THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CHAPTER OF THE   
    EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE
    PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
 

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Questions or comments?  Please contact us at webmaster@sfeapa.org
  
 
Chapter Meetings
  • 2nd Tuesday of each month, 11:30AM to 1PM
  • at Sinbad's Restaurant overlooking the Bay, next to the Ferry Building -  Pier 2, SF www.sinbadsrestaurant.com 
  • Parking on site (if very early)
                                                                                                              
  

 

Next Chapter Meeting

 

Tuesday, July 14, 11:30a.m.

Sinbad's Restaurant, Pier 2, Embarcadero, SF

 

EMDR: an Introduction   Teresa Allen, MFT will provide a look at the therapeutic approach developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro, which has been effective in helping clients to process negative memories by linking them to more positive memory networks. The difficult memories are not expunged, but rather transmuted from pain to health.  EMDR taps into a natural process of adaptive information processing, which can be disrupted after a trauma. Teresa Allen will describe her experience using EMDR with clients to resolve grief and trauma and to desensitize addiction memory triggers.

 

      Please visit Monthly Meetings for information on our 2009 meeting schedule and speakers and presentations.

                                     ** ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL NON-EAPA MEMBERS **

          The Board of Directors of the San Francisco EAPA Chapter has raised the non-member Luncheon Fee from $30 to $40 effective as of the April 2008 Meeting.  Member fees will remain at $25.

           The non-member fee has not been raised in many years, but after much discussion it was decided that it was necessary at this time.  The Chapter puts a great deal of effort into providing a monthly meeting that offers an excellent networking, marketing, and continuing education experience.  We are delighted to have new attendees and hope that many will decide to join EAPA for their own professional reasons.  Our funds to operate come primarily from those who join EAPA and our Chapter.  The dues they pay help us to provide 11 meetings per year, a website, CEU’s, and the valuable opportunity to meet with fellow professionals.   Of course our costs are going up, as they are for everyone, but we are also a membership organization, and part of our mission is to encourage membership.  For all of these reasons the decision to raise non-member luncheon fees was made.

           We hope to have additional members, and welcome everyone’s feedback on how to improve the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.  Please contact any Board member with your thoughts and comments.  Our website is: sfeapa.org

 

 

                                                  

The history of the San Francisco EAPA chapter is the story of the Employee Assistance effort in the US. EAPA (the Employee Assistance Professional Association) derived from a gathering of Occupational Alcoholism Specialists, the Thundering 100, who formed a professional organization in the 1970's : ALMACA (the Association of Labor Management Administrators and Consultants on Alcoholism). The San Francisco ALMACA chapter was the first chapter in the nation.

San Francisco Bay Area Chapter 
Mission Statement 
“To Promote Employee Assistance Programs as an effective means of enhancing the well-being and productivity of employees in the workplace.  To facilitate the professional identification of Chapter members and the development of quality Employee Assistance in the San Francisco Bay Area.”

 

THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CHAPTER OF THE EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
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President's Corner

January 2009

 

Greetings SF EAPA Members~

I want to begin by wishing all you a Happy, Prosperous New Year. There are so many new issues before us. A new President, Barak Obama will be facing many challenges with inspirational hope. In that spirit, it is the hope of the SF EAPA chapter to bring engaging, informational and inspirational presentations to our luncheon meetings.  These presentations will be listed in the website once the speakers have been confirmed.

New information in the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity Act may have been overlooked in the October 2008 bail out package. The Wellstone Act was initially passed in 1996 under President Clinton. The bill banned discriminatory practices by insurance and treatment providers who applied lower annual and lifetime spending limits for mental health treatment services. At NIMH Dr. Judd provided medical validation for this. NIMH was able to demonstrate that mental illnesses cost the American economy more losses than all other physical illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, cancer and hypertension. New technology, such as brain imaging, has made it possible to objectively diagnose mental disorders thereby disproving the concept that symptoms of these conditions were conjured up by lazy individuals.  At that time Substance Abuse Disorders were dropped from the bill because it would not have stood a chance of passing if substance abuse were included. 

It has taken 12 years for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act to pass. It has been demonstrated that addiction and alcoholism impact more Americans during their lifetimes than other mental health disorders. In fact, Substance Abuse Disorder is this country’s number one public health enemy resulting in more deaths and medical complications than any other illness.

The Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 includes Substance Abuse treatment provisions and adds to the original Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 by banning differences in co-pays, deductibles, coinsurance and out of network coverage, out of pocket expenses and health or addiction therapy. This will be one of the most important occurrences in the field of chemical dependency. Hopefully it will help to erode the stigma of addiction and highlight the need for treatment thereby.

The Wellstone-Domenici Parity Act will be applied to health insurance plans beginning 2010. This will give health plans the time necessary to redesign their coverage to come into compliance with the new law. The current 1996 Parity Act will remain in affect through 2009.

I look forward to seeing everyone at our meetings!

Jackie Sims-Piljay

 

 The Ross Von Weigand Award

We are pleased to announce that the SFMTA Peer Assistance Program has received the Ross Von Weigand Award from the national Employee Assistance Program Association (EAPA).  It was presented during the “Labor Lunch” at the National EAPA conference in Nashville, TN on October 7th, 2006.  This annual award recognizes a joint labor / management program that has demonstrated  “innovative program elements.”

