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The College for Behavioral Health Leadership

The College for Behavioral Health Leadership

Where behavioral health leaders collaborate to grow and transform communities across the nation.

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Summits

The 2020 UnSummit: A Leadership Forum

November 16, 2020 by Holly Salazar

The 2020 UnSummit E-Book

CBHL has a rich history of convening influential leaders via annual Summits, serving as incubators of national change.  Given the uncertainty due to COVID-19 in 2020, we created an innovative way for leaders to gather using new technology.  Instead of meeting in-person, we delivered the same nationally recognized speakers, thought provoking content and meaningful dialogue over a series of weeks – all within in a flexible virtual format consisting of highly engaging, interactive events. 

We examined partnerships whose collaboration resulted in real outcomes as we learned from community initiatives across the country.  Featured partnerships demonstrated improvements in community relationships resulting in measurable impacts to community health, for different populations, using different approaches to multi-sector collaboration.   

Specifically, attendees:

  • LEARNED different approaches (models) of engaging multi-sector, community-based collaboration
  • CONSIDERED how these models can be used to tackle different types of complex behavioral health challenges in communities
  • CLARIFIED key characteristics and pros/cons of each approach
  • CONNECTED with colleagues and build new relationships
  • IDENTIFIED how these models can be applied to address a challenge their community is facing
Thank you to our sponsors!
Case Study Presentations
  • Schedule & Session Descriptions
  • Keynote Speakers
  • Panelists

Click on each banner below for session descriptions.

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We were proud to feature Tyler Norris and Susan R. Cooper as our opening and closing keynote speakers! Click here to learn more about them.

Tyler Norris, MDiv

Chief Executive
Well Being Trust

Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN, FAAN

Chief Integration Officer and Senior Vice President
Regional One Health

Click here to learn more about our panelists!

Panel & Interactive Session 1 | Partnerships in the Community:  Imperative to Keeping the PACE (Philadelphia, PA)

  • Kurt August, Assistant Director Diversion & Deflection, Managing Director’s Office of Criminal Justice
  • Dana Careless, Executive Coordinator for Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS)
  • Eduardo “Eddie” Collazo, Director, Multicultural Affairs, Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS)
  • Nick Fagan, Community Member
  • Crystal Yates, Deputy Commissioner, City of Philadelphia Emergency Medical Services

Panel & Interactive Session 2 | The Beginning of the End: Leveraging Partnerships, Data, and Lived Expertise to Effectively End Youth Homelessness (Austin, TX)

  • Liz Schoenfeld, PhD, Chief Research & Evaluation Officer for LifeWorks
  • Erin Whelan, Senior Division Director for Housing and Homeless Services at LifeWorks
  • Bree Williams, Director of Community Housing for the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO)
  • Lyric Wardlow, Founding Member of the Austin Youth Collective
  • Maryam Zia, Diversion Program Services Coordinator for LifeWorks

Panel & Interactive Session 3 | Douglas County Mental Health Initiative:  A Unique Community Partnership (Douglas County, CO)

  • Barbara Drake, Deputy County Manager in Douglas County
  • Douglas Muir, LCSW, CACIII, MBA, Behavioral Health Service Line Director for Centura Health
  • Jenn Conrad, LCSW, CCM, Director of Clinical Services with Signal Behavioral Health Network
  • Captain Kevin B. Duffy,  #89-05 Douglas County Sheriff’s Office  Investigation Division Commander
  • Laura Ciancone, MPH, Mental Health Initiative Coordinator for Douglas County

2017 Convening – Detroit

June 8, 2020 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Speakers
  • Handouts

Deep Dive: Hosting Difficult Conversations

When we take the lead in genuine health efforts for a population we often need to have difficult conversations. How can leaders host these difficult conversations to improve community partnerships and solutions? What is our role? What skills do we need? How do we prepare? What are key components to being successful?

Through simulation, live case studies, and application, participants at this dialogue will learn specific techniques to prepare for these conversations, to evaluate how much influence/impact a facilitator can have on a conversation, to respond in the moment to potential landmines and other subtexts (the “art” of facilitating) and to take care of our own mental and emotional health post-event.

During this day-long dialog, local experts will explore the intersections of law enforcement and community health by modeling a conversation. Together with these experts, participants will explore the historical context to understand the conversation, its subtexts, and how to use techniques discussed in the morning to enhance the conversation.

Learning Objectives

  • Participants will understand the role of an effective facilitator and how much influence/impact he or she can have on the conversation.
  • Participants will be able to identify concrete actions for the facilitator to increase the likelihood of a positive and constructive impact.
  • Participants will be able to identify specific ways to respond in the moment – the “art” of facilitating – such as identifying subtexts and wording questions to capture the desired information.
  • Participants will be able to identify at least two considerations to address mental and emotional health post-event

Trainer: AJ Robinson, Jr., PhD. Dr. Robinson is Chairman and CEO of Symphonic Strategies™ Inc., an organizational and community development firm based in Washington, D.C. Symphonic Strategies™ works with people from all walks of life to help them lead and transform the organizations and communities around them. He holds a PhD in Government from Harvard University and bachelor’s degrees in social psychology and political science from Stanford University. Dr. Robinson has been a consultant to the PBS show Frontline, served as a staff writer on the Encarta Africana Encyclopedia of the Black Diaspora, and was an adjunct professor in the Department of Organizational Sciences at the George Washington University in Washington,
D.C.

Speakers and bios can be found here.

The slide deck for the discussion can be found here.

2017 Summit

March 25, 2020 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers
  • Photos
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17
7:30 – 8:30 a.m.Breakfast Buffet
8:30 a.m.Why Summit? Setting the Stage for Opportunity and Action
Gina Lasky, PhD, MAPL, President, The College for Behavioral Health Leadership
9:00 a.m.Human Centered Design Thinking: Innovation in Challenging Times
Amy Schwartz, PhD, Empathic Innovation
Why should we introduce a new way to think about opportunities and solutions? There are numerous reasons that could be listed, but overarching reasons are that Design Thinking achieves all these advantages at the same time:It is a human-centered process that starts with user data, creates design artifacts that address real and not imaginary user needs, and then tests those artifacts with real users;It leverages collective expertise and establishes a shared language and buy-in amongst your team; andIt encourages innovation by exploring multiple avenues for the same problem.“Design Thinking is neither art nor science nor religion. It is the capacity, ultimately, for integrative thinking.” – Tim Brown, IDEO
9:45 a.m.Design Thinking Lab Teams
It’s not a College Summit if we aren’t working together! Participants will divide into Design Thinking Lab teams to address right-sized innovation opportunities over the course of the program. We’ll take a few moments to group ourselves and share brief introductions. “We must design for the way people behave, not for how we would wish them to behave.” ? Donald A. Norman, Living with Complexity
10:00 – 11:45 a.m.Creating Innovation with Design Thinking: Learning How to Begin
Design-thinking successes have demonstrated that this hands-on, user-centric approach to problem solving can lead to meaningful innovation, and innovation can lead to differentiation and a competitive advantage. This hands-on, user-centric approach is defined through the broad areas of understanding, exploring, and materializing. The process entails recursive phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and implement.
11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.Lunch
12:45  – 2:45 p.m.Design Thinking Lab Groups 1 – 5
With guided direction, each Design Thinking Lab (DTL) team will discuss expansively and creatively about how to apply behavioral health expertise to a “big system” using human centered design processes. Together they will develop knowledge about the “user,” pinpoint users’ needs and begin to highlight opportunities for innovation, and brainstorm a range of crazy, creative ideas that could address the unmet needs identified.Design Thinking Lab Groups 6 – 10
Design Thinking Lab (DTL) teams will meet with representatives from two innovative organizations who have addressed challenges in different ways. Each team will share information not included in written materials and allow time for discussion with the larger group. The presenters will also be available for “design consultation” with each team as they begin to tackle the topic in front of them.
Ending Youth Homelessness in Austin by 2020
Wendy Varnell, LCSW, LifeWorks
Elizabeth Schoenfeld, PhD, LifeWorks
Whole Health, LLC
Sharon Raggio, LPC, LMFT, MBA, Mind Springs Health
Patrick Gordon, MPA, Rocky Mountain Health Plans
2:45 p.m.Networking Break
Sponsored by Abt Associates
3:00 – 5:00 p.m.Design Thinking Lab Groups 6 – 10
With guided direction, each Design Thinking Lab (DTL) team will discuss expansively and creatively about how to apply behavioral health expertise to a “big system” using human centered design processes. Together they will develop knowledge about the “user,” pinpoint users’ needs and begin to highlight opportunities for innovation, and brainstorm a range of crazy, creative ideas that could address the unmet needs identified.Design Thinking Lab Groups 1 – 5
Design Thinking Lab (DTL) teams will meet with representatives from two innovative organizations who have addressed challenges in different ways. Each team will share information not included in written materials and allow time for discussion with the larger group. The presenters will also be available for “design consultation” with each team as they begin to tackle the topic in front of them.
Ending Youth Homelessness in Austin by 2020
Wendy Varnell, LCSW, LifeWorks
Elizabeth Schoenfeld, PhD, LifeWorks
Whole Health, LLC
Sharon Raggio, LPC, LMFT, MBA, Mind Springs Health
Patrick Gordon, MPA, Rocky Mountain Health Plans
5:30 p.m.New Member Forum: Introducing the College
Attention new members! You are invited for conversation prior to the evening reception. Come meet your colleagues, help us meet you, and learn more about our work.
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.Networking Reception
Collaborate and enjoy! Join colleagues at the close of the business day for hors d’oeuvres and ongoing conversation before heading out for dinner and to explore the Denver neighborhood.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18
7:30 – 8:30 a.m.Breakfast Buffet 
8:30 a.m.Creating Innovation with Design Thinking: Prototypes and User Looks
The beauty of design thinking is that it is scalable. While it can be applied to improve small functions like improving no-show rates for medical appointments, it can also be applied to design disruptive and transformative solutions to societal issues. Critical steps follow the brainstorming stage – developing the prototype or model for the innovation, testing the idea, and making changes based on feedback.
9:30 a.m.What is Innovative Leadership?
Steve Scoggin, PsyD, MDiv, LPC, CareNet, Inc., a subsidiary of Wake Forest Baptist Health
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.Design Thinking Lab Groups 1 – 5
Design Thinking Lab (DTL) teams will meet with representatives from two innovative organizations who have addressed challenges in different ways. Each team will share information not included in written materials and allow time for discussion with the larger group. The presenters will also be available for “design consultation” with each team as they tackle the topic in front of them.
Partners 4 Health – Detroit, MI
Sheilah Clay, MA, Neighborhood Service Organization
Greg Moore, Esq., Dickinson Wright, PLLC
Contessa Rudolph, MSA, Partners 4 Health
Addressing the Health of Men and Boys
Prevention Institute
Design Thinking Lab Groups 6 – 10
Building on the work from Tuesday, DLT teams build, draw, or otherwise create a representation of their innovation for feedback on feasibility and necessary changes, addressing the necessary leadership skills and responsibilities necessary for the innovation to get underway. “User Looks,” the final stage in the design process, puts the innovation in front of others to verify if it achieves goals.
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.Awards Recognition Luncheon
Timothy J. Coakley Award for Behavioral Health Leadership
King Davis Award for Leadership in Promoting Diversity and Reducing Disparities
Barton Distinguished Member Award
Saul Feldman Lifetime Achievement Award
1:30 – 3:30 p.m.Design Thinking Lab Groups 6 – 10
Design Thinking Lab (DTL) teams will meet with representatives from two innovative organizations who have addressed challenges in different ways. Each team will share information not included in written materials and allow time for discussion with the larger group. The presenters will also be available for “design consultation” with each team as they tackle the topic in front of them.
Partners 4 Health – Detroit, MI
Sheilah Clay, MA, Neighborhood Service Organization
Greg Moore, Esq., Dickinson Wright, PLLC
Contessa Rudolph, MSA, Partners 4 Health
Addressing the Health of Men and Boys
Prevention Institute
Design Thinking Lab Groups 1 – 5
Building on the work from Tuesday, DLT teams build, draw, or otherwise create a representation of their innovation for feedback on feasibility and necessary changes, addressing the necessary leadership skills and responsibilities necessary for the innovation to get underway. “User Looks,” the final stage in the design process, puts the innovation in front of others to verify if it achieves goals.
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.Learnings and Reflections of Innovations and the Design Thinking Process
Amy Schwartz, PhD, Empathic Innovation
Lynda Frost, JD, PhD, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
Jay Roundy, DPA, P2 Performance Plus
4:30 p.m.Summit Adjourns

Design Thinking Presentation – Dr. Amy Schwartz, Empathic Innovation

  • An Introduction to Design Thinking
  • Design Thinking: Empathize, Define, Ideate
  • Design Thinking: Prototype & Test
  • Tools to Empathize, Define, Ideate

Information from Exemplars

  • Ending Youth Homelessness in Austin by 2020: Lifeworks
  • PRIME Project: Mind Springs Health/Rocky Mountain Health Plans
  • Business Summary: Partners4Health
  • Back to Our Roots: Catalyzing Community Action for Mental Health and Wellbeing: Prevention Institute
  • Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing for Men and Boys in the US: Prevention Institute
  • Medical High Utilization: Prevention Institute

Additional Resources Shared by Others

  • Video: Addressing Social Determinants
  • Video: Finding Lost Hills – Innovative Program Example

Learn More About Human-Centered Design Thinking

  • DesignKit
  • Design Thinking Online Courses – IDEO U
  • Introduction to Human Centered Design

For over 30 years, Dr. Amy Schwartz has used her training as a cognitive psychologist to humanize technology and has applied her expertise in Human-Centered Design across a wide range of challenges and a multitude of domains. For the last 20 years, Amy worked at IDEO, the world-renowned design and innovation firm, where she founded the design research group in the Chicago studio, served as the global design lead for the IDEO health practice, and led the design research for some of IDEO’s most innovative and successful designs including the award-winning Lifeport Kidney Transporter (which won the IDSA Design of the Decade award and is in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art), Medtronic StealthStation surgical navigation system, Bayer Contour glucose meters, and Sherwin Williams’ ColorSnap in-store color selection system. She has worked with a wide variety of clients from startups, to industry giants like Baxter, Eli Lilly, and Ford as well as clients in the governmental and public sectors such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Amy excels in helping clients and design teams find unmet needs with “design energy” to frame problems in new ways that inspire innovative design solutions in complex multi-stakeholder ecosystems. Learn more about Amy and her work.

SHEILAH P. CLAY is the President and CEO of Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO). This Detroit-based $24 million nonprofit human service organization strives to improve lives and communities in southeast Michigan. NSO provides support and mental health treatment services for older adults, children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and homeless adults, in addition to integrated health services. NSO also provides psychiatric crisis intervention and stabilization, youth leadership, violence prevention, workforce development, supportive housing development, and training services to individuals and families. NSO’s historic Bell Building, opened in 2012, is the largest permanent supportive housing development in the State of Michigan and is home to 155 formerly homeless adults. Ms. Clay is a member of various local boards including Partners 4 Health, Michigan League for Public Policy, Opportunity Resource Fund, Judith D. Jackson Scholarship Fund and a national board, Leadership Women. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Shining Light Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero Award, the Nonprofit Leadership Award from the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, Board Service Award from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago-Detroit Branch, and the Michigan Chronicle’s Women of Excellence and Who’s Who in Black Detroit. She is also an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Links, Inc., and Word of Faith International Christian Center. This Detroit native is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and Wayne State University, Leadership Detroit, and Leadership America.

CONTESSA RUDOLPH, MSA, is a public health professional with 15+ years of increasing responsibility and experience in health administration, promotion, wellness, and disease management programs. She has significant experience implementing and managing diverse projects (population health, obesity prevention, infant mortality, child safety, employee wellness, healthy community engagement and design, supplemental nutrition) in health and human services. Ms. Rudolph has extensive knowledge of principles and practices of services related to public health and possesses a familiarity with complex health problems, disease etiologies, and preventive strategies. In her current position, Ms. Rudolph manages the day-to-day operations of Partners 4 Health, a start-up non-profit human services agency designed to develop, implement, and evaluate policy, system, and environmental interventions to support healthy lifestyles. Her enthusiasm for taking on new challenges has led to renewed customer relationships and a reputation for project success. Ms. Rudolph is also experienced in researching, managing, and writing grant programs.

GREG MOORE, JD, co-chairs Dickinson Wright’s Behavioral Health Care Practice Group. Mr. Moore has been a consultant and practicing health care attorney since 1991. During his entire career, he has focused on representing and counseling providers of all types and sizes including behavioral health care provider companies, facilities, and networks. He has been recognized as a thought leader and innovator when it comes to the integration of behavioral and physical health care. With 25 years of experience serving clients in the industry, his practice covers the full spectrum of regulatory, transactional, and litigation services. In January 2009, Mr. Moore created a Behavioral Health Care Law focused Practice Group, the first of its kind in a national law firm. The group continues to guide their behavioral health care clients through the highly nuanced Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The group continues to be leaders in educating and counseling clients as parity and the integration of behavioral health and physical health take center stage.

WENDY VARNELL, LCSW, is Chief Strategy Officer at LifeWorks. She is responsible for planning and implementing agency strategic initiatives and makes recommendations for programmatic and operational improvement. In collaboration with the Board of Governors, Ms. Varnell develops agency research projects and ensures execution. She manages a variety of high-impact special projects. In addition, she hires, trains and supervises the Chief Program Officer, Director of Research & Evaluation, the Chief Compliance Officer and the Director of Public Grants. She represents LifeWorks at national conferences, professional associations, relevant boards/committees, and other local initiatives. Ms. Varnell was the 2010 Austin Area Research Organization McBee Fellow, served on the Waterloo Counseling Board from 2009-2012, was a member of Leadership Austin, and received the 2003 Field Instructor of the Year award from the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. She is currently on the board of The College for Behavioral Health Leadership, a national organization focused on the development of leadership in the mental health and substance use prevention and treatment fields. Ms. Varnell has a Master’s of Science in social work from The University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s of arts in general studies, with equal emphasis in psychology, sociology and child development and family relations from The University of Arizona at Tucson. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has worked at LifeWorks since 1992.

DR. ELIZABETH SCHOENFELD earned her PhD in Human Development and Family Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin and has over 10 years of experience in research design, evaluation, and statistical modeling. She serves as the Director of Research & Evaluation at LifeWorks, where she manages a variety of high-impact special projects, conducts research on LifeWorks’ target population, oversees the development of agency metrics for its 17 programs, and utilizes data to help guide the strategic vision of the organization. Dr. Schoenfeld has presented her work at both national and international conferences, and she has published multiple articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her work has been featured in U.S. News & World Report, Psychology Today, and the Hogg Foundation’s Mental Health Daily, among other notable outlets.

Summit 2017 – Shake Up Your Snow Globe: Bold Leadership for Changing Times – focused on learning and practicing human centered design thinking. Led by Dr. Amy Schwartz, Empathic Innovation, participants formed into 10 design lab teams and spent concentrated time together using the framework of human-centered design to create and prototype an innovation to impact health and wellbeing.

We redesigned components of a US city to increase the focus on health and wellness, using the expertise we bring in behavior change to improve a number of “systems” in our community. This is a real city – diversified ethnically, racially, and socio-economically. Teams addressed five different design challenges: a middle school, a health neighborhood (built environment), community police department, food and substance landscape, and health systems. Each team focused on what a “day in the life” looked like for part of the population now and what they wanted it to be in a new, healthier future.

Included below are photos from Denver including images of the resulting prototypes from design teams.

2018 Summit

September 25, 2018 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers

LEADING DIFFERENTLY: LEVERAGING POWER DYNAMICS TO OPTIMIZE CHANGE

Our work as behavioral health leaders happens in the broader contexts of population health and behavior change. This reality both requires our attention and demands our expertise. We must assess and consider whose voices have the power and position to influence decisions in clinical practice and policy processes. Whose voices can we hear clearly? Who is absent from the table? Who needs an invitation? What can’t we see clearly? Who can help change that?

#metoo + #timesup + #blacklivesmatter + #studentsagainstguns

What story does each of these powerful social movements tell? How and where do they intersect with our work and reframe the way we lead? How will they inform us moving forward as we consider where we live and how we work?

The effective promotion of healthy communities requires us to consider the intersection of power, privilege, and the many realms of diversity for which we know health equity is largely dependent – race, geography, generation, ability, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and more. Let’s do it together. 

Join us for Summit in Richmond at Virginia Union University (VUU) for the kind of rich and critical dialogue we all expect at this annual gathering. VUU is an historically black college, founded in 1865 to give newly emancipated slaves an opportunity for education and advancement. Its powerful history will not be lost on us as we gather and explore these important questions.

Participants will:

  • Cultivate relationships with behavioral health leaders from every corner and system in our country.
  • Explore the roles of multiple behavioral health sectors in producing and reversing inequity in health and wellbeing.
  • Develop skills for leading in complex and changing environments.

SUMMIT MATERIALS

Our Summit speakers and innovators have provided copies of their presentations and handouts, which are available from the links below. We have received most, but not all, handouts and presentations. Contact information for any our speakers and innovators can be obtained by contacting the office. If you don’t find something that you’re looking for, please contact the office and we will help obtain it for you, if possible.

  • 2018 Summit Design Storyboard and House Slides – Anna Jackson
  • “There Is No Nobel Prize for Plumbers” – King Davis, PhD
  • Workshop Notes – Your Broader Role
  • “Open Source Wellness: Health Powered by Connection” – Liz Markle, PhD
  • “Gould Farm: Harvesting Hope, Promoting Recovery” – Jose Villegas
  • Telecare Corporation Health Education Campaign – Shannon Mong, PsyD
  • Telecare Corporation Health Education Campaign Posters – Shannon Mong, PsyD “
  • “Improving Health in Rural Counties: Local Communities Address Social Determinants of Health” – Marianne Burdison, LCSW
  • “Yoga as a Healthcare Innovation” – Allie Middleton, JD, LCSW, E-RYT, C-IAYT
  • “Integrating Yoga Into Community” – Allie Middleton, JD, LCSW, E-RYT, C-IAYT
  • “The College Experience, Redefined: The Wellness Environment at the University of Vermont” – Zoe Adams

SUMMIT AGENDA

Over the two days of Summit, you will connect with other participants in a way that fosters understanding, sparks creativity, and facilitates the adoption of new practices. The Summit has been designed in such a way that each of us can quickly learn where and how new ideas are being used and how they might be adapted to our own situations, gain insight on issues we face, and unleash local wisdom for addressing complex challenges. We will consult with colleagues and hear from leaders in the field and, together, shape the future of behavioral health in a rapidly evolving social environment. Use this link to access a PDF of the Summit agenda.

King Davis, PhD
Professor, School of Information
The University of Texas at Austin

King Davis was appointed professor of research in the School of Information at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin in 2014. He is the principal investigator for an $800,000 multi-disciplinary digital archives project at Central State Hospital in Petersburg, Virginia, America’s first mental hospital for newly freed slaves. King was the inaugural director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis and holder of the Mike Hogg Endowed Chair in urban affairs from 2011 – 2014 at UT. He served as Executive Director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health from 2003 – 2008 and he held the Robert Lee Sutherland Endowed Chair in Mental Health, Law, and Social Policy in the UT School of Social Work from 2000 – 2008. He is a former Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services serving in the L. Douglas Wilder Administration from 1990 – 1994. He held endowed chairs in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of Virginia, Medical College of Virginia, and Eastern Virginia Medical School. He was a professor of social policy at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work from 1985 – 1999 and Norfolk State University School of Social Work from 1975 – 1985. King held the rank of Captain and chief of social work services for Walson Army Hospital at Ft. Dix NJ and director of the CHAMPUS military insurance program during the Viet Nam War.

