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ADA_in_word

Americans with Disabilities Act 20th Anniversary Celebration
Monday, July 26th, 2010
12-3pm
Boston Common at the corner of Charles & Beacon Street

Enjoy live entertainment including Comedian Jonathan Katz, the Matt Savage Trio, the Tommy Filiault Band, and our keynote speaker, John Hockenberry!

A march is planned to leave from the Common at the corner of Tremont and Boylston at approximately 11:15 am.

Please bring food and drink with you to enjoy! Be prepared for extreme weather, heat or rain.

For more details, go to

www.NewEnglandADA.org

If you need an accommodation, call 1-800-949-4232(v/tty) by July 15th.
For further information, please call the number listed above or e-mail at
ADAinfo@NewEnglandADA.org

For information on public transportation visit MassDOT or the MBTA.

Hosts

ADA New England Center
Boston Center for Independent Living
City of Boston, Oce of Mayor Menino
Disability Policy Consortium
Institute for Human Centered Design
Statewide Independent Living Council

Partners

Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Partners HealthCare
Work Without Limits

Sponsors

Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Massachusetts Commission for the Blind
Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled
Massachusetts Convention Center Authority
National Multiple Sclerosis Society-Greater New England Chapter
Massachusetts Oce on Disability
Center for Living and Working
Disability Law Center
Miss Wheelchair Massachusetts
Perkins School for the Blind Student Council
National Alliance on Mental Illness, Massachusetts
S E A Consultants, Inc.
Bureau of State Oce Buildings
Clever Mountain Studios Video Production and Digital Media
SEIU 509
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
KONE, Inc.
Technical Assistance Collaborative
Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission

Contributors

Community Access & Inclusion Project
Lerch, Bates and Planners Collaborative
Massachusetts Oce of Travel and Tourism
Massachusetts Universal Access Program
Multi-Cultural Independent Living Center of Boston
Mass Home Care
MPOWER

ADA_picture

annual meeting and picnic

You're Invited!
M-POWER is hosting its Annual Meeting & Picnic on Saturday September 26th from 11:00 - 4:00 PM at Hopkinton State Park. There will be delicious free food & great company!

M-POWER will be honoring a Founding Mother of the Peer Movement, Judi Chamberlin, for all of her years of activism and her unbending vision for social change & a better world for folks with lived experience. Judi will be awarded with M-POWER's First Annual Judi Chamberlin Award. Come help create a video greeting card for Judi!

A free bus will leave from Cambridge--on Mass Ave in front of the Central Square Red Line T-stop at 9:30 AM, returning there after the picnic.

To RSVP (so there is sure to be enough food!!) and to sign-up for the bus, please call (617) 442-4111.

Cathy L

Chairwoman Malia, Chairwoman Flanagan, and honorable members of the committee, my name is Cathy A. Levin. I am coordinator of the National Empowerment Center’s project to create Peer Run Crisis Services in Massachusetts. I was also the chairwoman of the Emergency Room Rights Campaign at MPOWER. These organizations are led and staffed by current and former users of mental health services.
As a leader in the consumer/survivor movement I urge you to support House Bills 3585 and 3584 and House Bill 1945/Senate Bill 743: ER Rights bill, Peer Run Respite bill, and Five Fundamental Rights/Fresh Air bills, respectively. I will address each of these bills in turn.
House Bill 3585 responds to reports of consumers about terrible experiences being restrained for hours in ERs. The department of public health corroborated these reports in their investigations. The Boston Globe wrote about them. The reason we are here is not only the death and broken bones investigated by DPH, but the far more common emotional damage being restrained causes to someone whose psychiatric troubles stems from childhood sexual abuse. It is common to be restrained in an ER by four or five security guards in uniform. I speak for young women, especially, because I was restrained several times in ERs when I was younger, and the pain and anger are still with me.
When we peers asked for regulatory reforms in our meetings with hospitals and doctors hosted by DPH, they insisted regulations were unnecessary. They said restraints in ERs were rare occurrences. We know differently. I have interviewed dozens of my peers about their experiences in ERs. Restraint numbers are all over the map. This bill provides for collection of data on restraints in emergency rooms. It may prove the hospitals are right-that restraints are an aberration-and then DPH can go after just those hospitals. But the same hospitals that fought us on regulations to protect us from restraints are now fighting us on this data collection bill.
House Bill No. 3585 also requires continuation of the meetings with hospitals and doctors that was called the consensus group process. These meetings have has been incredibly helpful, but are being shut down now that the pressure is off, since the ER Rights bill did not pass last session. Without these meetings, they never would have sat down with us to hear our concerns. We need these meetings to continue.

Through my emergency department work, I became interested in alternatives to busy, overcrowded ERs, ill-suited and unwilling to provide psychiatric treatment and where psychiatric patients are unwanted and called "clutter." House Bill No. 3584 provides an opportunity to introduce this committee and the department of mental health to Peer Run Crisis Services. This is a cost effective way to help people in emotional crisis avoid emergency departments and hospitalization and stay connected to their communities.
Generally, the costs per night for Peer Run Crisis Services are between 45-80% less than a psychiatric facility. The director of a program in New York state recently reported a one-night stay in his program costs $170 compared to $1,600 for a psychiatric bed. I have provided the committee with a study that includes estimated costs of Peer Run Crisis Services. The study estimates costs of serving hundreds of consumers for five years, including start up costs in the first two years like staff training, at a little over $1.5 million. People stay in five individual bedrooms and have one-to-five day stays. In contrast, a psychiatric facility bed, in a shared bedroom, resulted often in longer stays, and costs $14.6 million over five years.
Finally, I urge you to support House and Senate Bills 1945/743. The Five Fundamental Rights/Fresh Air bills add enforcement powers to a good existing law protecting psychiatric patients’ basic rights. While the law is good, it is routinely violated in psychiatric hospitals and residential facilities. The bills also make fresh air and daily access to the outdoors a sixth fundamental right. Having your rights protected as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is good for your self-esteem. It is also good policy as people get well faster, have greater satisfaction with their treatment, and recover more fully when these basic standards are met.
Thank you for listening to my testimony.
Cathy A. Levin
Somerville, MA
September 23, 2009

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This is how to get involved: open your eyes and your eyes and use them to feel with all your heart. Testing

Ad lib center

Because of program growth, AdLib, Inc. - the Center for Independent Living for Berkshire County is looking for qualified individuals to fill the following positions:

Nursing Home Transition Specialist: Full-time (40 hour) professional position to identify and assist people with disabilities move from institutions to community based settings. Must be a self-starter who will work professionally with consumers, family members, other human service providers, and funding sources. Bachelor's degree and own transportation required. Must have a minimum of one year prior experience working with people with disabilities.

Peer Counselor/Advocate: Half-time (20 hour) position to work in Berkshire County with individuals with disabilities on specific independent living needs. Must be a self-starter who, through common personal experience, presentation, and actions will serve as a role model for individuals with disabilities. Must be able to deal effectively and professionally with consumers, family members, other human service workers and funding sources. Bachelor's degree preferred. Prior human service or counseling experience a plus.

recreational activities. This position is for five hour shifts on: both Saturday and Sunday. Bachelor's degree preferred. Experience: working with a cross disability and diverse population a must.: Requires basic computer skills.

Please send resumes for the above positions by October 27, 2006 to:: Program Manager, Ad Lib, Inc., 215 North Street, Pittsfield, Mass.: 01201. Persons with a disability are encouraged to apply. EOE/AA.

Bay Cove

Peer counselors are people who have personal experience living with a psychiatric disability, and who feel comfortable disclosing their disability to other service recipients, staff, administration, and others. Peer counselors provide assistance to and partner with service recipients to improve problem solving skills, explore potential options for roles beyond their current situation, and access available resources. Peer counselors also serve as mentors to residents and program participants at Center Club. Peer counselors may also assist service recipients in learning skills that are necessary to achieve independence, competence, self-confidence and self-esteem.

Peer counselors are not required to have a significant history of training in counseling and related topics, but will be required to attend trainings and supervision offered at Bay Cove to develop these competencies. A desire and willingness to participate in growth and development opportunities is an important component of the peer counselor position.

The goal of the peer counselor is to demonstrate the reality of "recovery," help foster a "culture of hope and recovery," and provide direct services that will benefit the resident/service recipient to begin to take small, success steps towards change.

Required Qualifications

Must be a person with a past and/or present diagnosis of a mental illness;
Must not currently use drugs or alcohol
Must be willing to disclose his/her disability
Must be able to speak about the impact both the illness and recovery has had in the person's life;
Must be able to listen, empathize and accept others;
Must work from the belief that recovery is possible for everyone, and that we are not the ones who can determine who will or will not move into a recovery process;
Attending trainings and supervision meetings;
A desire to expand his/her knowledge base; Participation in skills training to enhance peer counselor's listening and responding skills, problem solving skills, and other related skills.
Ability to tolerate constructive feedback.
Understanding of cultural influences on service provision.
Past experience as a peer counselor and the ability to speak additional languages desired, but not required.

Job Duties

Meeting regularly with service recipients;

Advocating on behalf of service recipients, and promoting self-advocacy.
Participating in activities meant to facilitate a hopeful environment.
Modeling and training service recipients in recovery roles;
Communicating with the Director of Peer and Recovery Services about problems, concerns, positive suggestions, regarding the practices in a residence or Center Club.
Participate in trainings;
Participate in an on-going network with other peer counselors.
Other duties may be assigned as the peer network develops.

Other Requirements:

Respecting the rights, values and beliefs of service recipients, Maintaining confidentiality;
Maintaining scheduled appointments.
Ability to work independently
Ability to initiate a conversation to supervisor when problems are encountered;
Ability to demonstrate a positive attitude and genuine concern forothers;
Able to complete all necessary paperwork in a timely manner.

If you are interested in this position, please e-mail or send your resume to Lyn Legere: BayCove Human Services: 66 Canal Street: Boston, Ma 02114: email at llegere@baycove.org

Director de Proyecto

CARGO DISPONIBLE: Director de Proyecto

PROYECTO DE RED LATINA DE APOYO A PARES

RESUMEN DEL CARGO:

Bajo la dirección general del Director Ejecutivo del Centro de Transformación (The Transformation Center), el director de proyecto desarrollará una red Latina de Apoyo a Pares de alcance estatal, para proveer a los latinos con afecciones de salud mental una oportunidad de participar y liderar modelos de apoyo a pares culturalmente adecuados. El cargo es de 32 o 40 horas de trabajo por semana.

PRINCIPALES RESPONSABILIDADES:

Supervisar e implementar actividades del proyecto en todo el ámbito estatal
Supervisar actividades conducidas por el equipo de proyectos
Proporcionar apoyo al trabajo del Consejo Asesor de Consumidores Latinos (Latino Consumer Advisory Board)
Proporcionar apoyo al trabajo de subcomités de proyecto
Coordinar la labor de recolección de datos para SAMSHA GPRA y otras actividades de evaluación de programa
Preparar todos los informes y actualizaciones de progreso necesarios
Monitorear el presupuesto y supervisar contratos
Proveer actualizaciones de rutina al Director Ejecutivo, el Directorio y comités formados por partes interesadas
Asegurar la coordinación y la comunicación en toda la red de apoyo a pares
Coordinar el trabajo del Enlace de Asesoramiento de Pares (Peer Counseling Liaison)

APTITUDES MÍNIMAS:

Este cargo requiere un diploma en servicios humanos o un campo asociado, y cinco años o más de experiencia en organización comunitaria, salud pública o servicios de apoyo de salud mental. Se prefiere una comprensión de las redes de apoyo a pares de Massachusetts y de la cultura latina. Son imprescindibles habilidades bilingües, español/inglés y biculturales. Se prefiere experiencia personal vivida en recuperación de problemas de salud mental. Este cargo requiere habilidades fuertes de gestión de proyectos y promoción de asociaciones. El candidato debe contar con habilidad demostrada para trabajar tanto independientemente como en conjunto con otras personas. El candidato debe poder integrar efectivamente actividades de trabajo conducidas por el/la mismo(a) con una variedad de tareas bajo la gestión de terceros. El candidato debe saber conducir y poder viajar a lugares de servicio en todo el estado de Massachusetts. Las destrezas esenciales para este cargo incluyen la capacidad de trabajar con grupos de interesados diversificados, agencias estatales y personas de una variedad de antecedentes de clases, administrar contratos, desarrollar e implementar planes de trabajo, realizar múltiples tareas simultáneamente y promover relaciones internas y externas.

SALARIO: $36,000 (32 horas semanales) o $45,000 (40 horas semanales).

OPORTUNIDAD DE IGUALDAD EN EL EMPLEO

El Centro de Transformación provee oportunidades iguales a todas las personas que busquen empleo, independientemente de su raza, edad, color, religión, sexo, estado civil, orientación sexual, condición militar, origen nacional, discapacidad o cualquier otra característica establecida por la ley.

RESPUESTAS:

Envíe su Curriculum Vitae y Carta de Presentación antes del 31/7/08 a:

Ann Stillman

Directora de Operaciones,

The Transformation Center

98 Magazine Street Roxbury, MA 02119

Tel: 617-442-4111 ● Email: ann@m-power.org

Fecha final de publicación: 31 de julio de 2008

Employment specialist

kathy@resourcepartnership.org

jennifer@resourcepartnership.org

www.resourcepartnership.org

Events

Massachusetts Leadership Academy

The Massachusetts Leadership Academy is a 3 day retreat, funded by the Department of Mental Health and the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership for mental health consumers/survivors.

The Leadership Academy is an empowerment to:

Learn Advocacy Skills
Build Self Confidence
Conduct Effective Meetings
Be Active on Policy Boards & Committees
Implement Action Plans
Develop Cultural Competency Skills
Work With The Media

The Leadership Academy is offered free of charge please contact M-POWER for an application:

M-POWER/Transformation Center
98 Magazine st.
Roxbury, MA 02119

Phone: (617) 442- 4111
Toll free: (877) 769 7693
Fax: (617) 442-4005

Email: sara@m-power.org or suzy@m-power.org

*in addition to the application we will call you for a brief telephone interview*

Dates:

Retreat Date Application Deadline Location

Mon Apr. 10 - March 3, 2006 Craigville Conf. Center
Wed. Apr. 12

First News Item

Jobs at the Edinburg Center

The following are jobs at the Edinburg Center.

Assistant Program Director, Supported Housing - Mental Health Residential Treatment Program

The Center's Supported Housing program comprises rehabilitation and support services delivered to clients in individual living arrangements scattered throughout our service area. The Assistant Program Director ensures correct clinical implementation of the Program Specific Treatment Planning process, provides crisis intervention as necessary, and offers direct services to clients. The Assistant Program Director also oversees the client intake/referral process, attends treatment planning meetings, and coordinates planning efforts in coordination with other members of the treatment team.

Qualifications: Master's degree and one year clinical supervisory experience with the adult mental health population or a Bachelor's degree and two year's clinical supervisory experience with adult mental health population required
Supported Housing or equivalent experience preferred. Valid driver's license required.

Supported Housing Counselors - Mental Health Residential Treatment Program

Full and Part-time, day or evening shifts available. Responsibilities include working in partnership with mental health clients to identify and provide services, skills training, and crisis intervention needed to support clients in the community. Located in Waltham.

Qualifications: BA/BS in human services related discipline and at least 1 year of direct experience required. Valid MA driver's license is required.

Lead Clinician - Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

Full-time (40 hour) position available to fill a dual role of fulfilling the responsibilities of a PACT clinician and assisting the team leader and psychiatrist in the organization and operation of the clinical program. Principle duties include: take a lead role in providing clinical treatment services; provide on-call crisis intervention; in coordination with the team leader, provide regular clinical and administrative supervision to staff, initiate and maintain relationships with collaterals, and adhere to agency expectations for quality assurance and maintenance of program policies and procedures; assume primary case management responsibilities for assigned clients; conduct comprehensive assessments when assigned.

Qualifications: Master’s level psychiatric clinician in mental health related field and three years experience with mental health experience required. Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team in the provision of clinical, rehabilitative and recovery oriented services to consumers with major mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse disorders. Supervisory experience preferred. Valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle required.

Program Assistant - Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

Full-time position available as a support member to the PACT multidisciplinary team. The Program Assistant is responsible for: organizing, coordinating and monitoring all non-clinical operations of PACT under the direction of the team leader; providing receptionist activities including answering the phone, maintaining accounting and budgeting records for consumers and program expenditures; and operating and coordinating the management information system. Other job duties consistent with the nature of the position may be assigned.

Qualifications: Minimum of a high school diploma, at least two years related experience, excellent computer skills, and basic accounting/budgeting skills required.

Lead Nurse - Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

Full-time position available. Under the direction of the PACT Psychiatrist, the Lead Nurse will provide clinical supervision to the other PACT Nurses, develop medication policies and procedures, take responsibility for medication management, manage the medication administration system, provides case management for clients with complex health or medication issues and participates in on-call coverage for the program. The Lead Nurse also provides a range of nursing duties, including medication administration and monitoring; consultation to clients, families and staff about medication/medical issues; treatment planning; implementation and documentation; outreach; support; and case coordination as part of an interdisciplinary team.

Qualifications: BSN (MSN preferred); Registered Nurse in the State of Massachusetts; experience working with clients with major mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse disorders; experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team; experience working with individuals with serious and persistent mental illness in the community. Valid driver's license and reliable transportation required.

Nurse - Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

Full-time position available providing a range of nursing duties, including the development of medication policies and procedures, medication administration and monitoring, and consultation to clients, families and staff about medication/medical issues. Other responsibilities include treatment planning, implementation and documentation, outreach, support, and case coordination as part of an interdisciplinary team.

Qualifications: BSN and at least 1 year experience treating persons with serious mental illness; substance disorder, psychosocial rehabilitation and assertive community treatment experience preferred. Valid driver's license required.

Housing Resource Specialist - Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

Full-time (40 hour) position available assisting clients with finding and maintaining safe and affordable housing; acting as liaison to local housing authorities, realty agencies, and housing subsidy providers; providing ADL skill training and other rehabilitation and support functions utilizing and assertive outreach model as a member of a self-contained interdisciplinary team.

Qualifications: BA in mental health related field and at least 1-year experience working with persons with serious mental illness. PACT or assertive community treatment experience preferred. Valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle required.

Peer Specialist - Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

Full-time, 40 hour position available providing essential experience and consultation to a self-contained interdisciplinary team which utilizes an assertive outreach model to promote a culture in which each client's subjective experiences, points of view and preferences are recognized, respected and integrated into all treatment, rehabilitation and support services. The Peer Specialist participates in all program-planning processes and provides direct services that promote client self-determination and decision-making.

Qualifications: BA preferred. Experience with recovery from psychiatric disability required. Valid driver’s license preferred.