 
This joint award is to the SFMTA, the Peer Assistance Program, TWU Local 250-A, the Miscellaneous Unions at The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency . The (SFMTA) Labor/Management Peer Assistance Program (PAP) was created in 1996, as part of the Memorandum of Understanding between SFMTA management (then the San Francisco Municipal Railway), the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 250-A and other union groups at the agency. It is funded jointly by management and labor. SFMTA consists of approximately 4,600 employees. The program is the result of the vision and persistence of Larry Martin, Vice President of the International Transport Workers Union (now retired). The original purpose was to provide a voluntary, confidential way for safety sensitive employees subject to DOT random drug testing to seek assistance with alcohol/drug abuse issues. Mr. Martin was resolute that there be three full-time Peer Assistants and that their job classification and rate of pay from their current positions would remain unchanged. The Peer Assistants were also required to have backgrounds in 12-step chemical dependency recovery. 
 
Mr. Martin negotiated aggressively to have this program included in the Memorandum of Understanding between SFMTA and TWU. Although the majority of SFMTA employees are TWU members, Mr. Martin created this program as a true collaboration between TWU and the other unions at SFMTA. Early on, the program was viewed with skepticism by SFMTA management and largely perceived as a “union boondoggle” to which SFMTA was forced to contribute. The program also had some challenges in terms of securing a proper facility and not being linked with other internal programs. It was difficult to fully promote the availability of services. Despite the challenges, the PAP has persevered and is now universally regarded by management and labor as an indispensable resource.
 
Not knowing where else to put it, the PAP was originally managed by the SFMTA department responsible for DOT drug testing. There were a number of problems with this arrangement, including issues of confidentiality and very low utilization. In 1998 the SFMTA awarded a contract to its EAP (Claremont Behavioral Services) to invigorate and manage the program. A committee consisting of representatives from management, TWU and Claremont selected three new Peer Assistants. Claremont hired a clinician to work 20 hours per week, on-site to manage the program. Since 2000, Sabina Ubell, LCSW, CEAP has served as the Program Manager. Ms. Ubell is a former President of the San Francisco EAPA chapter and has presented at the national EAPA conference. Claremont’s Chief Operating Officer, Tom Farris, PhD has been instrumental in developing the Peer Assistance Program and supporting its integration into the EAP. He has presented at the national EAPA conference and has published in the Journal of Employee Assistance. Claremont’s President, Tom Bjornson worked closely with Larry Martin to design and establish this program. Mr. Bjornson was among the original founders of the San Francisco EAPA chapter back in 1971 and has been a leader in the field since that time. The three current Peer Assistants are Deborah Woodley, Thomas Warren, and Eleanor Childs. Mr. Warren and Ms. Woodley have been with the program since 1998. Lee Butler was a Peer Assistant from 1998 until his retirement in 2005, he was replaced by Ms. Childs. The consistency and dedication of the Peer Assistants and the Program Manager has been a key to the programs success. 
 
Although the original goal of the PAP was to help employees with drug and alcohol problems before they tested positive on a random DOT test, it soon became apparent that the scope of the program needed to be expanded. As the program became more visible, the Peer Assistants began receiving requests for help with a variety of problems, including marital / family issues, depression, job stress, work / life needs and more. After conducting an intake, the Peer Assistants refer these individuals to Claremont for referral to a counselor or work / life resource. Often, the Peer Assistant will stay involved to make certain that the employee is receiving needed help and the situation is being resolved. The integration of the PAP with the external EAP is unique and has produced outstanding results. Given the wide spectrum of situations handled, the PAP now functions, in many ways, as an internal EAP, with the advantage of having the clinical, work / life, consultation and supervisory resources of Claremont (an external EAP) immediately available.
 
While all of the Peer Assistants were active in 12-step recovery programs when selected, they did not have experience functioning in the unique role of a Peer Assistant. Claremont hired a licensed clinician with an extensive background in program management and EAP to be on-site 20 hour per week. The Program Manager provides trainings on a variety of topics, including the role of a Peer Assistant, clinical interviewing, case management, and other clinical topics. The Program Manager also oversees a weekly case conference, as well as providing real-time case supervision. The Peer Assistants also frequently contact the EAP for case consultation. Further, the Peer Assistants have completed the UC Berkeley's Certificate Program in Alcohol and Drug Studies. The Peer Assistants are all long-time, well-respected SFMTA employees. This status within the organization, combined with the professional oversight provided by the Program Manager and external EAP, uniquely qualifies the Peer Assistants to help fellow SFMTA employees.
 
In the first few years, the PAP was largely viewed by management as “another wasteful and useless union program.” However, over time, the program has consistently demonstrated significant value to management, labor leaders, employees and family members. Labor/management relations have been positively affected by this evolution. Larry Martin has been tireless in his efforts to establish program credibility among senior management. At Mr. Martin’s retirement dinner, hosted by former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Mr. Martin declared that establishing and executing the Peer Assistant program implementation was perhaps the “crowning achievement” of his long and illustrious career.
 
Managers (as well as Union Stewards) frequently contact the Peer Assistants with problem employee situations. In 2002, the Senior Management at SFMTA approached the Peer Assistants and Claremont, and asked for help in the creation of a Trauma Response program. Following training in CISM has resulted in a unique program that provides an on-site Peer Assistant response to critical incidents, as well as follow-up counseling through the EAP and, if necessary, additional services paid through the SFMTA’s Workers’ Compensation Department. While there are many issues on which SFMTA and TWU have different perspectives and incentives – there is now universal acceptance of the PAP as a valuable resource. 
 
The SFMTA Labor Management PAP program is a unique arrangement. It combines the best of a proactive traditional EAP with full-time, dedicated Peer Assistants. The Peer Assistants receive clinical supervision and support from the EAP. The program is a true team effort and has succeeded because of the dedication of labor, management and the external EAP. This program is a true collaborative effort and could not have happened without the on-going support of SFMTA management and the unions.