Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to Hope Beyond Addiction, a podcast by Our Hope, a nonprofit that provides hope, healing, growth, and recovery to women located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'm your host, Caitlin Whyte. And joining us today is Katie Calkins, an intake coordinator at Our Hope.

Today, we'll be discussing the referral and intake process at Our Hope, Katie, for someone who has never heard of Our Hope before, what are the very first steps a woman and her family would take to start the referral or intake process?

Katie Calkins: Honestly, just giving us a call. If somebody calls, the first person they will most likely hear the voice of is our receptionist, Kelly, and she will most likely transfer somebody to me or my teammate, Carrie, who can answer any questions. We're happy to explain the whole intake process.

Host: I love that. Sweet and simple. So, can women refer themselves or do they need to go through a provider or an agency or anything else like that?

Katie Calkins: For sure. They actually do need to go through an agency. So in the state of Michigan, every county has what's called a community mental health, and they are kind of like an access point for any kind of resources that go through Medicaid, Our Hope Association being one of them. So, usually, when I get that phone call of, "Hey, I'm trying to get to treatment, what do I do?" I'll say, "Hey, you need to find your county's community mental health," and I'll direct them to whichever county that might be. And that county's community mental health will get in touch with me and refer that person to us. And then, we'll get them right on the schedule.

Host: And if a woman comes to Our Hope without Medicaid, how does Our Hope help her apply for Medicaid and then navigate the process of getting her coverage so she can access the care that she's looking for?

Katie Calkins: One of our special aspects, I guess, is that we have what's called a program coordinator. They are kind of like the access point for DHS services. We have one at each location, and they help our girls navigate food stamps, Medicaid applications, cash assistance, Section 8 housing, any kind of DHS services. So even if somebody comes in and they don't have Medicaid, we'll help them apply for Medicaid. And the cool thing about each community mental health is they will also usually help women apply for Medicaid as well. And even if they don't have Medicaid or Medicaid takes a few weeks to kick in, most people who are referred by a community mental health will be covered under what's called a block grant funding. And that will pay for their treatment until their Medicaid picks up. And then, their Medicaid will back pay that block grant fund to the CMH. So either way, women have access to treatment whether they have Medicaid or block grant funding.

Host: Beautiful. Well, once someone gets through that process of application, how quickly can women enter treatment once they are referred and determined to be appropriate for the program?

Katie Calkins: Honestly, sometimes it can be quick as same day. If I get somebody's referral in the morning, they could come to treatment that afternoon. It depends on a few different things, like how many people we already have coming in, what the schedule kind of looks like. Between me and my teammate who do the intake process, we can admit at least three people a day. So, a lot of the times we can do same-day admissions. But with that, some people don't want same-day admission, so we'll schedule out. It usually takes a few days. But sometimes it's same day, sometimes it's within three or four days.

Host: Well, how else does Our Hope help remove those barriers that might prevent women from entering treatment?

Katie Calkins: For sure. So, there's quite a few barriers, I think, coming into treatment. I think transportation and funding being one of them. At least on the funding part, we always help our women apply for Medicaid if they're not already on there, and then whoever is referring our clients will also help pay for their treatment.

But transportation is also sometimes a really big barrier for women who are coming into treatment. So, that is actually something that we provide every once in a while depending on the time or day. If somebody absolutely has no way to get to treatment, nobody to drop them off, no way to get there, or maybe they're coming from a facility, me and my teammate, Carrie, who is another intake coordinator here, we will go out into the community and we will pick up clients. Sometimes they are coming from another facility or maybe they're incarcerated. So, we have been all over Central and Southwest Michigan to pick up clients in the community and bring them back to treatment

Host: That's incredible. Well, I'd love to go through a little bit about what someone could expect the day they arrive at Our Hope. What does that intake assessment look like in practice? I know we'll see Kelly at reception, like you said, but who conducts the intake? How long does it take? And what kinds of questions are asked right upfront?

Katie Calkins: Yeah. So, the intake process usually doesn't take terribly long. When you come to treatment, usually Kelly or I will be the first face that you see. And I'll help people bring in their bags, because we are a long-term program. We're designed to be a 90-day program, so people have a few bags that they bring with them.

So, I'll help them bring in their belongings, and then we'll get going on the paperwork process. Usually, it takes maybe 30, 40 minutes, depending on how many stories we want to tell, because coming into treatment day one is usually a big and scary day. There's a lot of things to be said, a lot of stories to tell, which is totally fine.

So, I'll do the paperwork, and the kind of questions that we ask are very, very easy questions. I always start my assessment with, "Have a lot of easy questions for you. They should be fine and dandy, it should go really quick." It's questions like, "Are you vaccinated for COVID? Do you have CPS involvement? Do you have a probation officer? Do you have a primary care physician?" It's things like that. You know, like, "What kind of medications are you on so we can, you know, make sure your medical needs are met while you're in treatment?"

Host: Great. And Katie, if a woman is listening right now and knows she needs help, but like you mentioned, is afraid to make that first call, get that first step going, what would you want her to know about the intake process and what she can expect from Our Hope?

Katie Calkins: Honestly, coming to Our Hope and coming to treatment in general can be definitely really scary, but I think the number one thing to remember is that you're going to find a whole team of clinicians to support you here. You're going to find clinicians that want to see you succeed and other women who are here in the exact same boat as you.

Even if today is not the day to come to treatment, OHA will always be ready for you when you are ready to come to treatment. The faster you come to treatment, the faster you're going to change your life.

Host: Well, thank you so much for joining us today. That was Katie Calkins. For more information, head over to ourhopeassociation.org. I'm Caitlin Whyte, and this is Hope Beyond Addiction, a podcast by Our Hope. Thank you for listening.