17 Jun New York State Interagency/Cross Systems Collaboration, Specialized I/DD Inpatient Psychiatric Unit with a Residential Step-Down Unit
This panel will describe the collaborative planning and implementation of two specialized units to improve services for people within New York City with intellectual and developmental disabilities and acute mental health/ behavioral crises. A special acute inpatient psychiatric unit was developed along with a separate, short-term residential placement for those needing further stabilization. Some of the lessons learned, challenges, and successes of the pilot program will be discussed.
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Presenters
John Barbuto, PhD, MPA, LCSW-R, Deputy Commissioner of the Division of State Operations, NYS OPWDD
As Deputy Commissioner of the Division of State Operations, Dr. John Barbuto leads all of OPWDD’s State Operated Residential and Day Programs, Clinics and other related services. This portfolio includes providing guidance and oversight to over 1,000 state operated programs and over 12,000 staff.
Dr. Barbuto brings broad leadership skills and experience in human services, healthcare, and research fields to this critical position within the agency. He began his career providing direct care in residential services for children. He then transitioned to supervising day treatment services and managing multiple residential programs in Capital District voluntary provider agencies for over 15 years. Upon completion of master’s degrees in public administration and social work at the University at Albany, he also provided clinical services and consultation to those provider agencies. Later, Dr. Barbuto moved to the Stratton VA Medical Center, where he applied his clinical and management skills to supporting Veterans with serious mental illness, homelessness, and skilled nursing care needs. He served as the Director of Operations for research in the last ten years of his tenure at the VA Medical Center. During this time, he also conducted research and completed his Ph.D. in Social Work, partnered in research projects and publications, and taught as an adjunct lecturer and field instructor at the University at Albany’s School of Social Welfare. John has also been a psychotherapist in private practice for over 20 years, locally.
Joshua Berezin, MD, MS, Clinical Director, NYS OMH
Dr. Josh Berezin graduated from the UC Berkeley – UCSF Joint Medical Program in 2012. During the Masters of Science portion of the program at Berkeley, he studied the intersection between racial/ethnic diversity and community violence in Oakland, California. After completing the clinical work for his MD at UCSF, he attended the Adult Psychiatry Residency at NYU, where he was named an APA Public Psychiatry Fellow. He then completed the Columbia Public Psychiatry Fellowship in 2016-2017 and since then has been the Clinical Director at the New York State Office of Mental Health’s New York City Field Office. In this role he offers systems level consultations to providers on complex and high-risk cases from across NYC and uses this experience to help inform policy discussions. He is also the co-host of the monthly “Pages to Practice” podcast for the journal Psychiatric Services.
Ann Morgan, MD, Chief of Medical Services for State Operations, NYS OPWDD
Dr. Ann Morgan serves as the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) Chief of Medical Services for State Operations. She is certified in internal medicine and has 26 years of experience working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She began her medical career in NYC through Mount Sinai School of Medicine serving as an instructor and then Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of Ambulatory Medicine at Elmhurst Hospital. She then moved into a position as a primary medical provider in a clinic for the developmentally disabled. She joined OPWDD as the medical director for the state-operated programs in Queens, NY in 2005. These programs included a large developmental center with a special unit for dually diagnosed (IDD and mental health diagnoses), group homes, a family care program, a multi-disciplinary clinic, and the new specialized Extended Treatment Unit (ETU). She recently became the Chief of Medical Services for state operations and is now providing medical leadership at the state level.
Jennifer Morrison-Diallo, PhD, BCBA-D, Senior Director of Specialty Services, NYC HHC
Jennifer Morrison-Diallo received her PhD from the City University of New York- The Graduate Center in Psychology with a specialization in learning and behavior analysis. Jennifer is also a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA-D). Prior to working at NYC Health + Hospitals, throughout Jennifer’s professional career, she has worked in various settings and populations including child and adult residential facilities, NYC Department of Education, family homes providing insurance-based therapy, and served as an adjunct professor at college universities teaching undergraduate and graduate psychology courses. Jennifer has been actively involved in system change efforts in the mental health system for over 10 years and has created several new programs supporting mental health initiatives and services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Prior to her current role at NYC Health and Hospitals/Office of Behavioral Health as Senior Director of Specialty Services, Jennifer has been employed at NYC Health and Hospitals/Kings County for the last 10 years and has had many different roles at Kings. Jennifer began her career as a behavior analyst working in the adult inpatient psychiatric service and then was promoted to assistant director of the Behavior Support Team (BST) at Kings County. As the director of the behavior support team, Jennifer collaborated with various departments and leadership to develop and create new initiatives for patients with severe and challenging behaviors as well as various training opportunities and support for staff to help aid in proactive, patient-centered interventions. Four years ago, Jennifer became a Director of Mental Health Services focusing on individuals with co-occurring intellectual/developmental disabilities and mental health diagnoses. Jennifer collaborated with NYC Health and Hospitals, Office of People with Developmental Disabilities, and Office of Mental Health to create a specialized adult inpatient mental health unit for adults with a co-occurring neurodevelopmental diagnosis and mental health conditions. This unit is one of only a few in the entire country that serves this very high-need population. After the unit open, Jennifer has been very involved in systems change efforts and collaboration with various systems throughout NY state to help create systems of care for these highly complex patients and has been involved in the development of other similar related program development for people with co-occurring conditions.
Scott Stiefel, MD, Medical Director of Behavioral Health, Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Services, NYC HHC
Scott Stiefel is a triple board physician (Adult Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Pediatrics) whose thirty-plus year career, has focused on working with individuals through the lifespan with complex needs including intellectual and developmental disabilities and co-occurring behavioral/mental health and complex medical challenges. He spent the majority of his career working at the University of Utah as an Associate Professor. Dr. Stiefel early in his career in collaboration with CMS and Robert Wood Johnson, pioneered the first medical home health maintenance organization for individuals with IDD + MH needs and their families and supports – the Neurobehavior HOME Program. It was innovative in blending the medical, behavioral health and habilitative supports into one program. Dr. Stiefel has been a long-term advocate for disability rights, disparity of access issues and systems change/reform for this population and their supports. In 2003, he was the recipient of the NADD Frank J. Menlascino Lifetime Achievement Award.
In late 2019 he was asked to help launch and pilot Health + Hospitals, Kings County Hospital Adult IDD + MH Specialty Program. It is a unique inpatient unit that serves all 5 Boroughs in the evaluation and stabilization of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health issues. In December of 2022 Dr. Stiefel transitioned into a larger systems role and now serves as the NY Health + Hospitals Medical Director of Behavioral Health Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services in partnership with NYS Offices of Mental Health (OMH) and Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OWDD). His current role focuses on program development, policy, and education to develop a continuum of care and address disparity of access barriers for this population at Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal public health corporation in the United States. Dr. Stiefel also has interests in neurodevelopmental genetics and the genetics of behavior and how we use data to inform health care design and delivery.