Nurse - Intensive Community Support Program (ICS)

Part-time position available providing a range of nursing duties, such as medication administration and monitoring, and consultation to clients, families and staff about medication/medical issues; other responsibilities include treatment planning, implementation and documentation, outreach, support, linkage and case coordination as part of an interdisciplinary team.

Qualifications: BSN and at least 1 year experience treating persons with serious mental illness. Substance abuse disorder, psychosocial rehabilitation and assertive community treatment experience preferred. Valid driver's license and reliable transportation required.

Assistant Director - Intensive Community Support Program (ICS)

40-hour position in an innovative community based diversion/step-down program to assist mentally ill clients in avoiding hospitalization or transitioning successfully from the hospital to community living. Primary responsibilities include assisting the program director in managing daily clinical and administrative operations of outreach team and directly managing the 24-hour respite component. Other responsibilities include clinical assessment, treatment planning, implementation and documentation, outreach, skills training, supportive counseling, crisis intervention, case coordination, linkage, and transportation. After hours on-call responsibility.

Qualifications: Masters degree in related field, MSW preferred. Previous supervisory experience preferred. Experience in assertive community treatment and psychosocial rehabilitation preferred. Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation required.

Respite Coordinator (Counselor III) - Intensive Community Support Program (ICS)

Full-time position available providing in-house supervision of respite clients, teaching clients appropriate use of community resources, providing crisis intervention, maintaining accurate and timely clinical records, coordinating with other staff and providers, and supervising assigned respite staff.

Qualifications: BA in human services related discipline plus two years experience in the field including at least one year with adult Mental Health population required. Valid driver’s license required. Ability to attain First Aid and CPR certification within the first 90 days of employment required.

Counselor I - Charles Webster Potter Place Clubhouse

1 Part-time (20 hour) position available in a community-based, clubhouse model program. Must have the ability to coordinate with a team of members and staff in all aspects of program functions. Responsibilities include instruction, guidance and support in prevocational and vocational needs of program participants.

Qualifications: High-School Diploma or equivalency required. Certificate in Human Services or related field preferred. Experience with Certified Clubhouse program preferred. Must be or have been a consumer of Mental Health Services. Valid driver's license required.

Residential Counselor II -

Mental Health Residential Treatment Program Provides support to individuals with various psychiatric disabilities in a residential setting. Responsibilities include supervising overnight staff, maintaining clinical records, writing and implementing treatment plans for clients, and case coordination. Additional responsibilities include assisting with daily living skills according to client needs, transporting clients to medical appointments, administering medications, and participating in maintaining a clean and healthful environment.

Qualifications: BA/BS and one year experience with adult mental health population required. Driver’s license and reliable transportation required. Must be able to obtain First Aid, CPR, and Medication Administration certifications within 90 days of hire.

Residential Counselors - Mental Health Residential Treatment Program

Full and Part-time positions available working with mental health adults living in community residences. Responsibilities include: participation in the development and implementation of treatment plans, client advocacy and direct care. Opportunities available in Waltham, Bedford, Lexington and Woburn, MA.

Qualifications: BA/BS preferred. Valid driver's license is required.

Direct Care Counselors - Mental Retardation Residential Treatment Program

Full and part-time positions available in respite and residential programs working with adults with mental retardation. Responsible for providing direct support to individuals, as well as client advocacy and implementation of individualized service plan strategies. Opportunities available in Bedford, Waltham, and Lexington, MA.

Qualifications: BA in related field and experience working with adults with mental retardation preferred. Valid driver's license is required.

Program Assistant - Mental Retardation Services

Full-time (40 hour) assisting the Director of Mental Retardation Services and Transitions Day Treatment Program. Responsibilities include staff scheduling; tracking and management of census data; coordinating staff development training, scheduling and coordination of guardianship evaluations; coordinating facility maintenance and upkeep; collecting and reporting various program related data and information; occasional local travel to programs

Qualifications: Excellent organizational skills and proficiency using personal computers including competency with Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Access. Two years related administrative experience. Valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle required.

Community Specialist - Mental Retardation Clinical Services

Part-time (20 hour) position working as part of a Clinical Team providing support services to persons with mental retardation. Responsibilities include direct service caseload providing case management, behavior management and skills acquisition training to consumers in their homes and/or clinic settings.

Qualifications: Master’s degree in related field and experience with population required. Training/experience in applied behavior analysis preferred. Valid driver's license required. Individual Supports

Coordinator - Mental Retardation Clinical Services

Full-time position (40 hrs.) working as a part of a Mental Retardation Clinical Team that provides individual support services to persons with mental retardation. Responsibilities include coordination of support clients; oversight of individual support clinicians; provision of direct individual support; fulfilling the role of DMR liaison regarding support clients; ensuring that all regulatory requirements are met and related records are up to date and complete.

Qualifications: Master’s degree in related field and 2 years experience with population required. Training/experience in applied behavior analysis preferred or BA degree in related field and 4 years experience with population required Training/experience in applied behavior analysis preferred. Valid MA driver’s license required.

Clinician - Options Day Treatment Program

Part-time (20 hour) position available in adult psychiatric/dual diagnosis day treatment program working as part of an exciting multi-disciplinary team. Responsibilities include: facilitation and co-facilitation of insight-oriented group psychotherapy, individual therapy, treatment planning, implementation and coordination, and clinical documentation.

Qualifications: MSW , Psychiatric Nurse, Rehabilitation Counselor, O/T or Licensed Psychologist required; LCSW, LICSW or LMHC preferred; experience with adult mental health and substance abuse issues preferred and day treatment experience preferred.

Counselor I - Transitions Day Treatment Program

Full time position available working with adults with mental health issues in our Transitions day program. Responsibilities include: participation in the development and implementation of treatment plans, consumer advocacy, and direct care.

Qualifications: BS/BA and experience with population preferred. Writing and computer skills required. Valid driver’s license required.

Crisis Clinician - Mental Retardation Crisis Services

Part-time position (20 hours, Thursdays – Saturdays) available in a 24 hour community-based crisis program serving adults and children with mental retardation. Primary responsibilities include emergency on-call, mobile outreach, assessment, evaluation and behavior consultation. Program office is located in Lexington, MA.

Qualifications: Master's degree in related field and experience with population required. Valid driver's license required.

Per-Diem Crisis Clinicians - Mobile Emergency Services Program

Day and evening shifts available performing evaluations of clients in acute crisis (including suicide/homicide assessments, mental status exams, evaluation of support networks and resource availability). Evaluations can take place in clients' homes, schools, shelters, police stations, hospital emergency rooms and medical units, and other community settings. Clinicians screen clients for admissions to hospitals, diversionary programs, and Crisis Stabilization Program. Crisis Clinicians also present level of care assessments to managed care companies, hospitals, and other agencies that offer appropriate services for clients.

Qualifications: Clinical Master's degree (reimbursable by Mass Health), familiarity with DSM IV, excellent verbal and written communication skills, and ability to work independently required. Relevant experience performing mobile crisis evaluations preferred. Valid driver's license and use of car required.

On-Call Mobile Crisis Clinicians (beeper coverage) - Mobile Emergency Services Program

Relief hours on overnight shifts available performing level of care assessments for clients experiencing psychiatric crisis in homes, schools, emergency rooms, Police stations, and other community settings. Thorough, legible and prompt documentation of all client calls and interventions, entering evaluations on database, and related paperwork are included in position responsibilities.

Case Coordinator Full-time position available in the Outpatient/Community Support service at our Waltham clinic providing case coordination, advocacy, support, linkage, and outreach to mental health consumers living in the community.

Qualifications: BA in Mental Health related field and at least 2 years experience with adult mental health population required. Valid driver’s license required.

Workforce Development Coordinator Part-time position (20 hours) located in our main office in Lexington coordinating all aspects of workforce development. Primary responsibilities include: managing the agency’s internal job posting procedure; posting open positions to appropriate outside job boards; reviewing and forwarding resumes and applications to appropriate managers; conducting phone screens and interviews when needed: checking references and criminal history for potential employees; interfacing with hiring managers throughout the process

Qualifications: Recruitment experience, computer literacy and research skills required. Experience recruiting in a non-profit setting desirable.

Internships

Clinical and administrative internships available in many programs. Please use the icon below to inquire. for more information about the edinburg center Click Here

Just do It

Just Do It !

New Directions:

Consumer-Driven Mental

Health & Wellness

Interpretation for the Deaf and Spanish Speakers Provided

Thursday June 15, 2006

The Best Western Plaza Hotel

and Trade Center

* The word “consumer” is used to refer to those of us with mental health and/or addictions recovery needs

Please Register by 5pm Monday June 12^th

We will cut off registration earlier if we reach 400 people. Register as soon as possible!

Register by telephone or fax

Call 617-442-4111 or Toll-Free at 877-769-7963

Fax at 617-442-4005

TTY at 617-442-9042

The Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel

181 Boston Post Road West

Marlborough, MA 01752

(508) 460-0700

Take 495 to exit 24B; The Hotel is 1 mile on the right

(From the Mass Pike go North on 495 towards Lowell)

9:30 to 10:30am

Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:30 to 12:30

Opening Program

Keynote Address

“The Role of Peer Specialists: Giving Voice to Mental Health Recovery”

Larry Fricks, Appalachian Consulting Group

Larry Fricks was the Director of Consumer Relations in Georgia for 12 years. He has founded several organizations including the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network and Georgia’s Peer Specialist Training and Certification Program. Larry is helping us to start a Peer Specialist Training and Certification program as well.

12:30 to 1:30pm

Box lunches provided; relaxation; indoor heated pool!

1:30 to 2:30pm

Convention breakout groups meet to discuss and vote on the top topics for our future direction: Topics include Integrating Peer Specialists in traditional treatment settings, Employment, Housing, Emergency & Crisis Support Services, Peer Support & Peer Education, Gaining Independence, Health & Wellness, Rights Protection, Dual Recovery, Alternative & Holistic Options, Bilingual/Bicultural Services, GLBT Community ...

3:00 – 4:00pm

Convention Debate, Voting and Celebration!

Votes on Board of Directors & Top Issues!

Please provide this information to register:

Name : _________________________________

Telephone Number: _______________________

Special Diet Concerns: ______________________

Other Accommodation(s) Needed: ______________

__________________________________________

Please do not wear fragrances at the conference to support people with fragrance allergies.

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The Greater Lawrence Peer Counseling Project

"Sharing as Equals"

Benefits...

For those who provide
Peer Counseling

Recieving high quality training
Learning new skills
Being challenged to grow
Meeting new friends
Making a significant contribution to the community

For those who recieve
Peer Couseling

Knowing someone who has had similar experiences
Having someone listen without making judgements
Recieving help with problem-solving
Becoming less isolated
Improving connections to the community
Finding their own answers
Being valued by another person
Experiencing more independence and autonomy

Project Description

    The Greater Lawrence Peer Counseling Project, funded by the Essex North Site Area of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, supports th development of one-to-one, caring relationships between mental health consumers. By teaching, Listening , and problem-solving sills to those with psychiatric disabilities the Project empowers them to provide sensitive, practical support to their peers. Peer counseling training and services are offered in both English and Spanish.
    All Peer couselors recieve 11 weeks of interactive training in listening and problem-solving techniques. Those who graduate aree paired with DMH-eligible consumers and meet weekly at locations that are mutually convinient. Everything shared by the two individuals is kept in confidence.
    Peer counselors recieve extensive, ongoing spuervision. They are expected to work four hous weekly and recieve a $50 monthly stipend.
    The Project Is sponsored by the Northeast Independent Living Program in Lawrence Massachusetts, a private, non-profit agency.
    To learn more about the Project contact Jo Bower at 978-687-4288 extension 30. Those interested in Spanish-language services should contact Oliva Tajeda At extention 13

Peer Counselors Recieve Training about:

Stigma
Disability awareness
Active listening skills
Burnout prevention
Supervision
Coping with suicide & other crises
Relationship dynamics
Confidentiality
Friendship
Resources and referrals

Who Can Participate?

Any mental health consumer in the Greater Lawrence or Greater Haverhill, including Newburyport, may become apeer counselor. To recieve peer counseling services, however, a consumer must be eligible to recieve Depatment of Mental Health Services from its Essex North Site Office, which cover Greater Lawrence and Greater Haverhill areas.

The Greater Lawrence Peer Counseling Project

is sponsored by and based at

The Northest Independent
Living Program Inc.
20 Ballard Road
Lawrence, MA 01843

(978) 687-4288 (voice) and (tty)
1-800-845-6457 (toll-free)
www.nilp.org (website)
jbower@nilp.org
otejeda@nilp.org (Spanish services)

and is staffed by

Project Coordinator
Jo Bower
Latino Outreach Coordinator
Oliva Tajeda
Staff Assistant
Sam Chivers

NILP is a scent-free workplace

Quotes from Peer Counseling Participants

Those who recieve peer counseling say:

"we're on an equal basis.
a peer couselor is someone
who's close to you like a brother."

"I tend to trust a peer
relationship rather than a
professional. Peer couseling
is very worthwhile."

"I like having the chance
to talk to someone who has
things in common [with me].
It feels good to talk, laugh,
and joke."

Those who provide peer counseling services say:

"I like helping people."

"both [people] gain from it."

"Peer counseling makes me a better person."

Medicaid Reimbursement

Mind Freedom Calendar 2006 - 2007

MindFreedom

links and calendar of upcoming events

2006-2007

MindFreedom News Briefs -- 25 September 2006
http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward

