Counseling Center Accomplishments

Counseling Center of Columbiana County Accomplishments Through FY2024

Outreach/Food Pantry: With the help of Mental Health Recovery Services Board (MHRSB) funding, we were able to purchase a new building for our Food Pantry on our main campus, serving more individuals than ever before.

Additional Apartments for Homeless Individuals with Severe Mental Disabilities: With the help of a Capital Grant from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) and matching funds from the MHRSB, we purchased and renovated 10 new apartments, bringing the total apartments owned or managed by the Counseling Center to 58.

Employment Services:
- Secured a $50,000 grant from ODMHAS Grant to assist with – items needed during the transition into new work for a client, opportunity for clients to become certified in OSHA 10, ServeSafe Food Handling or CPR/First Aid to increase their marketability in their career field and to help reduce transportation barriers.
- As a result of providing supports and services to 29 youth at risk of dropping out of high school, all were able to graduate.
- Referrals and services increased by 4 times the previous year.

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Services:
- Expanded services at Columbiana County Jail are well received and have high yield groups.
- Provided Crisis Intervention Trainings for law enforcement.
- Provided numerous trainings to staff members involving empirically based interventions to assist clients with all needs.
- Adolescent Group: We have implemented the first SUD adolescent Group for the county and have begun corresponding with Juvenile Courts and school districts.
- We have utilized numerous grants to assist clients to access their needs/eliminate barriers.
- Representation on The Court of Common Pleas Drug Court and Municipal Drug Court. We also provide Intervention in Lieu of Conviction Assessments for individuals who are referred by the judge to determine the appropriate level of care for their treatment. Once granted, they have the opportunity to attend treatment in lieu of incarceration.
- We are the only providers at The Columbiana County Jail and offer individual/group counseling, re-entry services, and access to services upon release. We ensure individuals have their needs met prior to release and have scheduled follow-up appointments. We also provide Narcan via Project Dawn.
- As a result of grant-based work at the County Jail, 234 people were opened and less than three percent experienced recidivism!

Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) & Youth Community Support:
- ECMH Consultation and Early Childhood Support: In FY24, ECMH consultation served 43 Head Start children and our WCM program supported 19 childcare classrooms in Columbiana County. We also ran a successful Incredible Years group, educating parents and enhancing children’s social-emotional skills.

Launch of Suicide Prevention Program: Our comprehensive suicide prevention program, aligned with Ohio’s SAVE Act, launched in FY24, securing participation from 11 of 12 districts and receiving strong satisfaction ratings. Amy Gladman was recognized as Ohio’s Professional Community Ambassador for Erika’s Lighthouse, further enhancing the program’s credibility and impact.

Increased Referrals Through Juvenile Court Liaison Work: Regular office hours at Juvenile Court led to 9 new referrals for the FOCUS program in FY24, marking the first referrals since 2017 and significantly strengthening support for at-risk youth.

Increased Referrals in Triple P (Positive Parenting Program): The Triple P program received 49 referrals in FY24, driven by community outreach, event attendance, and social media campaigns to raise awareness of the program.

SPEAK Program: At the end of the past school year, the SPEAK (suicide prevention education and kindness) program served over 6,000 students, in 10 of the 11 school districts in Columbiana County, and the Career Center. Amy Gladman, who runs the program in the schools, has been recognized by the curriculum provider (Erika’s Lighthouse) as a State Ambassador for their program, and has been invited to speak at their Ohio Conference later this year. The SPEAK program student survey data found that 75 percent of students reported they learned something new from the program! This is great news, as it helps show that we are having an impact and helping spread education and awareness about mental health.

Therapist and Resource Navigator Continue to See More Clients Than Ever Before at Resiliency Center, East Palestine: In order to better serve the residents of East Palestine experiencing issues subsequent to the train derailment, we collaborated with our local County Board (Mental Health Recovery Services Board; MHRSB) to place a therapist and a resource navigator at the newly established Resiliency Center – thanks to a grant from SAMHSA. Our staff continue to provide ever-increasing behavioral health services, including connecting residents to additional relevant social services.

Medication Management, Psychotherapy & Screening & Crisis Services: All services have increased staff, group work, and are seeing more clients and are more productive than ever before.

The agency converted to a new robust Electronic Health Record as of November 1, 2023.

