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County presentation: Early psychosis program to accept clinically high‑risk youth, expand outreach
Summary
Dana Taylor briefed the Humboldt County Behavioral Health Board on changes to the county's early psychosis program, including expanded eligibility to people identified as clinically high‑risk, staff and training updates, referral processes and a current capacity cap of 14 clients.
Dana Taylor, supervising behavioral health clinician in the county's TAY (transition‑age youth) division, told the Humboldt County Behavioral Health Board that the county's early psychosis program is changing how it identifies and serves clients.
Taylor said the program, referred to during the presentation as HEPI (Humboldt Early Psychosis Intervention), will now accept people identified as clinically high risk for psychosis in addition to those with established psychotic disorders. The program's target age range remains 16 to 26, and the team is prioritizing intervention early in the course of symptoms — ideally within the first three months of onset, Taylor said.
She described core services the program offers or expects to provide in the near term: medication management (when psychiatry is available), case management, individual clinical services, weekly expressive arts groups, social skills groups using cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis techniques, peer support groups (including connections to the Hearing Voices Network), alternatives‑to‑suicide groups, and supported education and employment services (referred to during the presentation by the local acronym CEASE).
Taylor said staffing changes are underway: current team members include a lead clinician, two clinicians, a case manager and a peer coach who is currently on loan from the TAY peer coaching team. She said the program is actively recruiting a psychiatrist from the adult system because many referrals are over age 18.
Taylor described the program's intake and referral process: providers or other community members can ask a young person to complete a 21‑item self‑report screening tool (referred to in the presentation as the PQV) and submit the program intake form and the patient's release of information to the program's intake email. She emphasized that clinicians should inform the young person before referring them so the team does not cold‑call someone with no interest in services.
Taylor said the county is working with UC Davis for ongoing assessment training, that the team takes part in biweekly clinical consultations and that staff have completed substantial training (including a recent 16‑hour cognitive‑behavioral training and six months of two‑hour weekly trainings). She also said UC Davis has reviewed local outreach strategies and that a fidelity review of the program has been completed and is being read by staff.
Capacity and next steps: Taylor said UC Davis recommended a caseload cap of 14 clients; she said the program is at that cap but encouraged referrals to continue so the team can triage need. She described a phased outreach plan that will move from presentations to community partners and county staff toward school and tribal outreach in a subsequent phase.
Board members and staff asked operational questions about release‑of‑information forms, whether a peer coach will remain on loan or be funded permanently, and what early positive outcomes look like; Taylor answered that success often looks like a participant remaining in education and employment and avoiding service interruptions due to earlier engagement.
Taylor closed by inviting follow‑up contact and offering printed examples of the PQV and intake forms on the back table for providers and partners to review.