News briefs on winning human rights in mental health system!

~~~~~~~~~~

* New York City Event on "Mad Movement" a Success!

At the New York University "Open Minds" conference this past
Saturday, 23 September 2006, keynoter David Oaks, director of
MindFreedom International, reflected on 30 years of human rights
activism and called for unity for a "nonviolent revolution in the
mental health system." You may download a PDF of prepared remarks here:

http://www.freedom-center.org/pdf/DavidOaksOpenForum2006ConfTalk.pdf

* Tuesday, 3 October 2006. Guest = Aby Adams. Show = "Mental health
screening in your school: What are the dangers? What are the
alternatives? What can you do?"

Aby is an activist with the Massachusetts group Freedom Center who
has developed a campaign to alert parents in local schools about the
dangers of and alternatives to traditional mental health screening of
kids.

How to Listen to MindFreedom News Hour: As well as guests interviewed
by host David Oaks, you'll hear the latest news and resources to win
human rights and alternatives in the mental health system.

Live: Every Tuesday, 1 pm eastern time, 10 am pacific time.

How: Click on http://www.theprn.org to listen live or to hear the
archive later. [If you have trouble hearing archives, there are now
'tech support' & 'help' links to assist you.]

You may e-mail your questions and comments before, during or after
the show to radio@mindfreedom.org. Your questions and comments may be
read live during the show. Please say if you wish to be anonymous.

Archives of the MindFreedom News Hour

If you miss a live show you may listen to the archive at http://
www.theprn.org. Just click on "shows" and go to MindFreedom News
Hour. Here are past shows now on the archive by DATE (the new web
site does not have name labels yet):

http://www.icspp.org/

http://intenex.net/pipermail/mindfreedom-lane-county-news/2006-July/

http://tinyurl.com/qn3k5

http://www.intenex.net/lists/listinfo/mindfreedom-lane-county-news

http://www.intenex.net/lists/listinfo/mindfreedom-oregon-news

www.alternatives2006.org

http://www.narpa.org

http://www.sfu.ca/humanities-institute/madcitizenship-conference.htm

http://tinyurl.com/hr4y6

office@mindfreedom.org

http://www.mindfreedom.org

office@mindfreedom.org

http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml

http://www.madmarket.org

http://www.mindfreedom.org

office@mindfreedom.org

Nationwide Resources

Peer Specialist

WORK Inc.

FUNCTIONAL JOB DESCRIPTION

PEER SPECIALIST

Reports To: Vice President of Employment Services Department: Employment Services Division

Job Summary:

The Peer Specialist position is a part time (16 hours per week) position. Responsibilities include helping consumers of the WorkSource program in the following areas:

Staff Advisory Board
Implement Illness Management and Recovery modules for WorkSource participants
Assist in outreach efforts, including public information efforts (i.e. Kiosk activities)
Coordinate feedback efforts, (satisfaction surveys, etc.)
Co-Liaison to Discovery, Atlantic House and other area MH Service Providers
Outreach and Engagement

Essential Functions:

Responsible for:

Staff the consumer Advisory Board for WorkSource. Assist the Chair with preparing agenda, taking and distributing minutes, preparing for meetings, coordination with WorkSource Management and other related duties;
Assist WorkSource Management in developing and implementing a plan to incorporate the Illness Management and Recovery modules into the program. Coordinate with Career Development Specialists to identify program participants who might benefit form IMR. Coordinate with WORK Inc.’s Chief Clinical Consultant to implement IMR;
Assist in program outreach efforts;
Assist individuals with engaging in employment services;
Coordinate participant feedback. Seek out constructive criticism and serve as liaison between dissatisfied individuals and management
Assist all team members whenever possible.

(The essential functions listed in this section are not limited only to the tasks indicated and may include other duties as assigned)

Qualification/Education/Experience:

High School Diploma;
Experience advocating for people with psychiatric illnesses
.

Supervisory Responsibilities

None.

Mathematical Skills:

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

Reasoning Ability:

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.

Communication Demands:

The ability to respond to common inquiries of complaints.

Environmental Demands:

The work is performed in a non-smoking environment. The work is normally performed in a temperature controlled zone, however, there are exceptions. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

*Definitions: continuous -- 66 to 100% of the time

frequent -- 31 to 65% of the time

occasional -- 10 to 30% of the time

rarely -- less than 10% of the time

RECEIPT AND REVIEW OF FUNCTIONAL JOB REQUIREMENTS

I, ______________________________, have read, understand and agree to the attached functional job description. I understand the essential functions of the position for which I was hired and acknowledge that I am capable of performing all of the essential functions of this position. I understand that the contents as presented are a matter of information and should in no way be construed as a contract between WORK Inc. and its employees. WORK Inc. reserves the right to change any part of this job description as circumstances require.

Signature Date

Witness Date

Peer Specialist Program Coordinator

The Transformation Center is seeking a Director of Operations, a Peer Specialist Program Coordinator and a Latino Peer Support Network Project Director. We are an organization run by and for a diverse community of people with mental health conditions, including those of us with co-occurring addictions recovery needs. We are building an organization that will help the community fully and respectfully welcome people with psychiatric conditions, find out about mental health recovery, learn practical leadership skills, learn about the role of a Peer Specialist in mental health services, increase the transformative impact of peer-operated services, and advocate for realistic solutions in mental health and addictions policy.

For more information about us see: www.m-power.org, www.transformation-center.org (under construction) and www.mamhtransformation.org .

PEER SPECIALIST PROGRAM COORDINATOR - POSITION SUMMARY

Under the supervision of the Director of Operations, the Program Leader – CPSP is a fulltime position with responsibility for all aspects of each 8-day intensive educational training program designed to teach those who complete the training how to guide others through their own recovery. An understanding of Massachusetts’ peer support networks is preferred. This position requires strong project management skills and partnership building skills. Candidate must have demonstrated the ability to work both independently and well with others. Candidate must be able to effectively integrate work activities led by him/her with a variety of tasks managed by others. Essential skills for this position include the ability to work with diverse stakeholder groups and state agencies, manage contracts, develop and implement work plans, multi-task, and build internal and external relationships. Candidates must have excellent verbal/written/computer/ internet skills, regular access to a car.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Work closely with Peer Specialists, Peer Specialist Training Team, Recovery Learning Communities, mental health providers, mental health payors, researchers and evaluators to develop quality and effectiveness of the program.
Provide program information to interested persons/programs;
Coordinate application review, participant selection and lodging & logistics for eight day trainings
Supervise a training team of consultants and oversee curriculum and examination revisions
Oversee CPSP budget;
Maintain mailing list/contact information of interested persons/programs; and statistics on participant demographics and CPS employment of program graduates;
Maintain helpful contact with CPS graduates and CPSs to ensure quality of the program
Facilitate study sessions; train and provide support to tutoring consultants;
Train and provide support to exam staff in conducting oral exams and in scoring written exams; Act as proctor for and score written exams, and conduct oral exams;
Collaborate with evaluators and researchers of the project;
Other tasks as may be assigned by Director of Operations.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Relevant college degree

Experience: Five (5) or more years experience in community organizing, training or mental health recovery program. Lived experience as a mental health consumer preferred. Experience working with diverse populations highly desirable.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Strong administrative, communication, and interpersonal skills required;
Strong skills as a trainer
Strong organizational and logistics skills required;
Proficient computer skills with Internet and MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel etc.);
Knowledge, skills, and ability to support and supervise;
Knowledge, skills and ability to create and adhere to time and task schedules;
Knowledge, skills, and ability to work standard office equipment;
Understanding of issues facing mental health consumers; and
Acceptance of a variety of lifestyles, behaviors, cultural, and spiritual practices.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Ability to frequently or occasionally lift between 10-50 lbs
Ability to sit for long periods of time
Ability to use office equipment

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT

Valid MA Driver’s License and reliable vehicle

SALARY & BENEFITS

This is a full-time 40 hour per week position. Salary is $30 – 32K. Full-time employees are eligible for medical, dental, life insurance and vacation and sick leave after successful completion of the introductory period of ninety (90) days
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The Transformation Center provides equal opportunity for all persons seeking employment without regard to race, age, color, religion, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic as established by law.

RESPONSES

Send Resume and Cover Letter to:

Ann Stillman – Administrative Coordinator
M-POWER & The Transformation Center
98 Magazine Street Roxbury, MA 02119
617-442-4111; ann@m-power.org

updated 12/2007

Recovery Learning Communities & Allied Orginizations

RECOVERY LEARNING COMMUNITIES ARE REGIONAL

Recovery Learning Communities (RLC’s) are being formed in six regions of the state. The goal is to develop local communities of support for mental health and/or addictions recovery. RLCs will link people who are active in this movement with people who want to learn and contribute more.

WHAT DOES A RECOVERY LEARNING COMMUNITY DO?

•   Support consumers to take charge of their own recovery process
•   Encourage people in recovery to develop a community around them that offers natural supports
•   Offer information and referral, access to a variety of peer support and self-help activities, advocacy, and training opportunities
•   Provide continuing education, and support to Peer Specialists located at provider agencies, train and support providers and their agencies to be effective employers of Peer Specialists
•   Stimulate and participate in culture change to establish a focus on promoting resilience, self-determination and wellness, rather than a narrow focus on symptom reduction.
•   Encourage increasing supportiveness and welcoming of people with mental health conditions in society

Although the RLC will have both office and meeting space, an RLC is not “program centered.” Support activities are made available where people receive services and in the community at large. RLC activities will be growing to appeal to the range of people in the community, including people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, people of all co-occurring disabilities, and including those with high and low intensity needs.

WHO CAN USE THE RLC?

People with a serious mental illness, people in recovery and people who have experienced extreme states, regardless of insurance status. In addition, the RLC will work collaboratively with mental health providers, other human service agencies, and the community at large to forward the mission of supportive communities and respect for people with mental health conditions.

EVALUATING PROGRAM OUTCOMES

Recovery Learning Communities will evaluate the effectiveness of our projects and document what works and what doesn’t work. We want to learn from every experience. The RLC will study what others do as well, using this information for quality improvement and to make it available in Massachusetts.

WHEN WILL RECOVERY LEARNING COMMUNITIES BE OPEN AND HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?

RLC’s are not open yet, however Guiding Councils of peers exist in six regions of the state. To learn more call:

•   The Transformation Center 617-442-4111, TTY 617-442-9042
•   Oryx Cohen – Central MA RLC 617-442-4111, x370
•   Michelle Carpentieri – Metro-Suburban RLC 617-442-4111, x372
•   Jess Zaller – Southeast RLC 617-442-4111, x371

Site Map

Here is a map of all the material on the site. Please browse through each category to discover what we have to offer.

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Statement of Purpose: M-POWER is a member run organization of mental health consumers and current and former psychiatric patients. We advocate for political and social change within the mental health system, the community, city, and statewide. Organizing as a common voice, we claim and secure our human rights. We promote free access to information about those rights. We stand against stigma, bigotry,and discrimination that impede our ability to live as dignified people. We enlighten mental health professionals and the community with the truth about our lives, empowering ourselves in the process. We believe all people are entitled to lives free of prejudice and oppression.

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blah blah

WHAT WE DO

disclosure

Disclosure

Promoting a Culture of Respect

411 on Disability Disclosure

Disclosure Decisions
Fact Sheet

Training and Technical Assistrance for Providers
Q & A on Customized Employment: Disclosure

How People with Psychiatric Disabilities Navigate Employment

home

Emergency Room Rights

H.3585: Emergency Room Rights

“An “An Act pertaining to people with mental illness in hospital emergency rooms”

Contact: Constance Surette, Emergency Room Rights Committee at MPOWER, 781-588-3453 or 617-442-3301 and info@m-powerblog.org

The Emergency Room Rights bill (H.3585) requires the Department of Public Health to collect data on the use of restraints in hospital emergency departments in Massachusetts. DPH licenses EDs in this state. Currently, there are no state laws regulating the use of restraints in EDs. DPH enforces the Patients’ Bill of Rights, but it says nothing about restraints. The only applicable law comes from the federal government’s Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services. These CMS regulations permit restraint only to “ensure the immediate physical safety” of the patient and others. ED staff is prohibited from using restraint as punishment, for staff convenience, or because of staff shortages.

Nevertheless, we know anecdotally that certain hospital EDs in Massachusetts overuse restraints. Many mental health consumers say being restrained is one of the worst experiences of their lives, much worse than the mental illness itself. People die due to restraints every year. Most recently, a man died in November 2009 after being physically restrained by security guards at Cape Cod Hospital. A Massachusetts Department of Mental Health official has called restraint “the most lethal practice in psychiatry.” The mental health department’s regulations of restraint are among the best in the country, but they are not applicable in EDs.

In the past, DPH has objected to this bill, saying it did not have funding to analyze ED restraint data. Now, the University of Massachusetts Center for Mental Health Services Research has promised to analyze the data at no cost to the Commonwealth. With hard data, policy-makers can better analyze where problems lie and solve them. Transparency is the first step to change.

Since December 2007, DPH & DMH have hosted committees to address consumers’ complaints about mistreatment in EDs. These meetings resulted in licensing requirements ending forced strip searches of psychiatric patients in EDs. The ER Rights bill (H.3585)keep the DPH & DMH committees’ feet to the fire by requiring reporting semi-annually about their progress to the Legislature. Now, in addition to forced clothing removal, they need to address two more issues in emergency departments: restraints and inferior medical care of people with mental health histories.

Please ask your state representatives to support the ER Rights bill (H. 3585)!!! Find who represents you and their phone numbers by calling 1-800-462-8683! Then call 617-722-2000 to ask for your legislators’ offices!

Emily R

Testimony of Emily Russell in support of H.3585
September 23, 2009
Good afternoon, thank you for hearing my testimony on emergency room rights H.3585 my name is Emily Russell and I’m with the Transformation Center in Boston . I am here today to show my support and urge you to give this bill a favorable report.
I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder in 2004; I thought I was losing my mind. I would get on the train for an appointment and end up across Boston two hours later not knowing what happened. Doctors stated I was losing time. There were flash backs, which is an event that happened years ago, but you think it is happening at the time. Hospitals and emergency rooms became a revolving door until I stopped going.
Emergency rooms where more traumatic to me than the P.T.S.D. ; you have DR’s and security guards yelling at you, you’re taken to a small cement room that looks like a cell and they make you take off your clothes. Sometimes five people will come in and restrain you to a bed, at that time in my life a man’s voice would make me curl into a ball. I became homeless and self medicating; until my Doctor, peer advocate and my MBHP worker bound together to help me outside of the emergency rooms. It worked! Today I have a Place to live a job and I stand before you as proof, but for so many others it doesn’t have a happy ending. Prisons and death is all too common and it doesn’t have to be. Today a bill sits on your table; a bill that requires Emergency Room Staff to document and report to the MH-SA committee. This is good!

Because if no one knows what is going on how than can anything change? Getting help should not be more terrifying than the illness itself.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. I hope the committee will give this bill a favorable report.

Emily Russell

Empowered at the statehouse picture gallery

Evelyn K

Testimony of Evelyn Kaufman September 23, 2009

I was in the Emergency Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital last July. I went there for treatment of abdominal pain that turned out to be pancreatitis. I was admitted on a Thursday morning at 5:00 AM. The ED was very busy and overcrowded. People were waiting on gurneys in the hallways. There were not enough rooms to treat all the people who were very physically sick. I was in the ED for 11hours before being brought upstairs to a medical unit. If I were in the ED for 11 hours, a person with psychiatric needs would probably be there longer. This points out the need for peer-run respites as envisioned by H.3584.

I spoke to a nurse and a few other ED staff members about the work I am doing on ER rights. They told me that their staff get no training at all in how to deal with psychiatric patients that come into the ED.

Psychiatric patients have special needs. They need someone to talk to them and try to calm them. They are often left alone with little human contact. This can cause them to deteriorate into a highly charged emotional state. EDs are no place for psychiatric patients. It is easy to see how psychiatric patients could lose it after 11 hours. ED patients can get frustrated over not being able to leave despite these inhumane conditions. All of this contributes to unnecessary restraints.

I urge you to support ER Rights and H.3585 to prevent psychiatric restraints and keep continuing the meetings with the DPH, the DMH, the hospitals, the doctors and consumers going so that we can address issues of poor quality treatment of psychiatric patients with them.

I also support H.3584. I strongly support bringing peer-run respites to Massachusetts as alternatives to mental hospitals. At peer-run respites the staff receive exactly the sort of training to deal with psychiatric crisis that ED workers say they lack. Peer-run respites are not for everyone, but they provide some people with an alternative to the ED. When I was in crisis, a peer-run respite would have helped me. Please support H.3584.

I also wish you to support H.1945/S.743 which would strengthen rights for people locked up in psychiatric hospitals. Their Five Fundamental Rights are often ignored. Nothing impresses your self-esteem and sense of worth more than having your rights respected. H.1945/S.743 would also require that patients in locked wards get daily access to fresh air and the outdoors. The Five Fundamental Rights and Fresh Air are good treatment. Please support H.1945/S.743 as well. Thank you.

Gail S

Testimony on Essential Points for Promoting Peer-run-Respites

And Testimony on the Five Fundamental Rights and Fresh Air Right

September 23, 2009

Gail Shamon

Representing M-POWER, Inc.

We have no freedom to come and go, to leave when WE feel well enough. Being held behind locked doors means to me that we are being penalized for being having an illness. The insurance companies abolished the privilege system that allowed people to leave for short time periods and test the waters before they are discharged (except on pass). And they discharge us when they feel we’re ready to be discharged, not when we do.

Insurance companies have made it a trap when in order to ask for help, or to get help, either you say you are suicidal or you are turned away. Mass health does this. Only once you say the word "suicidal," there’s no chance to leave, even if you feel better enough to do so. This benefits no one and c certainly not the person looking for help.

My third point is that the hospital takes over and makes people totally dependent on it, rather than help them feel empowered to help themselves. They do everything and all you have to do is eat, sleep, take their meds and cause no trouble. In DBT terms, it’s called a" hospital habit," which is not to blame the victim here.

The arguments for peer-run respites are many. They are empowering rather than disempowering, allowing us to decide when we are ready to leave. This promotes trust in our own judgment. Peer-run respites treat people like people, and not like chronic mental invalids who will never get better, and can’t be trusted to know when they are ready to leave.

5. It is a human and civil rights violation to have hospitals and residences routinely ignore fundamental rights law. It is also outrageous that people with psychiatric diagnoses are not given access to fresh air, when even prisoners who have committed a crime are. We are not

We have committed no crime, unless having a psychiatric problem is considered a crime instead of an illness or extreme state. Stop treating us as dangerous criminals and please stop spreading fear of violence by people with psychiatric diagnoses when all the statistics say otherwise. Stop treating us like criminals, only worse

ghgg

governor_forum

Perkins School for the Blind

and the Disability Policy Consortium,

in Collaboration with many Disability Organizations

Invite YOU to Attend

Forum with the Candidates

for

Governor

May 18, 2010
12:30 – 3:30
Perkins School for the Blind
Dwight Hall, Howe Building
175 North Beacon Street, Watertown, MA 02472
Treasurer Tim Cahill
Governor Deval Patrick
Grace Ross
Jill Stein

Moderator: Bob Oakes of WBUR-FM’s “Morning Edition”
Join your colleagues and friends to hear the candidates for Governor discuss disability policy issues. Bring a friend!
For more information, please contact DPC at 617-542-3522 or info@dpcma.org. To request a reasonable accommodation, please contact DPC before May 12th.

Informed Consent

INFORMED CONSENT RIGHTS

You are an active partner in your treatment.

You have the right to know the benefits, risks and side effects of the proposed treatment, alternative treatments and what is likely to occur if you go untreated. This information should be discussed with you and given to you in the form of a consent form. Information sheets for each prescribed medication also will be given to you.

