Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Service Expansion topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Badlands HSC reports expanded front‑door assessments, on‑site psychiatry and a Suboxone clinic serving 29 clients
Summary
Badlands Human Service Center said it broadened front‑door access to allow all walk‑ins to receive full assessments, added an on‑site psychiatric nurse practitioner, launched a Suboxone clinic with 29 active clients and expanded workforce pipelines including Functional Family Therapy hires.
Badlands Human Service Center told the Appropriations Committee it widened access and added clinical capacity over the last year, increasing completed assessments and placing more clients into treatment.
Regional Director Jessica Oderman said Badlands eliminated prior prioritization based on functional impairment and expanded "front door access to all individuals." She reported a rise from a prior baseline—described as a 52 percent increase—to 85 percent of initially screened individuals completing a full assessment, and said 95 percent of those who completed the integrated assessment were recommended to and accessed services at Badlands.
Oderman said the center added an on‑site psychiatric nurse practitioner who prescribes psychotropic medications, reducing reliance on virtual providers. The center also hired a new psychologist to address long wait times and retained a half‑time retiring psychologist temporarily to increase evaluation capacity.
Badlands launched a Suboxone prescribing clinic led by the new psychiatric nurse practitioner; Oderman said 29 clients are currently receiving Suboxone and the center uses wraparound safety‑net funding to pay for initial prescriptions for clients awaiting coverage. She said prescribers and addiction counselors work collaboratively as a care team.
On workforce development, Oderman described successes hiring two master's‑level Functional Family Therapy therapists on the first round of recruitment, using tuition incentives, recruitment and retention bonuses, and converting temporary positions to FTE. She said the center had 13 vacancies on Dec. 1 and a turnover rate that fell to about 11.29 percent.
Why it matters: Expanded front‑door access and onsite prescriber capacity shorten time to care and can increase treatment engagement; Badlands presented these changes as directly tied to better functioning scores among adults and youth.
Committee members asked for clinical outcome details such as tapering schedules for Suboxone; Oderman said she would obtain prescribing and taper data from the center's prescriber.