Daniel E. Dawes, JD
Executive Director of Government and Health Affairs Policy
Morehouse School of Medicine

Attorney Daniel E. Dawes is a nationally recognized leader in the health equity movement and has led numerous efforts to address health policy issues impacting vulnerable, underserved, and marginalized populations. He is a health care attorney and administrator, and serves as the executive director of government affairs and health policy at Morehouse School of Medicine. He is also a lecturer of health law and policy at the Satcher Health Leadership Institute. Dawes was instrumental in shaping the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) and founded and chaired the largest advocacy group, the National Working Group on Health Disparities and Health Reform, focused on developing comprehensive, inclusive and meaningful legislation to reform the health care system and address the disparities in health care and health status among racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, women, children, LGBT individuals, and other vulnerable groups in the United States. He is the co-founder of the Health Equity Leadership and Exchange Network (HELEN), which is a national network of health equity champions in virtually every state and territory. Dawes often lectures and presents on health law and policy while serving simultaneously on several boards, commissions, and councils focused on health equity and health reform. He is an advisor to international, national, regional, state and municipal policymakers, as well as think tanks, associations, foundations, corporations, and nonprofit organizations.

Sheila Savannah, MA
Director
Prevention Institute

Sheila Savannah is a Director with the Prevention Institute, where she provides leadership on health equity, mental health, and violence prevention. In her leadership role on mental health, she focuses on its intersection with social connection, community resilience, and the social determinants of health. Currently, she guides Making Connections, a mental health initiative aimed at improving outcomes for boys and men – particularly men and boys of color, service members, and veterans – addressing trauma through a public health approach to mental wellbeing. With over 30 years in the field, she has expertise in multi-sector collaboration and youth/family engagement in addressing complex system issues of safety and equity and brings a unique perspective to this important work.

Anna Jackson, MSSW
Alpinista Consulting
Summit Facilitator

Anna Jackson, MSSW, is a consultant specializing in participatory approaches to leading change, strategy development, and person-centered practices. She holds a Master of Science in Social Work from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from the University of California, Davis. Before founding Alpinista Consulting in 2014, Anna served as Deputy Director of Via Hope, a training and consultation center whose mission it is to transform the Texas mental health system into one that is person-centered and recovery oriented. From 2011 to 2014, she led the development of their programs, managing collaborative learning initiatives that integrate implementation science and participatory change methods, helping organizational teams work with complexity while implementing practices like peer support and person-centered planning. Ms. Jackson incorporates a social justice framework in her practice and has worked in youth engagement, leadership development, experiential education, healthcare services and systems change, and international domestic violence and human trafficking prevention and intervention. As a young adult, Anna led experiential youth leadership programs in the Sierra Nevada. These formative experiences contributed to her passion for approaches that emphasize collective, distributive, and participatory leadership, and led her to complexity science and Liberating Structures, essential elements of Alpinista’s offerings.

2016 Summit

April 8, 2016 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Presentations
  • Speakers
  • National Leadership Awards
APRIL 6 – 8, 2016 | SAN DIEGO, CA

Summit 2016 addresses population health leadership for Building Healthier Communities through interactive exploration of population health knowledge, practices, measurements, and skills. You will be an active participant in shaping the future of our field by identifying cutting-edge behavioral health leadership roles within collaborative population health strategies. In addition, participants will explore current movements in population health and the implications for behavioral health; examine the intersections of health equity, social justice, and the social determinants of health; understand ways that population health is financed, assessed, and measured; and learn fromplace-based initiatives  promoting healthy, equitable communities.

SUMMIT SCHEDULE

Summit begins at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 6, 2016 and ends on Friday, April 8, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. A detailed schedule is available as a PDF download from this link.

The College is pleased to have Prevention Institute co-hosting the 2016 Summit. Prevention Institute is a non-profit, national center dedicated to improving community health and wellbeing by building momentum for effective primary prevention. Primary prevention means taking action to build resilience and prevent problems before they occur. Prevention strategies can be effective in preventing, and reducing severity of some mental health conditions, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Further, good prevention strategies can delay onset and support treatment outcomes for those with mental health conditions. The Institute’s work is characterized by a strong commitment to community participation and promotion of equitable health outcomes among all social and economic groups. 

Presenter Materials

Presenter slide decks and other materials shared will be posted to the web site as they are available. Material should be considered the property of the presenter and its further use should be by request of the individual who produced the material.

  • Tackling the Root Causes of Health Inequity. Anthony Iton, MD, JD, MPH, California Endowment.
  • Health Equity Video (from Dr. Iton’s presentation)
  • Live Well San Diego, Dale Fleming, County of San Diego Health and Human Services
  • Promoting Health Equity and Social Justice Through Addressing Social Determinants, Health Inequities. Sheila Savannah, MA, Prevention Institute.
  • Leading a Paradigm Shift: Opportunities and Skills for Linking Behavioral Health and Population Health. Larry Cohen, MSW, Prevention Institute, and Lynda Frost, JD, PhD, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.
  • Health Share’s Collective Prevention Strategy: Promoting Early Life Health. Maggie Bennington-Davis, MD, Health Share of Oregon.

Conversation Infographs

Keynote presentations and discussion group conversations were captured through the creation of infographs, which can be viewed from the links below. Each infograph may be viewed as a single image or as a presentation. Copies of the infographs as images may be obtained by contacting the office.

  • Behavioral Health: A Parter in Building Healthy People and Communities (Iton Address)
  • Leading a Paradigm Shift (Cohen and Frost Address)

Health Equity and Social Justice Conversation Breakouts

  • Prevention Group #1
  • Prevention Group #2
  • Clinical Practice Group #1
  • Clinical Practice Group #2

Leadership Conversation Breakouts

  • Group A
  • Group B
  • Group C
  • Group E
  • Group F

Alfredo Aguirre, PhD, Behavioral
Health Director, San Diego County Health
and Human Services Agency

Maggie Bennington-Davis, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Health Share Oregon

Larry Cohen, MSW, Founder and
Executive Director, Prevention Institute

Larissa Estes, DrPH, Program
Manager, Prevention Institute

Lynda Frost, PhD, Director of Planning
and Programs, The Hogg Foundation
for Mental Health

Anthony Iton, MD, JD, MPH, Senior VP
for Healthy Communities, California Endowment

Ray King, MBA, MPA, President/CEO
Urban League of San Diego

Gregory Knoll, Esq., Executive Director/
Chief Counsel, Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc.

Nick Macchione, FACHE, Director
San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency

Sheila Savannah, MA
Director, Prevention Institute

Marvin J. Southard, MSW, Mental Health
Director Emeritus, County of Los Angeles
Department of Mental Health

Photo: Front, (left to right) Katherine Sternbach, Susan Bergeson, Vivian Jackson. Back (left to right, Alfredo Aguirre, Nick Machionne, Allen Daniels, and Leigh Steiner.

The College for Behavioral Health Leadership honored outstanding colleagues during its Summit in San Diego, CA on April 7, 2016. Board President Dr. Leigh Steiner noted, “Our 2016 awards really represent the best of what the College is all about – individuals who have life times of leading innovation in an ever changing health care environment and who are aware of their critical role as mentor for emerging leaders in the field. We are delighted to be able to honor each of them.”

The Saul Feldman Award, honoring the lifetime achievement and contributions of an individual to leadership and policy in the mental health and addictions recovery field, including contributions to the knowledge base, was presented to Katherine O. Sterbach, MBA, MEd.

Kathy is a Partner with TriWest Group and a health and human services consultant with over 35 years of experience. Ms. Sternbach consults to state and county health and human service agencies and provider organizations, specializing in the design, implementation, and evaluation of human services systems with emphasis on Medicaid managed care and health reform. She has conducted formal evaluations, quality reviews, and special studies in over 20 states and has extensive experience with managed care capacity development, organizational assessments and mergers, and implementation of consent agreements. She assists provider organizations with addressing the opportunities under health reform. Kathy is most interested in helping systems of care create and implement standards that improve the overall health and lives of people with behavioral health conditions. 

One of her proudest accomplishments was helping a state to host a “Speak Out” with peer leader Judy Chamberlin in the early 1990s for people with behavioral health conditions to tell senior state leaders about their strengths and needs from the “system.” That experience was pivotal to important system changes empowering several peer-run organizations and has deeply influenced her career.

The Walter Barton Member Award, honoring an individual who has made outstanding contributions and exceptional service to the College and his/her focus on supporting the mission and work of the College, was presented to Allen Daniels, EdD.

Dr. Daniels is an independent behavioral healthcare consultant and also serves as Senior Study Director for Westat and consulting Clinical Director for InfoMC. He has been Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Public Health Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine. He has also served as the Executive Vice President and Director of Scientific Affairs for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA). Allen has comprehensive experience in behavioral health care leading both public and private clinical practices, managed behavioral healthcare programs, and as an active advocate for person-centered care and Peer Support Services. He has extensively published in the area of behavioral health policy including: managed care and group practice operations, quality improvement and clinical outcomes, behavioral healthcare workforce development, behavioral health and primary care integration, and peer support and person-centered care. Dr. Daniels served on the National Advisory Committee for SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services. He is active on a number of other boards and professional organizations.  

The King Davis Award for Leadership in Promoting Diversity and Reducing Disparities, given to recognize leaders who have made significant contributions in promoting diversity or reducing disparities through their work in the areas of behavioral health services, research, advocacy, or policy, was presented to Vivian Jackson, PhD, ACSW, LICSW.

Dr. Jackson is adjunct faculty with the National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development and the National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health. She is a social worker with more than 40 years of experience as a practitioner, supervisor, manager and trainer in health, mental health, substance abuse, child welfare, managed care, system reform and cultural competency. Former positions include Director, Office of Policy and Practice, National Association of Social Workers and Child Welfare Advisor, National Resource Network for Children’s Mental Health at the Washington Business Group on Health. Her publications include, “Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Residential Programs: Why, What, and How” in Residential Interventions for Children, Adolescents, and Families, “Cultural and Linguistic Competence and Eliminating Disparities,” in The System of Care Handbook and “Resilience for Leaders in Times of Change” in The Leadership Equation: Strategies for Individuals who are Champions for Children, Youth & Families.  

Dr. Jackson served as a member of the National Association of Social Workers’ National Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity and the NASW’s Presidential Diversity Task Force where she was instrumental in the development of Indicators for the NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in the Social Work Profession and Institutional Racism and the Social Work Profession: A Call for Action. She is currently a member of the Board for the National Leadership Council for African American Behavioral Health and co-chairs the Diversity Interest Group for The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.  

The Timothy J. Coakley Behavioral Health Leadership Award honors behavioral health leadership by consumers of mental health and addictions services and leadership by families who have members with addictions and mental health problems and was presented to Susan Bergeson.

The award honors consumer and family leaders in the behavioral health field whose work is characterized by the highest degree of integrity and a passion for creative approaches for improving the lives of mentally disabled persons, especially in the public sector. Ms. Bergeson is a recognized leader and contributor to the consumer and peer/family support field. She has been the Executive Director of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), a consumer run organization that provides extensive training and certification of peer support specialists and a network of national support groups for individuals with mood disorders. She has also been a leader in the Pillars of Peer Support initiatives. Since moving to Optum, Sue has been a tireless advocate for the roles of peer support specialists in managed care provider systems and networks. She has helped develop and disseminate technical assistance resources for peer-led organizations to help them prepare and engage with managed care companies for funding their programs. As a College member, Ms. Bergeson has advocated for the role of peers within the organization. This has included helping to secure funding and develop programming specifically focused on the peer community. She was the first consumer to chair an ACMHA/College Summit and her leadership helped conceptualize and support the development of the College’s E-Guide on Healthy Behavior Change.

The Innovation Leader Award honors the work of an individual or organization that is demonstrating leadership and innovation in the evolution of health and was presented to Live Well San Diego, accepted by Nick Macchione and Alfredo Aguirre.

Moving beyond innovations of the early 21st century, the College honors the work of leaders creating collective actions across sectors to design a health system that is authentically holistic, innovative, and powerful enough to reduce health disparities and move to well-being. After two years of collaborative planning sessions among county staff and community stakeholders, the County of San Diego Board of Supervisors adopted a comprehensive, long-term initiative on health called?Building Better Health: Health Strategy Agenda.? The decision was sparked by the realization that San Diego County, like much of the nation, was facing a tidal wave of chronic disease and rising healthcare costs.?The original agenda has since evolved into the greater Live Well San Diego vision to improve the health, safety and well-being of all County residents.

2015 Summit

March 26, 2015 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers

Health care costs for patients enrolled in Medicare who were identified with low health-literacy skills were more than four times as high as costs for patients with high literacy, roughly $13,000 per year compared to $3,000 per year.

Activation scores have been demonstrated as predictive of health care outcomes. Patients with low levels of activation have been found to have significantly greater health care costs than those with higher levels of activation. When socioeconomic factors and the severity of health conditions are controlled, patient activation remains predictive of health care costs and utilization.

How can we bend the health care cost curve while increasing the wellness and recovery of those we serve? Heath Literacy and Activation is one part of the answer.

According to Healthy People 2010, an individual is considered to be “health literate” when he or she possesses the skills to understand information and services and use them to make appropriate decisions about health. Lack of health literacy is estimated to cost $106-$236 billion annually. Activation goes beyond seeing a health care provider and understanding how to promote recovery; it’s the art and science of taking action on the information you have been given. It’s doing the things necessary to move toward recovery and wellness.

The 2015 ACHMA Summit explores this topic from several angles. What can we learn from the “physical health” community on this topic?  What about technology – is it helping or hurting?  How can we take a community approach? What does the research tell us?  What does it mean to approach this in a culturally competent or at least sensitive manner?   What can we learn from the positive psychology movement?

As an added bonus, we have an optional pre-Summit event exploring health homes in Missouri, the first to implement health homes statewide.

Goals of the Summit:
  • Explore how activation and health literacy change the nature and process of healthcare delivery
  • Reframe health literacy as more than being able to read and understand a prescription; literacy is specific to communities and cultures and requires working respectfully and cross-functionally with a broad set of partners.
  • Understand activation as not something done to those who consume healthcare services (including each of us), it’s about supporting change, listening to motivations, hopes and dreams; addressing stigma; and working as partners with every person to facilitate access to the right tools and programs at the right time.
  • Learn from individuals leading successful and innovative programs within this space in order to replicate and expand in our own settings, moving activation and health literacy forward.
The Summit features:
  • Catalysts: Keynote speakers who help us think about Activation and Health Literacy in new and fresh ways. 
  • Going Deeper: Facilitated conversations using Appreciative Inquiry techniques for those who what to think deeply together about the implications of catalyst presentations. 
  • Tech Tracks: For those who want to think about how technology can facilitate health literacy and activation.
  • Putting it Into Practice: Sessions that showcase programs that have implemented innovations within the health literacy and activation space.
  • Show Me the Data: Sessions that dig into the data around activation and health care literacy as a support to building the case when seeking to implement innovation back home.
  • Resource Ready: Fast-paced sessions that outline tools and resources you can use to implement programs at home.

Prior to the event, attendees will receive an eBook filled with information, articles, research, tools, and resources that help put health literacy and activation into practice. Attendees will have the chance to participate in creating an enriched version of the eBook post-Summit.

Optional pre-Summit Event – Exploring Missouri’s Behavioral Health Homes:  Innovations and Cultural Shift

Experience Missouri’s journey as the first in the nation to create a health home initiative. During the day, you will:

  • Learn how Missouri implemented and sustained the initiative,
  • Hear from the people who helped to shepherd this idea into reality, and
  • Visit an innovative health home and dialogue with staff. 

More information and registration is available. Registration is limited to 30 people.

EBook Version 1.0

The field of health literacy and health behavior change is expansive and growing. As the health care system is increasing focus on engagement, activation, and active participation in personal health, there are many more resources available in this area. The conceptual understanding of how literacy and activation connect to other aspects of health is important. This e-book is designed to provide a framework for these important concepts by summarizing data, identifying the best resources, and connecting concepts in a meaningful way for the ACMHA membership and field at large.

Your eBook Team – Gina Lasky, Allen Daniels, and Dale Jarvis – have been pulling information into a Prezi presentation, which is a prototype for the “real eBook” that will be created post-Summit.Prezi is the temporary home for this work. As we create more content, we will convert the prototype into a more dynamic web-based eBook similar to the EPA’s EnviroAtlas. Currently, there are 150 slides in Prezi, which requires a long time to load. This will change when we move from the prototype to the real eBook.

Available Slide Decks

Leadership Lessons From Missouri’s Health Homes
– Joe Parks, MD, HealthNet

Activation, Self-care, and Health Literacy
– Paolo del Vecchio, MSW, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA

Health Literacy in the Medical Community – Moving from Treating Illness to Building Cultures of Health
– Ray Fabius, MD, HealthNEXT

Adapting and Adopting Telehealth Systems for Individuals With Serious Mental Illness
– Bruce Bird, PhD, Vinfen

ACMHA Peer Services Toolkit
– Patrick Hendry, Mental Health America
– Tom Hill, Alturum
– Harvey Rosenthal, NYAPRS

Patient Activation: Improving Health Outcomes and Reducing Costs
– Judith Hibbard, DrPH, University of Oregon

Patient Activation: Medical Case Management and Behavioral Health Case Management
– Charles Gross, PhD, Anthem

Community Conversations: Resilience and Health
Community Conversations: Public Health Planning and Community Resilience
– Richard Dougherty, PhD, DMA Health Strategies
– Rev Perry Dougherty, Still Harbor

Highly Rated Apps for Addiction and Mental Health Recovery
– Dona Dmitrovic, Optum

Supporting Health Activation and Health Literacy in the Criminal Justice System
– Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, 17th Judicial Circuit, Broward County, FL
– Adam Slosberg, ACPS, Beyond Today International

Cultural Activation: Expanding the Concept of Health Literacy and Consumer Activism
– Lenora Reid-Rose, MBA, Coordinated Care Services
– Carole Seigel, PhD, NKI Center of Excellence in Culturally Competent Mental Health
– Sandra Mitchell, Disability Committee, National Action Network
– Onaje Muid, MSW, CASAC, LMHC, FDLC, Reality House, Inc.

How Technology Supports Self-care and Literacy: Insights From the National Health Community
– Aya Collins, US Department of Health and Human Services

Weaving Activation and Health Literacy Into Community Organizations
– Daphne Klein, On Our Own of Prince George’s County
– Jow Powell, Association of Persons Affected by Addiction

Positive Psychology: Happiness as a Different Approach to Activation and Health
– Timothy Bono, PhD, Washington University St. Louis

The New Journey: How Electronic Health Records Can Support Patient Activation
– Virna Little, PsyD, LCSW-R, SAP, Institute for Family Health

20+ Free Activation Tools: No-cost Tools for Addiction Recovery and Mental Health Consumers to Support Activation and Self-care
– Dona Dmitrovic, Optum

Ferguson, MO: It’s Impact on Behavioral Health in Missouri and the Nation
– Malik Ahmed, Better Family Life, Inc.
– Arthur Evans, Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and disAbility Servoces
– Jerry Dunn, Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis

Wellbriety, Activation, and Self Care
– Don Coyhis, White Bison

Reflections on the 2015 ACMHA Summit

Healthy and Activated Communities: The 2015 ACMHA Summit
– Mike Brooks, LCSW, BCD, Center for Clinical Social Work

Behaving, Becoming, and Being Healthy: The 2015 ACMHA Annual Summit
– Ron Manderscheid, PhD, National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors

Keynote Speakers

Timothy J. Bono, PhD, received his BA and PhD in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis where he is currently an Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and Lecturer in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Bono’s teaching and research focus on positive psychology and college student development. He is the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence at Washington University and received the Outstanding Research Award from the Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education. Over the last seven years more than one thousand students have enrolled in his courses on the Psychology of Young Adulthood and the Science of Happiness.

Don Coyhis is the Founder and President of White Bison, Inc., creator of the Wellbriety Movement. Through White Bison, Mr. Coyhis, Mohican Nation, has offered healing resources to Native America since 1988. White Bison offers sobriety, recovery, addictions prevention, and wellness/Wellbriety learning resources to the Native American community nationwide. Many non-Native people also use White Bison’s healing resource products, attend its learning circles, and volunteer their services. Wellbriety means to be sober and well. Wellbriety teaches that we must find sobriety from addictions to alcohol and other drugs and recover from the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol on individuals, families, and whole communities. The “Well” part of Wellbriety is the inspiration to go on beyond sobriety and recovery, committing to a life of wellness and healing everyday.

Paolo del Vecchio, MSW, is Director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). SAMHSA is the lead federal agency designed to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. Previously, Mr. del Vecchio was the CMHS Associate Director for Consumer Affairs where he directed SAMHSA’s precedent-setting programs and activities that advanced consumer participation and education, a recovery orientation for the mental health system, peer support, and the adoption of certified peer specialists. A self-identified mental health consumer, trauma survivor, and person in recovery from addictions, Mr. del Vecchio has been involved for over 40 years in behavioral health as a consumer, family member, provider, advocate, and policy maker.

Raymond J. Fabius, MD, CPE, FACPE, has served nearly 30 years in health care as a pediatrician, health plan corporate medical leader, large employer global medical leader, president of the largest supplier of workplace health solutions and strategist and CMO for one of the largest global data and informatics organizations, giving him the chance to understand health care from the perspective of the provider, payer, purchaser, supplier, and aggregator and analyst. He’s written books, book chapters, and numerous peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Fabius has recently returned to his start-up HealthNEXT — a company dedicated to the development of organizational cultures of health. Formerly, Dr. Fabius served as strategic advisor to the President of Walgreens Health & Wellness Division. He states he is most passionate about developing systems of care to meet the needs of populations, establishing the ties between the health and productivity of workforces and building cultures of health within companies, organizations and communities.

Judith Hibbard, DrPH, is a Senior Researcher and Emeritus Professor, University of Oregon. Over the last 30 years, Dr. Hibbard has focused her research on consumer choices and behavior in health care. She has a particular interest in testing approaches that give consumers and patients more knowledge and control over their health and health care. Dr. Hibbard is the lead author of the Patient Activation Measure, which measures an individual’s knowledge and skill for self-management. The measure is being used around the world by researchers and practitioners. She advises many health care organizations, foundations, and initiatives and has served on several advisory panels and commissions, including the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Health Care Quality Forum, United Health Group Advisory Panel, and National Advisory Council for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality initiative. She is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications. Her recent work appears in issues of Health Affairs, Medical Care and Health Services Research. Dr. Hibbard holds a master’s degree in public health from UCLA and a doctoral degree from the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.