You are entitled to an explanation of your rights to freely consent to or refuse treatment without coercion, retaliation or punishment. Loss of privileges, threat/use of restraints, discharge, guardianship, Roger orders* or any form of retaliation and/or coercion shall never be used as punishment when you freely exercise your right to refuse/accept treatment. Such interventions may only be utilized in accordance with applicable legal and clinical standards. When you are competent and refuse a recommended treatment, alternative clinically appropriate treatment acceptable to you, including no treatment, shall be explored and offered where possible.

You have the right to freely consent to or refuse recommended treatment unless a court has ordered said treatment. (In emergency situations, medication may be given without your consent.)

If you have not received adequate information about your treatment rights, believe that your rights are being violated, or that you are being coerced into treatment, you may contact:

*the Human Rights Officer for your facility, or

*the Human Rights Coordinator for your DMH region:

     Western
Michael Nagy 413-587-6384
  Margo McMahon 413-587-6260

                          Central
Liz Rollins 508-368-3380

              North Eastern
      Brad Richardson 978-863-5063

    South Eastern and the Islands
       Mary Vaeni 508-897-2058

                                Metro Suburban
   Eileen Webster 508-616-3508

          Metro Boston
   Adrienne Plotkin 617-626-9270

* Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
at 1-800-342-9092 or 617-338-2345

* Center for Public Representation
1-888-967-6622 ext 6265

To Be Posted In All Patient Areas, per DMH Policy #95-5R Effective September 1, 1996

* Rogers Hearing

When a doctor believes you are incompetent, she may initiate a guardianship proceeding, popularly referred to as a Rogers hearing.
At this court proceeding, you have the right to be represented by an attorney, and if you cannot afford an attorney, the court will appoint one for you. the court shall authorize treatment with anti-psychotic medications only if:

it finds you not capable of making informed decisions regarding medication;
by applying a substituted judgment test, it finds that you would accept the treatment if competent; and
it approves and authorizes a written anti-psychotic treatment plan.

From: Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee "YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING MEDICATION"

inpatient study commission testimony by MPOWER

One type of support for individuals transitioning out of the hospital used very successfully in New York State is a Peer Bridger Project in which a trained peer specialist provides one-to-one support to a person ready to be discharged. This relationship begins several months before the discharge date and continues for several months after discharge. This is an excellent way to address the concerns and fears a person who has been in the hospital for months or years may have about being able to make it on the outside. The Genesis Club in Worcester and the Lighthouse Clubhouse in Springfield run Peer Bridger projects under a DMH contract entitled “Peer Support in After Care”. Such programs need to be expanded throughout the state.
As a result of the 1999 Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision the state is compelled to ensure that people with disabilities receive services in the least restrictive setting. In no way can state hospitals be considered the least restrictive setting. One objective listed in Massachusetts’ Community First Olmstead Plan is “to increase the availability and diversity of residential support options”. It is our understanding that over 200 people are currently stuck in DMH facilities. They are ready for discharge but have nowhere to go. Essentially, these folks are being warehoused at several hundred dollars a day.
Currently there is tremendous shortage of safe, decent affordable housing in Massachusetts. This remains a huge barrier to success in living in the community. DMH clients and other low-income people wait many years for subsidized housing. Money saved by closing hospital beds must be diverted to greatly increasing the number of rental vouchers available to people with mental health conditions. Also we need to think creatively—the old way of thinking about “independence” is moving from living in a state hospital to a highly structured group home with other adults not of one’s choosing. Then the view is that people should move to their own apartment with residential supports. One size fits all just doesn’t work. Why does the definition of “independence” always seem to include living alone in an apartment? For many people this can lead to isolation and worsening of one’s mental health condition. Also, who would chose to live in a group setting with people you don’t know and maybe don’t like? The current idea of group homes needs to be revisited. People must have choices as to where they live and with whom. They must be able to choose what type of supports they will receive.
A form of community support that does not exist but would prevent hospitalization is personal care assistance (PCA) for people with mental health conditions. Currently Medicaid regulations stipulate that to be eligible for PCA services, a person must need “hands on care”. This excludes most people with psychiatric disabilities. The few of our members who have PCA services have them because they have a physical disability as well as a mental health condition. One person uses her PCA mainly to support her through difficult periods of anxiety and depression. For her the companionship and support is more important than the help she receives getting in and out of the bathtub or mopping the kitchen floor. The peer support she gets from her PCA has kept her from using emergency services and kept her out of the hospital. Many people with mental health conditions could greatly benefit from having a PCA. Massachusetts needs to act now to obtain a waiver from the federal government so that MassHealth regulations can change to cover people with mental health issues.
A second Medicaid waiver is needed to allow Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) services to be billable to Medicaid. Other states such as Georgia and Arizona have such waivers, and they have been able to greatly expand the number of peer specialists working in the community. We are excited that the new Emergency Service Program (ESP) contracts require ESPs to hire peer specialists, and the new Community Based Flexible Support (CBFS) contracts also require providers to hire peer specialists; however a Medicaid waiver would encourage providers to hire many more peer specialists. The role of a peer in supporting a person cannot be underestimated. Many of us have found peer support to be a central factor in our recovery.
Some people have expressed concerns that the system is blocked—that there are people in acute hospitals that are not ready for discharge and not getting better. Their insurance has run out and the private facilities are footing the bill. These same people argue that this has lead to longer waits in emergency rooms. They say these folks need to be sent to a state hospital. Why can’t we be more creative? What about developing peer-run respites and other healing communities which allow for fresh air and various methods for healing? Why is hospitalization in a state institution have to be the answer?
This Commission has an important responsibility. It is our hope that the Commission recommends the closure of state hospitals and ensures that the money saved goes to expanding community mental health services and support.
It is M-POWER’s belief that the key to recovery and wellness is COMMUNITIES NOT LOCKED WARDS!!

job filled

Under the supervision of the Executive Director, the Director of Operations (DO) is on-site daily and is responsible for oversight of the day-to-day operations of the Transformation Center. The DO supervises the Program Leaders of the Peer Specialist Certification Program, the Leadership Academy, WRAP Facilitation, Recovery Conversations for Providers, Empowered, R& S Initiative, Peer Facilitators, Recovery Network, and Statewide Youth Coordinator. The DO is responsible for ensuring that all contract/grant requirements are being met, monitoring the quality and quantity of work being done, and is responsible for orientation of all new staff and volunteers. The DO oversees the hiring/termination process, although all final hiring/termination decisions rest with the Executive Director. Requires rolling up your sleeves and a people-friendly, skill-building and inclusive approach.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Supervision of all Program Leaders;
Meet with each Program Leader one-on-one at least twice monthly to provide support and discuss issues specific to their programs;
Provide support/mentoring to all Program Leaders to ensure team empowerment and cohesiveness;
Work with Program Directors on matters related to staff retention, job descriptions, interviewing , and hiring recommendations;
Create and implement an employee/volunteer evaluation system;
Create and implement an orientation process for employees/volunteers;
Create and implement an employee/volunteer grievance process;
Create and implement an employee/volunteer termination process;
Recruit and interview applicants for job openings within the organization in order to refer final candidates to ED for hiring;
Ensure that all contract/grant requirements are being met including written reports;
Monitor quality and quantity of work and take necessary steps to ensure that both remain at satisfactory levels;
Oversee space management of Transformation Center and ensure that all staff have specified work space; and
Other tasks as may be assigned by the ED.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Certification in non-profit management or relevant degree preferred.

Experience: Five (5) or more years experience with nonprofit organizations, personnel management, policy design and implementation, and supervision of employees. Lived experience as a mental health consumer preferred. Experience working with diverse populations highly desirable.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Demonstrated and proven leadership qualities;
Knowledge, skills, temperament and ability to train/mentor staff;
Knowledge, skills, and ability to create and implement personnel policies;
Strong organizational, administrative, communication, and interpersonal skills required;
Proficient computer skills with Internet and MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel etc.);
Acceptance of a variety of lifestyles, behaviors, cultural, and spiritual practices.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Ability to frequently or occasionally lift between 10-50 lbs
Ability to use office equipment
Ability to drive a car

SALARY & BENEFITS

This is a full-time position requiring 40 hours per week with some flexibility in scheduling. Salary is in low to mid-forties, range based on experience. Full-time employees are eligible for medical, dental, life insurance and vacation and sick leave after successful completion of the introductory period of ninety (90) days.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The Transformation Center provides equal opportunity for all persons seeking employment without regard to race, age, color, religion, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic as established by law.

RESPONSES

Send Resume and Cover Letter to:
Ann Stillman – Administrative Coordinator
M-POWER & The Transformation Center
98 Magazine Street Roxbury, MA 02119
617-442-4111; ann@m-power.org

updated 12/2007

Jobs at the Transformation are Filled

Jon D

Massachusetts Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Representative Elizabeth A. Malia

House Chair

State House, Room 33

Senator Jennifer L. Flanagan

Senate Chair

State House, Room 520

September 23, 2009

Chairwoman Malia, Chairwoman Flanagan, and members of the Committee:

My name is Jonathan Dosick. I am a consumer advocate, and I am testifying on behalf of House Bill #3585, "An Act pertaining to people with mental illness in hospital emergency rooms". I urge the Committee to report this bill out favorably.

There has been some good progress made since the ‘original’ ER Rights bill was filed last session. An unprecedented coalition of consumers, advocates, and trade groups have sat down and discussed the vitally important need for fundamental change in Emergency Room settings. The Consensus Statement they agreed to was a good start - however, it’s just a start. This bill rightfully directs the ER Rights Working Group to continue their work, so hopefully more progress will be made.

Restraint and seclusion is now widely seen as a "treatment failure," and it’s been proven that not only doesn’t it work, it is often horrendously damaging both physically and mentally. It is the ultimate form of disempowerment and is totally contrary to the values of the recovery model.

The reason why this bill is important is that it creates transparency, which should ALWAYS be in effect. When established laws, such as Informed Consent and the Five Fundamental Rights, are routinely violated, it concerns me that a Consensus statement (even with correspondent regulations) is not even a law. Again, I realize that Emergency Rooms are overcrowded and very stressful for those working there - but this is no excuse for the violence of restraint and seclusion.

When the rule of law is not applied, violations ensue. We have seen this illustrated by the Informed Consent and Five Fundamental Rights laws, which are brazenly ignored all too often. It would be nice if, as the hospital lobbyists say, they can operate better with less regulations. But I don’t believe that many large institutions can be trusted to police themselves, especially when there’s relatively little awareness of the issues at hand. There needs to be accountability, and this bill provides it by requiring essential data on restraint and seclusion to be presented to the Committee. When this data becomes available, it opens doors to further negotiations and understanding by both sides. I believe that the stakes are too high not to continue the effort to end discrimination and the potential for abuse in Emergency Rooms. The fact that more people are turning to ERs because due to loss of primary care coverage intensifies the need.

As an advocate and consumer, I strongly urge the Committee to report House Bill #3585 out favorably. Thank you.

^{Sincerely,
Jonathan Dosick
West Boylston, MA}

Jon D on 5 Fundamental Rights and Fresh Air

The Five Fundamental Rights/Fresh Air Rights effort

Massachusetts Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Representative Elizabeth A. Malia

House Chair

State House, Room 33

Senator Jennifer L. Flanagan

Senate Chair

State House, Room 520

September 23, 2009

Chairwoman Malia, Chairwoman Flanagan, and Members of the Committee:

My name is Jonathan Dosick. I am the Coordinator of the ‘Five Fundamental Rights/Fresh Air’ effort, and I am also testifying as a representative of the Coalition for the Legal Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CLRD). CLRD is a coalition of advocates, attorneys, state workers, people with disabilities, and families working together to protect the rights of those with disabilities in Massachusetts.

As an advocate and consumer of mental health services, I am here to urge the Committee to pass House Bill #1945/Senate Bill #743, "An Act regarding rights of persons receiving services from program or facilities of the department of mental health." The bills’ Chief Sponsors are Rep. Denise Provost and Sen. Patricia Jehlen.

Legislative Bills

The Bills Currently in the Legislature are:

1. The fresh air and Five Fundamental Rights Enforcement Bill.

The first bill is the Five Fundamental Rights bill combined with the Right to Fresh Air bill. The bill is House #1945 and Senate # 734. This bill is to provide enforcement of the Five Fundamental Rights, which are violated by hospitals every day, and to provide mandatory fresh air times in all hospitals. It makes fresh air a sixth right.

2. The Peer-run-Respite or Crisis Center bill:

This bill would establish a peer-run alternative to emergency rooms and locked psychiatric units. It is bill #3584. The second bill is the peer-run-respite or crisis center bill, which is about having a feasibility study about peer-run-respites done and hopefully this would lead to starting these peer-run crisis alternatives in Massachusetts.

3. The Emergency Room Rights Bill

The third bill currently in the legislature is bill #3585, which would require acute-care hospitals to keep data on how often they use restraints in Emergency rooms.

Linda's testimony

The following is testimony by Linda Lolli, MPOWER Board Member, at the Olmstead Initiative Hearing held in Worcester, MA on October 28, 2009. The Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead decision affirmed that people with disabilities have the right to live and receive services in the community.

The Olmstead Act and the PCA with Lived Experience

I have been asked to speak a few minutes on the obstacles for a person with a psyche diagnosis to work as a personal care assistant (pca). The greatest barrier to anyone with a mental health problem is stigma. The attitude prevalent in the work force which feels that a “mentally ill” person will not take their pills and thus be bad employees prevents many good candidates from working. Most people who are ready to work are stable and far into their recovery so that this argument is a complete fallacy and discriminatory. Every organization allows for people to take a leave of absence for physical or mental problems. This is called a medical leave.

There is a great need for pca’s to help people with mental health issues. According to Olmstead law, the purpose is to keep the person who suffers from trauma out of hospitals and group homes so they can live in the home of their choice. The difference between a pca who helps the elderly or physically disabled people is that the pca helps the person with his feelings of trauma through relationship building. They encourage the person to goal set and take very small steps toward him being more Independent. Together they work on building self esteem and getting out into the community to make connections. Also, the pca teaches the basic home skills so that one day that the person will be able to be completely on his own.

The best person to support someone with trauma or lived experience is a peer or a certified peer specialist. This person models recovery to their peers that are still deep in their suffering. This “modeling” approach gives a person suffering from trauma hope and the feeling they can recover, too. Being a pca for anyone, gives someone who has experienced the mental health system and unique opportunity to give back to someone in a meaningful way no matter what disability he or she is helping.

By Linda Lolli, a pca patches1956@aol.com

lobby_day

Come to the State House & tell our legislators to protect our rights in emergency rooms and hospitals!

MPOWER

LOBBY DAY

DATE: Wednesday, February 24, 2010

TIME: 12 - 4 pm (Press Conference 11 am)

FREE LUNCH AVAILABLE

PLACE: State House, Room 437

Learn tips on speaking to your legislator! Have fun with our peers!

Talk with your legislators about the issues we care about:

Ø The 5 Fundamental Rights/Fresh Air Bill (H. 1945/S.743)

Ø The ER Rights Bill (H. 3585) The Peer Respite Bill (H. 3584)

TO REGISTER CALL (617) 442-3301

mpower_lobby_day

CAMPAIGN WITH US AT THE STATEHOUSE & TELL LEGISLATORS TO PROTECT OUR RIGHTS IN EMERGENCY ROOMS & HOSPITALS!

HELP GET THESE BILLS RELEASED!!!

MPOWER LOBBY DAY

DATE: Wednesday, April 21, 2010

TIME: 10-2 PM

PLACE: State House, Boston

Talk with your legislators to favorably pass these

bills:

Ø The 5 Fundamental Rights/Fresh Air Bill (S. 2280)

Ø The ER Rights Bill (H. 3585) The Peer Respite Bill (H. 3584)

Or complete a campaign letter & fax immediately to MPOWER

FOR INFO CALL (617) 442-4005/FAX (617)442-4005

Municipal Police Training Commission Public Hearing

Hello All,
I thought the hearing detailed below might be of interest to you relative to the training of law enforcement on handling incidents involving persons with mental illness.
Pursuant to Chapter 3 of the Resolves of 2008, the Special Commission on Police Training will hold a Public Hearing on December 1, 2009 from 11AM-3PM in Room A-1 of the State House. The Commission is charged with investigating and developing recommendations for the possible implementation of a statewide law enforcement training program to coordinate municipal law enforcement training and to create more efficient law enforcement facilities, staffing instruction and preparedness.
Chairman Timilty and Chairman Costello would like to hold this public hearing to hear from the appointed members of the Commission, as well as other interested parties, as to what areas of interest we should concentrate our efforts while making the required recommendations. If you are aware of anyone who may be interested in attending, please pass this information on to them. We will be working within a limited time frame with respect to the Commission’s report.

If you have any questions feel free to contact Jennifer Crawford in Chairman Costello’s office at 617.722.2230 or jennifer.crawford@state.ma.us, or Matthew Moran in Chairman Timilty’s Office at 617.722.1222 or matthew.moran@state.ma.us.
Chapter 3 of the Resolves of 2008
RESOLVE PROVIDING FOR AN INVESTIGATION AND STUDY BY A SPECIAL COMMISSION RELATIVE TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATEWIDE LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING PROGRAM.
Resolved, That a special commission is hereby established for the purpose of conducting an investigation and study of the feasibility of establishing a statewide law enforcement training program to coordinate municipal law enforcement training and creating more efficient law enforcement facilities, staffing instruction and preparedness. The commission shall also study and make recommendations relative to the training provided to law enforcement officers in handling incidents involving persons with mental illness. The commission shall conduct at least 1 public hearing.
The commission shall consist of the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, who shall serve as co-chairs of the commission; 1 member to be appointed by the senate president; 1 member to be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives; 1 member to be appointed by the senate minority leader; 1 member to be appointed by the house minority leader; the colonel of state police or his designee; the secretary of public safety or his designee; the commissioner of correction; and 1 representative from each of the following organizations: the State Police Association of Massachusetts; the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association; the Massachusetts Coalition of Police, the municipal police training committee; the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association; the Massachusetts Harbormasters Association and the Massachusetts Campus Police Chiefs Association.
The commission shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and study and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives not later than 120 days after the first meeting of the commission.
Approved July 16, 2008.

nohospital

The Commonwealth Must Stop Building the New $352 Million State Psychiatric Hospital!

hospital

Massachusetts is Violating the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead Decision Which Affirms Our Right to Live & Receive Services in the Community!!

Building the most expensive state building in the history of the Commonwealth to institutionalize people with mental health conditions while slashing community programs that keep people out of the hospital is reprehensible!

For more information, please call MPOWER at (617) 442-3301.

Olmstead

The Olmstead Initiatives
Gardner Auditorium
State House
Friday October 30, 2009 1:00 PM
Welcoming Remarks

John Winske, President. Disability Policy Consortium
Ann Hartstein, Secretary, Executive Office Of Elder Affairs
Dr. Jean McGuire, Assistant Secretary, EOHHS,
Office of Disability Policy and Programs
Commissioner Heidi Reed, Mass. Commission for Deaf & Hard of Hearing
Commissioner Charles Carr, Mass. Rehabilitation Commission
Commissioner Janet Labreck, Mass. Commission for the Blind

Progress on the Olmstead Plan: Dr. Jean McGuire (Power Point)

Scheduled Testimony:
Joanne Miller, BCIL A Personal Recollection on Escaping a Facility
Ines X - Private Health Insurance Pitfalls
