Consumer Supporter News May - June, 2000

 

"Tenemos Voz": The Hispanic Communities Speak Out

by Catherine Huynh, NCSTAC Director

On March 21-22, 2000, one hundred members of the Hispanic mental health community leaders convened a "Congress" to craft an agenda for action and an implementation plan to improve mental health services for the Hispanic community. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), the two day event addressed the need "to end racial and ethnic disparities in America's health by focusing on an area of great need - mental health", proclaimed Dr. Nelba Chavez, SAMHSA Administrator.

Before this historic event, other actions paved the way to move the agenda forward. In 1996, Secretary Donna Shalala launched the Health and Human Services Hispanic Agenda for Action: Improving Services to Hispanic Americans. In February 1998, President Clinton announced his Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Initiative calling for elimination of disparities in health status among racial and ethnic minorities by 2010. In December 1999, the Surgeon General issued the first ever Report on Mental Health, describing both the treatment opportunities and the gaps in access to and availability of treatment for mental illness.

This report emphasized the importance of disparities among ethnic and racial minorities in the areas of services, accessibility, and availability. As a follow-up, he has already begun work on a supplemental report to be issued later this year that addresses these needs. Finally, the President's FY 2001 Budget Proposal calls for special increases in federal expenditures for mental health services and related activities that could benefit millions of people with mental illness.

On the first day of the Congress, Hispanic leaders crafted an agenda for action. Leaders assembled represented a regionally diverse mix of consumers of mental health services and family members, providers of services, policy makers, national and local advocacy organizations, academia and researchers. They identified key policy and practice recommendations in the areas of research, prevention, early intervention, standards of health care, insurance coverage, consumer and family involvement, human resources, cultural competence, and community education.

The second day included key partners who joined the Hispanic leaders to delineate specific action steps needed to accomplish the policy and practice outlined on the first day. Along with the National Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Center (NCSTAC), representatives from the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse and the Consumer Organizing and Networking Technical Assistance Center (CONTAC) assisted as partners in the work to identify what can be done - and by whom - at the federal, state and local levels to ensure that mental health research, service delivery, awareness and education, and professional training respond to the needs of the growing, diverse Hispanic community.

It is from these same priorities that the National Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Center is charged with focusing its efforts on enhancing the cultural competency of the current service system for diverse mental health communities. Through our Cultural Competence Initiative, we will support ten local mental health organizations in their effort to enhance cultural competence on the grassroots level. See article, "NCSTAC Launches New Mini-Grants".

NCSTAC Announces Candidate Survey

by Laura Oven, Voter Empowerment Project Surveyor

NMHA's NCSTAC will be conducting a survey of the presidential and senatorial candidates for the year 2000 election. This survey will question candidates about their views regarding issues facing people with mental illness. Survey questions will touch on topics such as parity, privacy, community-based services and low-cost housing. The results, which will be published and distributed in September, will present the candidates' responses in their own words. Thus, candidates can speak for themselves and voters can make their own decisions based strictly on candidate responses.

Because each Congressional district faces different issues this election, NCSTAC encourages consumer supporter organizations to conduct their own surveys of US Congressional and local candidates. A sample survey for organizations to use will be made available at the Voter Empowerment training to be held at the 2000 Clifford Beers Conference. Organizations can draw upon the examples included in this draft survey, and they can also customize the survey to address the needs of their particular communities. NCSTAC staff will be available to provide technical assistance to those who would like help customizing their survey.

If you are unable to attend the training session, the sample survey will also be available on NCSTAC's web site at www.ncstac.org. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Beth Schaar at (703) 837-4795 or by email at: bschaar@nmha.org.

Voter Empowerment Training Reaches Atlanta

by Ellen Alderton, NCSTAC Education Specialist

The third regional training for the National Mental Health Association's Voter Empowerment Project took place on Monday, March 27 in Atlanta, Georgia, with 24 advocates from eight different states attending. Speaking were Joseph Glazer of the Mental Health Association in New York State; Kenneth Steele, project founder, Chris Smiriglia of the Mental Health Association of South Eastern Pennsylvania, Lea Ann Browning-McNee of NMHA, and Lynn Lasky of NAMI, Texas.

Participants learned about all of the basic steps of launching a voter empowerment campaign from setting up a separate database to registering voters, to voter education to bringing registrants to the polls. Emphasis was also placed on the potential political impact of a well-run voter empowerment campaign as well as on strategies for working with the media. The training followed largely the same format as previous sessions, but participants were given more time to network and to interact with one another.

"Our reviews for these trainings has been stellar so far, but one thing that people have wanted has been the possibility to network," said Catherine Huynh, project director. "People need to know that there are other individuals out in the field doing the same kind of work. It is a huge task to run a voter empowerment campaign, and it is important that no one feels they are going at it alone."

