Mental health experts discuss Yokosuka’s services

Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka
Courtesy Story

Date: 06.07.2013
Posted: 07.10.2013 03:17
News ID: 109947
Mental health experts discuss Yokosuka’s services

YOKOSUKA, Japan - Active-duty sailors and civilians representing various commands on board Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, met inside the Chapel of Hope’s Fellowship Hall, June 7 to discuss the variety of mental health services on the base.

Yokosuka Collaborative Care Forum is a panel of mental health professionals from U.S. Naval Hospital,Yokosuka, Fleet and Family Service Center, local schools, and Chapel of Hope.

“Sharing resources and knowing what’s available for our community, is very important,” said Lt. Rebecca Miranda, a social worker at the FFSC. “If we don’t meet and get together and share these resources, then we might be missing key resources that are available.”

According to Miranda, YCCF began November of last year, as a way for care providers actively involved in counseling, educational, or care efforts that promote the psychological well being of personnel and their families. YCCF is a place for providers to network, narrow the communication gap amongst care providers, and collaborate on ways to better meet the Yokosuka community’s needs, taking into consideration the limited resources available overseas.

Miranda also said that these meetings have become a way for the various mental health providers to network and get to know each other.

“We don’t often know what the schools are doing or what [the hospital’s] mental health clinic is doing,” she said. “When we have a centralized place where there are resources, then we can refer them [patients] out to the right source.”

Miranda said that the FFSC is charged with knowing what resources are available on base, to include mental heath services.
Services provided under the auspices of the YCCF include, Child Find, Educational and Developmental Intervention Services, Exceptional Family Member Program, New Parent Support Program, Preschool Services for Children with Disabilities, Sure Start, Adolescent Substance Abuse Counseling Services, Family Advocacy Program, the hospital’s mental health and substance abuse programs, chaplains office and school counselors.
Miranda also said this forum will next meet in September after the new school term commences.