Joseph Parks, MD, serves as Director of MO HealthNet, Missouri’s Medicaid authority in Jefferson City, MO. He also holds the position of Distinguished Research Professor of Science at the University of Missouri – St. Louis and is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Missouri, Department of Psychiatry in Columbia. He practices psychiatry on an outpatient basis at Family Health Center, a federally-funded community health center established to expand services to uninsured and underinsured patients in central Missouri. He previously served for many years as Medical Director, Missouri Department of Mental Health, and President, Medical Director’s Council of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. He also previously served as Director, Missouri Institute of Mental Health, University of Missouri St. Louis and Division Director, Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services, Missouri Department of Mental Health. Dr. Parks has authored or coauthored a number of articles, monographs, technical papers, and reviews on behavioral health services delivery and policy.

Alonford J. Robinson, Jr., PhD, is Chairman and CEO of Symphonic Strategies™ Inc., a research, training, and consulting firm that specializes in solving collective action challenges. Symphonic Strategies™ works with people from all walks of life to help them lead and transform the organizations and communities around them. Throughout his career, Dr. Robinson has advised and worked with leaders in public and private sectors all around the world. He has also been a consultant to the PBS show Frontline, served as a staff writer on the Encarta Africana Encyclopedia of the Black Diaspora, and is an adjunct professor at the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership (CEPL) at the George Washington University and a Lecturer in the Customs and Border Protection Leadership Institute with the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. His courses and seminars include topics that range from strategic management, organizational transformation, executive decision-making, and leading change initiatives. Dr. Robinson also provides strategic coaching for senior executives and emerging leaders across his client portfolio. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University and dual bachelor’s degrees in social psychology and political science from Stanford University.

Kimá Joy Taylor, MD, MPH, is the National Drug Addiction Treatment and Harm Reduction Program Director at the Open Society Foundations. Prior to joining the Open Society Foundations, Dr. Taylor served as deputy commissioner for the Baltimore City Health Department. During her tenure there she tried to create more cohesive and integrated public health services for citizens at risk. Before coming to Baltimore, she served as the health and social policy legislative assistant for Senator Sarbanes, with issue areas including Social Security, TANF, pharmaceuticals, Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care policy and women’s issues. A board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Taylor is a graduate of Brown University, Brown University School of Medicine, and the Georgetown University residency program in pediatrics. From 1998 – 2002, Taylor cared for uninsured and underinsured patients at a community health center in Washington, DC, and created a city-wide coalition to advance literacy in pediatric primary care. She worked with other community organizations to empower youth such that they will realize their abilities, grasp opportunities, and improve the world at large.

Breakout Session Speakers

Jei Africa, PsyD, Manager, Office of Diversity and Equity of San Mateo County
Malik Ahmed, CEO, Better Family Life, Inc.
Peter Ashenden, Director Consumer and Family Affairs, Mental Health, Optum
Cynthia Baur, PhD, Senior Advisor, Health Literacy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Sue Bergeson, VP, Consumer and Family Affairs, Optum
Bruce Bird, PhD, President and CEO, Vinfen
Aya Collins, Division of Health Communication and eHealth, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, US Department of Health and Human Services
Colette Croze, MSW, Croze Consulting
Allen S. Daniels, EdD, Consultant
Dona Dmitrovic, Director Consumer and Family Affairs, Addiction Recovery, Optum
Thomas W. Doub, PhD, CEO, Centerstone Research Institute
Rev. Perry Dougherty, Director of the Institute for Spiritual Formation & Society, Still Harbor
Richard Dougherty, PhD, CEO, DMA Health Strategies
Jerry H. Dunn, PhD, Associate Clinical Professor, Executive Director, Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis
Arthur Evans, PhD, Commissioner, Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual DisAbility Services
Patrick Hendry, Senior Director for Consumer Advocacy, Mental Health America
Tom Hill, MSW, Project Director, Altarum Institute
Dale Jarvis, BA, CPA, Dale Jarvis & Associates, LLC
Daphne Klein, Director, On Our Own of Prince George’s County
Gina Lasky, PhD, HMA Community Strategies
Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, Criminal Division, 17th Judicial Circuit, Broward County of Florida
Virna Little, PsyD, LCSW-R, SAP, Vice President for Psychosocial Services and Community Affairs, Institute for Family Health
Andres Marquez-Lara, Organizer, Promethean Community, LLC
Allie Middleton, JD, LCSW, RYT, Integrative Leadership Practices
Onaje Muid, MSW, CASAC, LMHC, FDLC, Associate Director/Clinical, Reality House, Inc.
Keris Myrick, Director Consumer Affairs, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA
Joe Powell, LCDC, CAS, Executive Director, Association of Persons Affected by Addiction
Lenora Reid-Rose, MBA, Director, Cultural competency and Diversity Issues, Coordinated Care Services, Inc.
Harvey Rosenthal, CEO, NYAPRS
Steven N. Scoggin, PsyD, LPC, President, CareNet, a subsidiary of Wake Forest Baptist Health
Adam Slosberg, ACPS, Managing Director, Beyond Today
Leigh Steiner, PhD, Organizational Development Consultant, Care Management Technologies

2014 Summit

March 28, 2014 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers

The BIG Question:
What is the future of health care? And how will behavioral health fit in?

  • What services will we provide? Whom will we serve?
  • How will consumer and clinician roles evolve?
  • How will our increasingly diverse population change what we do?
  • How will technological innovations factor in?
  • How will we be paid?
  • What kind of leadership will we need to deliver – both within our field and in the larger system?
  • And who will “we” be, anyway?

In Santa Fe, we will step back from problem solving the “now” and look at the trends pushing and pulling us into the future. The 2014 Summit will challenge us all to think as futurists. We will examine key trends in health and the larger forces driving them – both in the field and in society. We will identify challenges on the horizon, resources available to meet them, and strategies for leading the unfolding future. You will come away with a clearer and inspired understanding of the forces shaping the future of health and how you must adapt your leadership tack today. We invite leaders of health homes, public health, family physicians, health care, behavioral health, addiction services, and community wellness to join us to focus on the skills and experiences required to lead and transform health.

The Work
We will spend Summit in symposia conversations, framed by two plenary presentations. Participants will select a symposium to engage in for the duration of Summit. Each symposium will focus on a single key topic, providing the opportunity to engage in meaningful, courageous, and deep conversation about an aspect of health and health care in the future. Several times during Summit, participants will convene by symposium to dig into the key trends and forces propelling us into the future, as well as the likely emerging scenarios for where they will take us. Participants will also share information across symposia to build on and inform each other’s thinking. Symposia are:

“There’s No Business Unless You Show Me the Business”—The Imperative to Articulate, Construct, Fund, Implement, and Operate Business Models in the Post-ACA Digital World
Gina Lasky, PhD and Christopher Wilkins, MHA
Join this symposia to define and discuss, within the context of major environmental forces, the behavioral health and recovery community’s mutual imperative for advancing viable business models; the outputs that said business models must produce; affiliation, collaboration and relational strategies and accountability models; emerging practices demonstrating track records of operation, integration and monetization; and to summarize a “play bill” of the necessary actors, roles, sets, theatre environment, ticket charges, and administrative support necessary to launch the next evolution of your business model!

Shaping the Future Agenda for Behavioral Health Policy; What do We want? How do we get It?
Mady Chalk, PhD and Pamela Greenberg, MPP
Join this symposium and help pinpoint future behavioral health policy issues, identify focused strategies to lead policy change, and move toward effective behavioral health care in a new environment.

The Power of the Person in the Future of Health
Jen Padron, MEd, CPS, QMHP-CS and Ron Manderscheid, PhD
Explore the future role of the person receiving care and the impact that individual action can have on health outcomes, cost, and whole health. What do the increasing practices of shared decision-making and the concept of mutuality tell us about future individual responsibility for health? We will hear about emerging innovative routes of engagement and practitioners’ reactions, learn of techniques and technologies that facilitate personal management of health, and surface the implications for behavioral health and the learning behavioral health can contribute to the future of health care.

The Times They Are A-Changin’: Forming Unfamiliar and Even Difficult Partnerships to Create Innovation in Service Delivery
Terri Hurst, MSW and Sharon Raggio, MBA
Come and share ideas and innovations about collaboration!  In this new world, we have ample opportunities for different, new, and deeper collaboration.  Who might be new partners besides the usual and customary folks we deal with?  Are there new topics for the usual collaborations?  How do we shift the paradigm so we are not in the same box or viewed as being in the same box?  What exactly is collaboration in this new future environment and are there new skills or best practices?

Innovation: A New Ecology of Behavioral Health Leadership in the New Age of Health
Steve Scoggin, PsyD, LPC and Keris Myrick, PhD
Join us for this interactive experience to think globally about innovative leaders and the barriers that keep us from expanding our mindsets. Attention will be on the exploration of future behavioral health innovation as we move from a sick care model to a health care delivery model. Particular attention will be placed on innovations that can accelerate and improve the quality of care while impacting cost such as new models of community collaboration, technology, and peer specialists.

Making Health Care Whole: Getting Integration Unstuck
Johanna Ferman, MD and Dale Jarvis, CPA
Get ready to be energized as we explore critical questions and barriers to the future of integrated behavioral and physical health care – a core paradigm shift in how we think about, plan for, capture and use information as we drive towards pay-for-performance reimbursement and deliver care in health reform’s Triple AIM environment.

Join us to address key questions that can make or break our success, including: what are the financial barriers including carve-in/carve-out? what supports front-end transformation/ what are the potential pitfalls where theory meets operational realities? how do we see beyond the narrow confines of current practice now and into the future?  what are the vital functions for leadership in removing roadblocks? what is the role of information in driving transformational change?

The Takeaway
You will leave the 2014 Summit with an understanding of how the issues you’re tackling now link up to larger trends in health care. You will have a clearer sense of how these trends influence the trajectory of health and where and how behavioral health must connect. Most importantly, you will be on the road  to understanding how to position your work today to lead tomorrow.

Keynote Presentations

  • The Future of Health Care: Entering the Shift Age – David Houle
  • Multi-sector Leadership Now and in the Future – AJ Robinson, PhD

Symposia Possible and Probable Futures – Discussion Outcomes

  • Symposia Synthesis
  • There’s No Business Unless You show Me the Business – The Imperative to Articulate, Construct, Fund, Implement, and operate Business Models in the Post-ACA Digital World
  • Shaping the Future Agenda for Behavioral Health Policy: What do we want? How do we get it?
  • The Power of the Person in the Future of Health
  • The Times They Are A-Changin’: Forming Unfamiliar and Even Difficult Partnerships to Create Innovation in Service Delivery
  • Making Health Care Whole: Getting Integration Unstuck
  • Innovation: A New Ecology of Behavioral Health Leadership in the New Age of Health

Listening/Conversation Arc Feedback

Each Summit symposium dialogue – while centered around a specific theme – also had a number of similar/overlapping conversations. Those were captured in “conversation arcs” and feedback from those conversations is captured in the links below.

  • Thought Patterns/Assumptions/Values
  • Economic and Financing Issues, Challenges, Models
  • Workforce Issues
  • Peer and Family Participation and Recovery
  • Technological Innovations

Symposia Resources

The Times They Are A-Changin’: Forming Unfamiliar and Even Difficult Partnerships to Create Innovation in Service Delivery
– Terri Hurst, MSW and Sharon Raggio, MBA

  • Simon Sinek – How Great Leaders Inspire Action
  • Collaborative Leadership: A Foundation for Success
  • Slide Deck – Collaborative Leadership

Innovation: A New Ecology of Behavioral Health Leadership in the New Age of Health
– Steve Scoggin, PsyD, LPC and Keris Myrick, PhD

Topic Areas and Associated Resources

  • Technology
  • Leaders of the Future: Innovative and Adaptive Leadership
  • From Treatment to Healing: Building Webs of Trust
  • Money in, Money Out – (new payers and funding mechanism)

Short Videos

  • Symposium Overall Approach: Appreciative Inquiry – An Introduction
  • Topic 1: Conference Call in Real Life
  • Topic 2: Everything is Not a Nail
  • Topic 2: How to Lead a Movement
  • Topic 3: Lars and the Real Girl Trailer

Documents

  • Appreciative Inquiry Interview Protocol: Raising and Celebrating Excellence, Learning and the Spirit in Health Care
  • High-Impact Leadership: Improve Care, Improve the Health of Populations, and Reduce Costs (Institute for HealthCare Improvement 2013)
  • The Strategy That Will Fix Health Care: Providers must lead the way making value the overarching goal (Michael E. Porter and Thomas H. Lee, Harvard Business Review, October 2013)
  • Manatt’s Healthcare Industry Megatrends

Making Health Care Whole: Getting Integration Unstuck
– Johanna Ferman, MD and Dale Jarvis, CPA

  1. Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care: Evaluating the Evidence, Identifying the Essentials. Talen, Mary R., Burke Valeras, Aimee (Eds.) 2013, XXII, 354 p. 24 illus, 8 illus in color
  2. “Fostering Sustainable, Integrated Medical and Behavioral Health Services in Medical Settings,” Ron Manderscheid, PhD; and Roger Kathol, MD. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160(1):61-65-65. doi:10.7326/M13-1693. Article and Author Information
  3. Peek CJ and the National Integration Academy Council. Lexicon for Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration: Concepts and Definitions Developed by Expert Consensus. AHRQ Publication No.13-IP001-EF. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 2013.
  4. Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, by Robert M. Sapolsky

The Power of the Person in the Future of Health
– Jen Padron, MEd, CPS, QMHP-CS and Ron Manderscheid, PhD

  • The Power of Person – PowerPoint Slide Deck from Symposium Facilitators/Speakers
  • Essential New Roles for Peers and Service Recipients in the Whole Health Era
  • Swarbrick, M. (2013, August 1). Integrated Care: Wellness-Oriented Peer Approaches: A Key Ingredient for Integrated Care.
  • Vestal, C. (2013, September 11). ‘Peers’ May Ease Mental Health Worker Shortage under Obamacare.
  • Peers and Leadership: An Excerpt From the White Paper “US Peer Leadership and Development.” National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors Newsletter, February 27, 2014.
  • Supported Decision-Making: An Agenda for Action.

David Houle

David Houle is a futurist, thinker and speaker. Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment. He has worked at NBC, CBS and was part of the senior exes also nominated for an Academy Award. Houle is consistently ranked as one of the top futurists and futurist keynote speakers on the major search engines and in the world today. In the last three years he has delivered keynotes on six continents and twelve countries. He is often called “the CEOs’ Futurist” having spoken to or advised 2,000+ CEOs and business owners in the past four years. In February 2010 he also became a featured contributor to Oprah.com and his column can be found at www.oprah.com/davidhoule.

His first book, the influential and highly acclaimed “The Shift Age” was published in 2008. His second book, “Shift Ed: A Call to Action for Transforming K-12 Education” was published in April 2011 by Corwin. His third book, “The New Health Age: the Future of Healthcare and Medicine in America” was published by Sourcebooks in December 2011 and became a #1 category best seller on Amazon. . His fourth book, “Entering the Shift Age” was published by Sourcebooks in January 2013 and reached #1 best seller in the category of Business Planning and Forecasting. Houle is a member of the faculty and the futurist in residence at the Ringling College of Art + Design.

Alonford J. Robinson, Jr., PhD

Dr. Robinson is Chairman and CEO of Symphonic Strategies™ Inc., an organizational and community development firm based in Washington, DC. Symphonic Strategies™ works with people from all walks of life to help them lead and transform the organizations and communities around them. He leads a team of diverse and gifted individuals who specialize in crafting compelling messages, researching the ideal state, developing agile leadership, cultivating social enterprise, searching for interdisciplinary insights, mapping political ecosystems, engineering collective action, and incubating social movements. Their clients include leaders in the public and private sectors, with a focus on national philanthropic organizations and large public agencies in the federal government.

While at the Corporate Executive Board, a leading international business strategy firm, Dr. Robinson delivered keynote remarks and led organizational strategy seminars with C-level audiences (CEO, CMO, CTO, etc.) in more than 150 organizations in over a dozen countries throughout Europe and North America. His area of expertise was corporate strategy, marketing, and human resource management.

Dr. Robinson has also been a consultant to the PBS show Frontline, served as a staff writer on the Encarta Africana Encyclopedia of the Black Diaspora, and is an adjunct professor at the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership (CEPL) at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. At CEPL, his courses and seminars include topics that range from strategic management, organizational transformation, executive decision-making, and leading change initiatives. He delivers regular seminars and courses to public sector leaders in federal, municipal, and local government agencies. He also provides strategic coaching for senior executives and emerging leaders across his client portfolio. Dr. Robinson holds a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University and dual bachelor’s degrees in social psychology and political science from Stanford University.

2013 Summit

April 5, 2013 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations

Leadership demands are evolving in a changed and changing health care environment. Effective leadership is about translating external pressures into current and future success. Macro-trends such as population-based health promotion, coordination of multiple chronic conditions, integration of physical/behavioral care, dual eligible populations, new delivery models, peer support and coaching, payment reform, and advances in clinical decision supports and information technology will each affect how leadership “looks” in the emerging health care arena. At the same time, our experience and expertise must inform the solutions we bring to new collaborations, innovations, payment approaches, and community/social supports to improve the health and wellness of those we serve.

The 2013 Summit focused on leadership challenges in this environment, with specific emphasis on exemplars working to achieve the Triple Aim of

  • Better Care (access, quality, and outcomes of care, new delivery structures, etc.);
  • Better Health ( e.g., integration of care, new collaborations, whole population health); and
  • Lower Costs (e.g. multi-payer financing, health plans/exchanges, pay for performance models).

Challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned are available to inform our efforts. We invite leaders of health homes, public health, family physicians, health care, behavioral health, addiction services, and community wellness to join ACMHA members to focus on the skills and experiences required to lead and transform health. Summit conversations will focus on tools, qualities, models, and resources that encourage and sustain evolving leadership. We will learn from program leaders who are early adopters and have demonstrated successful approaches for achieving the Triple Aim and work together to develop a consensus statement on emerging leadership trends.

Proceedings

As Summit 2013 opened April 3, the first large group exercise and discussion was to describe what behavioral health leadership looks like now. A Wordle was created to capture that discussion, which is available from the link. During the courage of the Summit, attendees engaged in a series of conversations based on information they had gleaned from exemplar presenters about achieving the triple aim and their own experiences. Each group was asked to share their thoughts and “answers” to the following two questions:

  • What description is emerging of the critical leadership skills and experiences necessary to transform health and achieve the Triple Aim ?
  • What does this mean for your personal and organizational goals, performance, and operations?

Responses are available from:

  • Group A
  • Group D
  • Group E
  • Group F

As Summit came to a close, attendees were asked to answer the following question in a 5×7 exercise: What is a first step that behavioral health leaders need to take to improve progress toward achieving the Triple Aim? Responses are available from the link.

Presenter Slides

  • To Your Health and Wealth: Sprinting Toward the Triple Aim: Ron Manderscheid, PhD, NACBHDD and Outgoing President, ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership
  • Your Life Matters: A Corporate Focus on Emotional Well Being in the Workplace: Martha Burger – Senior Vice President, Human & Corporate Resources, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Oklahoma City, OK
  • Creating Integrated Care in Rural Behavioral Health Agencies – Apache Junction, AZ: Maria-Elena Ochoa, Chief of Medical Operations, Mountain Health & Wellness, Apache Junction, AZ
  • Emerging Technologies: Kim Johnson, MSEd, MBA, Deputy Director, CHESS, Madison, WI
  • From Fee-for-Service to Value-Based Care Under the ACA: Christopher Pricco, MBA, Senior Vice President, Accountable Care Solutions, Optum, Eden, MN
  • Leadership for Wicked Problems: Richard H. Beinecke, DPA, ACSW, Professor; Chair, Institute for Public Service, Suffolk University, Sawyer Business School

Background Information From Presenters

From Emerging Technologies, Kim Johnson
– An E-Health Solution for People With Alcohol Problems
– Potential Roles for New Communication Technologies in Treatment of Addiction

From Creating Integrated Care in Rural Behavioral Health Agencies, Maria-Elena Ochoa and Terry Stevens
– Mountain Health & Wellness: Integrated Healthcare for Everybody! Creating the Healthiest and Happiest Communities
– Mountain Health & Wellness/Cenpatico Behavioral Health: Integrated Health for Everybody! Description

From Parachute NYC, Pablo Sadler, Jamie Neckles, and Steve Coe
– About Parachute NYC
– Parachute NYC: A New Approach For Individuals Experiencing Psychiatric Crises
– Parachute NYC Flow Chart

From Fee-for-Service to Value-Based Care Under the ACA, Christopher Pricco
– Optum Accountable Care Solutions
– Preventing Patient Rebounds

Leadership Resources

  • Is “Command and Collaborate” the New Leadership Model?
  • Training the Next Generation of US and Global Mental Health Leaders: Competencies and Needed Actions,
  • An ACMHA Arm Chair Reflection, Richard Beinecke, DPA, ACSW
  • Text excerpts from Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer, by Jim Collins

Resources on Achieving the Triple Aim

  • Executive Summary – Integrating Mental Health Services into Primary Care: The Collaborative Care Model (United Hospital Fund)
  • Considering a Public Health Approach
  • Safety Net Challenges in Delivering Accountable Care
  • Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America (Institute of Medicine, September 2012)
  • The Affordable Care Act: Helping Providers Help Patients. A Menu of Options for Improving Care (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
  • Best Practice Models Show Us the Future of American Health Care (Alliance of Community Health Plans, June 2012)
  • Care Innovations Summit Summary: Transforming Health Care Delivery by Invigorating the Marketplace of Ideas (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, January 2012)
  • Pursuing the Triple Aim: Seven Innovators Show the Way to Better Care, Better Health, and Lower Costs, by Maureen Bisognano and Charles Kenney (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2012).
    – Transcript of Interview with Charles Kenney (March 29, 2012)
    – Transcript of Interview with Maureen Bisognano (March 29, 2012)

2012 Summit

March 23, 2012 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations

Transitions and transformations…that is what health care is all about. We are moving from an individual perspective to a focus on the collective power of people living, learning, working, and healing together. The enormous potential of community and social support was the focus of our exciting 2012 Summit. On March 21 – 23, 2012, thought leaders came together in Charleston, SC, to address three contemporary and compelling questions:

  • What impact do social supports have on the health of a community?
  • How can these supports change a community’s social determinants of health?
  • What are the implications of these changes for the prevention, treatment, and recovery of people with behavioral health problems?

Health is about far more than medical care. Education, income, housing, nutrition, and the neighborhoods in which we live influence individual health and welfare. Many people do not have the same opportunities to make healthy choices. Barriers are difficult to overcome and harnessing the societal pressure necessary to drive change remains an enormous challenge. Rather than staying focused only on reforming health care – which is essential – we must broaden our view and find ways to help all people lead healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives.

At this ACMHA Summit we addressed how social supports – emotional, tangible, informational, and instrumental – enhance health in any community, be it a neighborhood, workplace, school, or virtual network. Post-Summit learnings, presenter slides, poster presentations, and links to further reading are all included below. Please make use of these resources as you continue to work to effect change and create healthy communities!

From the 4×5 Harvest

At the conclusion of the Summit, attendees were asked to recall one important learning or “aha” moment from the Summit. A list of 83 statements were “harvested” and reflect the breadth and depth of the Summit “community.”

Learnings about community engagement and characteristics were paramount. “We want to know that you care, before we care what you know;” “Start with the community and not the answer;” “Block professional input and wait until the community asks for it;” and, “Supports and system change happen differently in each community; listening, engaging, and using the strengths of the community will make the difference” are some of the many learnings gleaned.