FISCAL YEAR 2020 …56 YEARS AND COUNTING

Our new fiscal year – 2020 – began on July 1, 2019. Having weathered software changes, new coding and billing changes from the state over the past 1 ½ years, we are approaching the new year with “20-20” vision. We have served our community since 1963…56 years and our hope is that we will continue the needed work we do for another 50. Our hope is based on continued signs of growth…

A few months ago, the Counseling Center proudly announced that the national accrediting organization, CARF International, awarded the Center a three year renewal of its accreditation. The report stated that “The Counseling Center demonstrates a high commitment to the CARF standards as a method for ensuring quality services for its clients.” The survey team stated that the Center’s strengths include “the involvement and support of the Board, teamwork, committee work, promotion of staff from within the agency, vision at the forefront, the commitment of staff, environment of care, creating positive outcomes for clients, with very positive statements from staff and clients about the service provision and the respect and teamwork that the agency fosters.”

In addition, the Counseling Center is also announcing that it is expanding the programs that it offers in several areas:

Psychiatric Services to Youth and Adults;
On-Site School Counseling Services;
Prevention and Early Intervention Services to Very Young Children and Families;
Employment Services;
Services in the County Jail;
Services to Participants in the East Liverpool Municipal Drug Court.

Psychiatric Services to Youth and Adults: As of June 13th, Ashleigh Noel, FNP-C, a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner with a focus in psychiatric medicine, joined the Counseling Center’s Psychiatric Team. Ashleigh completed her Master of Science in Nursing Degree at Saint Joseph’s College and graduated magna cum laude. She received her BSN from the University of Phoenix, ADN with Excelsior College, as well as completed education and training as a medic in the United States Army. Ashleigh specializes in the evaluation and medication management of psychiatric disorders in children, adolescents and adults. She is a member of the OAAPN and AANP. Ashleigh is “passionate about providing individualized behavioral health treatment, with the intention of offering clients the best opportunity to thrive.” Ashleigh is at the Lisbon office on Mondays and Thursdays, at the Calcutta office on Wednesdays and at Salem on Tuesdays. Please see the Counseling Center’s display ad about Ms. Noel.

In addition, as of February, Linda Boyle, FNP-BC, an ANCC Board Certified Nurse Practitioner with 27 years of psychiatric experience, having worked at the Counseling Center since 2014, expanded her hours at the Center to also include Fridays at the Salem office. With these additional hours, Linda is at the Center’s Salem office on Mondays and Fridays, Lisbon on Wednesdays and Thursdays and at the Calcutta office on Tuesdays. Seth Frampton, PMHNP, who has been with the Counseling Center for four years, recently began seeing clients at our Salem office on Wednesdays. He is at Lisbon on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

On-Site School Counseling Services: The Center’s On-Site School Counseling Program continues to provide services at East Palestine, Crestview, Opportunity, Leetonia, Southern Local, Lisbon, United, Wellsville and Beaver Local schools and will shortly increase the number of on-site school counselors by two.

Employment Services: The Counseling Center has seen a steady increase in the number of individuals it has helped secure employment, including young adults. Specifically, there was a 20% increase from 2017 to 2018, and in 2019, the Center is on track for an additional 20% increase above those served in 2018. In response, the Center is in the process of adding an additional two employment specialists to its vocational department.

Services in the County Jail: The Center is currently offering the Columbiana County Criminal Justice Behavioral Linkages Project, linking inmates at the Columbiana County Jail with substance use disorder and mental health services while incarcerated, as well as providing re-entry support after discharge from jail to support successful reintegration into society and prevent recidivism.

Services to Participants in the East Liverpool Municipal Drug Court: The Counseling Center is very involved in the newly established East Liverpool Municipal Drug Court that was launched in February. The Center’s Substance Use Department is honored to be on the Advisory Board, with two of the Center’s clinical professionals providing services to the participants. The Center is already actively engaged with the Columbiana County Municipal Drug Court in Lisbon and the Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.

The Counseling Center is very grateful to the Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board for helping to fund several of the above initiatives.

