Reflective Essay

Ascent Health, Inc PRESENTED BY: MATILYN SPENCER, SKYLAR DAVIS, AND TRINITY WILLIAMS

Mission Statement:

Serve communities. Inspire change.

Contact Name: Brady Middleton

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: (318) 509-9119

Website: www.ascentlife.org

EIN: 27-0159558

What do

they do?

 The headquarters of the organization is located here in Monroe which services Ouachita, Union, Lincoln, Caldwell, Morehouse, Richmond, Franklin, Tansas, Madison, East Carroll, and West Carroll parishes. They also have a Houma location which services St. Charles, St. John, St. James, Assumption, Lafouche, and Terrabone parishes.

 The organization gets most of their recommendations from schools. Several staff members are previous teachers, so they understand the lack of professional training provided to current teachers on how to handle mental health situations in the classroom. Therefore, the organization started hosting CEU credential training to local teachers on the impact of childhood trauma on brain development. This allows teachers to recognize certain behaviors and properly address them in a beneficial way whether by being able to work with the child one-on-one or reach out to the school’s professional staff to get the needed therapy or family counseling.

 All events are free to attend. Breakfast and/or snacks are provided. Unlike normal trainings, Ascent Health makes theirs extremely interactive. The teachers build a brain with straws and pipe cleaners in order to offer a hands-on experience of how trauma effects the brain.

 So far, they have been to 14 campuses and held 2 public events which has served over 600 people. Supplies alone, not including food, has costs $1,000. Morning training is more expensive since breakfast is more costly, but the interaction and turnout is much more effective. Therefore, it costs approximately $9 a person.

What

would the

grant be

used for?

If chosen for the grant, the $2,500 would go strictly for training supplies to be able to continue expanding across our area. Ouachita Parish School Board is currently trying to have the organization incorporated into their new-hire program for all incoming teachers. If that is accomplished, that will require additional funding.

There are several licensed mental health staff members who are interested in offering additional training in their expertise. Expanding will allow the organization to build a portfolio and eventually add more specialized classes.

Is it

effective?

 While the main focus is schools, the organization recognizes that all people who work with children need access to this. They have reached out to daycares, church groups, and the Boys and Girls Club as well.

 The results have been positive and effective. Schools are reporting less write-ups and disciplinary actions. Teachers are amazed at how much more they understand their student’s behavior. One disciplinary director attended a class and has since called the organization to return three times. He has been working in education for over forty years and the training was able to provide him with a new perspective.

 The state has given them an 80% success rate.

 A weakness is the lack of transparency with the public. Brady himself addressed this issue pertaining to the organization’s website. It does not have any updated information, and the information that is provided is vague. This is in the process of being fixed, and a new website will be posted in the upcoming months. He encouraged us to contact him for more clarification or access to records.

What other

funding does

the

organization

depend on?

They operate under Wraparound which is apart of the coordinated system of care. That means that it is under both the state and federal government. For every dollar the sate provides, the federal government provides three dollars. Their funding comes directly from Medicaid.

They also have a family fund account which allows employees to apply for grants when a family they are serving has an unmet need like air conditioning in the home or uncovered medical needs like hotel stays. When donations are made, those funds are put into that account. There are currently over 400 families included.

The organization does not participate in any fundraisers. Therefore, all funding comes from the government or grant awards. This dependency can be seen as a weakness.

An example of how they spend their money comes from a grant they received last year for $20,000. They used the entire grant along with some of their own money to buy thousands of masks. They delivered them to schools, Medicaid offices which were out, and other local donation areas.

Board of Directors

and Financial

Records

 We were sent a list of all board

members and their contact

information. There were not any

conflicts of interest found. They

have a variety of professionals who

work for them which is considered a

great strength. Those include: both

previous and current teachers, a

police officer, licensed mental

health professional, a local lawyer,

a business owner, and the Director

of Communications for Delta

Community College.

 They also provided us with the

previous year’s tax returns which we

will gladly attach if anyone would

like to examine it.