Participants also noted insights to new health and behavioral health roles and responsibilities. “It is very difficult to create a community that takes into account diversity of perspective and the social determinates of health—but it is critical to do the work;” [We need to] “ facilitate community empowerment and wellness versus leading [a] sick/medical model” were noted by many. Also, “Humans and communities connect and relate. This is what it is to be human. Behavioral health services and systems are experts in convening people to connect and relate. It’s a natural.” In addition, attendees valued the exemplar community programs presented and recognized the many effective community building strategies in action and those evolving such as social media and technology.

Learnings of a more personal or individual nature were another result of the Summit experience. For example, “Each of us can impact the health of a community;” “Community health and wellness starts with my own health and wellness;, “Push past your fears to do what your heart knows and the world will change;” and “Root your professional service in your personal experience.”

Lastly, comments related to the Summit and ACMHA participants were rated as important learnings for participants. “ACMHA members want their work to be research-informed. They crave simple summaries of the research on which they can build” and “The tremendous talent and spirit of ACMHA members at this Summit to discuss and learn from each other respectively.”


Summit Presentation Slides

  • So You Think You’re a Leader?
    Sandy Forquer, PhD, and ACMHA Leadership Committee
  • Setting the Summit Context
    Gail Stuart, PhD, Summit Co-chair
  • Using Social Determinants to Improve Community Health: Where do we go from here
    King Davis, PhD
  • How Social Supports Can Change the Health of a Community
    Wilma Townsend, MSW
  • The Children’s Resilience Initiative of Walla Walla: One Community’s Response to Adverse Childhood Experiences
  • Annett’s Video
    Mark Brown, EdD, and Teri Barila, MS
  • Reach US Southeast African American Center of Excellence for Eliminating Disparities Related to Diabetes and Its Complications
    Carolyn Jenkins, DrPH, Virginia Thomas, and Florene Linnen
  • McShin: A Recovery Resource Foundation
    John Shinholser
  • Senior Reach
    Vicki K. Rodgers, MS, LPC
  • Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community
    King Davis, PhD

Poster Presentations

  • Supports: An Abridged History of Peer, CPS, CSX Programs supporting Outcomes
    Jennifer Padron, MEd, CPS, AMHP-CS; Laura Van Tosh; Peter Ashenden, Gitane Williams; Steve Harrington, JD; and Jennifer Magnabosco, PhD
  • Using Peer Support Whole Health Coaches and Technology Solutions for Newly Insured Beneficiaries Under Health Reform
    Allen Daniels and JJ Farook
  • OptumHealth Peer Bridger Program, Pierce County, WA
    Marty Driggs
  • BasicNeeds: Empowering Individuals and Building Community Capacity
    Dick Dougherty
  • Focus 24™ for the Foster Care System
    Marianne Burdison
  • Resilience Trumps ACES – Walla Walla, WA
    Mark Brown and Teri Barila
  • Senior Reach
    Vicki Rodgers
  • REACH US SouthEastern African American Center of Excellence for Eliminating Disparities Related to Diabetes and its Complications
    Carolyn Jenkins, DrPH

Readings and Additional Information

  • Approaches to Measuring: Community Change Indicators. Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement
  • Breaking Through on the Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities: An approach to message translation. (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America)
  • A New Way to Talk About the Social Determinants of Health (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Vulnerable Populations Portfolio)
  • Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. (World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health)
  • Social determinants of health inequalities. (Michael Marmot)
  • Global Learning Device on Social Determinants of Health and Public Policy Formulation (World Health Organization) http://dds-dispositivoglobal.ops.org.ar/curso/cursoeng/contexto.html
  • Introduction to The Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell: “The Roseto Mystery.” (Available at www.amazon.com)
  • The Community Guide’s Model for Linking the Social Environment to Health (American Journal of Preventive Medicine)
  • The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (www.abundantcommunity.com)
  • “Leading Health Indicators About Your Health and Well-being,” a Behavioral Healthcare blogpost by Ron Manderscheid
  • Practice Guidelines for Recovery and Resiliency Oriented Treatment (including a Domain of Community Connection and Mobilizaion) – Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and DisAbilities.
  • The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality created the Health Care Innovations Exchange to speed the implementation of new and better ways of delivering health care. The Innovations Exchange offers health professionals and researchers a variety of opportunities to share, learn about, and ultimately adopt evidence-based innovations and tools suitable for a range of health care settings and populations.

2011 Summit

March 18, 2011 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers

On March 16-18, 2011, thought leaders from mental health, substance use, and the larger health care field came together in New Orleans to examine disruptive innovation and its implications for our field in the era of dramatic health reform. What are disruptive innovations? How do we create and encourage them? And how do we lead the field as they take root?

Disruptive Innovation’s Power to Upend Markets

In the 1990s, Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen coined the term “disruptive innovation” to describe a simpler, cheaper product or service that ultimately upends an established marketplace. The new product or service starts out in a rudimentary form and is initially targeted for delivery to previously unserved or underserved groups. As the new product or service takes hold, it is refined and ultimately displaces more established products or services that are more expensive, more complex, and unable to adapt.

A useful example of disruptive innovation is the personal computer, which has made computing accessible and affordable to most Americans. In the 1970s, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and IBM were leaders in the computing business, a marketplace that was limited to those few with sufficient resources and skill to buy and operate mainframe computers. Visionaries at IBM took up the recently invented microprocessor and created a new business model that brought an initially modest product (relative to powerful mainframe computers) to a brand-new market – the home user. DEC was not able to make the transition to personal computing and did not survive.

Disruptive innovations have been documented throughout the business and technology fields. More recently, the ideas have been compellingly applied to health care. Christensen and his colleagues’ 2007 book, The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care, provides a thorough overview of the concept, demonstrating how disruptive innovations are making and will make health care accessible and affordable for most people.

Applying Disruptive Innovation to Behavioral Health: The 2011 Summit

As we in the behavioral health field scramble to educate ourselves and begin conceptualizing how we must change to survive this era of health reform, disruptive innovation offers a powerful framework to ground our thinking.

At ACMHA’s 2011 Summit, we will dive into disruptive innovation and explore ways to harness its power to make behavioral health care more accessible and affordable in a new era. Using the language and framework of disruptive innovation, we will examine key questions such as:

  • What are the technological enablers that will routinize diagnosis and treatment, conserving highly expensive, skilled professionals for atypical cases and maximizing the use of providers with different training?
  • What new business models in the provision of care, insurance, and reimbursement will make behavioral health care less costly and more accessible?
  • What are the key elements of new value networks (i.e., the suppliers, retailers, and consumers that make up the context in which business models operate) that will allow disruptive innovations in behavioral health care to flourish?
  • What are the opportunities – through health reform and elsewhere – to facilitate disruptive innovation through current and new regulations and standards?

We will look not only at what will be but what is – that is, those areas of disruptive innovation that are already shaking up the behavioral health care field and health care in general. These include employing peers and community health workers as providers, establishing personal health records, and providing collaborative care for managing behavioral health conditions in general medical settings. We will talk about how to recognize a disruptive innovation when you see it and how you might go about developing them yourself.

We will also focus on the critical role of leadership in an era of disruptive innovation. Across all fields, established leaders often fight disruptive innovations, with the desire to hang on to the status quo. We will examine ways that we can use our leadership instead to support the adoption of disruptive innovations in behavioral health and the larger health care field.

Summit Coverage

  • Mental Health Weekly, Volume 21, No 12 (March 21, 2011)
  • Behavioral Healthcare, “ACMHA Names Four 2011 Award Winners” (March 23, 2011)

Summit Presentation Slides

  • What Does it Take to Lead? Developing Organizational Strategies to Address Disruptive Innovation in the Market – Monica Oss, Open Minds
  • Healthcare Reform And Disruptive Innovation: Oxymoron or We Told You So? – Dale Jarvis, Dale Jarvis and Associates, LLC and Chuck Ingoglia, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
  • Improving Lives and Capitalizing on Emerging Opportunities – Pamela S. Hyde, JD, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Designing and Selling a Disruptive Innovation

On the final day of the ACMHA 2011 Summit, participants gathered in an Innovation Marketplace. There, six “vendor groups” presented new “products” for treatment, support, and/or service delivery that in one or more ways were disruptive to the status quo of today’s behavioral health marketplace. Following their presentations, all participants had the opportunity to invest in one or more products with the “ACMHA bucks” provide to them as they entered the marketplace. Trading was spirited and, befitting American marketing models, offers of bonus gifts and new technology were made to entice investors.
Notes regarding each of the innovations traded are available from the links below.

  • Wellness Village
  • Community Care Organizations
  • Service Without Walls
  • Store Front Wellness
  • Web-Enhanced Person Centered Assessment Tool (WEP-CAT)
  • Changing Paradigms of Behavioral Health Services Research and Recovery

Research Poster Presentations

  • Consumer Attitudes Toward Participation in Clinical Research
    Allen S. Daniels, EdD and Lisa C. Goodale, MSW
  • Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners: Shaping Effective Innovations in Mental Health Treatment
    Kathleen R. Delaney, PhD, PMH-NP
  • Barriers in Implementing Evidence-Based Collaborative Care for Depression: Providers’ Perspectives on Comfort and Difficulty Delivering Depression Care in Primary Care
    Jennifer L. Magnabosco, PhD, Michelle Seelig, MD, Lisa Rubenstein, MD, MSPH, Edmund Chaney, PhD, Ellzabeth Yano, PhD, Andrew Lanto, MS, Barbara Simon, MA, Jeff Spina, MD
  • Measuring Chronic Disease Care Delivery: A Scorecard for Primary Care Physicians
    John C. Wadsworth, BS
  • Self-Help Quality Improvement as a Disruptive Intervention
    Gregory B. Teague, PhD
  • Pierce County, WA Crisis System Transformation
    Cheri Dolezal, RN, MBA
  • Before We Disrupt, Have We Transformed?
    Crystal Blyler, Chuck Lupton, Steve Leff, Clifton Chow, Grace Gonzalez, Ben Cichocki, Dow Wieman, Terry Camacho-Gonsalves, Laysha Ostrow
  • Using New Technologies to Support Treatment and Recovery
    Mike Boyle, MA and David Moore, MS
  • Creating Replicable and Sustainable Peer Support Services
    Beth Epps, MEd and Chyrell Bellamy, PhD, MSW
  • Behavioral Health Community Indicators: A Disruptive Innovation for Measuring Effectiveness of Service Providers
    Lynda Frost, JD, PhD; Susan Stone, MD, JD & Tara Powell MSW, MPH

Getting Up to Speed for Summit

We will hit the ground running at the 2011 Summit. With so much content to cover, we will provide only a brief overview of the key concepts before diving into strategic discussions. Here are some things you can do to get up to speed before Summit:

  • Listen to Keynote Speaker Paul Keckley’s Pre-Summit Webinar on Disruptive Innovations and Behavioral Healthcare (Recorded 03/03/11)
  • Read “A Letter to ACMHA Members and Friends: What is a Disruptive Innovation and Why Should I Care?” by Dale Jarvis
  • Plan to participate in the pre-Summit webinar this winter, which will cover the basics on disruptive innovation and provide initial food for thought on its applications in behavioral health.
  • Read the main source — Clayton Christen et al’s 2007 The Innovators Prescription – A Disruptive Solution for Health Care, or try John Kenagy’s brief summary of the issues at www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/uploaded_files/kenagy.pdf.
2011 Faculty

2010 Summit

March 26, 2010 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers

The 2010 ACMHA Summit will be your navigational guide or GPS (Global Positioning “Summit”) for the shifting behavioral health landscape. Inform, inspire, innovate, and interface with other behavioral health leaders from across the nation to map the waypoints toward a successful future for public and private behavioral healthcare. The 2010 Summit emphasizes engagement, participation, and cultivation of ideas from ACMHA members and other behavioral health leaders in attendance. Essential information presented by informed, recognized speakers will be balanced with group dialogue, spirited discussions, and “course-charting” activities.

Both negative and positive forces are impacting the behavioral healthcare system. Among the negatives are our uncertain economy and rising healthcare costs; positive forces include gains in recovery-infused approaches, interdisciplinary collaboration, and use of innovative technologies for quality care. In combination, such forces influence behavioral health resources, business strategies, service delivery approaches, and most importantly, the well-being of consumers and families. Therefore, it is critical that behavioral health leaders are actively involved in planning for the future. The ACMHA Summit is your opportunity to take part in essential conversations and strategy development that will help the behavioral health field navigate through the potential impacts and adapt to a changing environment. But more than that, it is a potential direction-setting event with your participation essential!

Presentations

  • A New Era in Behavioral Health: Charting the Course. Garrett Moran, PhD, 2010 ACMHA Summit Chair.
  • Implications/Impact of Parity Legislation and Healthcare Reform for Behavioral Health: Systems Perspective. Chuck Ingoglia, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.
  • Addressing Substance Use Disorders: Translating Science to Policy in the 2010 Drug Control Strategy. A. Thomas McLellan, PhD, Deputy Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
  • Behavioral Health 2010: Challenges and Opportunities. Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, JD, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
  • Taking Action to Address Global Problems: Emerging Payment Reform Models for Health and Behavioral Healthcare. Dale Jarvis, CPA, MCPP Healthcare Consulting, Inc.
  • Employer-Sponsored Behavioral Health: Current Themes and Future Direction. Ron Finch, EdD, National Business Group on Health.
  • Taking Action to Address Global Problems. Wilma Townsend, MSW, WLT Consulting, LLC.
  • Corporate Employers, Parity, and Health Care Reform. Ed Jones, PhD, ValueOptions.
  • National Models and Key Trends in Primary Care and Behavioral Health Integration. Kathleen Reynolds, LMSW, ACSW, The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.

Handouts

ACMHA is pleased to make available a number of background reports/papers for Summit attendees. Participants are encouraged to review the materials provided in preparation for Summit discussions. All documents are posted here as PDFs for easy download, viewing, and printing. Questions about these materials should be directed to the ACMHA office.

  • Behavioral Health/Primary Care Integration and the Person-Centered Healthcare Home. Prepared by Barbara J. Mauer, MSW, CMC under the auspices of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.
  • How Are We Going to Get Paid Tomorrow? Emerging Models for Health and Behavioral Healthcare Working Draft. Dale Jarvis, CPA, MCPP Healthcare Consulting.
  • Community Care Teams and the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.
  • The Behavioral Health Care System of the Future: Caring for a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Population. Prepared by Vivian H, Jackson, PhD, ACMHA Diversity Interest Group
  • Will Health Reform Help People With Mental Illness? An analysis of the bills passed in Congress in 2009 and how their enactment could affect adults with psychiatric disabilities. Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.
  • Fact Sheet: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). US Departments of Trasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor.
  • Substance Use Disorders and the Person-Centered Healthcare Home. Prepared by Barbara J. Mauer, MSW, CMC under the auspices of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.
  • If I Have a Psychiatric Disability Will Health Reform Help Me? For consumers of mental health services, a review of the bills passed by Congress in 2009. Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

Summit Faculty

Ron Finch, EdD, is Vice President of the national Business Group on Health and has responsibility for business development; the Institute on Health, Productivity, and Human Capital; the Pharmaceutical Council; and behavioral health projects. The Institute on Health, Productivity, and Human Capital develops and shares solutions aimed at improving employee health and productivity. It examines and supports the business relationship between population health, engagement and organizational performance. The Pharmaceutical Council is comprised of Business Group corporate members, pharmaceutical companies, and pharmacy benefit management companies and functions to provide sophisticated tools and products for developing effective and efficient medications. The Business Group develops mental health and substance abuse tools and products for employer use in health plans, disability management, employee assistance programs, and health and productivity management programs. These products focus on the mental health needs of employees and their families.

Prior to joining the Business Group, Dr. Finch was the director of health care and the hospital administrator at Mount Carmel Guild Special Hospital where he designed, implemented, and directed the delivery of behavioral health and addiction services to more than 6,000 indigent, psychiatric Medicaid and Medicare patients each year. Before that, he was employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers. There he developed a comprehensive national behavioral health care consulting practice that included approaches for development of clinical and administrative systems and structures, outcomes measurement systems, regulatory compliance and accreditation, staffing methodologies, and quality management.

Dr. Finch has also been corporate director of managed benefits and director of employee assistance program at BellSouth Corporation where he developed, implemented, and directed the activities of a managed medical, dental, pharmaceutical, mental health, and vision system for 350,000 BellSouth employees, retirees and beneficiaries. Dr. Finch holds a BS from Memphis State University (University of Memphis). He also holds a MS in counseling psychology from the University of Tennessee and a Doctorate in counseling and personnel services from Memphis State University.

Pamela S. Hyde, JD, is Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), US Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Hyde was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the US Senate in November 2009 as Administrator of SAMHSA, a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.  The agency’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. As Administrator, Ms. Hyde leads SAMHSA’s staff of approximately 550 public health professionals and manages a budget of approximately $3.5 billion dedicated towards efforts and policies advancing the health and wellbeing of the American people.

Ms. Hyde comes to SAMHSA with more than 30 years experience in management and consulting for public healthcare and human services agencies. She has served as a state mental health director, state human services director, city housing and human services director, as well as CEO of a private non-profit managed behavioral healthcare firm. In 2003 she was appointed cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Human Services Department by Gov. Bill Richardson, where she worked effectively to provide greater access to quality health services for everyone. Ms. Hyde received her JD from the University of Michigan Law School (1976) and her BA from Southwest Missouri State University (1972).

Charles S. Ingoglia, MS, is Vice President of Public Policy for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. In his current role, Mr. Ingoglia directs the federal and state affairs function of the non-profit trade association as well as its policy and technical assistance outreach to nearly 1,700 member organizations across the nation. He also oversees a number of quality improvement initiatives designed to increase the efficiency of community based behavioral health organizations, and to increase access and quality of care. Prior to joining the National Council, Mr. Ingoglia provided policy and program design guidance to the Center for Mental Health Services at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under the US Department of Health and Human Services. He is an active member of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership. He is a member of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.

Dale A. Jarvis, CPA, is a Managing Consultant at MCPP Healthcare Consulting, a Seattle-based consulting firm, and a member of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare’s Consulting Services.  Mr. Jarvis has extensive experience helping health plans and healthcare providers redesign their administrative, fiscal, and information systems.  He has contributed articles to books and publications and is a co-author of The Primary Care Performance Management System and How to Thrive in Managed Behavioral Healthcare.  Mr. Jarvis has been a certified public accountant in the State of Washington and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants since 1982.

Currently Mr. Jarvis is working with states and at the national level to develop a framework for aligning the public behavioral healthcare safety net system with general healthcare reform to ensure that the needs of persons with serious mental health and substance use disorders are addressed. Prior to consulting, Mr. Jarvis worked in senior financial management positions in healthcare and social services provider organizations in Washington and Michigan. He is a member of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.

Ed Jones, PhD, is Executive Vice President of the Commercial Division for ValueOptions. The company covers 23 million lives nationally through a variety of direct contracts with employers, health plans, labor and trust groups, as well as state and county agencies. ValueOptions specializes in EAP services and care management for all mental health and chemical dependency diagnoses. The Commercial Division includes 16 million members and five service centers dedicated to ensuring the highest quality care and service for those members. Dr. Jones is also accountable for commercial sales and account management.

Dr. Jones has worked as both a provider of care and a business executive during his career. He worked as a private practice psychologist during the 1980s and honed his business management skills as co-owner/co-director of a multi-disciplinary group practice founded in 1991. This business grew and merged with another group so that by 1997 he was serving as Executive Director of Behavioral Health Network (BHN), an integrated group practice providing services for patients in a seven-county southern California region.

Dr. Jones then moved to PacifiCare Behavioral Health (PBH) where he served as Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer. During his nine years with PBH he was responsible for the development and implementation of clinical policies and procedures, the operation of all four PBH service centers, and provider network management. Dr. Jones represented PBH on the board of the American Managed Behavioral Healthcare Association (AMBHA), and he served as the chairman of this organization in 2004.

Dr. Jones is a featured speaker at many national and state conferences on behavioral health and outcomes management. He has authored several articles on subjects such as improving detection of suicide and substance abuse risk, as well as improving clinical outcomes in large systems of care. Currently a member of the editorial board of Behavioral Healthcare magazine, Dr. Jones holds a BA from Cornell University and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Northwestern University. He is a member of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.

A. Thomas McLellan, PhD, was sworn in as the Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in August 2009. As Deputy Director, Dr. McLellan serves as the primary advisor to the Director on a broad range of drug control issues and assists in the formulation and implementation of the President’s National Drug Control Strategy. Dr. McLellan brings 35 years of addiction treatment research to the position, most recently at the Treatment Research Institute, a non-profit organization that he co-founded in 1992 to transform the way science is used to understand substance abuse. Dr. McLellan’s contributions to the advancement of substance abuse research and the application of these findings to treatment systems and public policy have changed the landscape of addiction science and improved the lives of countless Americans and their families.

In his career he has published over 400 articles and chapters on addiction research. From 2000-2009 he was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, and he has also served on several other editorial boards of scientific journals. Dr. McLellan is the recipient of several distinguished awards including the Life Achievement Awards of the American and British Societies of Addiction Medicine (2001 & 2003); the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Innovator Award (2005); and awards for Distinguished Contribution to Addiction Medicine from the Swedish (2002) and Italian (2002) Medical Associations. Dr. McLellan holds a BA from Colgate University and his MS and PhD from Bryn Mawr College. He received postgraduate training in psychology at Oxford University in England.

Kathleen Reynolds, MSW, ACSW, is Vice President for Health Integration and Wellness for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare in Washington, DC. In that role Ms. Reynolds’ primary responsibility is to coordinate and run national and state learning communities/collaboratives that assist local organizations in the integration of behavioral health and primary care services. For the 13 years prior to her current position, her primary emphasis was on developing Integrated Health Care Models for Medicaid and indigent consumers.

During that time Ms. Reynolds served as the Director of the Washtenaw Community Health Organization (WCHO) and as an Adjunct Clinical Instructor in the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry. The WCHO is an integrated health system that includes a Community Mental Health Services Program, a Substance Abuse Coordinating Agency, and primary health care capitation dollars for Medicaid and indigent consumers.

With over 30 years experience in the mental health and substance abuse field, Ms. Reynolds also serves as the lead consultant for the National Council of Community Behavioral Healthcare on integrated health issues. In that role she has provided consultation to over 100 programs in a number of states. In addition, Ms. Reynolds coordinates work with philanthropic organizations across the country and is currently linked with 10 foundations.

Ms. Reynolds graduated from the University of Michigan, School of Social Work in 1982. She has presented at numerous conferences and conventions on integrated health and is the author/co-author of numerous articles on integrated health. She co-authored a manual on implementing integrated care entitled Raising the Bar: Moving toward the Integration of Health Care a Manual for Providers. Raising the Bar is in its second edition and is used widely to implement integration between the public behavioral health system and primary care providers. She is a member of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.

Wilma Townsend, MSW, is President of WLT Consulting, a firm that specialized in Mental Health Recovery, Consumer Involvement, and Cultural Competence. Ms. Townsend is a board member of the National Leadership Council for African American Behavioral Health, a past board member of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership, and founding member of the Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence in Ohio.