In the same vein, following the regional training, a state-wide session for participants from Georgia was held the next day. There, Georgia advocates had the opportunity to compare strategies and to come up with common plans for implementing voter empowerment in their state. Stuart Perry, who once took a walk from Georgia to Chicago for the mental health cause will be acting as spokesman for these Georgia state efforts. More information on the Voter Empowerment Project is available on the National Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Center's web site at www.nscstac.org. The web site outlines the six basic steps of a voter empowerment campaign and also offers a discussion board where advocates nation-wide can communicate with one-another.

Voter Empowerment: Georgia Representatives Rally at Follow-Up Training

NMHA's Voter Empowerment training came to Georgia on March 27 and was attended by people from Texas, Alabama, New Jersey, Wisconsin, North and South Carolina and Georgia. Project founders, Ken Steele and Joseph Glazer, inspired everyone with a description of the New York project. "Ken and Joe gave us a real sense that we can organize and make a difference in our community," said NMHAG's president, Beth Finnerty.

Georgia attendees, including representatives from the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, Georgia Parent Support Network, NAMI Georgia, and DMDA of Georgia, met the next morning to develop a strategic plan for implementation. Step one will be establishing an Advisory Board, followed by setting up a data base. A pilot voter enrollment will be conducted in Americus, Georgia, and the official "roll out" of the project will occur at the 10th annual conference of the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network in August.

The fall national election will be our first chance to get voters to the polls and to tally voters participating. Mental Health Day at the Capitol 2001 will include voter education and will be used to expand the project statewide. Stuart Perry will serve as the leader of Georgia's Voter Empowerment project. Stuart walked from Georgia to Illinois last summer to raise awareness about clinical depression. Now his energy, enthusiasm, and perseverance will be applied to this exciting effort to organize consumers of mental health services into a collective voice that cannot be ignored.

Self-Advocacy Training Launched in New Jersey

by Ellen Alderton, NCSTAC Education Specialist

Several dozen representatives of consumer supporter organizations arrived for a train the trainer session in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on April 14 to learn how to lead the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse's new Freedom Self-Advocacy Curriculum. In attendance were consumer leaders from New Jersey, Philadelphia and Delaware. The Freedom Self-Advocacy Curriculum, which was developed by the Clearinghouse in cooperation with the Mental Health Association of South Eastern Pennsylvania, the National Mental Health Association and the National Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Center aims at empowering people with mental illness to speak up for themselves in all walks of life. Trainers who attended the Cherry Hill workshop are expected to take this message out to consumers in their communities.

Marie Verna, project director, Joseph Rogers of the MHA of South Eastern Pennsylvania, and Brian Coopper of the National Mental Health Association delivered keynote addresses. The Clearinghouse's Alan Marzilli, who developed the curriculum, enthusiastically described the training as "a great success.... Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and we are looking forward to more feedback as people begin to implement the workshops."

Consumers who later attend Freedom Self-Advocacy workshops in the field will learn to develop the necessary attitudes, skills, and knowledge base to become better advocates for themselves. As one part of this curriculum, and to help people to better understand their approach to problem solving, the Clearinghouse has developed a self-assessment tool whereby consumers learn whether they tend to respond aggressively or passively to challenges.

Future workshop participants will also be lead through an entire series of situations to role play including handling insurance treatment denials, preparing an advanced directive and dealing with a discriminatory property manager. Consumers will learn that there may be more than one solution to a problem and that being well-informed and practicing effective communication skills can enhance their possibilities of success.

Also in attendance at the Cherry Hill training were representatives of state Protection and Advocacy Agencies. The entire proceedings were videotaped and will be webcast on the Clearinghouse web site, www.mhselfhelp.org. For more information on how your organization can offer the self-advocacy curriculum, contact Alan Marzilli at the Clearinghouse at (800) 553-4KEY.

Partners in CARE - Strengthening Community-Based Services

by Sara Thompson, Director, NMHA Adult Mental Health Services

During it's first year of formal operations, the National Mental Health Association's (NMHA) Partners in CARE has hit the ground running by working with over 30 communities nationwide to replicate model programs. The Partners in CARE initiative promotes the replication of high quality, state-of-the-art community-based programs that address the treatment needs of individuals with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. Partners in CARE model programs are replicated through the NMHA affiliate network utilizing a three pronged approach of public education, advocacy, and service replication. Partners in CARE provides NMHA affiliates the opportunity to take the lead as community leaders and public educators.

By building coalitions, affiliates (and partnering consumer supporter organizations) educate political, business, and civic leaders about the effectiveness of integrated, comprehensive, community-based mental health service systems that promote recovery for individuals with mental illnesses while encouraging policymakers to fund community-based services. NMHA provides affiliates with up to $5,000 per year to fund coalition building activities towards model program replication. They also receive comprehensive training from administrators of model programs, research updates on state-of-the-art psychosocial rehabilitation programs, and technical assistance from Partners in CARE staff regarding program specific coalition work.

