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Vigo County health staff win NAMI award; officials highlight jail-based Seeking Safety program and completion tracking
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Summary
At a Vigo County Health Board meeting, staff said the department won a NAMI award for cross-sector work on a jail-based Seeking Safety program and clarified how program completion and recidivism are tracked, noting only one completed participant had been rearrested by the time of the report.
Vigo County health department staff said the department won a National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) award for cross-sector collaboration and described results from a jail-connected version of the Seeking Safety program.
Molly, a member of the health department staff, told the board the department presented its jail program at the NAMI summit and had been asked by other counties to share the model. "Our team when I say our team, I mean the whole health department won the NAMI award," Molly said, describing the collaboration with courts, prosecutors, case managers and jail staff.
Molly said Seeking Safety is a 25-week program and that data-tracking work is ongoing to make program outcomes more accessible. A board member noted the programs apparent low rearrest rate; Molly cautioned that the department's completion figures count only participants who both started and finished the course, and that individuals who began but did not complete the program are excluded from the completion metric. "We count that as the ones who started and finished," she said, explaining why reported completion and recidivism figures may appear more favorable.
Department staff said the program attracted statewide interest: Molly said she and a colleague will be on a panel at the Indiana Department of Health Nurses Symposium to explain the program model and data-tracking approach. The health department also reported that some local participants who started classes later in the year shifted counts when staff ran January reports and that staff are refining how they present enrollment and completion numbers.
Board members praised the program work and asked the department to make key data easier to view when presenters are not in attendance. Molly said the department is improving its tracking and reporting displays so other stakeholders can review enrollment, attendance and outcomes without needing staff to present in person.
The board did not take formal action tied to the Seeking Safety presentation during the meeting; staff said they will continue presentations and refine data reporting for future board review.