Ms. Townsend is a recognized international consumer leader in the recovery movement. She has written two books in this area, Emerging Best Practices in Mental Health Recovery, Edition 1 and 2. Her most recent book (2006) is entitled Consumers in the Mental Health Workforce: A Handbook for Community Providers. She also has written numerous articles on the subject as well as the prologue and epilogue for Treatment Planning for Person-Centered Care, The Road to Mental Health and Addiction Recovery. Ms. Townsend also has been a member of SAMHSA work groups that developed National Standards on Cultural Competence and the national paper on Mental Health Recovery.

In her work with WLT Consulting, she has provided system and provider level consultation on transformation to a Recovery Focus System in Pennsylvania (especially Allegheny and Philadelphia counties), Utah, North Carolina, Hawaii, Ohio, and Guelph, Ontario, Canada. WLT Consulting has also established a Recovery Training Institute in which individuals – professionals and consumers – come to Atlanta to be trained in recovery topics. Her recovery work is with consumers, clinicians, and administrators. In addition, she is also a national leader on issues of cultural competence, helping many organizations make changes so that disparities in access to care are minimized and the quality of care received by people of color is enhanced. She is presently working with a number of counties in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and New Mexico in this area as well has she integrates it into all of her recovery work.

Summit Facilitation Team

Colette Croze, MSW, is a private consultant specializing in public resource management, focusing on purchasing and design options for managed systems of care.  Her work has taken her across the country to numerous states and counties who have re-engineered public systems through the use of care management and risk arrangements with both public and private organizations. Recent consultations include work on incorporating population-based planning and process improvement into recovery-oriented service systems; analyzing effective strategies for reducing emergency department presentations and inpatient admissions; and using performance management to improve provider practices.  Ms. Croze has over 30 years’ experience in the public behavioral health system, working for county government and several states in senior management positions. Prior to beginning her private practice, she was Senior Consultant to the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) where she advised states on aligning public mental health systems with Medicaid managed behavioral healthcare initiatives.  She is a member of the Board of Directors of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.

Allen Daniels, EdD, is Vice President of Scientific Affairs for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA). DBSA is the nation’s leading patient-directed organization focusing on depression and bipolar disorder. Dr. Daniels works with the organization’s scientific advisory board, comprised of the nation’s leading researchers and clinicians in the field of mood disorders. He is responsible for communicating a clear, scientific understanding of mental illnesses to the professional and scientific communities and the general public. Dr. Daniels was Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine and the Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Behavioral Care, a regional managed behavioral health care organization affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Daniels is widely recognized for his work on the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report, Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental and Substance Use Conditions.  He has twice served as Chair of the Board of the American Managed Behavioral Healthcare Association (now Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness). He is active on a number of boards and professional organizations. Additionally, he has extensively published in the area of behavioral health policy including managed care and group practice operations, quality improvement and clinical outcomes, behavioral healthcare workforce development, and behavioral health and primary care integration. He also lectures and consults both nationally and internationally on these subjects. Dr. Daniels is a graduate of The University of Chicago School of Social Services Administration and The University of Cincinnati.

Richard H. Dougherty, PhD, is the CEO of DMA Health Strategies and has consulted with various businesses and government agencies on strategic planning, change management, and quality improvement over the past 25 years.  He is currently working on projects in Massachusetts, Detroit/Wayne County, New York, and Minnesota and also leading several major projects for SAMHSA.  He has written strategic recommendations for redesign options in Washington State, Montana, and New York, and is currently doing similar work in Detroit/Wayne County. Dr. Dougherty is a national leader in advocating the increased use of quality improvement collaboratives, performance benchmarking, disparities reduction and consumer directed care. In addition to his work at DMA, he is a co-founder and president of BasicNeeds US, a non-profit international organization supporting community mental health services in eight low and middle income countries. Prior to forming DMA in 1987, Dr. Dougherty was a Senior Manager at BDO/Seidman where he helped build a regional non-profit consulting practice. Prior positions include Manager of Finance and member of the Board of Directors of National Mentor, Inc. and Program Manager for the MA Department of Social Services, in charge of residential procurement.   Dr. Dougherty has an AB with honors from Colgate University, an AM in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in Applied Social Psychology from Boston University. 

Jeannette S. Harrison, MSPH, is a private consultant with over 30 years’ administrative experience in the public behavioral health care system.  Formerly with the Ohio Department of Mental Health as Chief of Community Systems Development and Training, Ms. Harrison now works with public and private health care organizations throughout the country in the areas of strategic planning, workforce development, academic collaborations, recovery, organizational management, and local system development.  Ms. Harrison has a MS in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts and is trained in several group process and facilitation methods. Ms. Harrison is a former Board Member and Membership Chair of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership and returns to the board as Secretary in April.

Gail P. Hutchings, MPA, is the founding President and CEO of the Behavioral Health Policy Collaborative, a private consulting firm based in Alexandria, VA, whose clients are public and private sector organizations dedicated to improving mental health and substance abuse systems, services, and outcomes. She is a nationally recognized expert on national- and state-level behavioral health policy and practices as well as effective technical assistance for a wide range of topics and issues. Ms. Hutchings is the former Chief of Staff of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the past Deputy Executive Director of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. She served as an Alternate Commissioner on the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and was the senior content editor and contributing writer to the Commission’s Final Report, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. In 2007, Ms. Hutchings was appointed to SAMHSA’s Advisory Council on Women’s Services and was recently appointed as a Foundation Associate in the Women Business Leaders of the US Healthcare Industry Foundation. She is a published author of several journal articles and book chapters on mental health and behavioral health issues. Ms. Hutchings is a former Board Member and Summit Chair of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership. Ms. Hutchings holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in public management from the State University of New York at Albany.

John Morris, MSW, is an Independent Consultant with the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc., a national not-for-profit consulting group based in Boston, MA.  He is also Executive Director of the Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce which provides leadership and technical assistance on workforce development nationally. He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of Mental Health America. In 2009, Mental Health America’s South Carolina affiliate recognized him with its Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Morris is a past president of ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership and the ACMHA Foundation, and in 2006 he was awarded the Saul Feldman Lifetime Achievement Award, ACMHA’s highest honor. He is a member of the National Advisory Council to the Georgetown University Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health and the National Leadership Forum on Mental Health and Criminal Justice. He was a member of the Mental Health Policy Research Network of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation from 2004 until its end in 2009. He is currently a consultant and member of the National Resource Bank for the MacArthur Foundation’s multi-site Models for Change juvenile justice reform project. Mr. Morris retired in 2007 as Professor and Director of Health Policy Studies in the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He retains an appointment as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry.  Prior to joining the University, he spent more than 25 years in the public behavioral health field as a clinician, administrator, researcher, and educator.  A graduate of St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, he graduated from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. Mr. Morris is an established author and respected editor in the field

2009 Summit

March 14, 2009 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers

For many months, Americans have faced an economy that has grown increasingly fragile. Federal, state, and local governments face budget deficits that threaten services and programs designed to help the most vulnerable populations at a time these resources are most needed. Despite concerns, there remains a sense of hope embodied in the potential for health care change. Perhaps rather than finding new resources, we need to rethink and restructure our current resources. Instead of simply watching the continuous rising costs of health care, we need to rethink how we care for ourselves and each other. Health and wellness may be the focus for all of us – as well as each of us.

Prevention is a critical tool in improving health and reducing costs and is an increasingly a topic of discussion. Touted as a component of the solution to reducing future health care costs, prevention may also hold the key to improving our national health. Now is the time to move beyond discussion and begin  reshaping our systems and our thinking to address prevention. We can no longer just criticize because “no one pays for prevention.”  We must transition from a “sick care system” to one with a focus on health, wellness, prevention, and early intervention where every citizen sees an improved quality of life and the most vulnerable among us have ample resources to control their own futures.

As behavioral health specialists; What do we need to know and what do we need to do to lead this transition?  What is population health?  What barriers need to be overcome?  How do we overcome barriers? What solutions do we already know that can transform the American health care system into one that works for everyone?       

At the 2009 ACMHA Santa Fe Summit on Behavioral Health you will help make the case for health and wellness in our communities. You will generate solutions to reform our systems of care. Rethink what health care is, how it should be provided, and who controls it. We invite you to participate – listen, share, and engage in peer learning opportunities and to create solutions to improve the health of every person.

Mental Health Weekly

An issue of Mental Health Weekly included significant coverge of the 2009 Santa Fe Summit. The March 16 issue provides an exclusive report on Summit events. ACMHA extends its appreciation to the editors of Mental Health Weekly for providing this document.

  • Mental Health Weekly, March 16, 2009

Summit Proceedings

Camille Miller, President/CEO, Texas Health Institute, and Chair, 2009 ACMHA Summit Planning Committee prepared a summary report of Summit Proceedings and “implications for Texas.”

Active links on this page provide a PDF file of slides shared by the presenter(s).

What Do We Mean By Health and Wellness?
In order to discuss the role of behavioral health in the health and wellness movement, we must first understand the framework that defines this agenda. Presenters will include such things as Healthy People 2020, the affects of behavioral health on achieving wellness, moving from an illness system to determinants of health, addressing health equity and disparity issues, and the movement to “all health is local and individuals need to take charge of their own health.”

  • Ronald Mandersheid, PhD
    Global Health and Civil Sector, SRA International and Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
  • Partick Remington, MD, MPH
    Director, UW Population Health Institute, University of Wisconsin Department of Population Health Sciences
  • Ingrid Kohlstadt MD, MPH, FACN
    Food and Drug Administration, Office of Scientific and Medical Programs

Self-Directed Care/Disease Management Models
Presenters will underscore some of the emerging peer-delivered best practices in key domains delivered by national experts to help attendees understand the variety of models and programs available that people use to manage their own care. The focus is on living a life in the community and not simply treatment and services. Models included are Peer Brokered Self Directed Budgeting, Peer Health Care Coaching, and Peer Run Crisis Diversion.

  • Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services
  • Michael Hlebechuk, Residential Supports Coordinator, Oregon Department of Human Services
  • Steve Miccio, Executive Director, PEOPLE, Inc.

The Transformative Role of Health Information Technology
The discussion focuses on Health Information Technology in the healthcare delivery system. The policy/issue context sets the stage for its role in provider-consumer communications, continuous quality improvement, and self-management for recovery. How can data/reports impact clinical care? Why is data important? What data is available? What technologies are helpful? How is data shared among partners in the system of care while assuring protections of confidentiality?

  • Garrett Moran, PhD, Associate Director, Westat
  • John Wadsworth, Data Architect, Intermountain Healthcare
  • Wayne H. Cannon, MD, Primary Care Clinical Program Leader, Intermountain Healthcare

Addressing Diversity and Health Disparities in Promoting Health and Wellness
Addressing the intersections of health, mental health, and wellness requires attention to both, cultural perspectives on each of these concepts, and the structural barriers to equitable services to culturally diverse populations. A holistic conceptualization of “health” and the integration of health and mental health service delivery may contribute to the reduction of health and mental health disparities. Join the dialogue around these issues and the potential promise of using a public health approach to mental health service delivery.

  • Vivian Jackson, PhD, LICSW, Senior Policy Associate, National Center for Cultural Competence and the National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development
  • Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, Director, Philadelphia Office of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services

In the Beginning: Teaching True Integration and Client Centered Care
Educating medical students to appreciate the importance of treatment integration of physical health, public health, mental health and addictive disorders, and the critical roles they can play is a win-win situation for everyone. Establishing relationships with medical and behavioral health disciplines during professional training is far easier than expecting separate professions to be able to adapt to each other after they are established. This session will provide insights from medical school faculty, students, and consumers who believe in this important curriculum content.

  • Maurie Davidson, MSW, BCD, Private Practice
  • Margaret L. Steuber, MD, Jane and Marc Nathanson Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Medicine, Semel Institute at UCLA
  • Frank C. Day, MD, MPH, Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, UCLA
  • Justin Cheongsiatmoy, MD/MBA Candidate, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Anderson School of Management

Integrated/Coordinated Care and the Impact on Health and Wellness
What is it about integrated care models that better assists individuals to focus on health and wellness, rather than becoming simply a series of co-located treatment providers? What do health professionals – physical and mental health – need to do better to help individuals achieve health and wellness?

  • Michael Boyle, MA, President/CEO, Fayette Companies
  • John Bartlett, MD, MPH, Senior Project Advisor for Mental Health Program Activities, The Carter Center

John Bartlett, MD, MPH, is the senior project adviser for the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program activities. His focus is leading and coordinating the activities of the Mental Health Program’s Primary Care Initiative, which is intended to help identify ways to facilitate better recognition and treatment of mental health and substance abuse problems in primary care.  Dr. Bartlett is a psychiatrist and a former treatment system manager who specializes in quality and accountability issues for mental health, substance abuse, and chronic health care. Prior to working at The Carter Center, he was a partner at The Avisa Group, a policy, research, and consulting firm that specializes in behavioral health care. Dr. Bartlett also has served as the senior medical director and vice president for CIGNA Behavioral Health and as an executive vice president for clinical strategy for Charter/Magellan Health Services. He received his medical training at Yale University and completed his psychiatric residency at the UCLA School of Medicine, where, following his residency, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar.

Michael Boyle, MA, is President and CEO of Fayette Companies in Peoria, IL, and has more than 25 years of experience in the behavioral health field as a clinician, administrator, and researcher. He has managed several large demonstration projects funded by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, the Center for Mental Health Services, the Department of Labor, and the State of Illinois. He also serves as Director of the Behavioral Health Recovery Management (BHRM) project. This initiative aims to develop a disease management approach to address addictions, serious mental illness and co-occuring disorders.  His current interests are in integrating mental health, substance abuse and primary care, implementing evidence based practices in recovery oriented systems of care, and utilizing emerging technologies to provide recovery support.

Wayne H. Cannon, MD, attended Medical School at the University of Utah and Residency in pediatrics at the University of Utah/Primary Children’s Medical Center.  Dr. Cannon is a Board Certified pediatrician.   He currently is a pediatrician at Intermountain Medical Group Bryner Health Center and also the Primary Care Clinical Programs Leader at Intermountain Healthcare, where he oversees the development, implementation, and coordination of system-wide primary care initiatives in Intermountain.

Justin Cheongsiatmoy is an MBA/MD candidate, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Anderson School of Management.

Maurie Davidson, MSW, BCD, has practiced Clinical Social Work in Los Angeles, California for over 40 years.  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Mills College and her Masters Degree in Social Work from Boston University.  Throughout her career she has worked with families, adolescents, and adults, focusing on helping clients to mobilize their health and strength in an atmosphere of safety and dignity.  One of Ms. Davidson’s areas of specialization is working with people with addictive disorders where she employs a twelve step orientation. She also works with Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual clients, often helping teenagers come out to their parents and families.   Ms. Davidson is on the Los Angeles Chapter Board of Directors and Speakers Bureau for Parents, Friends, and Families of Lesbian and Gays (PFLAG) and is an advocate for LGBT rights, having lobbied for Marriage Equality in Sacramento, California and for an inclusive Employment Non-discrimination Act in October 2007, in Washington, DC.  For the past nine years she has taught third year medical students in the Doctoring Program at The David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Frank Day, MD, MPH, is Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at UCLA.

Arthur C. Evans Jr, PhD, is the Director of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services, a $1 billion healthcare agency.  He is leading a major initiative to transform how behavioral health care and mental retardation services are delivered in the city. Since Dr. Evans’ appointment to his position in 2004, Philadelphia has begun a transformation of its entire system to one that focuses on recovery for adults, resiliency for children, and self-determination for all people who use mental retardation services. More recently, Dr. Evans has been appointed to the additional position of Acting Commissioner of the Department of Human Services.  In this role he is working to implement reforms in the child welfare system in Philadelphia. Dr. Evans is a clinical and community psychologist and holds a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.  He has also held faculty appointments at Yale University School of Medicine and Quinnipiac University.  Dr. Evans has had extensive experience in transforming systems of care and serves in several national leadership capacities. Dr. Evans is highly committed to serving people who are underserved and ensuring that all people have access to effective, quality services. Dr. Evans is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration and co-chairs the Diversity Interest Group.

Deborah Fickling is the Behavioral Health Ombudsperson for the State of New Mexico Medicaid program and other New Mexico Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative member agencies.  In this position, her “lived experience” as a person in long-term recovery from addiction and mental illness informs her passionate advocacy for individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues who are asking for help, seeking resolution to a problem, or just wanting to know that someone cares.  Ms. Fickling is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration.

Ellen Grant, PhD, LCSW, is a healthcare consultant. Prior to this she was the vice president, Behavioral Health, Wellness & Health Promotion at HealthNow New York where she oversaw a broad range of programs that support HealthNow’s commitment to improving the health of its members by helping them make positive behavioral and lifestyle changes. Dr. Grant has led initiatives in behavioral health and disease and care management while also taking on accountability for several key areas focusing on member wellness. These include major initiatives in obesity research and treatment and member wellness education and worksite health promotion. Prior to joining HealthNow, Dr. Grant served as commissioner of mental health for Erie County (New York), president and chief executive officer of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, and vice president of Buffalo General Hospital. Dr. Grant has more than 20 years of experience in health, behavioral health, and academia and began her career as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). She also holds an affiliation with the University at Buffalo’s Department of Psychiatry as a clinical assistant professor. She was the first black president of both the New York State Association of Counties and the National Association of Social Workers, New York State Chapter. She has served on many boards, including Planned Parenthood of Western New York, Neighborhood House and the Western New York Women’s Fund. She serves emeritus on the State University of New York at Buffalo Foundation board of directors and is also a trustee of St. Bonaventure University. Recognition for community service includes an award from National Conference for Community & Justice, an honorary doctorate from Medaille College in Buffalo and installation in the Western New York Women’s Hall of Fame. She has served on the board of the Black Women’s Health Study at Boston University’s School of Medicine and on the Council of Public Representatives—an advisory board to the National Institute of Health. In 1996 she was chosen as one of 12 women internationally to receive a year-long fellowship from the International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation, which included studies at Harvard University. Dr. Grant is also author of the book Managing in Black and White, examining management and leadership issues for women of color. Dr. Grant is secretary for the American College of Mental Health Administration Board of Directors.

Michael Hlebechuk has been involved in mental health consumer/survivor advocacy for 22 years. From 2002 through 2005, he coordinated the activities of the 2001 Real Choice Systems Change Grant awarded to the Oregon Department of Human Services. Through coordination of the activities of this grant, he oversaw the development of the Empowerment Initiative Brokerage, a consumer run and governed mental health self-directed care project that allowed 25 individuals to direct their own care through a person-centered plan that they, themselves, authored. Mr. Hlebechuk consults on self-directed care projects and has provided workshops at various conferences on self-directed care, systems change, mental health recovery, and person centered planning.

Vivian Jackson, PhD, LICSW, is a member of the faculty with the National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, where she provides technical assistance and consultation related to cultural and linguistic competence for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Children’s Mental Health Initiative. Dr. Jackson is a social worker with over 30 years of experience as a practitioner, supervisor, manager, and trainer in health, mental health, substance abuse, child welfare, managed care, system reform, and cultural competency. Former positions include Director, Office of Policy and Practice, National Association of Social Workers, and Child Welfare Advisor, National Resource Network for Children’s Mental Health at the Washington Business Group on Health. Her publications include “Cultural and Linguistic Competence and Eliminating Disparities,” a book chapter in The System of Care Handbook (Brookes, 2008); Cultural Competence in Managed Behavioral Health Care (Manisses Communications,1999), and Getting Started…Moving On: Planning, Implementing and Evaluating Cultural and Linguistic Competency for Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Families (NCCC, 2003). Dr. Jackson served as a member of the National Association of Social Workers National Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity from 2000-2008 and the NASW’s Presidential Diversity Task Force from 2005-2008. In these roles, she was instrumental in the development of Indicators for the NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in the Social Work Profession and Institutional Racism and the Social Work Profession: A Call for Action.

Ingrid Kohlstadt, MD, MPH, FACN, is an FDA Commissioner’s Fellow at the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Scientific and Medical Programs where she works towards improving communication on food and drug interactions. She is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and an associate at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.  She is the founder and chief medical officer of INGRIDientsTM, Inc., which provides medical nutrition information to colleagues, clients, and consumers.  Dr. Kohlstadt is a graduate of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at the University of Maryland and as a Rotary Club scholar at Universität Tübingen, Germany. Board-certified in General Preventive Medicine and with a graduate degree in epidemiology, she became convinced that nutrition is powerful and underutilized in preventing disease. She therefore focused her career on nutrition through fellowships at Johns Hopkins and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She worked as a bariatric physician at the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center and the Florida Orthopaedic Institute.  As a congressional intern and later with the FDA, USDA, health department, USAID, and United States Antarctic Program, Dr. Kohlstadt studied the rugged terrain of health policy, specifically how food and nutrients can be incorporated into primary care medicine. Prior to developing Food and Nutrients in Disease Management, she edited Scientific Evidence for Musculoskeletal, Bariatric, and Sports Nutrition (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2006).

Ron Manderscheid, PhD, is the Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Programs at Constella/SRA International, where he arrived in 2006. In this capacity he is developing new demonstration and research projects around mental health and substance use services, programs, and systems, using a public health framework. Consumer and family concerns pervade all of this work. Concurrently, he is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, and a Member of the Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Group on Healthy People 2020. Previously, Dr. Manderscheid served as Branch Chief, Survey and Analysis Branch, for the Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA, since 1992. Manderscheid is on the governing council of the American Public Health Association, President of the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association (FEIAA) Foundation, past president of FEIAA, and past chair of the APHA Mental Health Section. He has also served as the Chairperson of the Sociological Practice Section of the American Sociological Association, and as President of the Washington Academy of Sciences and the District of Columbia Sociological Society. During the National Health Care Reform debate, Dr. Manderscheid served as Policy Advisor on National Health Care Reform in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 1993, Dr. Manderscheid was a member of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Work Group of the President’s Task Force on Health Care Reform. He served as principal editor of Mental Health, United States between 1987 and 2004. He has also authored numerous scientific and professional publications on services to persons with mental illnesses. He is the recipient of both federal and professional awards, including the 1995 SAMHSA National Sociological Practice Award. Dr. Manderscheid is a member of the ACMHA Board of Directors and the President-Elect.

Steve Miccio, executive director of PEOPLe, Inc. in Poughkeepsie, NY, has 18 years of human services experience. In those 18 years, he has co-founded a business that employed people with disabilities. The business offered competitive wages along with career advancement opportunities. PEOPLe, Inc. is a consumer/peer operated advocacy agency in New York. Under Mr. Miccio’s leadership PEOPLe has been effective in developing a hospital diversion house and has implemented a peer advocacy program in a hospital emergency room. Mr. Miccio also works closely with three county mental health systems in developing practices that promote healing and recovery. PEOPLe, Inc. also provides vocational, housing, recreational, social and drop-in services. Mr. Miccio began working with NYAPRS in 1999 as an interested advocate, soon became a regional coordinator, and has been co-chairperson for the annual conference as well as an active board member and past president.  He has been working tirelessly to improve services for people in psychiatric crises in emergency rooms both locally and statewide. Mr. Miccio is co-author of a national study that examines the experiences of people that have visited hospital emergency rooms while in an emotional crisis and has co-authored and published solutions on how services can be improved. He has been working collaboratively with New York State Office of Mental Health and consumer leaders and individuals throughout New York that has resulted in the development of a white paper that infuses consumer values or rules that demand quality mental health services.

