After concerns, Grant Integrated Services to update policies

Grant Integrated Services says it’s on the cusp of bringing its policies into compliance with a law passed almost a year ago allowing parents to initiate mental health or substance abuse treatment for their children age 13 to 17.

The largest behavioral health provider in Grant County, GIS hopes to have the new law added to official policy within the next several weeks, Director Dell Anderson said in an interview.

The move comes shortly after a Feb. 10 Columbia Basin Herald report on the lack of education to mental health providers from state agencies on the new law, and the resulting difficulties some parents reported when attempting to access their rights through GIS.

House Bill 1874, or the Adolescent Behavioral Health Care Access Act, came into effect last July. It gave a teen’s legal guardian the right to request “Family-Initiated Treatment” for mental health or substance abuse disorders without the consent of the minor, whether for admission, evaluation or treatment for inpatient care or counseling for outpatient care, if it is deemed medically necessary.

It also meant that providers could, at their discretion, give certain information to the parents about their kids during treatment. This includes a diagnosis, treatment plans, recommended medications and their potential risks or benefits, and coaching on parenting strategies tailored to the child’s needs.

GIS is by no means the only service provider still catching up with the new law, and the Washington State Health Care Authority, which was tasked in mid-2019 with educating providers, has still not published guidance on the subject.

In an interview, HCA officials said they had wanted to see if the legislature would make any more changes to the new system before informing providers, concerned that providing conflicting information would only add to confusion. The new law allows providers to participate in Family Initiated Treatment but does not force them to, and HCA officials said they believed that clear guidance from the state would make it more likely that providers would take part.

But delays in rolling out the new law and bringing up-to-date information to providers have taken a toll.

Moses Lake mother Adina Jones, who has a daughter suffering from mental health issues and has threatened suicide, said she has had requests for information be rejected by GIS staff, seemingly due to a misunderstanding of the new law.

Slow implementation of the new law has also resulted in some parents, believing they finally had the right to force a resistant child into treatment, not being able to initiate treatment for their children, said Penny Quist, an Ephrata parent and youth mental health advocate.

Without guidance from state agencies, management with GIS was slow to realize the practical effects of the new law, at first believing the current policies would not need to be substantially changed, Anderson said. It was only as questions and concerns were raised that administrators realized the scope of changes and began to act, he said.

Though a policy hasn’t yet been put into writing, Anderson said that staff had been directed to operate under the provisions of the new law. He acknowledges, however, that communicating this to staff can be improved, including with a written policy.

Anderson notes that not every circumstance of a parent not getting the outcome they expected is a result of GIS’ failure to align itself with the new law. Within the provisions of Family Initiated Treatment, there are still several circumstances in which a teen is turned away, particularly if a medical provider or crisis team determines treatment is medically unnecessary.

But to the extent that legitimate cases of Family Initiated Treatment are being denied, Anderson asks parents to let him know.

“I wasn’t aware of people being turned away,” Anderson said. “We do have a complaint process, and I would just ask that if anyone in the community has had a negative experience with staff, I would just ask that they reach out to me or submit a complaint.”

Anderson became GIS’ interim executive director in October, several months after the law was already in effect. He took the helm of the organization on a permanent basis in January.

Acknowledging that GIS has had difficulties with client satisfaction and compliance in the past, Anderson said his primary responsibility is to update the organization’s policies, improve the way services are provided, and bring back the community’s trust.

“I really want to change the way the community views Grant Integrated Services. I really do.” Anderson said. “We owe it to this community to provide services in a way that reduces barriers to treatment, that people feel like they can trust their community behavioral health provider. It’s going to take time.”