Riverside Community Care Announces Partnership with Somerville Mental Health Association to Maintain Local Services and Foster Growth

To find:

Somerville Mental Health Association's Adult Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services – click here

Somerville Mental Health Association's Child & Family Services or Early Head Start – click here

Somerville Mental Health Association's Employment Opportunities– click here

As seen in the Somerville Journal, January 27, 2011:

At a time when other non-profits are struggling to survive, Riverside continues to grow! A little over a year after our merger with The Guidance Center, Riverside is deepening its commitment to the people of Somerville with a strategic affiliation with the Somerville Mental Health Association (SMHA). A formal merger is planned in 14 months.

For more than 40 years, SMHA has been providing services to promote the health and wellness of children and adults who live and work in the Somerville area. Riverside President/CEO Scott M. Bock, who will now be adding the role of President/CEO of SMHA to his duties, believes that this new affiliation is a perfect fit for Riverside’s mission of delivering locally-based services of the highest quality possible. He explains, “Mergers with other likeminded community resources allow us to centralize the administrative and financial functions, freeing up more funds for essential services.” 

For Michael Dwyer, former Chair of SMHA’s Board of Directors, a partnership with Riverside makes good business sense. “We have been looking for a way to ensure the longevity of our community-based services in Somerville and we believe Riverside is the answer. Their commitment to local services, their strength and expertise make them an ideal partner,” says Dwyer.

Somerville Mayor, Joseph Curtatone, is equally enthusiastic about the plan, explaining, “I have long valued Somerville Mental Health Association’s professionalism and dedication to the health and well-being of the people of Somerville. I’m pleased that they have found a partner in Riverside that is equally passionate about delivering quality care. This joining together of two excellent institutions will help ensure that the needs of the community will continue to be met.”

Riverside and The Guidance Center’s Intensive Family Services Recognized as Innovative Model

Over the years, Riverside and The Guidance Center have often been hailed for our innovative and progressive approach to the delivery of comprehensive children’s mental health services and, in particular, for our emphasis on local, community-based services and our commitment to seeing the families we serve as full partners in their own treatment process. As the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is set to make a major change in the way it does business with behavioral health care providers, we find ourselves, once again, on the industry’s cutting edge.

For the first time, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and the Division of Children and Families will be joining together for the contracting of $270 million of residential services for children with behavioral or mental health issues. This change is happening within a human service delivery environment that is placing increasing emphasis on community-based services.  Essentially, the goal is to ensure that supports are available within the community to keep children out of residential placements and, if placement is necessary, to decrease the amount of time they spend away from their families and facilitate their transition back into their communities. 

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Riverside Receives Highest Accreditation from CARF

For the fourth consecutive time, Riverside has been awarded a Three-Year Accreditation by CARF, an international accreditation organization for health care and human services. Only 6,000 organizations throughout the world have met CARF’s stringent accreditation standards, with a much smaller percentage receiving Three-Year Accreditation, the highest level possible. This year, the accreditation team surveyed Riverside’s Emergency Services, Crisis Stabilization Programs, Outpatient Centers and Employment Services. All were accredited, and our Board of Directors and management systems met CARF’s rigorous governance standards. The Riverside programs that received accreditation this year serve over 12,000 people annually.

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Riverside’s Life Skills School Receives State and Local Approval

When a child’s emotional problems make success at school impossible, finding the right specialized program can be challenging and sometimes requires residential placement far from home. Now, local families have a new option to consider: Riverside’s Life Skills School has been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Needham School Committee will begin accepting students for the spring semester. The School, located in Needham, is a new companion service to Riverside’s successful Life Skills Center, which has been providing services for adolescents with significant mental health issues for nearly two decades, enabling them to remain in, or transition back to, their home community.

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Blue Jean Ball Raises over $75K!