Camille Miller, MSSW, LCSW, has been the president and CEO of the Texas Health Institute (THI) since its inception in 1996. After completing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology and social work, she gained extensive experience in policy research and development while she served under two governors and two lieutenant governors, a state comptroller and state senator planning, researching and developing state policy to address health and human services issues. Ms. Miller also held executive staff positions at the Texas Department of Community Affairs and the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. As chief of staff for the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, she supervised legislative interim studies on medically fragile children, reorganization of health and human services, and Medicaid. In 1995 the Texas Hospital Association (THA) selected her to be the director of its Medicaid project and immediately promoted her to Director of Regulatory Affairs. When the 32-year old Texas Hospital Education and Research Foundation changed its name and mission to create the Institute, THA again tapped into Ms. Miller’s experience in policy development and her strong leadership skills when they asked her to be the Institute’s first president and chief executive officer. In 2006, THI merged with Texas Health Foundation to create the Texas Health Institute, an independent 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Ms. Miller recently served as chair of the National Network of Public Health Institutes and is also previous chair of the State Health Policy Centers Collaborative. She serves on the National Board of Communities Joined In Action, the National Rural Health Association Interest Group on Medicaid, and the Advisory Councils of Baylor University’s School of Social Work and Hankamer School of Business Healthcare Administration Program. She also serves on the Texas A&M University’s Masters of Healthcare Administration Professional Advisory Committee and The University of Texas School of Social Work Advisory Committee. Ms. Miller serves on the board of directors of the Texas Public Health Museum, Communities in Action, American College of Mental Health Administration, and served as a founding member and past chair of the Capitol Rotary Club. Camille’s past service also includes the Advisory Councils of the Texas Schools of Public Health Training Center, the Texas Department of Insurance Uninsured Planning Grant and the Texas Area Health Education Centers. She is ACMHA’s 2009 Summit Chair.

Garrett Moran, PhD, is a Westat Associate Director with more than 30 years of experience in public policy, research, management, and analysis. His major areas of substantive expertise include health information technology and public policy related to people with mental illnesses or substance use disorders, and those who are homeless.  His current responsibilities include key leadership roles on projects for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) within the US Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Moran also serves as an Advisor/Consultant to CMHS and the States of Maryland and Ohio on the topic of Mental Health System Transformation.  From 1993 – 1996, Dr. Moran served as Deputy Commissioner, then Commissioner for Community Support, in the cabinet of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the State of West Virginia. In this role, he guided public policy related to people with mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities, and older adults.  He was actively involved in all Medicaid policy issues related to behavioral health and had oversight responsibilities for 1915(c) Home and Community Based Waiver Programs for older adults and people with developmental disabilities.  Dr. Moran was responsible for the operation of two Joint Commission-accredited psychiatric hospitals, five residential long-term care facilities, and one acute care general hospital. Dr. Moran has extensive experience in combining quantitative and qualitative research methods and has particular interest in program evaluation and policy analysis. He has managed multiyear, multimillion dollar studies with as many as 10 subcontractors, as well as a government organization with more than 2,400 employees. Dr. Moran is also a clinical psychologist, whose early career included nearly eight years of direct clinical work with people with mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities. He has served as a consultant on health issues to governments in the United States and abroad. Dr. Moran is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration Board of Directors and the 2010 Summit Chair.

A. Kathryn Power, MEd, is director of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). CMHS provides national leadership in mental health promotion, mental illness prevention, and the development and dissemination of effective mental health services. Director Power leads a staff of 126 professionals in facilitating the transformation of our nation’s mental health care system into one that is recovery-oriented and consumer-centered. In 2005, she received the US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service for spearheading the Federal Mental Health Transformation Team, an unprecedented interdepartmental coalition that produced the first ever Federal Action Agenda for Mental Health Transformation. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Power served for over 10 years as the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals (DMHRH), a cabinet position reporting to the governor. During her tenure, the department gained a national reputation for leadership and innovation that produced real and often dramatic improvements in the quality of life for the people it served. Ms. Power previously directed the Rhode Island Office of Substance Abuse, the Governor’s Drug Program, the Rhode Island Anti-Drug Coalition, and the Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Centers. Earlier professional experiences include teaching at elementary and secondary schools; providing counseling, leadership and advocacy for rape crisis and domestic violence agencies; and working as a computer systems analyst for the Department of Defense. In 1997, Director Power served as President of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors where she led the organization to embrace principles of recovery and trauma-informed care as linchpins of the public mental health system. She has also been recognized locally and nationally for her leadership and advocacy on behalf of individuals with disabilities by organizations such as the Center for Performance Excellence, the Rhode Island Protection and Advocacy System, and the National Organization for Victim Assistance. In addition, Ms. Power has served on the boards of directors of over 100 non-profit agencies, commissions, and task forces in both the public and private sectors. Director Power received her bachelor’s degree in education from St. Joseph’s College, Maryland, and her master’s degree in education and counseling from Western Maryland College. She is a graduate of the Toll Fellowship program of the Council of State Governments. She has also completed programs in senior executive leadership development, mental health leadership, and substance abuse leadership at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. In addition, she has extensive training and teaching experience in leadership, ethics, public service, policy development, and program implementation. Ms. Power is currently a Captain serving in the US Navy Reserve.

Patrick Remington, MD, MPH, received his undergraduate degree in molecular biology and his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin. From 1982-1984, he completed an epidemiology fellowship through the Centers for Disease Control, and was assigned as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer to the Michigan Department of Public Health in Lansing, Michigan. From 1984-1988, he was a medical epidemiologist in the Division of Nutrition at the CDC in Atlanta, where he completed his CDC Preventive Medicine Residency and, as part of the CDC Career Development Program, obtained an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota. While at the CDC, he was the lead epidemiologist working on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveys. This research focused on the epidemiology of behavioral risk factors in populations, including smoking, diet and weight control practices, alcohol use, and other risk factors. From 1988 until 1997, he was the State Chronic Disease and Injury Epidemiologist and the Chief Medical Officer for Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention in the Bureau of Public Health, Wisconsin Division of Health. During that time, majority of his research was on identifying characteristics and trends in mammography utilization. His research was one of the first to suggest that most, if not all, of the increase in breast cancer incidence was attributable to increasing rates of mammography in the population. He also conducted research on the effectiveness of interventions to increase the use of mammography in low-income, rural populations.  In July 1997, he joined the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, where he is a Professor and Director of the Population Health Institute, and Associate Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was also appointed as the Director of the newly established Master of Public Health (MPH) program. Dr. Remington’s current research interests are on methods used to measure the health of communities and on public health approaches to tobacco and cancer control. He has authored or co-authored over 220 publications.

Harvey Rosenthal has over 30 years of professional experience in New York State’s public mental health system. He has served in a variety of capacities ranging from state hospital therapy aide to clubhouse rehabilitation program director to his long-time commitment to working to improve services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities as executive director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS). Over the last decade, he has helped support successful campaigns to advance community recovery services and the community workforce, employment centered polices and incentives, prison mental health reforms, cultural and linguistic competence initiatives, new programs to aid underserved groups, and to work for self determination and choice and against the policies of discrimination and coercion. Mr. Rosenthal has also helped create and support NYAPRS’ nationally acclaimed efforts to transform mental health care to support recovery, wellness, employment and other self determined community-centered goals and to boost the role of peer support in local and statewide systems. His commitment arises directly out of his own recovery. He regularly speaks across the country promoting the recovery, rehabilitation, and rights of people with psychiatric disabilities and the importance of broader cross-disability policies (most notably self directed care), collaborations, and advocacy. Mr. Rosenthal is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration Board of Directors.

Jack B. Stein, LCSW, PhD, is Director, Division of Services Improvement, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), SAMHSA. Prior to joining CSAT he was Deputy Director for the Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health. Previous positions at NIDA include Chief, Services Research Branch and Deputy Director, Office of Science Policy and Communications. A clinical social worker by training, Dr. Stein possesses over 20 years of experience in research and program evaluation, counseling, community health education, health care professional training, public policy analysis, health communications/social marketing, and program administration related to various public health problems, including substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and co-occurring conditions. He is the author of numerous text book chapters, professional training curricula, research-based publications and reports, and peer-reviewed journal articles, including the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment and the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions. He is an editorial advisory board member for several professional publications. Dr. Stein is the past chair of the HIV/AIDS Task Force for the National Association of Social Workers.

Margaret Stuber, MD, is board certified in psychiatry, child psychiatry, and psychosomatic medicine. She has been on faculty at UCLA since 1987 and is the Jane and Marc Nathanson Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Her primary research area is posttraumatic stress responses to cancer and organ transplantation in pediatric patients and their families. She has had continuous federal funding for her research since 1993 and has published over 60 peer reviewed articles and edited two books. She was the Director of the Consultation and Liaison Service to Pediatrics at UCLA for over a decade and continues to teach child psychiatry fellows about consultation work. Dr. Stuber has been the director of Medical Student Education for the Department of Psychiatry since 1995. She was the director of the Psychiatry Clerkship from 1996 – 2006, and has been co-chair of the Medical Neurosciences course since 2005. Dr. Stuber has also had a leadership role in the Doctoring course, which includes the social and behavioral science training for medical students, since it began in 1994. She served as chair of the first year of the three-year course, and eventually became the overall director in 2005. She also mentors medical students who are interested in psychiatry through a Psychiatry Interest Group and a summer research program. Dr. Stuber has served as one of two co-chairs of the Medical Education Committee since 2000. In this capacity she oversaw a major curriculum restructuring of the School of Medicine. In 2005 she received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop the social and behavioral teaching in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. As a part of that she is now the “champion” for a pilot by the National Board of Medical Examiners to develop a 360 degree evaluation process in professional behavior for medical students and faculty.  Dr. Stuber has received many awards for her work, including the Simon Wile Leadership in Consultation Psychiatry Award from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2001 and an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Denison University in May 2005. She was given the Outstanding Educator Award from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA twice, in 1998 and in 2006, and she was awarded the Leonard Tow Humanism Award by the UCLA School of Medicine in 2008.

Laura Van Tosh is the Peer Bridger Program Coordinator at Oregon State Hospital (OSH) in Salem.  She is responsible for developing this innovative peer-based program for patients who will integrate to community life.  She is a member of the hospital’s “Team Recovery” and has initiated several hospital-wide initiatives to coincide with the opening of a new facility and affiliated treatment services.  Ms. Van Tosh brings her previous mental health policy and consumer organizing expertise to this position. Ms. Van Tosh served as the first Director of Consumer Affairs at Western State Hospital in Washington and worked closely with the CEO and medical staff to develop patient-centered policy and services.  Before joining Western State Hospital, she provided consultation services to Springfield Hospital Center, a state psychiatric facility in Maryland.  Ms. Van Tosh was an independent consultant in Washington, DC and provided expertise in mental health policy development, analysis, and services research to a variety of public/private agencies and university and research institutions.  Prior to her consulting work, Ms. Van Tosh held policy positions at the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, University of Maryland Center for Mental Health Services Research, and the Maryland Mental Hygiene Administration.  She has been active in the consumer/survivor movement since 1985.

John Wadsworth is a Data Architect for the Enterprise Data Warehouse team with Intermountain Healthcare.  He has been with Intermountain for seven years supporting and building clinical systems.  John is responsible for capturing and reporting data used in chronic disease management; specifically, diabetes, asthma and mental illness within the Primary Care Clinical Program.  John also coordinates day-to-day operations as well as strategic operations to maintain Intermountain’s data warehouse.  He is currently pursuing a Masters in Biomedical Informatics from the University of Utah.

2008 Summit

March 15, 2008 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers
  • Photos

Decision ’08: Many see the Presidential election of 2008 as a “tipping point” in the national healthcare reform debate. Virtually every candidate has a position on reform. Where is mental health and substance use care in that debate? How will the debate influence our ability to coordinate services with physical health care? Can we influence the national debate?

State Reform ’08: Similarly, several key states have undertaken broad-based health insurance coverage initiatives. How do these initiatives relate to the national debate? Where are mental health and substance use care in those initiatives? How will the initiatives influence our ability to coordinate services with physical health care? Can we influence state coverage initiatives?

Moving Our Agenda: Efforts at the local level to coordinate mental health, substance use, and physical health care continue to move forward. How do our physical health care colleagues see these efforts? What do we need to do together to move this agenda? Will national and state reform efforts change our agenda? If so, how?

Summit 2008 brings these issues together as we explore ideas to move the agenda forward. You will leave better informed and better prepared. Join ACMHA at the Santa Fe Summit to be part of the solution in 2008!

Pre-Summit Materials

  • Executive Summary for 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Health Reform Proposals and State Health Care Reform Key Objectives
  • 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Health Reform Proposals and MH/SU Perspectives
  • State Health Care Reform – Key Objectives and Insurance Strategies

Presentations

Setting the Charge
Ron Manderscheid, PhD

Mental Health and Substance Use Care in the 2008 Election

  • Linda Rosenberg, MSW, President and CEO, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcre
  • Tom Coderre, National Field Director, Faces & Voices of Recovery
  • Video from Representative Patrick Kennedy, US House of Representatives

Mental Health Surveillance: BRFSS In Action – Ali H. Mokdad, PhD, Centers for Disease Control

Mental Health and Substance Use Care in State Universal Coverage Initiatives

  • Martin D. Sellers, Sellers and Feinberg
  • Barbara Leadholm, Commissioner, MA Department of Mental Health
  • Ruth Liu, Associate Secretary Health Care Policy, California Healthand Human Services Agency

Steering the Ship of Health Care Reform – A. Kathryn Power, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA (remarks presented by Mr. William Hudock)

Work Group Materials

Five work groups met during the course of the Summit focused on discrete populations of people in service and how to address the specific needs of those groups. As materials from those groups become available, or as work of the groups continues, more information will be added to this section.

  • Veterans (Charles Ray/Herminio Maldonado)
  • Children (Gary Blau/Sherry Witwer)
  • Individuals in Public Service (Joseph Parks/Harvey Rosenthal)
  • Substance Use (Tom Coderre/Deborah Fickling)
  • Providers (Victor Cappocia/Glenda Barrett)

Additional Reports of Interest

  • Coverage for All: Inclusion of Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders in State Universal Coverage Initiatives, NAMI and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, June 2008
  • Case Study: Minnesota’s Mental Health Initiative and the Expansion of Mental Health Services in the State’s Programs to Cover the Uninsured, NAMI and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, June 2008

Mental Health Weekly

Two issues of Mental Health Weekly included significant coverage of the 2008 Summit. The March 17 issue provides an exclusive report on Summit events, followed by the March 24 issue which includes an article on the integration panel of primary care physicians offered March 14.

  • Mental Health Weekly, March 17, 2008
  • Mental Health Weekly, March 24, 2008

Laurie Alexander, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and program officer for the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, an administrative unit of The University of Texas at Austin. The foundation works to promote improved mental health for the people of Texas through public education projects, policy analysis, and grantmaking in strategically selected areas. Alexander is the project leader for the foundation’s Integrated Health Care Initiative, a multi-year grant program and policy project designed to improve the detection and treatment of mental health problems in primary care settings. She earned a BA in psychology and Italian from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After completing postdoctoral fellowships in traumatic stress at Cornell Weill Medical College and in public health at Columbia University, she received a MA in journalism from UT-Austin. She worked as a policy analyst for Mental Health America of Texas prior to joining the foundation in 2004. Dr. Alexander is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA).

Johnny W. Allem, President and CEO of the Johnson Institute, is a veteran organizer and advocate for the addiction recovery community. As an author, speaker, and organizer, he has helped focus attention on message content and construction as the field attempts to change America’s attitudes and responses to addiction disease. Throughout his 25 years in recovery, Allem has worked to advance solutions to America’s addiction epidemic. He worked with the late Senator Harold Hughes as executive director of the Society of Americans for Recovery; served on the Planning Committee for the 2001 Summit that organized Faces and Voices of Recovery; organized recovery clubs within the District of Columbia, and serves as a trustee of Stepping Stones Foundation, responsible for the home and archive legacy of Bill and Lois Wilson. As a District of Columbia official from 1995 – 2002, he authorized the first elementary school program to offer professional mental health counseling to students and pioneered the District’s first training and program to address individuals with co-occurring addiction and mental illness. Allem graduated from Rhea Central High in Dayton, TN in 1955 and attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He received his MA in Journalism and Public Affairs at American University in Washington, DC in 1999. Allem is a member of ACMHA.

Deborah Altschul, PhD, is a psychologist and faculty member at the University of New Mexico Department Of Psychiatry’s Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health. Prior to working in New Mexico, Dr. Altschul worked at the University of Hawaii Department of Psychology’s Mental Health Services Research, Evaluation, and Training Program were she was the head of the Consumer Assessment Team; a research team aimed at involving individuals with serious mental illnesses in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and report writing. In addition, Dr. Altschul was the Cultural Competency Specialist on two federally-funded grants focusing on the implementation of EBPs and the statewide infrastructure development of Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment services. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors based on developing strategies to improve racial and ethnic disparities in mental health services. Dr. Altschul currently serves as a cultural competency consultant to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative and is actively involved in working with state agencies and local communities to develop sustainable infrastructures that support the improvement of cultural competency in public mental health systems. She is completed her doctoral studies at the University of Georgia and her postdoctoral internship at the University of Florida. Dr. Altschul is a member of ACMHA.

Laudan (Laudy) Aron recently joined NAMI’s national office as the Director of Policy Research. Prior to NAMI, Ms. Aron was a Senior Research Associate with the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. She has over 20 years of professional experience conducting policy research and analysis on a wide variety of social welfare issues, including behavioral health and disability, child welfare and at-risk youth, education, employment and training, and homelessness and family violence. Her work has involved conceptualizing, implementing, and disseminating both qualitative and quantitative research that is designed to be of greatest use to policymakers, program officials, and other interested stakeholders. Drawing on a wide range of research methods, she has conducted national program evaluations, survey designs, data analyses, and reviews of the literature for many federal agencies and foundations, including the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development. Aron has co-authored three books and written book chapters, journal articles, and reports on many topics. Her recent work includes a study of how advances in neuroscience will affect community-based non-profit behavioral healthcare providers (for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), the social services needs of victims of human trafficking (for the National Institute of Justice), and an evaluation of the homeless service system in Santa Monica, California (for the City of Santa Monica). At NAMI, she is currently overseeing the 2008 edition of NAMI’s Grading the States, a state-by-state assessment of the public mental health service system. Ms. Aron is a member of ACMHA.

Glenda Barrett serves as the Key Leadership Institute Coordinator for the Oklahoma Mental Health Consumer Council Her duties include implementing the Consumer Networking Grant funded by SAMHSA, coordinating the Council’s Statewide Mental Health Consumer Conference, coordinating the Council’s major annual fundraising activity, coordinating the Council’s annual “Mental Health Day at the Capitol,” and providing peer support and technical assistance to consumers, family members, and other stakeholders. Barrett has a BS in Secondary Education and is a Credentialed Recovery Support Specialist as certified through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She is a 2007 graduate of the SAMHSA Leadership Institute. Ms. Barrett has more than 25 years experience in education and has served as Director of Multicultural Equity Programs for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. She has been a mental health advocate for more than ten years and has worked with the Council since 2005. Glenda currently serves on the ODMHSAS Mental Health Planning Advisory Board, Recovery Support Specialist Advisory Board, and is a member of the Consumer Involvement Study Group of the Governor’s Transformation Advisory Board.

Gary M. Blau, PhD is a clinical psychologist and the Chief of the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). He is responsible for implementing the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Program, the Circles of Care Program, the Statewide Family Network Program, the National Children’s Mental Health Social Marketing Campaign, several National Technical Assistance Programs for children’s mental health, and a wide variety of other programs designed to improve the lives of children and families. Through the Director of CMHS and the SAMHSA Administrator, he is also responsible for translating the President’s New Freedom Commission Report for children and families, and for implementing the children’s portion of the CMHS Action Plan. Prior to this, Dr. Blau was the Bureau Chief of Quality Management and Director of Mental Health at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and the Director of Clinical Services at the Child and Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut. Blau is a former member of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Director’s Division of Children, Youth and Families, and from 1998 – 2000 was the division’s chairperson. He has received several awards including the prestigious Pro Humanitate Literary Award for literary works which best exemplify the intellectual integrity and moral courage required to transcend political and social barriers to promote best practice in the field of child welfare, the Governor’s Service Award, the Phoebe Bennet Award for outstanding contribution to children’s mental health in Connecticut, and the Making a Difference Award presented by Connecticut’s Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. He has numerous publications and has been the editor of several books. Blau received his PhD from Auburn University (AL) in 1988 and holds a clinical faculty appointment at the Yale Child Study Center.

Victor Capoccia, PhD, is senior scientist at University of Wisconsin where he conducts research and support for the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx). He is also program director of the Open Society Institute’s national initiative to close the addiction treatment gap. Previously he led the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Addiction Prevention and Treatment team and also worked on the Human Capital and Quality teams. For 10 years Capoccia was the President and CEO of CAB Health and Recovery Services, Inc., a community based provider in the alcohol and drug addiction field. He was an invited member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Community Based Drug Treatment and Chairman of CSAT’s National Treatment Plan work group on Improving Treatment Systems. Earlier, Dr Capoccia was director of Community Health Services for the City of Boston, Department of Health and Hospitals. There, he conducted the feasibility study of the Neighborhood Health Plan, Inc., and directed the city health department expansion of prenatal outreach, emergency medical services, HIV prevention, and substance abuse treatment efforts. Dr. Capoccia served on the faculty of Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, publishing and teaching in the areas of community planning. During this period, he wrote “Your Health,” a Boston Herald weekly column that helped consumers understand the health care system and also was the Chairman of the Board of the Greater Boston Health Systems Agency. Dr Capoccia served on the boards of United Ways and other philanthropic organizations. He was invited by the British National Health Service Modernisation Agency to join in their work to develop guidance on sustaining change and assists a United Nations work group expand quality treatment in developing nations through “Treatnet.” He holds a BA and MSW in Community Organization from Boston College, an MA in Urban and regional Planning from the University of Iowa, and a PhD. in Health Policy from Brandeis University’s Heller Graduate School.

Terry Cline, PhD, is the Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). As SAMHSA Administrator, Dr. Cline reports to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt and leads the $3.3 billion agency responsible for improving the accountability, capacity, and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health service delivery systems. Throughout his career Dr. Cline has worked to ensure individual and family needs are the driving force for the prevention, treatment and recovery support services delivered. Prior to his appointment as SAMHSA Administrator, Dr. Cline worked as Oklahoma’s Secretary of Health. At the same time, he served as Oklahoma’s Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. During his tenure in Oklahoma, Dr. Cline built strong collaborative relationships among multiple constituency groups and government agencies. Dr. Cline has extensive experience in overseeing health and human services at the state level. He has also served as a provider through an earlier post as the clinical director of the Cambridge Youth Guidance Center in Cambridge, MA, and as a staff psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. His professional history also includes a six year appointment as a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and chairman of the governing board for a Harvard teaching hospital in Cambridge, MA. A native of Ardmore, OK, Dr. Cline attended the University of Oklahoma where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1980. He then received both a master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Cline has involved himself in community service, including membership on a number of local, state, and national committees and boards with a focus on improving the overall health of the community and the nation.