During Fiscal Year 2017-2018

New Location: In order to address the increased demand for services in the Salem area, the Counseling Center moved its Salem office in July, 2017 from 188 North Lincoln Avenue to just a block east at 166 1/2 Vine Avenue. The Counseling Center is located on a completely renovated lower level of the office building we purchased from Drs. Getzinger and Ryhal of Family Health Care of Columbiana County. With this move and expansion of office space and parking, the Center is providing expanded psychiatric services, alcohol and drug counseling, and group counseling to the Salem community. As an additional benefit, the Center invited Help Network of Northeast Ohio to offer a recovery group one afternoon a week to individuals with severe mental illness and/or substance abuse issues.
“Whole Child Matters Early Childhood Mental Health” grant worker hired and services initiated – Alta Care group led tri-county initiative (Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana) – the purpose of providing early childhood mental health consultation to parents of young preschool aged children (birth-6) as well as providers working with the same population.
OCTF Strategy One Award: The Center was awarded the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund Award to provide primary child abuse and neglect prevention services.
OCTF Strategy Two Award: In collaboration with Homes For Kids/Child and Family Solutions award, the Center was awarded this Ohio Children’s Trust Fund Award to provide secondary prevention services for child abuse and neglect.
IHBT: 2017 MST Whatever It Takes Award 2nd Quarter Nomination (includes being a nominee for the Annual MST Whatever It Takes Award that will be presented at the next MST Conference) – “this recognition is given to individuals within the MST community that have demonstrated outstanding and meritorious service… willingness to go above and beyond”
Columbiana County Criminal Justice Behavioral Linkages Project: This project links inmates at the Columbiana County jail with substance use disorder and mental health services while incarcerated, as well as providing re-entry support after discharge from jail to support successful reintegration into society and prevent recidivism. Two full-time re-entry specialists and two part- time mental health specialists from the Center staff this program.
Vocational: The Center’s Vocational Department partnered with the local CCMEP program to serve transitional youth in their employment endeavors. While traditional employment services and assessments were part of the original plan, staff quickly employed Evidence-Based Practice principles and changed the focus to rapid job search while completing other requirements of the program. This has led to success in our county and several youth that may have fallen through the cracks are now both employed and obtaining GED’s or secondary education.

During Fiscal Year 2016

We celebrated a grand opening on June 21, 2016 for the Hornsby House, a new eight unit Permanent Supportive Housing Project for those with severe mental disabilities.
CARF International awarded the Counseling Center a three year renewal of its accreditation, lasting through November, 2018, the 9th consecutive three-year accreditation received by the Center.
We collaborated with Akron Children’s Hospital-Lisbon to initiate on-site behavioral health counseling at their Lisbon ACHP office.
In conjunction with Mahoning and Trumbull Counties, the Counseling Center obtained a grant to expand Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation services in public and private day care and preschool settings.
Through its Connections program, the Counseling Center provided Depression Education and/or Screening services to 488 students within 5 county school districts.
The Center’s Onsite School Counseling program provided school-based counseling to 127 students within 7 county school districts.
The Counseling Center was awarded an Emergency Shelter operational grant of $88,000 for a two year period (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2017) through the Office of Community Development.
The PATH Homeless Outreach Program made over 159 contacts to homeless persons with serious mental illness; provided 428 services to homeless persons; and made 330 referrals in an effort to link homeless persons to housing, mental health treatment, health care services, entitlement programs, income programs and employment.
Staff made financial donations in fall, 2015 that helped provide vouchers for Christmas toys to 32 client families and 62 children and helped with a toy give-away that provided toys to 117 additional child clients, and, as a result, these families were able to celebrate Christmas last year.

In completing a Client Satisfaction Survey during this past fiscal year, several comments concerning particular programs were:

“I love this Center. It has helped me so much. I hope to one day be able to help others. I truly believe everyone here cares about all of us. I am very grateful for this Center. I just have to say thank you for saving my life.”
“It has helped me recognize my own strengths and weaknesses in raising the boys.”
“Great leaders. Really helped me deal with my problems and become a more positive, sober person.”
“Case management helps a lot. Especially with getting the extra help that is offered.”
“The fact that your counselors genuinely care about you and your problems and don’t judge you, makes this amazing and so very helpful. I got so much out of it that I’d recommend this group to everyone. Thank you so much. This touched and changed my life so much.”
“Being able to talk out my problems has been helpful.”
“The fact that there is someone else advocating for the kids other than just me.”
“Everything has been really helpful. To know I’m not alone with an illness is a good feeling. To be sober is a great feeling!! Thanks!!”
“Thank you for having a place like this for people like us! Instead of judging they really show care and compassion and help us to better ourselves”
“I really feel like the counselors and people who run the IOP and aftercare are wonderful people who really care about our recovery. Thank you so much.”
“The people that I see at Mental Health are my family.”