The lucky guests who attended Riverside’s 4th annual Heart & Soul Blue Jean Ball were treated to an evening that included great food, extraordinary music and a touching description of the positive impact of Riverside services on communities dealing with the aftermath of tragic events.  Our keynote speaker, Robert Judge, Vice Chair of the Selectboard in South Hadley, Massachusetts, delivered an eloquent talk on the trauma suffered by his community after the suicide of a high school student who had been relentlessly bullied and the important work done by the Riverside Trauma Center to help the town heal. 

-read more-                                                   -Blue Jean Ball 2010 Photo Gallery-

Trauma Center Staff Co-Author Chapter in New Book

Larry Berkowitz, Ed.D., Director of the Riverside Trauma Center, and Jim McCauley, LICSW, Associate Director, have co-authored a chapter on “Organizational Postvention after Suicide Death” in the recently published book, Grief After Suicide: Understanding the Consequences and Caring for the Survivors. The chapter also co-authored with Donna Schuurman, Executive Director of the Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon and John R. Jordan, a clinician in private practice in Wellesley, MA and Rhode Island. The book, edited by John R. Jordan and John L. McIntosh and released in October, 2010, is a compilation of articles about the needs of suicide survivors from a variety of perspectives.

Community Festival Supports Riverside Teen Suicide Prevention Efforts

On Saturday, September 25, Wah Lum Kung Fu of Concord sponsored a Community Festival entitled "It Takes A Village" at their facility at 51-2 Knox Trail in Acton. The event featured a variety of activities for children and adults, including a moon walk bounce house, dunk tank, face painting, live music, food, martial arts demonstrations, and a Chinese lion dance show. 

The festival raised $1500 to support Riverside's teen suicide prevention efforts. Thanks go to Wah Lum Kung Fu and to everyone who attended!

“Fore” a Good Cause

The Bulfinch Group Golf Tournament Supports Riverside

On a gorgeous June day, 113 golfers took to the links at the renowned Golf Club of Cape Cod for the 3rd Annual Bulfinch Group Charity Tournament.  The tournament raised $6,000 to support Riverside’s youth suicide prevention and anti-bullying efforts.

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Riverside Trauma Center Awarded FEMA Grant:

Helping Massachusetts Communities Overcome Natural Disasters

For many communities in the Commonwealth, record-breaking rainfall in New England this spring led to dangerous levels of flooding.  The damage to homes and businesses has already resulted in over 30,000 claims filed by Massachusetts residents for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

We are pleased to announce that, in recognizing the psychological impact of these types of widespread disasters, FEMA, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH), has given the Riverside Trauma Center a $241,000 grant to assist those affected by the flooding.

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Bullying: Lessons in Prevention and Intervention

On June 4, The Guidance Center - Riverside Community Care with Partners Health Care and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health presented an all-day conference designed to help school personnel and mental health professionals better understand and respond to the complex issues surrounding bullying and its impact on the community.  The 250 attendees were treated to a day featuring lively discussion and valuable information.

To access conference resources, please click here.

Riverside Guidance Center Program

Tapped to Coordinate Domestic Violence Prevention Grant

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Good Fun for a Good Cause: Concert Raises 15K to Support Children's Services

Eyes bright with wonder and the sounds of laughter filled the Creative Movement and Arts Center in Needham when 250 children and adults came together on April 30 for a performance of the amazing “Airborne Comedians” who wowed the crowd with their high energy juggling antics.  The event, which was a fundraiser for Riverside’s Early Intervention program in Needham, attracted a sell-out crowd of families who feasted on organic pizza, drinks and delicious nut-free, lactose-free cupcakes donated by Stone Hearth Pizza, Whole Foods Market, and Stix desserts.

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Riverside Tapped to Provide Mentoring and In-home Therapy Services

Riverside has been selected as one of the human service organizations that will provide Therapeutic Mentoring and In-home Therapy Services to children and families in the Cambridge/Somerville, Central Massachusetts, and Metro Boston areas.  Funded through the Child Behavioral Health Initiative, these new services will be available to eligible youth under the age of 21 who are covered by MassHealth and their families.  They represent the latest phase in the Commonwealth’s efforts to improve access to community resources for youth with mental health issues.

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