Tom Coderre joined Faces & Voices of Recovery as National Field Director in 2006 to continue to help build grass roots recovery advocacy campaigns around the country. Coderre has an extensive background in government and politics, serving in the Rhode Island State Senate from 1995-2003. He also spent many years in non-profit management and development as a professional fundraiser and executive director. Mr. Coderre is a person in long-term recovery, which means he hasn’t used drugs or alcohol since May of 2003. He first became active in recovery advocacy as a board member of Rhode Island CAREs (Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts) and served as chairman of their advocacy committee. Mr. Coderre continues to live in Rhode Island and travels extensively promoting Faces & Voices of Recovery advocacy efforts.

Lei Ellingson, MS, joined The Carter Center Mental Health Program as Assistant Director in May 1998. Early in her career, Ms. Ellingson worked in the field of special education, specializing in adolescents with serious emotional disturbance and learning disabilities. From there, she worked as a private consultant on public policy issues with an emphasis on children’s issues, including such topics as school tobacco policies. Before joining The Carter Center, Ms. Ellingson worked for the Georgia State Legislature’s Budgetary and Reconciliation Oversight Committee where she conducted program and policy evaluations of child-serving agencies. As Assistant Director for The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, Ms. Ellingson’s duties have included planning and implementing a series of national policy discussions in collaboration with the US Surgeon General and a broad array of other stakeholders on mental health issues. She also has provided leadership for the program’s highly successful Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. Ms. Ellingson earned her Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Terry Sanford Institute at Duke University, a Master’s of Science degree in Special Education from The Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College. Ms. Ellingson is a member of ACMHA.

William Emmet is Director of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform,responsible for coordinating the efforts of 17 national organizations to make effective mental health services a national priority. Formed to seize opportunities resulting from the 2003 report of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, the Campaign is the mental health advocacy community’s united voice on federal policy issues. Mr. Emmetserved for seven years as Project Director for policy analysis and technical assistance at the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), working with partners in the mental health community to provide technical assistance in policy formulation and implementation to multiple mental health stakeholders at the state level. Before joining NASMHPD, Mr. Emmet worked at the state and national levels of NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill). For eight years, he was Executive Director of NAMI’s state organization in Rhode Island. He served as a member of NAMI’s national Board of Directors and, from 1998 – 2000, was Chief Operating Officer/ Deputy Executive Director of NAMI’s national office. Mr. Emmet became active in mental illness advocacy when his brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia in the early 1980s. He is a member of ACMHA.

Peter Fenn is the president of Fenn Communications Group, one of the nation’s premier political and public affairs media firms. It has worked on over 300 campaigns, from presidential to mayoral, elected more members of the House of Representatives than any other firm and represented a host of Fortune 500 companies. Prior to forming the firm, Mr. Fenn was the first executive director of Democrats for the 80s, a political action committee founded by Pamela Harriman and then-Gov. Bill Clinton. Mr. Fenn also served on the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee and as Washington chief of staff for Sen. Frank Church. In 1983, Mr. Fenn founded and was the first executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. Mr. Fenn has consulted overseas for the Agency for International Development and the National Endowment for Democracy. He produced television programs in Russia, Bosnia, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic and consulted for political parties and candidates in such countries as South Africa, Mozambique, Romania, Latvia, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Hungary. His writing and producing have earned him Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants, Telly Awards, Summit Awards, Vision Awards and the award from PRNews for the Best Public Service Ad Campaign of 2005. Mr. Fenn has a BA from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. He earned an MA in International Relations from the University of Southern California. He teaches Presidential Politics, Strategy and Message as well as Campaign Advertising at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. Mr. Fenn appears frequently as a TV commentator on the major networks and cable news shows.

Deborah Fickling is the Behavioral Health Ombudsperson for the State of New Mexico Medicaid program and other New Mexico Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative member agencies. In this position, her “lived experience” as a person in long-term recovery from addiction and mental illness informs her passionate advocacy for individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues who are asking for help, seeking resolution to a problem, or just wanting to know that someone cares. Ms. Fickling is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration Board of Directors and Chair of the Membership Committee.

Larry A. Green, MD is Senior Scholar in Residence at The Robert Graham Center: Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care in Washington, DC. He completed his residency in family medicine at the University of Rochester and Highland Hospital and entered practice in Arkansas in the National Health Services Corps, after which he joined the faculty at the University of Colorado. Dr. Green was the Woodward-Chisholm Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado for 14 years and he continues to serve on the faculty of the university where he is Professor of Family Medicine and Director of the National Program Office for Prescription for Health. Prescription for Health is a five-year practice-based research initiative launched in 2002 that is focused on health behavior change, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Much of his career has been focused on developing practice-based, primary care research networks, including the Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network (ASPN). Dr. Green practices as a certified Diplomate of the American Board of Family Practice. He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the World Organization of Family Doctors, and the North America Primary Care Research Group. Green received his BA from the University of Oklahoma and his MD from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine.

Eric Goplerud, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and research professor of health policy at the George Washington University Medical Center. Since 2002, Dr. Goplerud has directed Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, a research program at GWU. He is president of the American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA). Previously, Dr. Goplerud was associate administrator for policy and planning at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA). He also has held senior policy and research positions at the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Division of Demand Reduction, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President. Goplerud directs policy and research at GWU focused on improving access to effective and affordable alcohol screening and treatment, integration of primary health and behavioral health care services, performance measurement in managed behavioral health and public/private quality improvement initiatives in behavioral health care. He has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and has received many awards and honors, including the DHHS Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award for individual service and the DHHS Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award for group services. He also received the Walter Barton Distinguished Fellow Award from ACMHA. He has been a member of the Behavioral Measures Advisory Group of the National Committee for Quality Assurance for 10 years. Dr. Goplerud earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a doctorate in clinical/community psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Viking Hedberg, MD, is a rural pediatrician who practices in a three physician, two nurse practitioner site of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic located in Plymouth, NH. This practice is the only pediatric practice for approximately an hour’s drive in any direction and provides the pediatric care at the local community hospital, school health services at the Holderness Prep School in area public schools, as well as the medical services at the Student Health Center at Plymouth State University. Dr. Hedberg is also trained in adolescent medicine and provides psychopharmacologic care for Plymouth State University students in collaboration with the University Counseling Center. He recently established the Center for Adolescent Health in Plymouth, a collaborative, interdisciplinary specialty adolescent health diagnostic and referral clinic. Dr. Hedberg is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and is working with his pediatric and psychiatry colleagues at Dartmouth to develop an integrated pediatric/psychiatry adolescent program to meet both the clinical needs in the Upper Valley area of New Hampshire as well as to provide a training opportunity for both pediatric and psychiatry residents in integrated adolescent health care. Hedberg was an undergraduate at Yale University and attended medical school at Columbia University. He did residency training at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. After three years at a Community Health Center in Camden, NJ, he completed a fellowship in adolescent medicine at the University of Rochester, where he also earned the Masters of Public Health.

Renata J. Henry is the director of the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, an operating division of Delaware Health and Social Services. As director, Ms. Henry is responsible for the administrative direction and oversight of public sector behavioral health services for adults in Delaware. Ms. Henry has over 30 years of experience in the behavioral health field, serving in various clinical and administrative positions in community-based mental health and substance abuse organizations, as well as in state and county government. Prior to becoming the division director, she was the director of Substance Abuse Services for Delaware. During her tenure as director she has emphasized collaboration between systems to ensure that policy and practice are aligned to support a quality behavioral health system across the life span. Ms. Henry strongly believes that principled and visionary leadership at all levels is critical to moving the behavioral health field into the 21st century. Ms. Henry has provided leadership at a national level in various capacities. From 2002-06, she served on the National Advisory Mental Health Council for the National Institutes of Health. From 2005-07 she was the president of the board of directors of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), where her agenda focused on the development of NASMHPD partnerships with other national organizations to support mental health and substance abuse system transformation. She continues to serve on the NASMHPD board. Ms. Henry is a member of ACMHA.

Edward L. Knight, PhD, is a nationally known consumer survivor leader, researcher, and trainer. He is Vice President of Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Mutual Support for ValueOptions and an Adjunct Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University. He is currently doing research with UCLA/RAND, Yale University, Nathan Kline, and Mental Health Empowerment Project. He is diagnosed with schizophrenia and has been homeless. He is a user of mental health services in Colorado Springs, CO. Dr. Knight is a member of ACMHA.

Barbara Leadholm, MS, MBA, was named Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) in September 2007. Commissioner Leadholm has an extensive background in the behavioral health field including six years at the Department of Mental Health in the 1990s and service in the departments of Medicaid and Welfare. Her clinical knowledge and experience in the public and private mental health service sectors enables DMH to provide quality services, improve access and empower consumers and their families. Ms. Leadholm began her career in Massachusetts as a psychiatric nurse clinician at Brookside Health Center. For the past 10 years she worked for Magellan Health Services, most recently as vice president of health plan solutions with broad expertise in developing and implementing public sector behavioral health plans and services. At Magellen Ms. Leadholm developed the carve-in program that integrates health plans and public sector programs to serve people in need. Commissioner Leadholm earned her Master of Science degree in psychiatric nursing from Boston College and Master of Business Administration from Boston University. She has served on the boards of directors of a number of organizations including the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, and the Charles H. Farnsworth Housing Corporation of Jamaica Plain.

Ruth Liu, MA, is Associate Secretary for Health Policy Development at the California Health and Human Services Agency. She is one of four chief advisors to the Governor and Secretary Kim Belshe on the governor’s health reform proposal. Before joining the Health and Human Services Agency, Ms. Liu was a senior policy analyst in the government relations department at Kaiser Permanente. Her issue areas there included the uninsured, individual, and small group market reform and children’s health issues. Ms. Liu has also worked at UCSF’s Center for the Health Professions on workforce issues. Prior to her work in health policy, Ms. Liu was a journalist for many years, focusing on US-Japanese relations, in both Washington DC and Tokyo, Japan. Ms. Liu holds a masters degree in public policy from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in history from Wellesley College.

Herminio Maldonado is a Certified Forensic Peer Specialist graduate from Howie T. Harp Advocacy Center in New York City. Mr. Maldonado works as a Peer Advocate for Baltic Street at the Bronx Peer Advocacy Center. He also worked as a Peer Counselor in the Forensic Psychiatric Unit at Bellevue Hospital and as a Peer Specialist for the Bronx TASC Jail Diversion Program. As a consumer/survivor of mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness, incarceration, physical and sexual abuse in the foster care system, and traumas, he is an outspoken advocate on every issue associated with mental health. Mr. Maldonado has done many presentations across the country and is considered by his peers to be a motivational and inspirational speaker. His message in all his presentations is that “Recovery is Possible for Everyone.”

Jennifer L. Magnabosco, PhD, is Associate Director and Senior Research Associate at The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles. Prior to joining The Leavey Center in 2006, Dr. Magnabosco held management, research, and clinical practice positions in both public and private sector organizations, including Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Social Work Practice at Columbia University; Associate Policy Researcher of the RAND Corporation; Project Associate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Mental Health Policy Research Network; and Health Science Research/Formative Evaluation/Survey Specialist, Co-Investigator and Project Director of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs-RAND-UCLA Center of Excellence for the Study of Healthcare Provider Behavior. For the last few years she has served as consultant to the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health. Magnabosco’s research has focused on the implementation, improvement and evaluation of government and community-based human services and systems, especially mental health. Her publications include articles in Implementation Science, Administration in Policy Mental Health & Mental Health Services Research, Psychiatric Services, Community Mental Health and Obesity Research; book reviews; book chapters; and working reports for the RAND and Corporationand the MacArthur Foundation. Dr. Magnabosco is a reviewer for academic journals and has been a technical reviewer for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She holds a PhD in Social Policy Administration from Columbia University, and a MA in Social Science-Concentration in Human Development and BA in Behavioral Science from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the University of Chicago Southern California Leadership Council and a former Vice President of the University of Chicago National Alumni Board of Governors and National Board of Governors Member for the Columbia University School of Social Work. Dr. Magnabosco is a member of ACMHA.

Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, is the Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Programs at Constella/SRA International, where he arrived in 2006. In this capacity he is developing new demonstration and research projects around mental health and substance use services, programs, and systems, using a public health framework. Consumer and family concerns pervade all of this work. Concurrently, he is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, and a Member of the Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Group on Healthy People 2020. Previously, Dr. Manderscheid served as Branch Chief, Survey and Analysis Branch, for the Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA, since 1992. Manderscheid is on the governing council of the American Public Health Association, President of the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association (FEIAA) Foundation, past president of FEIAA, and past chair of the APHA Mental Health Section. He has also served as the Chairperson of the Sociological Practice Section of the American Sociological Association, and as President of the Washington Academy of Sciences and the District of Columbia Sociological Society. During the National Health Care Reform debate, Dr. Manderscheid served as Policy Advisor on National Health Care Reform in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 1993, Dr. Manderscheid was a member of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Work Group of the President’s Task Force on Health Care Reform. He served as principal editor of Mental Health, United States between 1987 and 2004. He has also authored numerous scientific and professional publications on services to persons with mental illnesses. He is the recipient of both federal and professional awards, including the 1995 SAMHSA National Sociological Practice Award. Dr. Manderschied is a member of the ACMHA Board of Directors and the 2008 Summit chair.

Ali H. Mokdad, PhD is a Distinguished Scientist at the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. He received his PhD in quantitative epidemiology from Emory University and joined CDC in 1990 where he has served in various positions with the International Health Program, the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, and the National Immunization Program. He was appointed Chief of the Behavioral Surveillance Branch in 2002. He also manages and directs the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the world’s largest standardized telephone survey, to enable the CDC, state health departments, and other health and education agencies to monitor risk behaviors related to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Dr. Mokdad has published over 175 articles and numerous reports. He has received several awards including the Global Health Achievement for his work in Banda Aceh after the Tsunami, the Department of Health and Human Services Honor Award for his work on flu monitoring, and the Shepard award for outstanding scientific contribution to public health for his work on BRFSS.

Delia Olufokunbi, PhD, is a psychologist and social scientist with more than eight years of project management, program evaluation, and research experience. She has conducted research and evaluation in the areas of substance abuse, behavioral health policy, minority health, child welfare, poverty, welfare reform, and domestic violence. Dr. Olufokunbi is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Health Services Research and Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and the Chief Operating Officer of Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, a national initiative to improve access to alcohol treatment. She is currently leading an initiative to increase screening and brief intervention services for alcohol use disorders. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Olufokunbi was a Senior Research Associate at Caliber Associates, a leading research and evaluation consulting firm. Dr. Olufokunbi is a member of ACMHA.

Joseph Parks, MD, serves as Chief Clinical Officer for the Department of Mental Health as well as the Director for the Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services for the State of Missouri Department of Mental Health. He also serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health and University of Missouri in Columbia. He is President of the Medical Director’s Council of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. He practices psychiatry on an outpatient basis at Family Health Center, a federally funded community health center established to expand services to uninsured and underinsured patients in the Columbia area. Dr. Parks has authored or coauthored a number of original articles, monographs, technical papers, and reviews on implementation of evidence-based medicine and pharmacy utilization management and behavioral treatment programs. His work has appeared in several journals (Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Psychiatric Practices, Psychiatry Quarterly, Manual of Clinical Emergency Psychiatry, Behavioral Interviews, Hospital and Community Psychiatry, and Advanced Studies in Nursing). He was awarded the 2006 American Psychiatric Association Bronze Achievement Award for a program controlling pharmacy costs by improving prescribing practices.

Jeff Peterson, MD, is a primary care pediatrician in Yarmouth, Maine. After completing residency at Brown University in 2005 he moved to Maine and took a position at a practice in the rural western mountains. The practice served a poor population with significant unmet mental health needs. Dr. Peterson was invited to take part in a collaborative sponsored by Maine Health, the umbrella organization for Maine Medical Center, the largest hospital in the state. He worked with Dr. Neil Korsen and his team on the project. With the help of the collaborative, his practice was able to make a formal connection with a local mental health agency. This project led to much improved communications between their physicians and the mental health providers and improved access and care for patients. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Kansas and medical school at Loyola University in Chicago. Dr. Peterson completed his residency in general pediatrics at Brown University in 2005 and have practiced general pediatrics in Maine since then.

A. Kathryn Power, MEd, is the Director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). CMHS is charged with providing national leadership in improving mental health services for all Americans. As director Ms. Power leads the SAMHSA/CMHS staff in addressing both the 21st century challenges and opportunities presented to the nation’s system of quality mental health care – from developing approaches to reduce disparities in access to services and negotiate the complexity of financing and funding concerns to building on presidential priorities such as the New Freedom Initiative, the President’s New Freedom Mental Health Commission and growing support for mental health parity. Prior to her appointment Ms. Power served for over 10 years as Director of the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals, responsible for four systems of care serving individuals with serious disabilities. She had previously directed the Rhode Island Office of Substance Abuse, the Governor’s Drug Program, and the Rhode Island Anti-Drug Coalition. From 1985 – 1990 Ms. Power served as executive director of the Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Centers. Earlier experience includes teaching at both elementary and secondary levels, counseling, leadership and advocacy in rape crisis and domestic violence agencies, and computer systems analysis for the Department of Defense. She has served as President of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and has received many distinguished service awards for her work in mental health, substance abuse, and civic leadership. In addition, she has served on the boards of directors of over l00 non-profit agencies, commissions, and task forces in both the public and private sectors. Power received her BA in education from St. Joseph’s College in Maryland and her MEd in education and counseling from Western Maryland College. She is a graduate of the Toll Fellowship program of the Council of State Legislators and completed the program in executive and leadership government administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She has extensive practical training and teaching experience in leadership, ethics and the public sector, policy development, and program implementation. Ms. Power is currently a Captain serving in the US Naval Reserve.

Nighat S. Qadri, MD, is the Medical Director for Primary Care at Crider Health Center in Wentzville, MO. This safety net community health center provides integrated primary health, mental health, and dental services. In her native Pakistan she established and operated a comprehensive family practice center and a family planning center. Dr. Qadri conducted an immunization program under the World Health Organization and supervised medical and paramedical staff. She furthered her training in the United States and was a hospitalist before coming to Crider Health Center in her current position in the spring of 2007, beginning services in July of that year. She is Board Certified in Internal and Geriatric Medicine.

Charles G. Ray, is a principal with Criterion Health, Inc., and has served as a clinician, manager, consultant, and organization leader in behavioral health for 36 years. Criterion Health provides behavioral health management and systems design, development, and operational staffing for provider sponsored networks and other care providers. Recent projects have included designing emergency department diversion systems, design, development and ongoing operational support of a state wide Medicaid managed care system, strategic planning for a national residential children’s corporation, integration of behavioral health and primary care, and disease management systems. He served as President and CEO of the National Council for Community Behavioral Health Care (1988 – 2003), is the Treasurer of the World Federation For Mental Health, and President of the Community Health Facility Fund, a recipient of Robert Woods Johnson Foundation program related investment funds providing bond financing for non-profit community service providers. Mr. Ray is a member of ACMHA.

Brenda Reiss-Brennan, MS, APRN, CS, Mental Health Integration Director, Intermountain Healthcare, has been a licensed psychiatric nurse practitioner for over 30 years. She developed the Mental Health Integration concepts, which have been adopted and refined at Intermountain and for which she is well-known nationally. In 2006 Ms. Reiss-Brennan received the Osler’s Cloak Award for Excellence in Caring and Curing for her outstanding contribution to patient care and the advancement of clinical learning. Ms. Reiss-Brennan serves as principal investigator on several Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grants related to implementing sustainable models of integrating mental health into primary care. She has published and presented both nationally and internationally and holds a joint faculty appointment with the University of Utah College of Nursing. Ms. Reiss-Brennan is a member of ACMHA.

Raymond Rion, MD, is the Medical Director and a long-time friend of Packard Community Clinic who joined the clinic in 2002. He is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and completed his residency at Brown University. After his training Dr. Rion worked at a federally funded health center near Alpena. He returned to southeast Michigan and joined the University of Michigan in 1992. He has practiced in the Ann Arbor area since that time and has extensive teaching and administrative experience at the University. Dr. Rion is board certified in Family Practice and Geriatrics. His clinical interests include diabetes, geriatrics, and adult dermatology. He enjoys running, biking, hiking, hockey, and traveling to the southwest.

Linda Rosenberg, MSW, President and CEO, leads the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. A certified social worker and trained family therapist and psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner, Rosenberg has extensive experience in hospital and community psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation programs. Prior to joining the National Council in 2004, Rosenberg served for seven years as Senior Deputy Commissioner for the New York State Office of Mental Health. She led the implementation of evidence-based practices for adults and children, tripling New York’s assertive community treatment capacity, initiating a major expansion of children’s systems of care services, and developing an extensive array of housing options for people with serious mental illness. She also implemented a network of jail diversion treatment programs and was instrumental in the opening of New York’s first mental health court. Working with schools of social work throughout New York State, Rosenberg promoted and supported curriculum reform introducing evidence-based practice courses and recipient and family education programs. She holds faculty appointments at several schools of social work and serves on numerous agency and editorial boards. Ms. Rosenberg is a member of ACMHA.

Harvey Rosenthal has over 30 years of professional experience in New York State’s public mental health system. He has served in a variety of capacities ranging from state hospital therapy aide to clubhouse rehabilitation program director to his long-time commitment to working to improve services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities as executive director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS). Over the last decade, he has helped support successful campaigns to advance community recovery services and the community workforce, employment centered polices and incentives, prison mental health reforms, cultural and linguistic competence initiatives, new programs to aid underserved groups, and to work for self determination and choice and against the policies of discrimination and coercion. Mr. Rosenthal has also helped create and support NYAPRS’ nationally acclaimed efforts to transform mental health care to support recovery, wellness, employment and other self determined community-centered goals and to boost the role of peer support in local and statewide systems. His commitment arises directly out of his own recovery. He regularly speaks across the country promoting the recovery, rehabilitation, and rights of people with psychiatric disabilities and the importance of broader cross-disability policies (most notably self directed care), collaborations, and advocacy. Mr. Rosenthal is a member of ACMHA.

Martin D Sellers has been an active agent of change in the healthcare industry for three decades. In 2001 he founded Sellers Feinberg. As CEO, he conceptualizes and orchestrates the overall vision and strategic direction of the firm, offering keen expertise on federal and state health policy issues and in the field of Medicaid revenue enhancement. Many governors, appointed officials, and healthcare companies rely on his purposeful guidance to accomplish their Medicaid and healthcare reform goals. Mr. Sellers’ resourceful and inventive approaches have profoundly affected Medicaid reform and financing initiatives in many states. He continuously seeks out inspired win-win solutions to some of the nation’s most challenging healthcare concerns. Most recently, Mr. Sellers actively influenced the formulation and evolution of Massachusetts’ forward-thinking healthcare proposal, providing insight and counsel to Governor Mitt Romney’s administration. He is currently involved in principal reform initiatives in several other states. Prior to founding Sellers Feinberg, he served as a healthcare government relations consultant. For 22 years he worked at one of Pennsylvania’s largest government relations firms where he established and developed its healthcare and Washington, DC practices. As senior vice president of strategic consulting, he provided advice and guidance to a wide array of healthcare businesses and organizations. Mr. Sellers has also previously served in various key roles within Pennsylvania state government. He holds a BA in Political Science and Economics from Pennsylvania State University.

