Ozark Center Receives Grant to Identify Early Onset Psychosis

The Missouri Department of Mental Health has identified Ozark Center, an entity of Freeman Health System, as one of three community behavioral health centers in southwest Missouri to collaborate on and implement a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration System of Care expansion grant.

The grant will provide $550,000 per year for four years to Ozark Center through a program called System of Care Community Enhancement for Early Signs and Symptoms (SOC-CESS). SOC-CESS will help youths ages 9-17 and their families affected by or at risk of early onset psychosis. As a result, Ozark Center will provide specialized surveillance, early detection and research-based treatment through family-driven/youth-guided participation in Jasper, Newton, Barton and McDonald Counties.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, a majority of individuals with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, experience the first signs of illness during adolescence or early adulthood, and that there are often long delays between the onset of symptoms and receipt of evidence-based interventions.

“Without early identification, young people with psychosis are at a greater risk of dropping out of school and losing social support,” said Mary Parrigon, Ozark Center Executive Director. “This can lead to disability, suicide, poverty and homelessness. However, with early intervention, most of these consequences can be prevented.”

Ozark Center, along with Burrell Behavioral Health and Compass Health, will provide and facilitate the local SOC-CESS program by identifying youths with early onset psychosis and their families. The community behavioral health centers will perform assessments and create a list of symptoms known to occur earlier in life. Data will then be compiled and assessed to build practical, research-based treatment to improve outcomes for youths and their families.

“The information we gather will be used to create a variety of programs, including training to identify early onset psychosis, parent education and treatment,” said Vicky Mieseler, Ozark Center Vice President of Clinical Services. “That will allow us to provide research-based services to greatly improve the lives of affected youths and their families.”

It is estimated that SOC-CESS will serve between 150 to 200 youths who are experiencing an identified first episode psychoses ages 9-17. The program could serve as many as 500 youths who are affected by or at risk of early onset psychosis per year.

About Ozark Center

An integral component of Freeman Health System based in Joplin, Mo., Ozark Center provides comprehensive behavioral health services to children, adults and families in an area that includes more than 450,000 residents from Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Ozark Center continually looks for innovative ways to address the mental health needs of the community and promote awareness of mental illness in an effort to eliminate the discrimination associated with it. For more information, visit ozarkcenter.com or call 417.347.7600.

About Freeman Health System
Locally owned, not-for-profit and nationally recognized, Freeman Health System includes Freeman Hospital West, Freeman Hospital East, Freeman Neosho Hospital and Ozark Center – the area’s largest provider of behavioral health services – as well as two urgent care clinics, dozens of physician clinics and a variety of specialty services. For 2017, Freeman earned dozens of individual awards for medical excellence and patient safety from CareChex®, a quality rating system that helps consumers evaluate healthcare providers. U.S. News & World Report ranked Freeman one of the top Hospitals in Southwest Missouri more than four years in a row, and the Leapfrog Group awarded Freeman the highest grade possible in the Fall 2016 Hospital Patient Safety Score. With more than 300 physicians on staff representing more than 60 specialties, Freeman provides cancer care, heart and vascular care, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopaedics, children’s services and women’s services. Additionally, Freeman is the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in a 70-mile radius. For more information, visit freemanhealth.com or facebook.com/freemanhealthsystem or follow Freeman President and Chief Executive Officer Paula Baker at twitter.com/freemanceo.