Cheryl Sullivan, Huntington’s Disease Association Divorce as a Health Care Tool
James McCarthy, Haverhill Clubhouse Clubhouses as a Lifeline
Pat Ryan, Options Federal State Income Calculations and their Impact on People
Rebecca Gutman, 1199SEIU PCA Improvement Act and Worker Improvements
Gail Rosensweig , NAMI Middlesex and Elm Brook Place PCA Waiver for Mental Health
Cathy Levin, National Empowerment Center Peer Run Respites Alternatives
Robyn Powell, DPC Employment of People With Disabilities in Human Services
Brenda Rogers, Abbey Road Home Care Impact of Service Cuts on Small Agencies
Sharon Jackson, Homemaker & Lauren Jacobs, Consumer
Why Homemaker Services are Important
Dale Mitchell, Ethos, LGBT Task Force Aging Rebalancing and Equal Access
Dennis Heaphy DPC & Ken MacDonald CommonHealth Marriage Tax
Robert Aponte, resident, New England Homes I want a role in the Community
Rochell Sugarman, Old Colony Elderly Services Spouse as Caregiver
Phil Zukas, Employment Now Coalition Employment: an Important Part of Olmstead
Open Microphone

The Open Mic will allow people to present testimony and the featured guests an opportunity to exchange thoughts with everyone.

our links

PD

Testimony of P.D.
in front of Joint Committee on Mental Health & Substance Abuse 9-23-09
On August 18, 2009, I was an inpatient on the psychiatric unit at Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital. There was a problem with the central air conditioning during the heat wave, and the temperature on the unit became intolerably hot, especially in the dining area. Other patients were losing it, and they were put in restraint s and seclusion as a punishment for getting angry about the unbearable heat.
We were not allowed off the units, so we couldn’t go outside for fresh air or to sit under a shady tree. Being in close quarters without air conditioning on a hot day made tensions rise. I think being allowed to go outside and go for a walk would have really lessened the tension among the patients and the staff.
The regular phones on the unit were not working properly-I know this is a violation of my right to make and receive phone calls. I was not allowed to have my cell phone-this is allowed at some hospitals, and it should be a right. Calling supporters on the outside would have been very helpful in this awful situation.
The supply of snack foods was not replenished by the staff. There was not enough for everyone.
The days that I spent in the hospital felt like I was in a concentration camp. My mental health worker in the community urged me to go to the hospital for what turned out to be overly high blood pressure. I knew I wasn’t feeling well and the worker urged me to go into the psychiatric ward for "a few days rest". This hospitalization at Beth Israel was certainly not restful!
I filed a human rights complaint with Beth Israel Deaconess Inpatient Psychiatric Services, but the name and number for the human rights officer was not posted. This also must be a violation of patients’ rights.

Peer Run Respite

What is a "peer"?
A peer is what mental health consumers call each other.
What is a "peer-run respite"?
A peer-run respite is a safe house, where people learn to manage emotional crises in a warm, welcoming, home-like environment, in contrast to locked psychiatric wards, which are institutional and impersonal. Peers find compassion and understanding from a trained peer staff, where they can new skills for recovery. Programs, such as the Wellness Recovery Action Plan prevent relapse, and Peer Specialist certification promote employment.
What does House bill #3584 do?
House Bill #3584 requires the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) to conduct a feasibility study about establishing peer-run respites as progressive alternatives to mental hospitals.
What are the benefits of peer-run respites?
Studies show peer-run respites have clear advantages over mental hospitals. A California study showed "significantly greater improvement" and "satisfaction was dramatically higher" than with a locked psychiatric ward. Self-harm and violence is actually more likely on locked psychiatric wards because of the pressured atmosphere. The cost of a peer-run respite is cost only about $250 per person per day, whereas psychiatric hospitals cost $1,000 per day or more. Over a year, a 3-bed peer respite saves $1 million. Creating 3 respites-in Central, Western and Metro-Suburban Mass.-will save $3 million. Savings are realized on hospital costs, ER visits, police time and ambulance costs. Peer-run respites also save additional money by increasing peers’ independence, so people use less costly mental health services in the future.
Who is eligible to enter peer-run respite programs?
Anyone who is experiencing a mental health crisis, but not deemed dangerous to others, will be eligible to go into a peer-run respite. In New Hampshire and Georgia’s progressive, peer-run respites even self-injurious and actively suicidal people are welcome. Peer-run respites would be part of a menu of crisis service options, complementary to existing programs. Participation in all peer-run services is completely voluntary.
Are there successful examples of peer-run respites?
Currently, there are 14 programs-in New York (2), Maine, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Ohio, California and Georgia and 6 overseas. New programs are starting in Vermont, New Mexico, Nebraska and Alaska.
How are other peer-run respites funded?
In some states peer-run respites are funded by federal SAMSHA block grants. In Georgia, 2-bedrooms cost about $300,000 per year, including a drop-in center and 24-hour crisis telephone support. In New York, a 5-bedroom program, with crisis telephone support, costs about $270,000 per year. House Bill #3584 calls for a DMH study to explore options, including funding.

Peer-run respites

A peer-run respite is a safe house where people learn new skills for managing emotional crises. The atmosphere is warm, welcoming, home-like and supportive. This consumer-friendly environment contrast with institutional and impersonal locked psychiatric wards. Peer respites are run by with people who have gone through similar crises and are now doing well. The goal is avert the need for psychiatric hospitalization. Guests stay 1-7 days.

Benefits of peer-run respites

Peer-run respites reduce the stigma associated with involuntary treatment. Peers in Georgia contrast their peer respite to a psychiatric hospital as the “difference between heaven and hell.” Self-harm and violence are actually less likely than on locked psychiatric wards because of the atmosphere on locked wards is so pressured and impersonal. 1 A California study showed significantly greater improvement and dramatically higher satisfaction with a peer-run residential program than with a locked psychiatric ward. 2 Peer respites save money and lives, increasing independence, so people use less intrusive and costly mental health services in the future.

Cost effectiveness

Peer-run respites cost about $250 per person per day; psychiatric hospitals cost $1,200 per day or more. Over a year, a 3-bed peer respite saves $1 million vs. psychiatric hospitals. Additional savings are realized on ER visits, police time and ambulance costs. In Nebraska, a 4-bedroom respite, and in rural New York, a 5-bedroom respite, both cost about $270,000 per year. In Georgia, 2-bedrooms cost about $300,000 per year, including drop-in center and 24-hour telephone support line for crisis. Creating 3 respites—in the Central and Western Massachusetts and Metro-Boston—will save $3 million per year. Studies of respites in New York and Maine indicate great returns of their governments’ investments in terms of quality of life and recovery for users.

Who is eligible?

In some peer respites, future guests do interviews with peer staff while they are well to prepare a crisis plan for going into respite when they are not well. Even self-injurious and actively suicidal people are welcome. The interview addresses how to keep guests feeling safe. Participation in all peer-run services is entirely voluntary.

Examples of successful peer-run respites

Currently, there are 8 peer-run respites in the U.S.: New Hampshire, Maine, W. Virginia, Ohio, Nebraska, Georgia and two in New York. New respites are starting up in Vermont, New Mexico, and Alaska. There are 6 peer-run respites overseas, with 3 new peer-run respites in the organizing stage.

Who pays for peer-run respites?

In some states, peer-run respites are funded by both federal SAMSHA block grants and state operating funds.

Partnerships

Peer-run respites are complementary to the existing infrastructure in the current system. Collaborative relationships are sought with other recovery-oriented services, including Recovery Learning Communities, Independent Living Centers and clubhouses.

1 http://www.nursingtimes.net/clinicalnews/2008/12/self_harm_and_violence_towards_nursing_staff_more_likely_in_locked_up_mental_he.html

2 http://newswire.ascribe.org

random

Rights

(HD 3935, SD 682)

Support Legislation Regarding the Rights of People Receiving Mental Health Services

(Representative Provost, Senator Jehlen)

Current law protects individuals who are receiving mental health services in inpatient facilities. These protections, which are called the Five Fundamental Rights for Psychiatric Inpatients, provide clients with these particular rights: access to telephones, to send and receive unopened mail, patients receive visitors of their choosing, the right to a humane psychological and physical environment and to receive or refuse visits and phone calls from the patient’s attorney.

This legislation will add one more fundamental right to the list which is the right to daily access to fresh air. All patients receiving services from the Department of Mental Health or any facility licensed by the Department will be afforded daily access to the outdoors. For psychiatric patients, access to the outdoors and to fresh air is essential for recovery from a crisis. However, unfortunately most patients are denied this access and some in fact are in locked units in hospitals 24 hours a day from their time of admission until their discharge without any exposure to fresh air. It is not surprising that many patients feel that their recovery would benefit with the simple step of daily outdoor visits.

Although current law provides the initial 5 fundamental rights, the statute fails to provide an appeals process for individuals who feel that their rights have been violated. This legislation will establish an opportunity for an impartial hearing for individuals who have had their rights violated. It will also provide patients with a written decision from an impartial hearing officer.

One benefit of this legislation will be to improve and accelerate the recovery process for mental health patients who are receiving services in an inpatient facility by providing much needed access to the outdoors. Another benefit is providing these same individuals with a process to appeal if the fundamental rights that are required under law are violated.

This legislation is supported by the Coalition for Fresh Air Rights (CFAR) and the Disability Law Center (DLC). For more information contact Jon Dosick (617) 947-6624 or Deb Thomson at The PASS Group (978) 337-7315.

rights and respites

”NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US”

2009-2010 LEGISLATIVE CAMPAIGNS: “RIGHTS AND RESPITES”

Re: Bills before Joint Committee on Health Care Financing

Dear Sen. R. Moore and Rep. Stanley,

As a member of the community of people who have experienced mental health diagnosis and treatment, I wish to request that you, as chairman and chairwoman of this committee, work with your colleagues to release three bills of high importance to me and many others: H. 3585, the ER Rights bill, S.2280, the Five Fundamental Rights/Fresh Air bill, and H.3584, the Peer Run Respite bill. These bills will fundamentally improve services important to all of us.

***************************************************************************************************************************************

Please report H.3585 favorably out of your committee. People with a history of treatment for mental health issues, like myself, have experienced discriminatory treatment including: unnecessary restraint and seclusion, forced clothing removal, neglect of medical problems, verbal abuse, being held for long periods of time, no access to a phone or legal help, no food or water, and under-treatment of pain in Emergency Rooms across Massachusetts.

_ I have experienced one or more kinds of mistreatment in an emergency room (ER).

_ I know other people who were discriminated against in an ER because they had a mental health history.

I want to know which hospitals over-restrain people, because restraints are very traumatic and often not needed. I also want the data analyzed to show that discrimination is a statewide problem. Meetings of stakeholders must be restarted, with representatives of my community included (from M-POWER and other groups) to find solutions for this serious problem.

***************************************************************************************************************************************

Please report S.2280 favorably out of your committee. I am in favor of stronger enforcement of my Five Fundamental Rights at inpatient psychiatric units and group homes (Mass. General Laws, Chapter 123, Sec. 23). These rights are: access to a telephone, to send/receive sealed mail, to receive visitors, to a humane physical and psychological environment, and to visit with attorneys and other outside supports. I also want a right to access to fresh air and the outdoors while in a psychiatric hospital.

_ I have had my rights violated. _ I know others who have had their rights violated.

_ I want the right to go outside if I am ever in a psychiatric hospital.

***************************************************************************************************************************************

Please report H.3584, the Peer Run Respite bill, favorably out of your committee. Peer run respites are alternatives to psychiatric hospitals that are safe and home-like with staff members who have experienced illness and recovery and use Peer Support to help people heal. Eight Peer run respites are successfully operating in other states in the U.S. and in other countries there are seven.

_ I want peer run respites to be available in Massachusetts for people who choose them!

My own comments about these issues are:

Sincerely, _ _ Signature Name (printed)

Address: _______________________, _, _ Street Town Zip Code

I want to be added to a contact list for more information: _ Email address:___________________________

Mail or FAX to: M-POWER Inc., 98 Magazine Street, Roxbury, MA 02119 or Fax: 617-442-4005. Info: 617-442-3301.

Sections

About Us

Statement of Purpose: M-POWER is a member run organization of mental health consumers and current and former psychiatric patients. We advocate for political and social change within the mental health system, the community, city, and statewide. Organizing as a common voice, we claim and secure our human rights. We promote free access to information about those rights. We stand against stigma, bigotry,and discrimination that impede our ability to live as dignified people. We enlighten mental health professionals and the community with the truth about our lives, empowering ourselves in the process. We believe all people are entitled to lives free of prejudice and oppression.

More Info

Legislation

5 Fundamental Rights Brochure

Legislative Bills

News

More Info

Online Articles

Carroll: The stigma of mental illness

The MetroWest Daily News

By Iris Carroll, Guest columnist

GHS

Tue Jan 22, 2008, 12:19 AM EST

Have you ever wondered what lies buried beneath the stigma of mental illness?

Is it fear?

Maybe. But in spite of the media's tendency to sensationalize crimes committed by people who have been treated for mental illness, studies have shown that as a group, people living with mental illness are no more likely to be violent than the general population.

In fact, our country's own history includes people who have made major contributions to our society while at the same time struggling with mental health problems. Icons like Lincoln, Beethoven, Hemingway, Michelangelo, Churchill, and Dickens all experienced one of the major mental illnesses.

So why do we put so much distance between ourselves and other human beings who are obviously suffering and in need of comfort, instead of reaching out to them to help or offer support?

At Programs For People, clients recount stigmatizing events, painfully endured. They have lost friends after being hospitalized for psychiatric reasons. They have been ostracized by co-workers following a psychiatric hospitalization.

They say they have been stigmatized for being unemployed, been called "lazy" by family members, and pressured endlessly to get a job. They have even been asked inappropriate, probing questions by non-psychiatric, medical professionals.

It seems as though effects of stigmatization are almost as toxic as the illness, itself.

Why do kids pick on other kids who seem different? Why do adults denigrate others who appear to fall out of the norm?

Is it something deeply imbedded within the human psyche, some perverse Darwinian striving for survival of the fittest? Does it make us feel more sure of our own sanity to question the sanity of others?

In truth, relating to the strengths of anyone is much more personally rewarding than focusing on perceived weaknesses. In spite of our need for individuality and uniqueness, we all long to feel connected. We yearn to belong, to be understood, and to fit in somewhere.

Often when clients at Programs For People finally get up the courage to express the way they feel, they are absolutely amazed to find out that others have felt the very same way. When staff tell them that "lots of people, not just those with mental health issues, feel that way" they are incredulous.

Stigmatizing has lessened to some degree because, fortunately or unfortunately, these days almost everyone knows a relative, friend, or co-worker who has experienced mental illness.

In those instances, when we know and care about someone, it's easier to see them as a person who happens to have a mental illness. Too often, however, those whom we do not know are defined, in entirety, by the illness.

We need to look deep inside of ourselves about this, with greater compassion. What if it happened to us?

Once a client leaned forward and said to me, with incredible emphasis and feeling, "Do you know what it's like to hear someone whispering in your ear all the time?"

Even though I knew through my work that some people with mental illness hear voices, I was stunned. For the first time, I really imagined and felt what that would be like.

Put yourself there. Not easy to handle.

What helps people who have experienced mental illness feel better about themselves is knowing that there are people who care, understand, and stand by them - people who know that even with the illness, we are all still much more alike than different from each other.

Iris Carroll, MPH, is director of Programs For People, a Framingham-based agency that helps people to recover from mental illness and become employed.

F.D.A. Requiring Suicide Studies in Drug Trials - New York Times

The New York Times
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January 24, 2008
F.D.A. Requiring Suicide Studies in Drug Trials
By GARDINER HARRIS

After decades of inattention to the possible psychiatric side effects of experimental medicines, the Food and Drug Administration is now requiring drug makers to study closely whether patients become suicidal during clinical trials.

The new rules represent one of the most profound changes of the past 16 years to regulations governing drug development. But since the F.D.A.’s oversight of experimental medicines is done in secret, the agency’s shift has not been announced publicly.

The drug industry, however, is keenly aware of the change. Makers of drugs to treat obesity, urinary incontinence, epilepsy, smoking cessation, depression and many other conditions are being asked for the first time by the drug agency to put a comprehensive suicide assessment into their clinical trials.

In recent months, the agency has sent letters — it would not say how many — to drug makers requiring that they use such a scale. Merck, Sanofi-Aventis and Eli Lilly are all using a detailed suicide assessment in clinical trials being conducted now.

The seeds for the new federal effort were planted four years ago with the discovery that antidepressants may cause some children and teenagers to become suicidal. Top agency officials at first discounted the finding but commissioned researchers from Columbia University’s department of psychiatry, led by Kelly L. Posner, to reanalyze the drugs’ clinical trials. This work caused the drug agency and its experts to view the risk as real.

Then it received an application for rimonabant, a much-heralded obesity drug developed by the French drug giant, Sanofi-Aventis. As agency medical reviewers pored over the drug’s clinical trial data, they discovered hints that it could cause psychiatric problems, too.

Unsettled by their experience with antidepressants, agency reviewers again mandated the use of Dr. Posner’s system. The assessment found that the drug doubled the risks of suicidal symptoms. In June, an F.D.A. advisory committee voted unanimously that the agency reject rimonabant because of its psychiatric effects, and Sanofi-Aventis withdrew the application although the drug is sold in Europe.

Just this month, the results of a trial of Merck’s obesity drug, taranabant, were published showing similar psychiatric problems. Meanwhile, fears have grown that drugs used to treat epilepsy, seizures and mood disorders may have similar effects. An extensive examination of these medicines by the drug agency should be completed this year.

Suddenly, agency officials realized that multiple classes of medicines might cause dangerous psychiatric problems.

“Clearly we were somewhat surprised when this signal emerged in the pediatric antidepressant data,” said Dr. Thomas P. Laughren, director of the drug agency’s division of psychiatry products. “So various groups within F.D.A. are now looking at suicidality more broadly as a possible adverse event.”

The drug agency’s concerns are consistent with a growing body of research confirming that behavior is heavily influenced not only by genes but also by seemingly innocuous changes in body chemistry. Drugs not reaching the brain were once thought to be largely free of mental effects.

“One lesson from pharmacology is that you can see effects on emotion and cognition without the drug entering the brain if a drug leads to peripheral changes in” other chemicals that enter the brain, said Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Some critics say that the agency’s new-found focus on psychiatric side effects is long overdue.

“The list of drugs that causes psychiatric problems is a very long one,” said Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s health research group.

Medicines to treat acne, hypertension, high cholesterol, swelling, heartburn, pain, bacterial infections and insomnia can all cause psychiatric problems, effects that were discovered in most cases after the drugs were approved and used in millions of patients.

Some drugs cause depression so often that doctors prescribe antidepressants prophylactically with them.

Among medicines still for sale, the F.D.A. has determined that the drugs’ benefits outweigh their psychiatric risks. Still, the agency now wants to uncover such problems more reliably and before approval.

There are two reasons that the F.D.A. for years was inattentive to the psychiatric effects of new medicines. First, distinguishing between mental problems that spring from a disease and those that result from its treatment is often difficult. For antidepressants, many researchers suggested that suicidal behaviors resulted because, as patients’ depression lifted, they suddenly had the energy to carry out previous suicidal thoughts.

Second, drug side effects are often first identified in clinical trials when multiple doctors treating hundreds of patients record similar problems in trial notes. But terms to describe depression or suicidal thoughts can vary widely, making them hard to discern.

“The whole spectrum of suicidal thoughts, ideation and attempts is much more difficult to define and study than” other drug problems, said Dr. Eric Colman, deputy director of the drug agency’s division of metabolic and endocrine products.

