Firefighters’ calendar is for a good cause
Six St. Paul firefighters are appearing in a 2012 calendar that will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Voting for the picture that will be on the calendar cover was conducted on Facebook, ending Aug. 3. This is the third years the firefighters had doffed their shirts and posed for charity. The 2010 and 2011 calendars each raised about $5,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The 2011 calendar also raised $2,000 for the Autism Society of Minnesota.
Calendars cost $15 each. In previous years they were sold mostly at Borders Books, in addition to some small coffee shops and retailers. Borders is closings its stores so it’s not known yet where the sales will take place. But this will be the first year fans can buy the calendars online at www.stpaulfirefighter.com. A release party is planned for Sept. 10. There also will be calendar signings and events. [Source: Star Tribune]
New mental, chemical health facility to open
A Bridge to Health and Wellness, The Ramsey County’s new holistic facility for treating adults with mental and chemical health issues has a name. The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners confirmed in July the name of the new facility at 402 University Ave. East.
The new building, which will open in September, will house Urgent Care for Adult Mental, Chemical Health Assessment and Placement, Detox, and the Second Judicial District Commitment Court. The creation of this building brings an unprecedented opportunity to improve and coordinate services to individuals experiencing either a mental or chemical health crisis, or both. The goal is to improve the availability of integrated, community-based, chemical and mental health services for this population.
Each program area provides a unique service for individuals in order to maximize the use of limited resources: Urgent Care for Adult Mental Health helps individuals experiencing acute mental health symptoms receive the right level of care at the right time, focusing on recovery and peer support for these individuals.
The program emphasizes community-based services whenever possible, offering emergency services through phone support, mobile outreach and walk-in services. Both mobile and on-site crisis intervention and stabilization services will be available, including: supportive counseling, information/referral, consultation to professionals, mental health education to family and community, crisis assessment and next step planning, crisis psychiatry, medication evaluation, and placement in crisis beds. Certified Peer Specialists will be added to the interdisciplinary team. Peers have personal experience with mental illness and are trained to work with people in crisis and support their recovery. The goal of this program is to expand its hours and to increase the capacity to serve people from the East Metro—Ramsey, Dakota and Washington Counties. Chemical Health Assessment & Placement provides chemical health assessments and referrals to chemical dependency treatment case management and other services.
This unit also serves as an access point for State-licensed chemical dependency treatment services for qualified individuals meeting both State income and clinical eligibility guidelines for public funding. Referrals to supportive Group Residential Housing for eligible persons with chemical dependency are also available.
Detoxification services are provided 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, with assessment and referral to appropriate treatment programs. The Detoxification Center is a sub-acute residential facility providing medical monitoring and chemical dependency assessments and screening for individuals who are intoxicated or experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
The 2nd Judicial Civil Commitment Court has the legal obligation of determining if a person is to be committed to treatment centers. Civil Commitment hearings will be held in this new building. [Source: Ramsey County]
Woman sentenced in attack
The final sentence has been handed down in a December 2010 assault on an autistic teen. Tiffany Clock, 22, of Columbia Heights was sentenced Aug. 4 to time served and 20 years probation in connection with the Dec. 23, 2010 incident.
Clock and a group of four other people met the boy at St. Paul’s Sun Ray shopping center.
The group lured the 16-year-old to a nearby park where they beat and robbed him. In June Clock was convicted in Ramsey County District Court of first-degree aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
Her attorney, Christopher Zipko said she was present at the time of the assault but didn’t participate. He also said that due to her disability, fetal alcohol syndrome, she has been in and out of foster homes. If Clock does not comply with terms of her probation she could be sentenced to 3-1/2 years in prison.
Two juvenile defendants also have been sentenced and one adult defendant has been sentenced in connection with the attack. Another adult defendant was found incompetent to stand trial. [Source: Pioneer Press]
Charges filed in punishment
A St. Paul woman has been charged with malicious punishment of her 5-year-old autistic daughter. The abuse was discovered after a school social worker noticed scratches on the girl’s face and an apparent cord mark around her neck.
The mother, Janet Lynn Fox, 30, told police the girl would not sit still while Fox tried to comb her hair, according to a criminal complaint filed Aug.1 in Ramsey County District Court. She is currently restricted from contact with her child.
“She became angry and stressed because she wanted her daughter to look pretty,” the complaint stated. “She stated that she used the comb and struck (her daughter) on her face… (and used) a blanket around her daughter’s neck to keep her from moving while she combed her hair.” Fox is to make a court appearance Sept. 6. Until then, she is barred from contact with her daughter or any child younger than 16. A school social worker previously reported two other cases of possible child abuse involving the girl, one Oct. 8 and the other Feb. 17. The child is a student at Rondo Learning Center. [Source: Pioneer Press]
