do you think this approach will be successful in achieving your desired outcomes? The Trust is particularly interested in funding strategies that have been evaluated and found to be effective.  

 		 The primary tasks, will be to:

1. Analyze expected revenues and expenses to fashion a sustainable program, including staffing levels.
2. Determine the regulatory requirements and develop a plan to meet them.
3. This includes planning or arrangements for acquisition of a suitable facility.
4. In other words, develop a fundable business plan.



















  
Project Start Date  

 		 July 01, 2005  
Project End Date  

 		 June 30, 2006  
Geographical Area Served  
Select the geographical area impacted by this project  

 		 Urban  
Request Amount  
Please state the amount of funds that you are requesting  

 		 $15,000  
Operating or Capital  
Will the funds be used for operating or capital expenditures?  

 		 Operating  
Project Budget  
Please provide a budget with details for the request amount.  

 		 Consulting Fees: $10,000
Travel: $5,000



  
Budget_Narrative  
Please describe the activities that will occur for each budget item for this project.  

 		 $10,000 is for consulting fees primarily to Dr. Aron Wolf at $100 per hour. Other consultants might also be used for a total of $10,000

$5,000 in travel and associated costs are included for Dr. Wolf, and/or Jim Gottstein to travel to meet with experts in this sort of a program and/or to bring one or more of such experts to Alaska to help with the planning effort.









  
Other Funds  
Please list the other funds that will be used in this project  

 		 N/A (but Jim Gottstein will donate his and his assistant, Michele Turner's time).



  

    Outcomes


Expected Outcomes  
What are you going to accomplish? The proposed deliverables detailed here will be used by Trust staff to evaluate the progress of the project. Outcomes are discreet, measurable products from the project/activities that you expect to see as a result of your activities.  

 		 We expect to have a detailed business plan from this project. We also hope the result will be the establishment of a Soteria type program in Alaska.

The planning for Soteria-Alaska arising from this project can be used by other organizations to establish a Soteria-type program(s). For example, Anchorage Community Mental Health Services, Inc., has expressed interest in a Soteria-type program. In addition, if CHOICES, Inc.'s grant applications for start-up funding is awarded, it is not unlikely that CHOICES will establish such a program if the opportunity arises, in which case it is likely Soteria-Alaska would defer.

Since no more than 6-9 clients should be in a Soteria-type setting, on the assumption that the first Soteria-Alaska project is successful, there should be additional similar facilities operated, both in and outside of Anchorage.









  
Exit Strategy  
Please describe the sources of funds (if known) that this project may use in the future after Trust funds end. Please state if this information is not known at the time of application.  

 		 Project is completed/accomplished
      Reallocation of base funding
         Improving Medicaid billing or waivers		  
Exit_Strategy_Narrative  
Please describe the plan to transition this project to a long term funding source after the Trust funds end.  

 		 Since this is a planning grant, the project is of limited duration.

The Soteria-Alaska project itself, should become part of Alaska's core mental health program, including base GF/MH funding, Medicaid, other third party payors, and client payments.





  

    Attachments

   
 Title File Name
 Advance Determination Letter IRSAdvanceDetermination.pdf
 Soteria-Alaska Pilot Project Proposal SoteriaAlaska.pdf
 Initial Soteria-Alaska Business Plan SoteriaInitialBizPlan.doc
 Aron Wolf C.V. AWolfCV.pdf
 Consortium Statement May16-2005Consortium.pdf
 MHAAK Support Letter MHAAKSoterialetter.pdf
 NAMI-AK Support Letter NAMI-Ak4Soteriapdf.pdf
 Consumer Web Support Letter WebSupportLtr.pdf
 Ionia Support Letter IoniaSoteriaSupportLtr.pdf
 NAMI-Anchorage Support Letter NAMI-AncSoteriaSupport.pdf
 Resolutions SoteriaOperatingResolutions.pdf
 Dr. Lehrman Support Letter NLhermansupportLtr.txt
 Ionia Support E-mail IoniaSoteriaSupportLtr.txt
 Al Galves, Ph.D., Support Letter AGalveSupportLtr.txt
 Jim Gottstein Bio JGBio.pdf
 ACMHS Support Letter ACMHS-CHOICESupportLtr.pdf