…shaping a systemwide culture that supports recovery

	News to Note...
	We’re pleased to share “Proposition 63 Begins,” an implementation “toolbox” by Mark Ragins, M.D., medical director at our MHA Village. Mark’s collection of articles covers topics such as planning recovery-based systems and defining a recovery culture. He includes “A Guide for Recovery-Oriented Leaders” and “A Recovery-Based Program Inventory.” We invite you to download “Proposition 63 Begins.” Note: This is in Adobe Acrobat format. If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat reader installed on your computer, click here to download it for free.

Introduction

The MHA Village is a national training ground to help others study and replicate our model of “integrated services” – a comprehensive, coordinated approach to help people with mental illness recover and reintegrate into their communities. We train and consult with individuals, agencies and systems throughout California, across the United States and in other countries.

In 1994, we developed “immersion training” at the MHA Village as the core of our services. We help mental health professionals, system planners, people with mental illness and family members understand the Village’s service principles, learn its structure, practice its key elements and translate its approach to their own organizations.

Our training, said our past participants, provides “a wealth of information on how to shape a systemwide culture that embraces recovery,” presents “specific tools for providing individualized services” and promotes “an environment that advances growth” for people with mental illness.

MHA consults with mental health systems across the nation. As a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration “exemplary practice,” we assisted collaboratives in Kansas, Florida, Ohio, Washington D.C. and Nebraska as they replicated our approach. In other consultations, we worked with systems in Maryland, Colorado, Oregon, Iowa and Alaska. Most recently, we consulted with the MHA in Marion County, Indiana, as it created Our Town, the first Village replication for coming-of-age youth with mental illness.

Services

		Immersion Training Participants spend three days at the MHA Village, where we combine education in our principles and program components with experience in working with our staff. The curriculum covers client-driven programs, multidisciplinary service teams, “menu approach” to services, collaborative psychiatry, employment approaches, social coaching strategies, ethical issues, self-help, family roles and outcomes-based evaluation.
		Immersion Training in Employment In a two-day training at our MHA Village, participants learn a service structure that emphasizes and encourages employment services. Presented by our employment and rehabilitation staff, it covers recovery principles and practices, the MHA Village’s employment approach and the roles of staff – including case managers and psychiatrists – in assisting individuals with their employment goals. Our employment services staff pair up with trainees to give them exposure to our job development and coaching services.
		AB 34 Training At the request of California’s Department of Mental Health, we provide immersion training to agencies that have state-funded AB 34 programs. Authorized by state legislation, these programs provide an integrated system of care to people with mental illness who are homeless, have been in jail or are at serious risk of homelessness or jail.
		Consulting in Integrated Services We guide mental health agencies and service systems as they investigate and implement an integrated service structure. While tailoring help to each system’s needs, we explain the integrated service model, present Village service techniques and facilitate collaboration among major stakeholders. We help design implementation plans, outline action steps, identify strategies to overcome roadblocks and train staff.
		Consulting in Employment Services Through contracts with the California departments of Mental Health and Rehabilitation, we train organizations across our state. The “MHA Village Menu Approach – Choices for Job Development, Placement and Retention” communicates trends and techniques for helping individuals prepare for and achieve success in the work world. In the “MHA Village Approaches to Psychiatric Recovery in the Workplace,” we cover the philosophy and practical approaches for how medication collaboration, substance abuse recovery strategies, and clinical and employment staff collaboration can serve individuals’ employment goals.

Training Information

To learn more about our services, schedule an “immersion” training or talk with us about consulting, please visit the MHA Village’s web site, www.village-isa.org, or contact:

Sara Ford or Elise Belknap
Training Coordinators
456 Elm Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90802
562-437-6717, ext. 314 or 254
sford@mhala.org or ebelknap@mhala.org