Indeed, the agency’s initial review of the effects of antidepressants in children was plagued by inconsistent and erroneous observations by investigators. A 10-year-old boy who tried to hang himself was listed only as having a “personality disorder,” an overdose of 11 tablets was called a “medication error” and a girl who slapped herself in the face was labeled as having attempted suicide.

Dr. Posner’s team spent months reclassifying these events as either a suicidal symptom or not. The team created a detailed questionnaire called the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, now adopted by the drug agency as an often mandatory test to be used in clinical trials.

The last time one medicine’s side effect led the F.D.A. to broadly re-examine its drug approval process was in 1992, when it discovered that Seldane, a popular antihistamine, could cause dangerous heart arrhythmias. Tests revealed other drugs that could affect heart rhythms, and the agency soon mandated that nearly all experimental medicines be tested for heart rhythm effects.

Unlike the Seldane example, however, not every experimental drug program must use the new suicidal symptoms scale. Drug officials said that they looked at a drug’s molecular structure and its effects in animals before deciding whether to insist on the new test.

“That’s where it gets tricky,” said Dr. Colman. “It’s difficult to say where you draw the line.”

But Dr. Posner said in an interview that so many companies and academic research programs were adopting the suicide questionnaire that she was having trouble keeping up with the demand for its use. The questionnaire has been translated into 80 languages, and Dr. Posner has trained scores of teams of investigators from around the world on how to use it. On Jan. 4 she lectured a group of investigators at Yale.

Benjamin A. Toll, an assistant professor in the university’s department of psychiatry, was in the audience and said he planned to use the Columbia questionnaire in a trial almost immediately.

“It’s much more detailed than what we were doing before,” Dr. Toll said. “We used to ask, ‘Are you feeling down? Are you feeling sad?’ ”

Dr. Colman said that the new questionnaire, while important, would not end the uncertainty around suicidal symptoms.

“If a drug makes people depressed but doesn’t make them suicidal, what do you conclude?” he asked. “There will always be some degree of uncertainty.”

Globe Editorial: First, Try To Help

GLOBE EDITORIAL

First, try to help

February 8, 2008

'HE FELL on bad times and turned to the bottle."

"She's meds-seeking."

"He's relapsed eight times. . . . The hospital gave him Percocet."

"He has no problem getting a job when he's sober."

The details of the troubled lives of homeless clients flew quickly in a conversation held last week by a team of counselors, shelter and housing directors, an outreach worker, and a domestic violence specialist all crowded around a conference table in Framingham at the Common Ground Resource Center. It's a weathered and sprawling white house that serves as the first stop for getting housing services from the South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC), an antipoverty agency. The house has the feel of an old railroad station: It's a good place to disembark before one's life veers completely out of control.

The talk is a part of a vital national effort to provide "trauma-informed care," which recognizes how much people can be harmed by addictions and physical abuse.

Two years ago, there probably wouldn't have been much talk at SMOC about the men and women who were failing at saving their own lives, because the situation was stark: Clients who broke the rules were simply kicked out of SMOC's housing.

"It was a lot easier," SMOC's director of planning, Gerard Desilets, says of the old approach.

The only problem was that these people still lived with daily crises. They could end up ricocheting through the public system, going to detox, jails, and other shelters. Family members would cut them off. Some might sleep in cars. And they'd still drink or use drugs and struggle with mental illnesses.

So SMOC changed course, training 400 of its staff members to provide trauma-informed care. And the resource center team was created so that no one staff person would go it alone. The new marching orders were to stop focusing too closely on clients' rule-breaking and reckless behavior, and to be conscious instead of their underlying trauma.

A different approach

The National Center for Trauma-Informed Care (part of the US Department of Health and Human Services) puts it this way: Don't ask people, "What is wrong with you?" But rather, "What has happened to you?"

The devastating answers include domestic violence, child abuse, witnessing violence as a child, and physical and sexual assault. Or it might be that a person has aged out of foster care or left juvenile detention, and suddenly has to build a life out of thin air.

If trauma is severe enough, it can impair people's cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. With this in mind, the SMOC team keeps talking - about clients and to them; discussing strengths such as who has found housing and a job. When it comes to struggling clients, the team brainstorms about what other staff members or programs might help.

Among the guiding principles: Keep people engaged even if they do break rules, because rule-breaking, relapsing into an addiction, and other self-destructive actions may in fact be clients' attempts to cope with trauma or the result of trauma-impaired functioning.

For those whose lives are fractured by trauma, rhetorical sticks such as "zero tolerance" or "three strikes and you're out" are less likely to work. The words may only seem like so much breath to an adult who is plagued by the demon of chronic childhood beatings.

"We still push sobriety," says James Cuddy, SMOC's executive director. But there's also an effort to help clients understand that some old harmful habits - which might have helped them cope with an assault or chronic childhood abuse - are no longer necessary. SMOC doesn't require clients to reveal traumatic experiences, only to learn the skills they need to heal and function more effectively.

Realism and compassion

Instead of giving up on clients who relapse into addictions, SMOC staffers say "relapsing is part of recovery," and they ask clients, "How can we help you relapse less?"

The work is emotionally draining. Staff members say they invest their hearts and souls. Some are recovering from addictions themselves, so they know, first hand, about this struggle.

Not everyone succeeds. But more of SMOC's clients are achieving stability and independence as SMOC uses trauma-informed care as part of a larger effort to place and keep people in permanent housing.

It can sound like coddling. But Cuddy says it's a matter of treating clients with more respect. He adds that the approach can save money by keeping people out of jail, shelters, and other public facilities.

Trauma-informed care is also championed by the state's Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, which said in a 2006 report that, "While important work has been done both nationally and in Massachusetts to develop trauma-informed integrated care, it is clear that for consumers . . . multiple obstacles remain." Clients need more coordinated care, and more public entities, from courts to state agencies, should be involved.

In the report, the bureau and the Institute for Health and Recovery, a Cambridge nonprofit, (both of which provided technical assistance to SMOC) also pushed Massachusetts to do more to address trauma - by involving law enforcement, helping traumatized parents meet their children's needs, and providing more skilled care across gender, class, ethnic, and other socioeconomic lines.

The bureau already requires the agencies it funds to provide trauma-informed care. And the Department of Public Health is extending the approach to AIDS programs. Federal efforts include a conference in July that's being sponsored by the National Center for Trauma-Informed Care.

It's an effort that should grow. People can be remarkably fragile. And many of the poorest and most harmed don't respond to attempts to flog them into better lives. That's no reason to abandon them.

Mental Health Wards Restrict Access to Email

SPECIAL MENTION 2- Incommunicado: Mental Health Wards Restrict Access to Email (Spare Change News, USA)

Paul Rice
February 5, 2007

People living in certain mental health facilities in Massachusetts are not being afforded access to email, cutting them off from an important conduit of communication with the outside world.

The “Five Fundamental Rights Act,” passed in 1997, was a piece of legislation that guaranteed certain, mostly inalienable rights to inpatients at mental health facilities. These rights include the right to “sealed, unopened, uncensored mail,” as well as postage and stationary, the right to visitors of “your own choosing daily and in private, at reasonable times,” and the right to “reasonable access” to a telephone in order to make and receive confidential calls, and more.

Since the rights were enacted before the Internet was widely accessible, there is no mention of access to what has become the world’s greatest source for information and knowledge, not to mention the cheapest and fastest communication device ever fashioned: email.

Email has become analogous to traditional pen and paper writing, due to ease of use and increasing access to computers. Practically all communication in businesses operates around email, with only more formal or legal documents being held over to the mail system. Anyone who owns or borrows a computer can make a free account through a service such as Yahoo or Gmail. In 1999, researchers determined that 263 million people had an email inbox. Eight years later, with the growth of affordable high-speed connections and reduced price computers with internet access, it is conceivable that the number is nearing one billion.

But when a person enters a mental health facility, although they might have access to written letters and the telephone, administrators are not required to allow access to email and the Internet.

“It’s a huge issue to be cut off from the outside world – being bored out of your mind is not therapeutic,” says Cathy Levin, editor of the Voices for CHANGE Newsletter, a publication from MPOWER, a local mental health advocacy group staffed mainly by current and former psychiatric patients.

“When I was in the hospital, I called my father every night before I went to bed,” she recalls. “It was enormously helpful to feel loved, because the staff doesn’t love you.”

Levin believes that providing access to email should be a right taken as seriously as the telephone or receiving letters.

“This way, you can keep all your balls in play while you’re away.”

One hospital where there is no access to email is the Cahill ward at Cambridge City Hospital. Spare Change News editorial assistant Amanda Morley recently spent a few months at Cahill and found the lack of access to be a point of huge stress. She tells SCN that email would have made her time there much easier.

“It would give me a little sense of companionship, to get messages from people and not feel so alone,” she says. “It boosts your energy and your mood when you get messages from people.”

Morley has four or five close friends whom she only communicates with via email. “Even just a small message really makes a difference.”

As of press time, administrators at Cambridge City Hospital had not returned requests for comment on the issue.

Whether or not advocates inserted language into the “Five Fundamental Rights” about email, an issue may remain with the enforcement of those rights.

“People in psychiatric hospitals have very few rights at all and those rights can be taken away by a staff member instantly,” says Howard D. Trachtman, executive director of the Boston Resource Center at Boston Medical, a peer-to-peer meeting place for people dealing with mental illness issues.

Trachtman is concerned about hospitals’ lack of emphasis on the rights for their patients. “We know anecdotally that they’re very often flouted,” he tells SCN. “They’re not enforceable, and that’s what we’re trying to remedy.”

Jonathan Dosick is another patient advocate who is working on changing the legal text of the Rights to include more actual enforcement at the hospital level. The bill has been introduced to the legislature multiple times over the last few years, failing each time. Advocates are trying again this year, with a new draft.

“Basically, it provides for an appeal process for violations of the Five Fundamental Rights, something that doesn't happen now – generally, DMH complaints filed tend to disappear, or are ‘investigated’ by hospitals,” Dosick writes, in an email to SCN. “However, those at hospitals who are designated as ‘Human Rights Officers’ are, besides employees of the facility, also Risk Managers.”

With a lack of patient advocates (who aren’t employed by the hospital), even if the rights were changed to include email, there would remain no guarantee that the rights would be observed – something which, for people like Amanda Morley, would make all the difference in improving her mental stability.

“Sometimes when I’m walking down the street and there’s a guy panhandling and he tells me to smile, that really helps,” Morley says. “Someone saying something to you is heartwarming. It’s very lonely here and it’s scary because there are 27 people here and I don’t know anyone.” At the new facility she’s lodged at, they recently forbid her from taking her stuffed animals out of her room.

“You may only be in hospital for three days, but in that time you can lose your friends and your job,” says Cathy Levin. “It’s not unlike going into prison and having someone lock the door.”

The difference being that most prison inmates have access to email these days.

By Paul Rice

Reprinted from Spare Change News

© Street News Service: www.street-papers.org

Mental patients find understanding in therapy led by peers

By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff | June 8, 2007

TAUNTON -- Years ago, Jess Zaller came to the Pathways mental health program as a day patient. In and out of institutions, he had fought mental illness since childhood. His life felt like a nightmare of chaos and despair.

Zaller, 45, was back in a Pathways therapy group last week, but this time as a leader, listening carefully as members laid bare the pain of their fears and compulsions. When he delicately pointed the way, it was often in the first person, using his own hard lessons learned:

"Our lives are at stake," he told members. "It takes a lot of courage to walk a path of recovery, and each one of us develops our own path."

Massachusetts is beginning to develop a corps of people like Zaller who have been through the depths of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression, and recovered enough that they can help others with mental illness.

Such comradely aid has long been exchanged informally, or scattershot at mental health venues. But now the state has launched a new job category -- certified peer specialist -- meant to formalize these relationships and gradually, they hope, get peer counseling reimbursed routinely by insurers and Medicaid.

"There's something about receiving support from someone who's gone through exactly what you're going through now that people find invaluable," said Michael O'Neill, the state's assistant commissioner for mental health services.

A few handfuls of Massachusetts residents, including Zaller, have completed the eight -day training session and exams to be certified as peer specialists. On Monday, they are to be recognized at a State House ceremony.

The new field must work through many possible problems, from the potential for relapse among specialists to the potential for resistance from more traditional mental health staffers. But O'Neill expects the state's corps to grow to hundreds.

Massachusetts is redesigning its mental health system to be more user-friendly, he said, and "peer support is a fundamental element of that redesigned system." In the coming months, Massachusetts will be setting up six regional centers where peer specialists will work with clients and support each other in their fledgling vocation, O'Neill said .

The concept has taken off in 30 states. In half a dozen, Medicaid, the public insurance program for the poor and chronically ill, pays for the services, said Paolo del Vecchio, associate director for consumer affairs at the federal government's Center for Mental Health Services.

"Over the past five years, we've really seen the development of a new mental health profession emerging," he said.

The growth of the peer specialist profession comes against the backdrop of a sweeping national shift toward greater optimism that those in dire condition may improve or recover, and toward giving people with mental illness more control over the help they get. People with mental illness are not passive patients, the thinking goes; they can help themselves and as they get better, they can help others .

In their work, peer specialists are expected to share their stories of recovery when relevant to their clients. They may have learned skills worth sharing, or simply inspire hope by being much better than they once were.

The work goes beyond a typical speaker at a 12-step meeting.

It can include helping a patient in a psychiatric hospital make the shift back to living at home, or supporting an emergency room patient in crisis. A specialist might remind a team of clinicians that their patient is in a kind of hell, or take a lonely client out for pizza.

Early research, which is just beginning to accumulate, suggests that peer specialists may be particularly useful with patients who would normally resist help from the mental health system, said Larry Davidson, a Yale professor who conducts studies on peer specialists.

People with mental illness sometimes feel disliked by the professional staff who treat them, he said; it appears that with peers, "they feel less disliked and more understood."

Studies show that "people in recovery can provide services at least as well as people who don't have that experience," Davidson said. Hard data are being collected now on whether they offer "value added," he said.

Anecdotal reports of successful work by peer specialists abound. In Georgia, which has 340, they have proven particularly useful in helping discharged state hospital patients build new lives at home, said Gwen Skinner, the state's top mental health official.

Though the new field is growing, resistance remains, Davidson and others said.

They worry that staff and clinicians without mental illness could feel threatened by the influx of newcomers whose experience with illness is considered an asset. Traditional staff could also worry about being replaced by peer specialists. Certified peer specialists are supposed to earn a typical mental health staff salary of $12 an hour to $15 an hour on an entry level, said Deborah Delman executive director of M-Power, the Massachusetts mental health advocacy group that runs the peer training courses. But some peer workers who are not certified may earn less, she said.

After they are certified, Massachusetts peer specialists will continue to be overseen by The Transformation Center, a statewide training organization that is supposed to ensure they maintain ethical standards and continue their education.

The peer specialists also pose staffing issues. What if, for example, a peer specialist works with patients at a state hospital, then has a relapse and is rehospitalized there, then resumes the job? Boundaries and definitions may get fuzzy; confidentiality may become a concern.

Also, Davidson said, if supervisors view their patients as problems, then adding peer specialists to their staff is asking for more problems. The challenge, he said, is for them to shift to thinking about all people with mental illness as "having assets and strengths to help solve problems."

Judging by responses in Zaller's small therapy group in Taunton, some people with mental illness immediately see the benefits of being helped by a peer.

"He's not looking at us through a book," said one group member, Diane Silvia. "He can relate to us, and we can relate to him."

Psychiatric patients feel strain

State investigates complaints at ERs

By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff | July 15, 2007

The state investigated at least 21 complaints over the last 18 months that emergency departments mistreated psychiatric patients, and officials cited hospitals in half those cases for problems that included wrongly forcing patients to undress, punching or hitting patients, and restraining others for hours without proper monitoring.

One patient died while in restraints, and a patient's arm was broken as a nurse forcibly removed his pants.

These cases are a sign of the growing strain on the state's overcrowded emergency rooms, doctors, nurses, patients and state officials said, and also reflect a shortage of services for the mentally ill, the challenge of caring for sometimes-aggressive psychiatric patients, and inconsistent training of harried ER staff.

Emergency rooms can be battlegrounds. They often are the last resort for psychiatric patients in crisis -- some patients are so out of control and aggressive that mental health facilities will not take them -- and ERs have responded by creating "safe rooms" to handle such patients and on occasion calling in police for help, according to inter views with 20 doctors, nurses, patients, and hospital administrators.

ER staff give psychiatric medications but are not trained to provide comprehensive psychiatric care, they said. And many of these patients stay in ERs for days without proper treatment because of backlogs in psychiatric facilities, creating potentially volatile situations for those patients, staff, and other patients. Hospital officials said nurses, too, have been injured in confrontations, and patients contend that they are humiliated by policies like the one requiring them to undress.

Patients "will be in the ER from hours to days and they get absolutely no care," said Linda Condon, an emergency room nurse who has worked at four hospitals in Southeastern Massachusetts. "You put a person with psychiatric problems in a room with four walls and nothing to do, and there are going to be problems."

Documents from the Department of Public Health -- which conducts investigations when patients or relatives complain or hospitals themselves report problems -- show that investigators cited 11 hospitals for a range of problems. Those cases include:

A blind, disabled patient who went to Lawrence General Hospital in April because he was suicidal. Hospital policy then required psychiatric patients to undress so that staff could look for hidden drugs or weapons, but the patient wanted to keep on his jeans. A male nurse "used excessive force" to remove them, the health department found, breaking the patient's arm. The patient required surgery and a three-week hospital stay.

In April 2006, a 49-year-old former nurse who arrived in the emergency room at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital at 10:30 p.m., intoxicated and uncooperative. Staff strapped down his arms and legs, gave him sedatives, and assigned a security guard to watch him. After a nurse called the security guard away to help with another violent patient, the first patient had a fatal cardiac arrest. The hospital's internal investigation determined that the patient was not properly monitored. Staff told state investigators that the ER was "very, very busy."

In June 2006, a male teen in the Merrimack Valley Hospital ER in Haverhill began pulling medical equipment out of a wall, kicking furniture, and biting staff. While he was biting a nurse, a staff member repeatedly punched him in the face. State investigators said the hospital did not properly train staff on how to restrain patients. Hospital staff said punching was a last resort because the patient was severely injuring the nurse.

State documents released to the Globe omitted the names of patients and staff for privacy reasons. When health officials find problems during investigations, hospitals must implement plans to correct them.

The state public health and mental health departments have been so concerned about the pattern of complaints that they sent a memo to hospital executives in September, detailing 21 steps they should take to improve care of psychiatric patients in ERs, including reducing waiting times, using trained mediators, and further training staff in techniques to calm patients.

But patients and advocates for people with mental illness say problems remain rampant. They are pushing legislators to increase the mental health department's role in regulating ER care and to require the public health department to develop "best practices" for treating psychiatric patients.

