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Morgantown's Wellspring Office Has New Site Director Above: Wellspring Family Services Morgantown Site Director Michelle Molisee With ten years of experience in the behavioral health field, Michelle Molisee took over the reign of Wellspring Family Services in Morgantown in late February eager to share her expertise and to build upon the many services offered through the agency. A Morgantown native, Molisee earned both a Bachelor of Social Work and a Masters of Social Work from West Virginia University. Her passion for working with families and children has not gone unnoticed. Beverly Petrelli, vice president of Wellspring Family Services, said Molisee's background and work ethic will be a great asset to the Morgantown Wellspring program. "She brings a plethora of talent, experience and energy to her position," Petrelli said. "Michelle has been a member of the professional community in the greater Morgantown area for many years and with that, many people are acquainted with her work and her unique style of management. We are very proud to have her as a part of our Crittenton family." One area of Molisee's expertise is in Comprehensive Assessment and Planning Systems analysis. CAPS is a systematic approach to the assessment of children and their families who are receiving child welfare services from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. Reimbursement for conducting a CAPS assessment is through both Medicaid and through Socially Necessary Services. The agency or practitioner is eligible to be enrolled as a CAPS provider if it is a licensed behavioral health provider or licensed private practitioner that is able to bill the Medicaid Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Codes. "I've done CAPS extensively for two years before this position," Molisee said. "You basically interview the client and family, and get a lot of information to determine what services they need and at what level. It takes eight hours from beginning to end." While other staff members are trained to conduct CAPS analysis, Molisee said their full case loads make it difficult. Therefore, she can provide such services more readily and timely. She also said "The bringing together of different specialties," helps Wellspring gets referrals. "We know what the issues are and we gear them towards which therapist is most appropriate," Molisee explained. "We have been getting a lot of referrals. I'm most looking forward to building the program to get the referral sources built back up in the community." Molisee said it's very beneficial for Wellspring to be able to offer both CAPS, and Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths assessments, otherwise known as "CANS." This tool is designed for decision support and outcomes management. The main goal of CANS is to allow a system to remain focused on the shared vision of serving children and families by representing children at all levels of the system. Molisee will be training inner agency employees on CANS, as well as teaching an open class to the public this June. In order to better market Wellspring to the Department of Health and Human Resources, Molisee and other agency professionals have been scheduling meetings throughout the surrounding counties in the area. She said the next three counties they will visit include Preston, Taylor and Harrison in West Virginia. "I want to spread the word that socially necessary services are what Wellspring does," Molisee said. "I also want the DHHR to realize they are an important referral source. " At this time, Morgantown Wellspring serves 109 clients. Referrals are up, yet staff numbers are down. Interviews and hiring procedures are taking place to build a full staff of eight. Molisee replaces former Site Director Nancy Graham. "Wellspring is a very friendly environment to walk into," Molisee said. "We have a wonderful staff willingly to always help clients in any way possible." |
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