Kelsey Dussault Email & Phone Number

Denver, Co, Us

Denver, Colorado, United States

To provide support to individuals with serious and persistent mental illness and substance use disorders. Attending their behavioral health appointments to support them in engaging in treatment, providing clinical input into discharge planning teams, and supporting the coordination of behavioral health treatment services.The work is largely with parents/guardians to provide support, advocacy and system navigation. The goal is to ensure that comprehensive, coordinated, easily accessible, culturally informed, trauma informed, and integrated services are available for people in the community; and to minimize the risk of readmissions to hospitals, emergency departments, withdrawal management, Colorado Crisis Services and arrest; and to ensure an individual's stability in the community.

I work for a small program at Howard Center called Intensive Family Based Services (IFBS. This is an intensive in-home support program that helps families who are at risk of having a child being taken out of the home due to: severe emotional, behavioral, social or school adjustments, or for safety concerns. As a case manager, I support families with each of their unique challenges. I help clients build skills, recognize their strengths, and make healthy changes for themselves and their family in order to stabilize any crisis, and make their home a safe and healthy space for everyone. I work under a licensed clinician to assist and review my written assessments, treatment plans, monthly notes, and completion of CANS for each child.

I worked as a Respite provider for children with significant behavioral or emotional trauma. We would spend time in the community building skills around independence, confidence, and building healthy relationships with family members and peers.

As a Mental Health Tech, I worked on two in-patient psych units at the UVM medical center. The basic duties of a MHT are doing required rounds and 15 minute checks on high level patients and any special equipment they might have. These checks were essential to make and every hour every patient would be checked. I would also take blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature and record the data into the EPIC systems. If there was a patient on precautions, we were required to know how to don and doff with necessary PPE. MHT is also responsible for doing 1:1 or 2:1 sits with high risk patients, assisting in codes, and monitoring the milieu.

My undergraduate internship was at the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County. This is a center that offers a safe and healthy space for individuals who are in recovery. Here I worked on the floor as a Recovery Support worker for individuals that came into the center and needed more extra support that day. There were different classes offered to promote a sober lifestyle as well as computer, an art room, gym equipment, job and resume support, moms groups, and so many other unique programs and projects. For my project I put together a master list of resources in the community from everything to hot meals and showers, shelters, economic services, to veterans support. I also worked under the supervisor for the Recovery Coach Program in the Emergency Department at the UVM medical center. This manual was essential for the coaches and for the individuals coming into the ED. This was the bridge to get the individuals in immediate crisis into the community and connected to the support that they need. As a recovery support at Turning Point, every week during my shift I called the individuals in the Recovery Coach program to check in with them and keep them connected.