"When we get upset and don't want to take our clothes off, they think we're going to flip out," said Constance Surette, 57, of Plymouth, who has bipolar disorder and works with a group pushing for legislation. "But the way they treat us, of course they're going to get that reaction. The ERs should use peer mediators to talk to [psychiatric patients] because they are frightened of the authority figures."

Surette filed a complaint with the health department last month, alleging that city police officers at Quincy Medical Center sprayed one psychiatric patient with mace and handcuffed another to a bench while she was in the ER. Hospital spokeswoman Janice Sullivan said that she could not confirm Surette's account but that the actions taken were appropriate "for the safety of everyone involved."

Doctors and nurses say they have made improvements but are doing the best they can in an impossible situation. They said the number of complaints statewide is small considering the thousands of psychiatric patients who seek care in Massachusetts ERs each year.

In 2005, ERs reported 168,000 visits by psychiatric patients, 10 percent more than in 2003, according to the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium. And they usually have to wait longer for care. The average ER stay for patients who are eventually sent home or to another hospital is nearly three hours; it's nearly six hours for psychiatric patients. And many of these patients wait two to three days in the ER for an inpatient bed in a psychiatric facility to open.

"The emergency departments are overwhelmed," said Dr. Paul Bulat, medical director of the emergency room at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford. "We are seeing more violent patients and out-of-control patients. We're seeing mental health problems much worse than we should be."

ER directors are reluctant to acknowledge that overcrowding hurts patient care. But staff told the state health department that busyness was a factor in several of the cases investigated, especially those that involved inadequate monitoring of patients.

In the case of the former nurse who died at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, not only did the security guard leave the patient alone for about 20 minutes, but the patient's condition was not checked every 15 minutes while he was restrained, as required by hospital policy. Monitoring is especially crucial for intoxicated patients who receive sedatives.

Hospital spokesman Richard Pozniak said he could not comment on the case because of regulations requiring patient information to be kept confidential. State investigators said in their report that 13 patients were in the ER when the man arrived, and 20 other patients arrived before he died 4 1/2 hours later.

Public health investigators also found that lack of training is an issue, including in cases where staff used excessive force. Better training in techniques to calm patients is especially important as frustrated psychiatric patients with no where else to go spend hours in the ER .

In the case of the patient whose arm was broken at Lawrence General Hospital, investigators found a range of problems, including that the hospital's internal investigation of the complaint did not include interviewing the patient. Investigators also found no evidence that staff and security had been trained in patient's rights. And they said the nurse should have explored the patient's reasons for wanting to keep on his jeans before resorting to force.

Hospital spokeswoman Ellen Murphy Meehan said the hospital "expressed deep regret to the patient" for what it considers an accident. She said Lawrence General has since changed its policy to allow some psychiatric patients to keep on their clothes and instead be frisked and scanned with a hand-held metal detector.

Paul Dreyer, director of the state Division of Health Care Quality, said "a culture change" is needed; he is organizing an educational summit for ER staff in the fall, hoping hospitals will improve on their own, making legislation unnecessary. Legislators expect to hold hearings this summer or in the fall.

We want "people to realize they don't have to call in security the first time someone looks at them cross-eyed," Dreyer said. "The ERs are in a production mode. Their aim is to process the patients as quickly as possible to get on to the next patient. These patients may not take well to being treated that way. They may act out."

A number of hospitals said they have improved care after serious encounters.

UMass Memorial Medical Center -- where campus police beat a psychiatric patient with a baton in 2004, injuring him, and, several months later, threw a patient against a wall and called her a "bitch," according to state reports -- said it has made significant changes. These include creating a secured, quiet area for psychiatric patients and training police to use calming techniques. Dr. Patrick Smallwood, medical director for emergency mental health services, also joined the hiring panel for campus police officers last year.

Dr. Bruce Auerbach, chief for emergency and ambulatory services at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, said hospitals need more resources, not more regulation. "When a patient who is having a behavioral health crisis is in my ER for four days not getting the intervention he needs -- it's a travesty in our healthcare system," he said.

Right to fresh air sought for patients

Right to fresh air sought for patients
By Felicia Mello, Globe Correspondent | July 8, 2007

It is not much -- just a 6-foot-by-12-foot space with a few chairs, a barbecue, and pots of basil and pink flowers. But to 47-year-old Gigi Alley, the garden she has built on the porch of her Medford home symbolizes everything she did not have during seven weeks of constant confinement in a psychiatric unit at Cambridge Hospital.

"Even in times of real distress, I can find moments of calm just by listening to the wind blow in the trees and seeing squirrels," said Alley, who suffers from depression and multiple personality disorder.

That is the idea behind a bill pending in the Legislature that would require psychiatric hospitals to provide patients like Alley with a right long enjoyed by prison inmates: daily access to the outdoors.

Dubbed the Fresh Air Bill and sponsored by Senator Patricia Jehlen , a Democrat from Somerville, and Representative Frank Smizik , a Democrat of Brookline, the legislation has met with opposition from medical centers and raised questions about the proper balance between patients' autonomy and doctors' clinical judgment.

"It's not that we're against fresh air, it's that we cannot guarantee safety," said David Matteodo, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Behavioral Health Systems, which represents the majority of the state's private psychiatric institutions. "Many patients are in the hospital because they are dangerous to themselves and to others."

Massachusetts Department of Mental Health policy states that all public psychiatric hospitals should allow residents outdoors as long as it is safe.

But the guideline does not apply to the state's 64 private facilities, which range from high-rise, acute-care units in congested urban areas to a working farm in Western Massachusetts where people with severe psychiatric disabilities shovel hay and make cheese.

Consumers of mental health services and their advocates packed a hearing late last month before the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, which is considering the bill, to make their case that sequestering patients indoors amounts to discrimination. It will be months before the bill reaches the floor of the Legislature -- if it ever does.

"I think in a way this is one of the last frontiers of the civil rights movement," Jonathan Dosick, founder of the Coalition for Fresh Air Rights, said in an interview afterward.

"Psychiatric patients in the larger picture are not being treated with decency and humanity. In our laws, prison inmates are guaranteed time outside per day, and then to have this population of people who are often labeled as violent and unstable and don't enjoy this right really angers a lot of people," he said.

Proponents and critics of the bill differ on how many hospitals would be affected. Matteodo says only two of the hospitals in his group completely ban fresh air breaks.

But many allow them infrequently, only when enough staff is available, or for patients who behave well, smoke, or stay for long periods. Advocates say such restrictions can make it all but impossible for residents to get outside.

"I have talked to parents who are getting calls from an adult child in a psychiatric unit who is told they cannot go outside because they don't smoke," said Dori Hutchinson , director of services for the Boston University Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. "Their child takes up smoking just to be able to go outside. To me that's outrageous."

Mary Milgrom, senior director of nursing at Cambridge Hospital, where Alley stayed, said the hospital works to provide patients with fresh air on a case-by-case basis and is currently reviewing its policies.

While few researchers have explored whether being outdoors speeds recovery, many mental health professionals see the idea as common sense -- especially practitioners of ecopsychology, a budding field that examines how the natural environment influences human behavior.

"People without psychiatric conditions seem to cope better and feel more hopeful when they have access to even a small amount of landscaping," Frances Kuo , an ecopsychologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, wrote in a letter to the committee. "Why, then, should people in a more vulnerable state be subjected to an often barren, institutional setting?"

A century ago, wealthy eccentrics flocked to sanatoriums in the countryside to recover from stress, while poor patients spent years on state farms where they got plenty of exercise even as the government exploited their labor.

In recent years, however, advances in medication and shrinking insurance payments have led to shorter hospital stays, usually indoors in urban environments.

With an average length of stay of nine days, some private hospitals argue, fresh air becomes less of an issue.

Administrators worry they will have to construct costly outdoor courtyards for patients, or else parade them through the hospital to reach the street, potentially endangering them and the public.

"We would never want in the name of fresh air to jeopardize a life," said Dr. John Herman , director of clinical services for the psychiatry department at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Those arguments do not convince patients like Alley, who called the unit where she stayed from February to April as insular as a space station.

Even the window blinds were kept closed at all times, she said.

Returning to the outside world was so jarring, she said, that every sound grated on her nerves.

"It's easy to feel freakish and different when you're locked inside," she said. "If I had been able to go out, it would have made me feel less disconnected."

(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in the July 8 City & Region section about psychiatric patients being given access to the outdoors incorrectly described state law. A Department of Mental Health policy mandates that state-run hospitals provide psychiatric patients with access to the outdoors if it is safe, but such access is not required by law. All but one of the department's five inpatient facilities have secure outdoor areas for patients.)

Who is My "Peer" in a "Recovery Learning Community"?

Cheryl Stevens MD, R.M.P. (Real Mental Patient – thanks to Jonathan Delman for this designation

As part of a developing recovery learning community in Western Massachusetts, I want to address the whole issue of who among us are our 'peers' and who is/are not our 'peers' but 'allies' or 'partners' instead - people who might have an interest in peer-run services but who do not have a personal recovery experience.

Mary Ellen Copeland MS, MA refers to people who have been labeled with psychiatric diagnoses as 'key stakeholders' and she designates all other interested people (family, friends, non-peer mental health staff, researchers, policy makers, citizens) as 'stakeholders'. I appreciate that distinction and I largely agree with it.

Except that there remains the not-too-small dilemma of those who work in traditional mental health service roles but for whom full-disclosure of our personal recovery histories would place us at risk for further victimization on the jobs (than what we already experience as underpaid and overworked staff).

Before we get too far afield on the theoretical questions of "who is a peer" in the "peer-run" and "peer services" frenzy, I believe in letting each individual decide in their heart of hearts if they have the kind of lived experience that would give them the moral authority to join in our discussions and then letting all interested individuals generate that discussion without too much fretting over who is one of 'us' ('real mental patients') and who is not (then by default, they would be one of 'them' - whomever "they" is/are - wanna be mental patients?!).

These kinds of artificially declared divisions - 'us/them' stuff - are often what happen when we use labels (like "peers") as a communication short-cut which creates categories of people instead of just dealing with people as individuals. Also, like it or not, the designation of "peer" in front of "worker" or "staff" still carries the oppressive yoke of one who has been labeled. Not everyone who has lived experience in recovery is going to be eager to embrace the mantle "peer"; nor should they have to just to have a seat at our table - which is of course, "their" table too.

I find discussions of these sorts of "boundary issues" about who is '"us" and who is not "us" to be difficult.

Our boundaries have been repeatedly violated by an overwhelmingly threatening cast of characters that have felt free to parade through our bodies, minds and psyche (souls) – our emotional, intellectual, spiritual, physical, sexual and social boundaries - without any fight from us or any social consequences or sanctions.

Then in some weird attempt to create a 'safe' place for 'us' to dialogue (as if there were such a thing as a 'safe place' when the source of one's terror has become internalized), we end up creating 'new and improved' labels ("peer") that continue to (inadvertently) exclude - and perhaps oppress - members of our own group! That is an interesting turn to the cycle of violence!

Can you see how the violence comes full circle when we internalize the label “peer” to mean a person who experiences psychiatric symptoms? This is just one more broken identity! Webster defines peer as “one that is of equal standing with another: EQUAL. 2. (archaic) COMPANION, FELLOW.”

Whether we suffered childhood traumatic stress/family dysfunction, adult re-enactments of violence ranging from distressing symptoms and addictions to the twisted relations of domestic violence, sexual assault, caregiver abuse and non-trauma-informed psychiatric treatment (psychiatric abuse) by continuing to use the word “peer” to mean someone with a psychiatric history we not only trump all our other past experiences, talents, roles and identities, but we are being (once again) insidiously silenced and co-opted.

First, we cramp our magnificent Essence into another little label/box that parrots the “master narrative” (to quote Pat Deegan, PhD) of traditional mental health services. We let our distressing experiences (symptoms) or our psychiatric histories define who we are, failing once again to speak the truth about the violence we experienced.

Second, although some of us have accepted these labels and then turned them around to make them work for us politically, others do not buy into the terminology at all even though they have had the same kinds of experiences as we have – and equally valuable contributions.

It is an ironic twist that we who have experienced the particular oppression of psychiatric labeling - and all of the doors that automatically close when someone accepts and internalizes these labels - not only corrupt the original meaning of the word “peer” with another broken identity, but then are quick to throw this corrupted label around to define yet another "in" group.

Now who is doing the excluding?

This is exactly what happens when we fail to speak the truth about violence – it gets re-enacted as the “victims” re-victimize themselves and/or go on to perpetrate the same kind of violence against others.

Our boundaries have been so thoughtlessly trampled upon again and again by the very people we trusted, do we dare trust ourselves and one another without the use of a “code word” – peer – to define (limit) us???

In this way, the "peer/non-peer" issue becomes yet another opportunity to either re-enact the cycle of violence or to transform our past trauma by "doing it differently" - set ourselves and one another free.

Such semantic conflicts have ended up hurting (disabling) the “consumer/survivor/ex-patient (c/s/x)” movement, by co-opting us into spearheading some kind of Psychiatric Reformation rather than keeping our original focus as a human and civil rights movement to end psychiatric violence (“treatment”).

I belong to the Staff Survivors Network.We are c/s/x people who work in traditional mental health services - in either peer or non-peer designated roles – to speak our truth (“until we get sick and have to quit or until we make them sick and they have to fire us” to quote Jackie McKinney).

Having been oppressed by the effects psychiatric labeling, my “post- recovery” transformation requires me to help others who are still stuck in services (on either side of the paycheck) in addition to my social action (political transformation). I am then an “enlightened witness” raising awareness among people receiving services and speaking my truth to power – a natural role for me given my lack of social skills - I am as "reactive, confrontational, unapologetic and inconvenient" as the MPOWER T-shirt declares me to be - even inappropriate, too

My point is that there are those among us who still work in these oppressive roles in the system trying to do our part in easing the burdens of those who are still caught up in it. Some are (appropriately) not comfortable disclosing our personal experiences on the job, but might seek to have a role in a recovery learning community in off-hours....do we have room for such internal change agents without checking their R.M.P. (‘Real Mental Patient) credentials or asking them to blow their 'cover' in their day jobs?

If not, then why not?

Our movement should not exclude c/s/x’s who work in the system nor should we insist that they “out” themselves if I they have not widely disclosed their past on the job or to supervisors.

Although it might be a crude parallel - and I do not wish to offend anyone - I am reminded that many people worked for the resistance throughout Europe during Nazism, not just individuals of certain targeted groups. Schindler and other righteous people were not Jewish, gay, 'mentally defectives', intellectuals, artists, activists, etc. but were 'ordinary' German or French or Italian or English citizens (at least they didn't trigger the radar of the Nazi's) who could no longer remain silent and be another complicit cog in the oppressor's machinery. Their strategic influence depended on them NOT being on the radar!

I say that as a recovery LEARNING community, we make a decision to DO IT DIFFERENTLY. Let’s be a haven for ANYONE who feels like they are an individual - perhaps a round peg in a square hole - who can no longer participate in the cruel charade we call “treatment” (non-trauma-informed services/system) as perpetrated by a naked emperor (psychiatry).

Before we define who "we" are as a peer community of people interested in building peer-run recovery-oriented services, I suggest that we open up the tent and see/learn who comes in. Then we can be in a better position to meet one another and learn who we are - each one of us.

Then maybe we won't have to create another category or label that people have to fit into in order to join the discussion. We will be able to define who "we" are and exactly what we mean when we say something like "peer-run" because we will have forged respectful and mutually responsible (trauma-informed) working relationships with one another – something that people in traditional service systems fail to take the time to do, leading to continued traumatic repetition compulsions of the cycle of violence - further disabling (silencing) clients and staff alike.

We don’t have to be a parody of the mental health system by forcing members of our movement to adopt or to remain in oppressive little boxes (“peers, staff, clients, consumers, survivors, ex-patients, activists, service-recipients…”) which victimize one another and maintain the silence about the effects of childhood traumatic stress – growing up with neglect, physical, emotional and sexual abuse including incest; growing up in a home affected by alcoholism, “mental illness”, the loss of a parent;, someone who was incarcerated, or seeing your mother hit even just once (see www.acestudy.org for details on the effects of childhood trauma on various health indices of the U.S. adult population).

I didn't climb out of one box to be put in another one, especially one that is self-defined and self-directed.

Upcoming Events

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Transformation Center Training Calendar

Upcoming Events

CPS dates

Voices For CHANGE Newsletter

Please click here to view our Voices for Change Link!

VFC is pleased to represent the diversity and strength of the Recovery Movement in Massachusetts. We are consumer-operated. We publish new views/ news, personal recovery stories, poetry, and photographs. The newsletter comes out between four and six times per year.

Please send submissions for consideration to

Susan Landy, Editor

Voices For Change

98 Magazine Street

Roxbury, MA 02119

SusanL@transformation-center.org

Authors receive no payment for their work, but you will get credit. There is no budget for poetry and artwork, but you’ll get credit. Deadlines are six weeks before publication. Contact editor, Susan Landy to find out the deadline for the next issue at 617-442-4111 x 320 or SusanL@transformation-center.org .

Our mailing list contains about 1,600 names. About 550 copies of VFC are mailed to clubhouses. An additional 100 copies are given away on information tables at events. VFC is also available at the M-POWER/Transformation Center office.

Voices for CHANGE is free for those for whom it is a hardship to make a donation. For those with greater means, a donation is gratefully accepted. To have your address added to our mailing list, please contact Susan Landy at 617-442-4111 x 320, SusanL@transformation-center.org or send your check to Susan Landy, Transformation Center, 98 Magazine Street, Roxbury, MA 02119. To remove your address from the mailing list, contact Susan Landy.

Click here to veiw the article titled "What Helped in my Recovery"

Click the following link to view the archives

Articles

It is best if your writing is typed in Microsoft Word, Works or WordPerfect, and also in Times New Roman, 12 pt type, single-spaced, with standard margins, and only one space after periods. Please send your articles as email attachments to SusanL@tranformation-center.org. As some people don’t have email, we also accept articles by mail and fax. Mailing address Editor, Voices for CHANGE, 98 Magazine Street, Roxbury, MA 02119 or fax 617-442-4005.

Artwork

The M-POWER/Transformation Center office has a scanner to convert drawings and photographs into digital images for use in the newsletter, in case you cannot email them.

Authors

The best length of articles is one page. That is about 500 words, a length that fits neatly into Microsoft Publisher as a two-column article. That length means we can include a photo of the author or a graphic design. We must limit articles to 1,300 words, so that more writers have a chance to be published. Our editors are skilled in trimming work in order to reduce the length for publication. They can also smooth out rough work and correct puzzling grammar or structure. Let us work with you to produce writing of polish and excellence.

Consumer Operated

Approximately five editors are working on the editorial committee of VFC. They are responsible for editing two-to-three article per issue, and also proofreading. Editors are also contributors. They are often asked to produce news articles about events and programs of M-POWER/Transformation Center or to turn newspaper reports into short articles or to write articles from notes. Editors work hard.

Diversity and Strength (Mission Statement)

The mission of Voices for CHANGE, the newsletter of M-POWER is to inform, educate and inspire.

