Coordinating Government Treatment Service Funding: Implementing the President’s New Freedom Commission Recommendations
Outreach Partnership Program 2005 Annual Meeting
Saturday April 2, 2005
Roslyn Holliday Moore, Public Health Analyst
Office of Program Analysis and Coordination, Center for Mental Health Services
Ms. Moore began with a story illustrating how to transform mental health systems: start where you (Outreach Partners) are, use what you have, and do what you can. The President’s New Freedom Commission looked beyond what is today, to what must be tomorrow — envisioning a future when everyone with a mental illness will be able to recover: a future when mental illness can be prevented or cured, and when mental illness will be detected early. In this future state, everyone with a mental illness will be able to access effective treatment and supports and be a full participant in the community.
The Commission issued its report in July 2003. How do we translate the Commission’s vision into a vision that we all share and own? The Center for Mental Health Services has identified a strategic approach that entails exploration and discovery, planning and experimentation, designing and developing new programs and policies, and then elaborating on these new concepts and integrating them into current practice.
Transformation means making a radical shift that will change things for all time, agreeing to be in a different place that is not defined at this point in time, and trusting that when we get there, it will be much better than where we currently are. It involves risk, because it means discarding what is no longer effective, and following a vision to what cannot be fully known.
The focus is on recovery as a process by which people are able to live, work, learn, and participate fully in their communities. Recovery means that individuals have the ability to live a fulfilling and productive life despite a disability, that there is a reduction or complete remission of symptoms, and that individuals are able to make important decisions affecting their own lives.
Partnering strategically — working together, leading change, achieving results — is a continuous process of learning and then integrating new knowledge into our practices. Our efforts will result in small, incremental changes or tremendous leaps forward in our practices. In 2004, remarkably, SAMHSA and 20 other federal agencies came together to embrace the vision of the New Freedom Commission and commit to making it a reality. We are moving forward as partners to make a difference across the nation. One of the hallmarks of our efforts will be the mental health transformation state incentive grants, to help states develop and implement comprehensive mental health plans to transform their systems.
Along with tangible dollars, we know that states need technical assistance that is aligned with transformation priorities: leadership (including consumer leadership), the comprehensive plans, individualized plans of care or recovery, evidence based practices, workforce development, and elimination of disparities. A transformation action initiative will provide technical assistance to support the incentive grants.
The transformation action initiative represents a new way of thinking about technical assistance. We want to advance transformation through technical assistance to help make recovery a reality. We are looking at how adults learn best and how to measure the impact of technical assistance on behavior change and service delivery. We are putting some concentrated effort and resources behind building and sustaining leadership to support system change. We want states to develop comprehensive mental health plans that reinforce good practice and are integrated with individual plans of care. We want to develop a prototype for individualized plans of care, so that agencies do not have to waste precious resources developing their own plans. The transformation action initiative can serve as the equivalent of a clearinghouse for this kind of information.
A key element in transformation is the development of a national strategic plan on the elimination of mental health disparities. We have had a number of events across the country looking at the impact of culture, ethnicity and race on care and service delivery. It is essential to have a plan, developed through a public/private partnership, which will incorporate evidence-based practices and also incorporate the questions that still need to be answered through research.
Expansion of the science to service agenda is another priority. The toolkits that are available help systems to deliver science-based services. We want to increase the availability of practical resources that have been developed through federal partnerships. We are also facing workforce challenges, including the need to build a more diverse workforce and the need to train people in evidence based practice.
Ms. Moore ended with a quotation: “Nothing average ever stood as a monument to progress. When progress is looking for a partner, it turns to those who are forever searching and striving to become the best they possibly can.” She commented that the Outreach Partners are certainly searching and striving, and participating in an important journey of continuous progress and incremental change.
Questions and Answers
In response to a comment that families as well as consumers are an integral part of the recovery process, Ms. Moore heartily agreed.
Disclaimer
* This document is intended to summarize a speaker presentation at the NIMH Outreach Partnership Program’s Annual Meeting and is not an official statement or opinion of the NIMH. This information is in the public domain and may be used or reproduced for educational purposes without additional permission from the NIMH.