Local consumer supporter organizations can partner with NMHA affiliates in order to implement a model program. Presently, Partners in CARE has model programs in the areas of employment, outreach services to individuals who are homeless and who have a mental illness, self-help, and wrap-around services for adults with serious mental illness (where housing, employment, rehabilitation and social supports are accessed through one provider). The ultimate goal is to have a comprehensive menu of model programs in all areas of services to individuals with serious mental illness. Partners in CARE will be adding a housing program by the summer.

Model programs are selected based on their ability to incorporate "key elements" into their program administration. Examples of these elements include consumer empowerment and emphasis on recovery from mental illness. Partners in CARE believes that these elements are fundamental to programs serving people with serious mental illness. The closer programs come to meeting these elements in their programs, the more likely they are to be valued by consumers and to be successful in providing services to them. For more information about Partners in CARE, contact Sara Thompson - Director, Adult Mental Health Services at 703-838-7505 or sthompson@nmha.org.

Conferences

A Gathering of Eagles: Hawaii Sees Its First Mental Health Rally

by Gordon M. Bronson, MHA in Hawaii

On the 25th of February 2000 at high noon there was a "Gathering of Eagles" in Honolulu, and I am not referring to the movie with Rock Hudson. I refer to a brave group of individuals with the hidden afflictions of mental illness coming together in a public display of unity regarding their basic democratic rights such as the right to vote and express their opinion. The right to vote is the most basic right of individuals living in a democracy. It will empower those who use it to make their voice heard.

The focus of the rally was to empower and educate persons with mental illness about the electoral process, and to become educated in areas of public policy - such as parity - that affect us all. The message sent not only to legislators, but also to the public at large was that persons with mental illnesses can and do vote. Elected officials should be reminded that the last governor's election was decided by only 1,000 votes or so. The eagles there held signs, spoke out, registered to vote and sang - demanding to be treated equally. It reminded me of those brave men and women who marched in Selma, Alabama for equal right for all men and women no matter what their color or creed.

The rally was appropriately held near the statue of Father Damien who gave his life to fight the stigma of Hansens Disease. We now face another disease wrought with stigma and social prejudice, and that is mental illness. Like the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Illness, the rally shone its light on a corner of health care that has been kept in the dark for too long. Remember that we can make a difference. Let's stop talking about barriers, and bring them down through our right to vote, educate ourselves, and be heard.

Five Million Available in Federal Grants

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), in collaboration with its Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), has announced the availability of $5 million to support new Community Action Grants for Service Systems Change. The grant program, now in its 3rd year, is enhancing the availability and quality of community-based mental health services by promoting local adoption of exemplary service delivery practices tailored to the specific needs of the community.

Two types of one-year grants are available. Phase I grants support consensus building that leads to adoption of an exemplary practice. Grantees that have successfully completed Phase I may compete for a Phase II award to support implementation of the exemplary practice. Funds available under either phase of the program may not be used to support direct service provision. SAMHSA estimates that up to 20 Phase I and 10 Phase II grant awards will be made in Fiscal Year 2000.

State and local governments, and both non-profit and for-profit organizations (e.g. community-based organizations, universities, colleges, and hospitals) are eligible grant applicants. A limited number of these awards are targeted to applicants that provide mental health services in communities serving primarily Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native populations.

"We know that mental health services work best when they are individualized, tailored to fit each person's special needs. Race, ethnicity, culture, gender, age, and environment all play a role in shaping what kinds of services and treatments will be of greatest help," said SAMHSA Administrator Nelba Chavez, Ph.D. "The Community Action Grants for Service Systems Change help take the pulse of community mental health needs and identify evidence-based mental health and other supportive services that will best meet the needs of local consumers."

"The community-based approach to service delivery is not only at the heart of this grant program, it is at the very core of CMHS's mission to enhance the availability and quality of mental health services nationwide," CMHS Director Bernard S. Arons, M.D. said. "We know that these grants spur local consensus-building and decision-making, thus ensuring that services meet the needs of community-based adults with severe mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbances."

Regular deadlines for both Phase I and II grant applications are May 10, 2000 and September 10, 2000. Application kits may be obtained through SAMHSA/CMHS' Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN) by phoning toll-free: 1-800-789-CMHS or on the Internet at http://www.samhsa.gov When calling, potential applicants should specify the name and announcement number (PA 00-003) of the application. Questions regarding program issues may be directed to Santo J. (Buddy) Ruiz at (301) 443-3653 or by e-mail at SRuiz@samhsa.gov

The Center for Mental Health Services and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention are components of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the U.S. News media requests for information on SAMHSA's programs should call Media Services at 1-800-487-4890. This and other news releases are available on the Internet at www.samhsa.gov.