The Crisis Podcast: COVID-19

In this episode, Travis interviews Dr. Margie Balfour and Dr. Andrew Bazakis. Dr. Balfour works for Connections Health Solutions, and she has published several seminal papers on crisis metrics. Dr. Bazakis is an Emergency Room physician and a teaching professor at Central Michigan University's Medical School. 

Travis interviews Carolyn Levitan and Ashley Womble.

Carolyn is the Crisis Line Director at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Los Angeles, CA. Carolyn is also a board member of CONTACT-USA, an accreditation body for crisis call centers across the world. Learn more about Didi Hirsch at www.didihirsch.org, and learn more about CONTACT USA at www.contact-usa.org. 

Ashley Womble is the Communications Director at Crisis Text Line, a national text support line. She is also the author of "Everything's Going to Be OK." Learn more about Crisis Text Line at www.CrisisTextLine.org. You can find Ashley's book on Amazon.  

Travis interviews Mona Townes and Tracie Bussi. They discuss mobile crisis services in their respective organizations during COVID-19. 

Mona Townes is the Director of Crisis Services at Integrated Family Services in North Carolina.

Tracie Bussi is the director of mobile crisis services at Crisis Services in Buffalo, NY

Travis interviews Pat Morris and Justin Chase. 

Pat Morris is the Director Behavioral Health Services for Volunteers of America Western Washington. VOAWW provides crisis call center services to much of the state of Washington. She is also the president of the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors (NASCOD).

Justin Chase is the executive director of the Crisis Response Network based in Tempe, AZ. CRN provides crisis call center services to much of Arizona and supports providers in several other states. 

Travis speaks with Elan Javanfard and Myranda Green.

Elan is the director of crisis residential and substance abuse residential treatment for Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Los Angeles, CA. 

Myranda Green is the director of crisis programs for Hope Network in Michigan. 

Travis interviews Ranya Hasan and Kris Thompson.

Ranya Hasan works for Rosecrance, a mental health provider in Rockford, IL. 

Kris Thompson works for Lenape Valley Foundation in Doylestown, PA, just outside of Philadelphia.

Hear Travis, Ranya, and Kris discuss crisis residential services, managing staff during a pandemic, and their new and unexpected shared exercise routine. 

Travis interviews Laura Mayer & Jennifer Battle, mavens of the crisis call center world.

Laura Mayer works for PRS CrisisLink in Oakton, VA, and Jennifer Battle works for The Harris Center in Houston, TX. 

Laura and Jennifer share insights about the challenges of moving a call center to a remote workforce, and the unintended consequences of social distancing and remote workforce adjustments. 

Travis interviews Jaime Brewer (Community Reach Center, CO) and Pete Hilen (Telecare, CA) to discuss crisis residential services and the impact of COVID-19 on service delivery. 

Jaime and Pete are both board members with the Crisis Residential Association. 

Travis interviews Chris Maxwell and Tony Wood.

Chris is the Director of Public Relations and Media for the American Association of Suicidology, and a board member of the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors. 

Tony is Chief Marketing Officer at Qntfy, and the Board Chair of the American Association of Suicidology.

Both Chris and Tony are of the storied Suicide Prevention and Social Media (#SPSM) fame.

4/1/2020

Travis provides an update on crisis call centers with diminished staffing capacity and the difficult decisions that they and other crisis providers are being left to make. 

Travis shares some recently published resources on effective management during a crisis situation.

Resources available from Manager Tools at www.manager-tools.com. Podcast and downloadable PDFs both available. 

Travis provides a national update on trends and challenges for behavioral health providers in responding to the needs of their clients and communities during the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Travis addresses:

• Crisis Residential Programs
• Crisis Call Centers
• Mobile Crisis Teams
• Peer Respite Facilities