To inform our readers with a forum for memoirs, opinions and ideas.
To publish stories about people’s own struggle to recover from psychiatric disability.
To empower people to build meaningful lives on the ashes of trauma.
To provide information on policy decisions, programs and opportunities within M-POWER and the Transformation Center.
To educate our readers about the thinking of national and local leaders in the recovery movement.
To educate consumer/survivors about our rightful place in the social system, and about civil rights and entitlements.
To inspire people by an awareness of our potential power by featuring the work of author’s who have made something of themselves.
To inspire persistence in the face of stigma, bigotry, discrimination, pessimism, helplessness and political defeatism.
To inspire self-esteem through role models among our peers in the movement.
To advocate politically, both individually and as members of an oppressed class of people.
And, most of all, to cheer on and applaud for non-traditional paths to achievement and success.

Voices for CHANGE solicits and encourages submissions from the public. We are looking for a variety of articles and poetry, drawings, photographs, cartoons, and letters to the editor. Please join us as readers, as contributors, or both, as we strive to pull together the diverse strands that make up M-POWER and the Transformation Center.

What We Do

More Info

Peer Networking/Support

Mission: To create a statewide support and advocacy network of people who have a variety of experiences with the mental health system. Honoring our past, we envision an integrated community, which promotes the greatest degree of self-determination. We come together to link resources and engage as equal partners in creating person-centered services.

Policy Issues

Olmstead Decision

The state's response to the Olmstead Decision: A status report.

By

Wendy Fox-Grage

Kevin Horahan

Donna Folkemer

March 2001

In June 1999, the Supreme Court ruled in L.C. & E.W. vs. Olmstead that it is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act for states to discriminate against people by providing services in institutions when the individual could be served more appropriately in a community-based setting. States are required to provide community-based services for people with disabilities if treatment professionals determine that it is appropriate, the affected individuals do not object to such placement, and the state has the available resources to provide community-based services. The court suggests that a state could establish compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act if it has 1) a comprehensive and effective working plan for placing qualified people in less restrictive settings, and 2) a waiting list for community-based services that ensures people can come of the list at a reasonable pace and receive services.

Purpose of the study

In light of this ruling, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) conducted a 50-state survey to determine the initial state responses to the Olmstead decision. The purpose of this study is to enhance informed decision making by helping state policy makers understand the choices states are making and the options that are available to meet the needs of people with disabilities.

The study is appropriately called a status report because states are in the early stages of implementing the Olmstead decision. The long-term effects of the decision are still unknown. NCSL will continue to track activity involving the implementation of the Olmstead decision and update this report pending permanent funding which NCSL is currently seeking.

Conclusion

At this point in time, it is too early to determine the full effects of the Olmstead decision. Every state is moving toward more home and community-based services, although some are moving faster than others. However, this study shows that most states are responding to the Olmstead decision by developing a plan, or appropriating more money toward home and community-based services, or in many cases are doing both.

The court's decision has caused providers, consumers, and state officials to come together with the shared commitment to provide more community-based services and reduce the waiting list for such services. It also has caused the federal government to revise its policies in this area and to offer states flexibility and funding for them to develop innovative solutions. At the same time, Several lawsuits have been filed or are pending in the states as a result of a lack of home and community-based alternatives. Olmstead implementation will take many years, and it involves not only health care but transportation, housing, education, and other social supports to fully intergrate people with disabilities into the least restrictive settings.

This study is a work in progress. Contact Wendy Fox-Grage at (202) 624-3571 or email at wendy.fox-grage@ncsl.org if the authors have incorrectly reported or inadvertently omitted certain Olmstead activities.

Rights & Advocacy

5 Fundamental Rights

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

Any consumer, client or patient in any program or facility which is licensed or funded by the Department of Mental Health is guaranteed by law the following:

Reasonable access to a telephone to make and receive confidential telephone calls and to assistance when desired and necessary to implement such right;

To send and receive sealed, unopened, uncensored mail;

To receive visitors of such person's own choosing daily and in private, at reasonable times. Hours during which visitors may be received may be limited only to protect the privacy of other persons and to avoid serious disruptions in the normal functioning of the facility or program and shall be sufficiently flexible as to accommodate individual needs and desires of such person and the visitors of such person;

To a humane psychological and physical environment. Each such person shall be provided living quarters and accommodations which afford privacy and security in resting, sleeping, dressing, bathing and personal hygiene, reading and writing and in toileting;

To receive at any reasonable time as defined in department regulations, or refuse to receive, visits and telephone calls from a client's attorney or legal advocate, physician, psychologist, clergy member or social worker, even if not during normal visiting hours and regardless of whether such person initiated or requested the visit or telephone call.

For the full text of the law, please visit

DMH Rights

Two Hats

mad pride

Get Involved

MPOWER

(617)-442-3301

info@m-powerblog.org

Policy Issues
•    Eliminating Restraint & Seclusion
•    Housing, employment and addictions recovery support
•    Access to services for all cultural and ethnic groups
•    Medicaid and other funds for Peer Specialists and other Peer Support workers
•    Consumer-driven research driving program implementation
•    Ending “Stigma” and discrimination
•    Rights for Fresh Air in hospitals & respectful treatment in Emergency Rooms

Resources

Legislative Bills

Job listings

Peer Specialist

Full-time (40 hour) position available providing essential experience

and consultation to a self-contained interdisciplinary team that

utilizes an assertive outreach model to promote a culture in which each

consumer's subjective experiences, points of view and preferences are

recognized, respected and integrated into all treatment, rehabilitation

and support services. Participates in all program planning processes and

provides direct services that promote consumer recovery,

self-determination and decision-making.

Qualifications: Experience in the Mental Health field required.

Experience as a peer advocate or peer specialist strongly preferred.

CPS strongly preferred. BA preferred. Personal experience with

recovery from a psychiatric condition required. Valid driver's license

and reliable transportation required.

Thank you,

Michael Kerins

Director of Peer Recovery Services

The Edinburg Center

(781)761-5240 x20

more info soon!

Thanks!

Web Resources: Links To Sites And Online Articles

Dual recovery support websites

Dual recovery supports for those with substance abuse issues in addition to mental illness

Dual Recovery Anonymous meeting list

SoberRecovery.com - Recovery resources online

JoinTogether - Advancing effective alcohol and drug policy, prevention and treatment

Family support resources

Links to family support websites

Families for Depression Awareness

National Alliance on Mental Illness of Massachusetts

General support resources

Legal, protection, and mental health advocacy links

A collection of websites dealing with mental health advocacy, legal matters, and protection.

Recreational resources

Links to recreation related websites

Resources for senior citizens and elderly people with mental illness

links for senior citizens and elderly people

800-AGE-INFO: Resources for Massachusetts Elders & Persons with Disabilities

Vocational resources

Links to vocational services

Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission

Contact Us

About Us

Statement of Purpose: M-POWER is a member run organization of mental health consumers and current and former psychiatric patients. We advocate for political and social change within the mental health system, the community, city, and statewide. Organizing as a common voice, we claim and secure our human rights. We promote free access to information about those rights. We stand against stigma, bigotry, and discrimination that impede our ability to live as dignified people. We enlighten mental health professionals and the community with the truth about our lives, empowering ourselves in the process. We believe all people are entitled to lives free of prejudice and oppression.

(617)-442-3301

98 Magazine Street.

Roxbury, MA

02119

Directions to M-POWER

Directions to M-POWER and the Transformation Center: 98 Magazine Street, Roxbury, MA 02119. 617-442-4111 or toll free 877-769-7693

On the T

98 Magazine Street is located close to the B.U. Medical Center and the Transitional Assistance Center at 1010 Massachusetts Avenue. The #5 and #10 buses stop at Magazine Street and also serve Andrew Sta., South Bay Center, B.U. Med. Ctr., Back Bay Sta. and connections to the Red, Green, Orange & Silver lines. The #8 bus stops at Magazine Street and also serves South Bay Ctr., B.U. Medical Ctr., Dudley Sta., Wentworth Inst., Longwood Med., Fenway Park and connections to the Red, Orange & Silver lines. All are wheelchair accessible.
If you are not sure where the Magazine Street Stop is, ask the bus driver. There is a UHAUL and the Liberty Diner on the right side of Mass Ave right before Magazine Street. Turn right on Magazine St and walk 1.5 blocks to the brown building on right. At our entrance there is a sign for Eliot Iron Works, Max Ultimate Foods and S&S Welding, M-POWER is inside the gate.

From the North

Take I-93 South to Exit 18, Mass. Avenue - Roxbury. At the set of lights at the end of the ramp, turn right, following the sign for Mass Ave. Immediately begin merging left, and turn left at the set of lights onto Massachusetts Avenue (Hampton Inn is on the other side of this intersection on the right side). You will pass UHAUL on your right; at the next set of lights (at a “T” shaped intersection) Magazine Street is on the right. Turn right at the lights onto Magazine Street, continue for 1 ½ blocks. M-POWER is at #98, on your right. Go through the large gate; we are on the left.

From the South

Take I-93 North to Exit 16 – Southampton Street/Andrew Square. At the first set of lights turn left onto Southampton. Proceed .6 miles to the third set of lights. You need to be in the LEFT LANE in order to bear left onto Massachusetts Avenue (at the sign with the McDonald’s arches). At the second set of lights (U-Haul and Liberty Diner will be on your right) turn RIGHT onto Magazine Street. M-POWER is 1.5 blocks down on the right (.1 miles). You will see a couple signs (Pinck Co. and M-POWER) on a black gate at the entrance to our parking lot.

From the West

Take the Mass Pike East (Rt. 90 East). As you near Boston, the Copley/Prudential Exit will be on you right in the tunnel. Continue on Mass Pike but get in the far left lane. Stay in this left lane and it will bring you/turn into to I93 South. Take I 93 South to Exit 18, Mass Avenue – Roxbury. Take a right at the light, following the sign for Mass Ave. Immediately begin merging left, and turn left at the set of lights onto Massachusetts Avenue (Hampton Inn is on the other side of this intersection on the right side). You will pass UHAUL on your right; at the next set of lights (at a “T” shaped intersection) Magazine Street is on the right. Turn right at the lights onto Magazine Street, continue for 1 ½ blocks. M-POWER is at #98, on your right. Go through the large gate; we are on the left.
*NOTE For All: The #98 is not that visible at our entrance; instead you will notice a couple signs at our entrance for Eliot Iron Works and Max Ultimate Foods. M-POWER is inside the gate.

Parking

M-POWER has parking for three to four cars near the entrance and two more around back, facing the brick building. M-POWER spaces are marked with M-POWER signs. If M-POWER spaces are used up you may use CQI spots that are also marked with signs around towards the back of the lot.

state house meeting

SPEAK UP TO IMPROVE THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM & GET YOUR VOICE HEARD BY STATE LAWMAKERS (OR COME OUT & SUPPORT YOUR PEERS WHO ARE SPEAKING OUT)!!!

On Wednesday Sept. 23rd at 1 PM, The Mental Health & Substance Abuse Committee will hold a hearing at the State House in room A-2.

The meeting concerns three important bills:

1) H. 3585--a bill on Emergency Room Rights which would require hospitals to collect data on how often the put people in restraints in the ER (the first step toward reducing/eliminating the use of restraints in ERs)

2) H.1945/S.743--a bill that puts teeth into the Five Fundamental Rights Law (the right to privacy, uncensored mail, phone calls, visitors & to meet with clergy or a lawyer) and makes access to fresh air & the outdoors a sixth fundamental right.

3) H.3584-- a bill on Peer-run Respites (to create a safe homey alternative staffed by people with similar lived experience for a person in crisis).

For more information on the bills or the hearing and if you would like to testify on any or all of these bills,

please call Ruthie Poole at (617) 442-4111 or toll-free at
(877) 769-7693.

testimonies

Our Testimonies

more info
Inpatient Study Testimony-
Linda's Testimony
5 Fundamental Rights and Fresh Air Legislation

MPOWER on 5 Fundamental Rights and Fresh Air

Evelyn K Speaks Out

Gail S Speaks Out

Cathy L On 3 Bills

Emily R Speaks Out

Jon on ER Rights

MD on ER Rights

PD on Inpatient Units

Susan F on Legal Advisors

Trauma and the Peer Movement

Trauma and the peer movement

What is the purpose of trauma-sensitivity?

Answer:

Trauma- sensitivity is the first step in the process of changing traditional methods of care to trauma-informed methods of care. It is letting people know that many of us have trauma histories, whether childhood trauma, adult or both. It is letting us know that it is okay that we have these histories, and that we don’t have to hide them anymore, from ourselves or from others. It is about asking that our trauma histories be recognized and respected, and treated. Trauma causes us to have some vulnerability that should be recognized and respected, as well. We can be vulnerable to issues of control and helplessness, which can lead to either passivity as a defense or to anger and acting out behaviors.

Where are we going with trauma-informed care?

Answer:

We are trying to educate consumers and providers about the prevalence of trauma in the lives of people seeking mental health and addiction. We are trying to change the way people with psychiatric diagnoses are treated, from a model of control, overmedication and learned helplessness, to a model of empowerment, taking control, being partners rather than patients with their treators, and recovery.

What are some of the after-effects of trauma?

Answer:

Trauma often results in a feeling of being disconnected from you and from other people. Trauma can cause a pervasive lack of trust of others. There may be feelings of shame and guilt, as well as self-hatred, rage and self-loathing. People may experience nightmares and sleep disturbances. There may be addiction issues, with food, alcohol, drugs or sex. People may have flashbacks, where they relive or experience the trauma. The trauma may result in a diagnosis of PTSD or dissociative disorders, or there may not be a diagnosis directly related to it. Learned helplessness can be a result, as can a feeling of hopelessness. Trauma can result in self-injurious behaviors and suicidality.

What kind of therapy is used for trauma issues?

Answer:

There are many different kinds of therapy used for trauma. Cognitive behavioral therapy (learning to change your thoughts) is frequently used. Dialectical behavioral therapy focuses on both CBT and on Eastern mindfulness techniques to change the harmful behaviors. Some people do very intense trauma therapy, where they remember and re-experience with the help of a therapist. Some of the later therapies are more concerned with the body and are called somatic therapy. These combine talk therapy with techniques that focus on the body. There is EMDR, which helps process the trauma memory by eye-movement and other techniques.

We Contact

About Us

Statement of Purpose: M-POWER is a member run organization of mental health consumers and current and former psychiatric patients. We advocate for political and social change within the mental health system, the community, city, and statewide. Organizing as a common voice, we claim and secure our human rights. We promote free access to information about those rights. We stand against stigma, bigotry, and discrimination that impede our ability to live as dignified people. We enlighten mental health professionals and the community with the truth about our lives, empowering ourselves in the process. We believe all people are entitled to lives free of prejudice and oppression.

info@m-powerblog.org

Directions

(617)-442-3301

98 Magazine Street.

Roxbury, MA

02119

welcome

Dear MPOWER Members and Friends,

The last Voices for Change newsletter from the Transformation Center said that the MPOWER Annual Meeting/Picnic was scheduled for Sept. 25th; however due to extenuating circumstances-the MPOWER Annual Meeting has been postponed til Saturday October 23rd. The meeting will be held in Worcester (Location To Be Announced).

Sorry about any inconvenience!

We are a 501(3)c nonprofit and we solely rely on donations from private funders and individuals only to operate and continue advocating for people with mental illness and lived experience.

Donate!

M-POWER says:

“Nothing about us without us!”

FYI—In June of 2008, M-POWER and the Transformation Center have
become two separate organizations.
M-POWER will continue its grassroots
activities and will be funded by membership dues and donations.
Call to join!

M-POWER is more focused than ever on our continuing fight for
rights, respect and decent treatment.
The legislature now is considering three
bills, one for peer-run respites/crisis centers, one for improved emergency
room rights, and one for enforcement of the Five Fundamental Rights AND
the Fresh Air Campaign combined into one bill.

YOUR INPUT

MPOWER IS SEEKING YOUR INPUT

As you may know, MPOWER stands for:

Massachusetts

People/Patients

Organized for

Wellness

Empowerment and

Rights

The Board of Directors is considering removing the word “patients” as many feel we have moved beyond this narrow definition of who we are.

We want to know what YOU think! To sound off about this idea, email, call or mail your input to:

Dede Alley and/or Florette Willis @ Dede.alley@comcast.net, willisflorette@yahoo.com, or call Ruthie Poole at MPOWER at 617-442-4111.

By March 15, 2010

___I Do feel we should eliminate the word “patients” from the MPOWER acronym

___I Do not feel we should eliminate the word “patients” from the MPOWER acronym

Youth Conference

Massachusetts Department of Mental Health & Eliot Community Human Services present

"Moving Forward:

Creating Successful Career Paths"

3^{rd Annual Transition-Age-Youth Conference
When: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.Location: Crowne Plaza HotelCrowne Plaza Hotel
Worcester, MA
`
This is an invitation-only event
Registration Information to Follow}

Our Testimonies

		more info

	Inpatient Study Testimony- Linda's Testimony 5 Fundamental Rights and Fresh Air Legislation MPOWER on 5 Fundamental Rights and Fresh Air Evelyn K Speaks Out Gail S Speaks Out Cathy L On 3 Bills Emily R Speaks Out Jon on ER Rights MD on ER Rights PD on Inpatient Units Susan F on Legal Advisors

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annual meeting and picnic

Cathy L

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Bay Cove

Director de Proyecto

Supervisar e implementar actividades del proyecto en todo el ámbito estatal

Supervisar actividades conducidas por el equipo de proyectos

Proporcionar apoyo al trabajo del Consejo Asesor de Consumidores Latinos (Latino Consumer Advisory Board)

Proporcionar apoyo al trabajo de subcomités de proyecto

Coordinar la labor de recolección de datos para SAMSHA GPRA y otras actividades de evaluación de programa

Preparar todos los informes y actualizaciones de progreso necesarios

Monitorear el presupuesto y supervisar contratos

Proveer actualizaciones de rutina al Director Ejecutivo, el Directorio y comités formados por partes interesadas

Asegurar la coordinación y la comunicación en toda la red de apoyo a pares

Coordinar el trabajo del Enlace de Asesoramiento de Pares (Peer Counseling Liaison)

Employment specialist

Events

Massachusetts Leadership Academy

First News Item

Jobs at the Edinburg Center

Just do It

Just Do It !

New Directions:

Consumer-Driven Mental

Health & Wellness Interpretation for the Deaf and Spanish Speakers Provided

Thursday June 15, 2006

The Best Western Plaza Hotel

and Trade Center

Please Register by 5pm Monday June 12th

9:30 to 10:30am

10:30 to 12:30

“The Role of Peer Specialists: Giving Voice to Mental Health Recovery”

12:30 to 1:30pm

1:30 to 2:30pm

3:00 – 4:00pm

Please provide this information to register:

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The Greater Lawrence Peer Counseling Project

"Sharing as Equals"

Benefits...

Project Description

Peer Counselors Recieve Training about:

The Greater Lawrence Peer Counseling Project

is sponsored by and based at

and is staffed by

Quotes from Peer Counseling Participants

Medicaid Reimbursement

Mind Freedom Calendar 2006 - 2007

MindFreedom

links and calendar of upcoming events

Nationwide Resources

Peer Specialist

Peer Specialist Program Coordinator

Work closely with Peer Specialists, Peer Specialist Training Team, Recovery Learning Communities, mental health providers, mental health payors, researchers and evaluators to develop quality and effectiveness of the program.

Provide program information to interested persons/programs;

Coordinate application review, participant selection and lodging & logistics for eight day trainings

Supervise a training team of consultants and oversee curriculum and examination revisions

Oversee CPSP budget;

Maintain mailing list/contact information of interested persons/programs; and statistics on participant demographics and CPS employment of program graduates;

Maintain helpful contact with CPS graduates and CPSs to ensure quality of the program

Facilitate study sessions; train and provide support to tutoring consultants;

Train and provide support to exam staff in conducting oral exams and in scoring written exams; Act as proctor for and score written exams, and conduct oral exams;

Collaborate with evaluators and researchers of the project;

Other tasks as may be assigned by Director of Operations.

Strong administrative, communication, and interpersonal skills required;

Strong skills as a trainer

Strong organizational and logistics skills required;

Proficient computer skills with Internet and MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel etc.);

Knowledge, skills, and ability to support and supervise;

Knowledge, skills and ability to create and adhere to time and task schedules;

Health & Wellness

Interpretation for the Deaf and Spanish Speakers Provided

Please Register by 5pm Monday June 12^th

RESPONSES

Send Resume and Cover Letter to:

Ann Stillman – Administrative Coordinator
M-POWER & The Transformation Center
98 Magazine Street Roxbury, MA 02119
617-442-4111; ann@m-power.org

Disclosure Decisions
Fact Sheet

Training and Technical Assistrance for Providers
Q & A on Customized Employment: Disclosure