Lauren Spiro, MA, isthe Director of Public Policy for the National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations. She has spent over 30 years working in a variety of behavioral healthcare settings in positions ranging from direct service provider to senior manager. She has served on a number of boards of directors and advisory boards and was a founding board member of Housing Unlimited, Inc., an award-winning non-profit corporation in Maryland that provides housing for adults labeled with mental illness. She has served on the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities’ (CARF) International’s Cultural Diversity Advisory Group and is currently on the board of the Virginia Organization of Consumers Asserting Leadership and on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Person Directed Service Planning Training Guide Project. For several years she has traveled across the country as a CARF surveyor and as a mental health recovery consultant and educator. Ms. Spiro has presented at national, state, and provider conferences on evaluation and measurement of recovery outcomes, peer support, the recovery process, systems transformation, quality management, and cultural competency. As a teenager she was labeled with chronic schizophrenia. She educates diverse stakeholders on the dynamic components of the journey to wellness. Ms. Spiro envisions an America where every individual is respected and included as a valued member of the community. She has an MA in clinical/community psychology.

Tommy G. Thompson, the former Health and Human Services Secretary and four-term Governor of Wisconsin, is Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and a partner at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. At Deloitte and Akin Gump, Secretary Thompson is building on his efforts as HHS Secretary and Governor to develop innovative solutions to the health care challenges facing American families, businesses, communities, states, and the nation as a whole. These efforts focus on improving the use of information technology in hospitals, clinics and doctors offices; promoting healthier lifestyles; strengthening and modernizing Medicare and Medicaid; and expanding the use of medical diplomacy around the world. Secretary Thompson served as HHS Secretary from 2001 – 05 and is one of the nation’s leading advocates for the health and welfare of all Americans. He has dedicated his professional life to public service and served as Governor of Wisconsin from 1987 – 2001. Secretary Thompson began his career in public service in 1966 as a representative in Wisconsin’s State Assembly. He was elected assistant Assembly minority leader in 1973 and Assembly minority leader in 1981. Secretary Thompson has received numerous awards for his public service, including the Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Public Service Award. In 1997, the Secretary received Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year Award and the Horatio Alger Award in 1998. The Secretary has also served as chairman of the National Governors’ Association, the Education Commission of the States, and the Midwestern Governors’ Conference. Secretary Thompson also served in the Wisconsin National Guard and the Army Reserve.

Karl Wilson, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who was trained in and identifies himself as a community psychologist. He is the first President and CEO of the Crider Health Center, which he has led for over 28 years. This safety net community health and mental health center serves the Missouri counties of Lincoln, Warren, Franklin, and St. Charles with a staff of more than 200, a provider network and a $13 million annual budget. He has taught at Washington University in St. Louis for 31 years, first in psychology and then in social work where he teaches Mental Health Policy. He has served as chair of the Boards of Directors of the Missouri Coalition of Community Mental Health Centers, the Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis, and Missouri Foundation for Health and Behavioral Health Response. He currently serves on the boards of ten non-profit local, regional, and national organizations including Mental Health America. Dr. Wilson is a member of ACMHA.

Sherri D. Wittwer, MPA, is the Executive Director of NAMI Utah (the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Utah), a non-profit organization focused on offering education, support, and advocacy for individuals and families affected by mental illness. In conjunction with her work at NAMI Utah, Ms. Wittwer has been actively engaged in affecting positive change in mental health care in Utah by developing, overseeing and coordinating projects and initiatives in partnership with a number of government agencies and community organizations.

  • SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline joins ACMHA President-Elect Pamela Greenberg, President Eric Goplerud, and 2008 Summit Chair Ron Manderscheid.
  • Dick Dougherty, DMA Health Strategies, and Arthur Evans, Philadelphia Office of Behavioral Health, discuss the plenary session.
  • Ali Mokdad, Centers for Disease Control, is joined by ACMHA Board Member Laurie Alexander, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, following his presentation on the BRFSS during lunch.
  • ACMHA members Dennis Mohatt, WICHE; John Morris, Technical Assistane Collaborative, and Jacki McKinney, Philadelphia Office of Behavioral Health, continue discussions about strategy and implementation work groups.
  • Former Governor and Secretary Tommy G. Thompson (third from left) is joined by (left to right) Dr. Gary Blau, SAMHSA, and youth representatives Marvin Alexander, Samantha Jo Broderick, Amanda Gregory, and Brad Williams.
  • Mentors and learners in the 2008 ACMHA Mentorship Program class meet at Summit. (l to r) Ron Manderscheid, Stephanie Oprendek, Janie Bailey, Charles Ray, Dick Dougherty, Lilah Westrick, John Morris, and Clare Miller.
  • Dr. Herbert A Pardes, President and CEO, New York-Presbyterian Hospital System, addresses the gathering following acceptance of the Saul Feldman Award for Lifetime Achievement in Santa Fe on March 14.

2007 Summit

March 17, 2007 by Holly Salazar

  • Agenda
  • Handouts & Presentations
  • Speakers

Agenda

Wednesday, March 14, 2007
 
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.ACMHA Board of Directors Meeting – Devargas Room
 
4:30 – 6:30 p.m.Registration – North Concourse
Thursday March 15, 2007
 
7:00 a.m.Registration – North Concourse
 
7:30 a.m.New Member Breakfast (By Invitation) – Old House Wine Room
 
7:30 a.m.Breakfast Buffet – Lobby Lounge
 
8:30 a.m.Welcome and Introduction – Anasazi BallroomSandra L. Forquer, PhD
Vice President, Comprehensive NeuroScience
President, American College of Mental Health Administration
Gail P. Hutchings, MPA
President and CEO, Behavioral Health Policy Collaborative
Chair, Summit Planning Committee
 
8:45 a.m.Keynote Address: The Integration of Behavioral Health Services and Primary Health Care – Anasazi BallroomIntroduction – King Davis, PhD
Executive Director, Hogg Foundation for Mental HealthDavid Satcher, MD, PhD
Director, National Center for Primary Care, Morehouse School of Medicine, Poussaint/Satcher/Cosby Chair in Mental Health, Former US Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health
 
9:30 a.m.Moderated Q&A with Dr. Satcher – Anasazi Ballroom
 
10:15 a.m.Break – North Concourse
 
10:45 a.m.Consumer and Family Voices in Integration/Coordination – Anasazi Ballroom – Anasazi BallroomDeborah Fickling
Behavioral Health Ombudsperson, NM Human Services DepartmentEdward L. Knight, PhD
Vice-President, Recovery, ValueOptionsAndrew Toribio
American Indian youth, Via Pueblo, NMJacki McKinney
Co-director, Philadelphia Trauma Initiative, Philadelphia Office of Behavioral Health
 
11:30 a.m.Making the Case for Collaboration: Improving Care at the Behavioral and Physical Healthcare Interface – Anasazi BallroomRenata Henry, MEd
Director, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, Delaware Health and Social ServicesBarbara J. Mauer, MSW, CMC
Consultant, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, MCPP Healthcare ConsultingBenjamin G. Druss, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Public Health & Psychiatry,
Rosalynn Carter Chair in Mental Health, Emory University
 
12:00 p.m.Group Luncheon – Pavilion
Updates (Annapolis Coalition, Leadership Initiative, Mentoring Initiative, Proposition 63, National Action Committee)
 
1:30 p.m.Facilitated Small Group Discussions
Group 1 – Anasazi
Group 2 – Sunset
Group 4 – Devargas Room
Group 5 – Turquoise (4th Fl)
Group 6 – Zia B
 
3:00 p.m.Break – North Concourse
 
3:15 p.m.Exploring HRSA’s Increasing Role in Providing Mental Health Services: A Look at Changing Relationships and Reimbursement Issues for Community Health Centers and Community Mental Health Centers – Anasazi BallroomAlexander Ross, ScD
Health Systems and Financing Group, Health Resources Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesPeggy A. Clark, MSW, MPA
Technical Director, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesDennis Freeman, PhD
Chief Executive Officer, Cherokee Health Systems
 
4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.TA Café – Anasazi Ballroom
Opportunity for informal dialogue with presenters regarding specific issues of integration of behavioral health and primary care that are the focus of the Summit.
 
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.Consumer Leader Dialogue (By Invitation) – Zia C
 
6:00 p.m.Opening Reception – Sunset Room
 
7:30 p.m.Dinner at Leisure
 
Friday, March 16, 2007
 
7:30 a.m.Breakfast Buffet – Lobby Lounge
 
8:00 a.m.ACMHA Annual Business Meeting – Anasazi Ballroom
 
8:30 a.mPerspectives on Integration from the SAMHSA Administrator – Anasazi BallroomTerry L. Cline, PhD
Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
 
9:00 a.m.Focusing on Children and Adolescents: School-based Programs and Pediatric Primary Care Integration Models – Anasazi BallroomSandra Spencer
Executive Director, Federation of Families for Children’s Mental HealthMark D. Weist, PhD
Professor and Director, Center for School Mental Health Analysis and Action, University of Maryland School of MedicineMarvin Alexander, LSW
Youth Coordinator, Action for Kids Project, Mid-South Health Systems, Inc.Steven N. Adelsheim, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico
 
10:30 a.m.Break – North Concourse
 
11:00 a.m.Does Systems and Services Integration Promote Consumer and Family-Centered Care? – A Facilitated Discourse – Anasazi BallroomDavid L. Shern, PhD
President and CEO, Mental Health AmericaSaul Feldman, DPA
Chairman Emeritus, United Behavioral HealthDelphia Peñas Roach
Family Advocate and Vice President of Services Systems Relations, ValueOptions New MexicoBrenda Reiss Brennan, MS, APRN, CS
Intermountain Health Care, Inc.Wilma Townsend, MSW
President, WLT Consulting
 
12:30 p.m.Group Luncheon – Sunset Room
Presentations of the Saul Feldman Award for Lifetime Achievement, Barton Distinguished Fellow Award, and the Coakley Award Winner
 
2:00 p.m.Facilitated Small Group Discussions
Group 1 – Anasazi
Group 2 – Piñon (2nd Fl)
Group 3 – Old House Tavern
Group 4 – Zia C
Group 5 – Turquoise (4th Fl)
Group 6 – Zia B
 
3:15 p.m.Small Group Discussion Report-Out – Anasazi Ballroom
 
4:15 p.m.Daily Wrap Up/Agenda Ends for the Day
 
5:30 p.m.Leadership Excellence Network Dialogue (By Invitation) – Zia C
 
6:00 p.m.Whittington Wine-Off/Reception – Sunset Room
 
7:30 p.m.Dinner at Leisure
 
Saturday, March 17, 2007
 
8:00 a.m.Breakfast Buffet – Lobby Lounge
 
9:00 a.m.What the Data Tell Us about Integration and Outcomes: Results of National Evaluations and Program Reviews – Anasazi BallroomDanna Mauch, PhD
Principal Associate/Scientist, Abt Associates, Inc.Alicia D. Smith, MHA
Senior Consultant, Health Management AssociatesTBD, Centers for Disease Control (invited) US Department of Health and Human Services
 
10:00 a.m.Leadership and Integration: What Needs to Change? – Anasazi BallroomA. Kathryn Power, MEd
Director, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSAArthur C. Evans, PhD
Director of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services, and Acting Commissioner, Philadelphia Department of Human Services
 
11:30 a.m.ACHMA Members Going Forward – Anasazi BallroomSandra L.Forquer, PhD
Vice President,Comprehensive NeuroScience
President, American College of Mental Health AdministrationGail P. Hutchings, MPA
President and CEO, Behavioral Health Policy Collaborative Chair, Summit Planning CommitteeRonald Manderscheid, PhD
Director, Mental Health and Substance Use Programs, Constella Group, LLC
 
12:00 p.m.Summit Adjourns
 

March 15 – 17, 2007
Eldorado Hotel & Spa Santa Fe, NM
Gail P. Hutchings, MPA, ’07 Program Committee Chair

The 2007 Santa Fe Summit focused on an important and timely topic – the integration of physical and behavioral health care. Leaders from primary care and behavioral health examined how the traditional separation of funding and service delivery has influenced the effectiveness of health practices and affected the lives of the people who receive services, and explored various approaches to integrate and coordinate physical and behavioral health in practice, using community health clinics and school based services for children as focal points.

The topic of primary care and behavioral health coordination and integration has long been ignored, resulting in serious consequences for individuals and families including morbidity and early mortality. Recent data indicates that people with serious mental illnesses are dying 25 years earlier than their peers who do not have a mental illness. Far too often, this is directly attributable to the failure of preventing or intervening early to address the primary health care needs of people with behavioral health issues. With the advent of managed care, the increasing costs of medical care, advances in the science of treating illnesses, and shrinking resources for health care, public demand for better care and more efficient use of resources necessitated a reexamination of methods and approaches by both fields.

Building on the efforts of the 2006 Summit, Cross-Systems Collaborations: Catalysts for Transforming Behavioral Health, ACMHA will continue to examine the issues of cross-systems collaboration in a more detailed and practical level by focusing on the merits, concerns, and approaches to integrating primary care and behavioral health services. Central to the conversation this year, presenters and participants will share “lessons learned” through both successes and failures.

165 leaders and change agents came together March 14 – 17 in Santa Fe to discuss integration and it’s affect on service access and delivery, leadership needs, and systems transformation efforts. Dynamic speakers, a facilitated discourse with field leaders about the pros and cons of integration, and small group interactive conversations and workshops were all central to the success of the summit.

As post-Summit activities continue, ACMHA will add additional information to this page related to coordination and integration of behavioral health and primary care. The links below make available the pre-Summit commissioned paper on integration and presentation slides from faculty.

Pre-Summit Paper

Making the Case for Collaboration: Improving Care at the Behavioral and Primary Healthcare Interface
Barbara J. Mauer, MSW, CMC, MCPP Healthcare Consulting
Benjamin G. Druss, MD, MPH, Emory University

Keynote Presentation

Integration of Primary Care and Behavioral Health
David Satcher, MD, PhD, National Center for Primary Care, Morehouse School of Medicine

Plenary Presentations

Making the Case for Collaboration: Improving Care at the Behavioral and Primary Healthcare Interface
Barbara J. Mauer, MSW, CMC, MCPP Healthcare Consulting
Benjamin G. Druss, MD, MPH, Emory University

Access to Mental Health Services In Primary Care Settings: Reimbursement and Collaboration
Alexander F. Ross, ScD, US Department of Health and Human Services

CMS Update: Reimbursement for Mental Health Services
Peggy A. Clark, MSW, MPA, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

Taking a Road Less Traveled: Evolution of an Integrated Delivery System
Dennis Freeman, PhD, Cherokee Health Systems

Health/Mental Health Promotion in Schools
Mark D. Weist, PhD, Center for School Mental Health Analysis and Action, University of Maryland

Primary Care-Behavioral Health Linkages in School-Based Health Centers
Steven N. Adelsheim, MD, University of New Mexico

Using Qualitative and Quantitative Data To Tell Us About Integration and Outcomes
Danna Mauch, PhD, Abt Associates

Integrating Publicly Funded Physical and Behavioral Health Services: A Description of Selected Initiatives
Alicia D. Smith, MHA, Health Management Associates

Mental Health: The Role of Public Health and CDC
Ali H. Mokdad, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Leadership and Integration: What Needs to Change?
A. Kathryn Power, MEd, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA

Learned from Integration Initiatives: Implications for Leadership
Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services, Philadelphia

Other Presentations

2007 ACMHA Santa Fe Summit Welcome
Gail P. Hutchings, MPA, Behavioral Health Policy Collaborative, Chair – Summit Planning Committee

Doing, Not Talking, the IOM Blueprint
Ronald Manderscheid, PhD, Constella Group, LLC, and Johns Hopkins University

Federal Parity Update
Pamela Greenberg, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness

Going Forward: Post Summit
Gail P. Hutchings, MPA, Behavioral Health Policy Collaborative, Chair – Summit Planning Committee

Faculty Biographies

Keynote Speaker
David L. Satcher, MD, PhD
(Photo available) David Satcher, MD, PhD, was named Director of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA in September 2002. From March to September 2002, Dr. Satcher served as a Senior Visiting Fellow with the Kaiser Family Foundation, where he spent time reflecting and writing about his experiences in government and speaking. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Johnson & Johnson, and the Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation.

Dr.Satcher was sworn in as the 16th Surgeon General of the United States in February 1998. He also served as Assistant Secretary for Health from February 1998 to January 2001. As Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr.Satcher led the Department’s effort to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health. He also released Surgeon General’s reports on tobacco and health; mental health, which was followed by supplements on children’s mental health; culture, race and ethnicity; suicide and mental retardation prevention; oral health; sexual health and responsible sexual behavior; youth violence prevention; and overweight and obesity.

Dr.Satcher is a former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and Macy Faculty Fellow. He is the recipient of nearly three dozen honorary degrees and numerous distinguished honors, including top awards from the National Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. He was also awarded the SARNAT Prize for Mental Health from the National Academy of Sciences-Institute of Medicine. In 2005, Dr.Satcher was appointed as a Commissioner on Social Determinants of Health of the World Health Organization and became Co-Chair of the Ad Council’s Advisory Committee on Public Issues. In June 2006, he was announced as the first Poussaint-Satcher-Cosby Chair in Mental Health.

Dr.Satcher graduated from Morehouse College in 1963 and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his MD and PhD from Case Western Reserve University in 1970 with election into Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He did his residency/fellowship training at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, UCLA, and King-Drew. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the American College of Physicians.

Plenary Speakers
Steven Adelsheim, MD
Steven Adelsheim, MD, is a child psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry, Family/Community Medicine, and Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, where he is the Director of the Community Behavioral Health programs for the Psychiatry Department. Dr.Adelsheim serves as a consultant to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative and is the former school mental health officer for the New Mexico Department of Health. In 2006 Dr. Adelsheim received the Agnes Purcell McGavin Award for Prevention from the American Psychiatric Association and in 2005 received the Irving Phillips Award for Prevention of child and adolescent mental illness from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for his prevention work nationally and in New Mexico. Dr Adelsheim is also the Co-Chair of the Committee on Schools of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr.Adelsheim is currently working on the development of telepsychiatry programs with the Indian Health Service in New Mexico. He is married and has four daughters.

Marvin C. Alexander, LSW
Marvin C. Alexander, LSW is a youth coordinator for a system of care community in the Mississippi River Delta Area in Arkansas. As youth coordinator, Marvin leads a team of youth support advocates that support youth-run focus and development groups for young people with severe emotional and behavioral disharmonies in four counties. Marvin is also a board member of Youth M.O.V.E. (Motivating Others through Voices of Experience), formally the National Youth Development Board. Mr. Alexander advocates on the local, state, and national level for increased youth voice, involvement, and decision-making roles in treatment and in the policies that govern care. His expertise in youth involvement comes all but natural. As a younger youth, Mr. Alexander was a consumer of mental health services, touched by the juvenile justice system, and survived alternative education only after four years in residential care.

Peggy A. Clark, MSW, MPA
Peggy Clark has over 25 years’ public- and private-sector experience managing and implementing social service and health programs for vulnerable populations. Ms. Clark joined the Medicaid Managed Care Team in the Office of Managed Care at the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) in 1996. She is currently Technical Director, Division of Integrated Health Systems in the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group within the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, managing program analyses of freedom of choice waivers for special populations of disabled and elderly Medicaid beneficiaries and is the Mental Health Policy Lead. Prior to her arrival at HCFA, she worked at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, where she was a Project Officer in the Community Support Program overseeing project grants to State Mental Health Authorities. Previous to her government positions, Ms. Clark was the Staff Associate for the Health and Mental Health Commission at the National Association of Social Workers, and Executive Director of the Family Guidance Center, a United Way Agency in Montgomery, Alabama. She holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Auburn University and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Terry Cline, PhD
Terry Cline, PhD, was confirmed by the US Senate in December 2006 as Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. As administrator, Dr. Cline leads the $3.3 billion agency responsible for improving the accountability, capacity, and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health service delivery systems. Throughout his career Dr. Cline has worked to ensure individual and family needs are the driving force for the prevention, treatment and recovery support services delivered. He has championed the principle that mental health and freedom from substance abuse are fundamental to overall health and well-being and that mental and substance use disorders should be treated with the same urgency as any other health conditions. Prior to his appointment as Administrator, Dr. Cline was Oklahoma’s Secretary of Health. At the same time, he served as Oklahoma’s Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Dr. Cline has extensive experience in overseeing health and human services at the state level. He has also served as a provider with the Cambridge Youth Guidance Center and at McLean Hospital. His professional history includes a six-year appointment as a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and chairman of the governing board for a Harvard teaching hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Cline received a master’s degree and doctorate in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University.

King Davis, PhD
King Davis is Executive Director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health and the Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy in the School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin. In 2002 he received the lifetime achievement award from the Council on Social Work Education. Davis has been professor of Public Mental Health Policy and Planning at the Virginia Commonwealth University, held the William and Camille Cosby Chair at Howard University, the Libra Chair in the School of Business and Public Policy at the University of Maine, and was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Washington University. Davis is a former Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. From 1985-87 Davis served in the position of Galt Visiting Scholar where he held full professorships at each of Virginia’s three medical schools and departments of psychiatry. Davis is a Vietnam-era veteran and was honorably discharged in 1969 at the rank of Captain. He has served on a number of local, state, and national boards and commissions and has written and published numerous articles and reports on mental health, managed health care, fund raising, and social justice. He recently served on the Surgeon General’s Workgroup on Mental Health, Culture, Race and Ethnicity and presented to the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in 2002. Davis was awarded the PhD from the Florence G. Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. He holds the masters and bachelors degrees in social work from California State University.

Benjamin Druss, MD, MPH
As the first Rosalynn Carter Chair in Mental Health at Emory University, Dr. Druss is working to build linkages between mental health and broader public health and health policy communities. Prior to this position, he was on faculty in the departments of Psychiatry and Public Health at Yale. Dr. Druss has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles largely focusing on the policy and systems issues on the interface between primary care and mental health. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine committee on Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions and serves on an NIMH grant review panel. Dr. Druss has received several national awards for his work, including the 2000 American Psychiatric Association Early Career Health Services Research Award, the 2000 AcademyHealth Article-of-the-Year Award, and the AcademyHealth 2003 Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award In 2006, he received a Midcareer Investigator Award from the National Institute of Mental Health to pursue a program of research on improving collaboration between Community Health Centers and Community Mental Health Centers in the United States.

Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD
Arthur C. Evans Jr, PhD, is the Director of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services, a $1 billion healthcare agency. He is leading a major initiative to transform how behavioral health care and mental retardation services are delivered in the city. Since Dr. Evans’ appointment to his position in 2004, Philadelphia has begun a transformation of its entire system to one that focuses on recovery for adults, resiliency for children, and self-determination for all people who use mental retardation services. More recently, Dr. Evans has been appointed to the additional position of Acting Commissioner of the Department of Human Services. In this role he is working to implement reforms in the child welfare system in Philadelphia. Dr. Evans is a clinical and community psychologist and holds a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He has also held faculty appointments at Yale University School of Medicine and Quinnipiac University. Dr. Evans has had extensive experience in transforming systems of care and serves in several national leadership capacities. Dr. Evans is highly committed to serving people who are underserved and ensuring that all people have access to effective, quality services.

Saul Feldman, DPA
Saul Feldman, DPA, is Chairman Emeritus of United Behavioral Health following his former role as its Chief Executive Officer. At the National Institute of Mental Health, he founded and directed its Staff College, as well as led the nation’s community mental health centers and applied services research programs. He has served as a member of the National Advisory Council of SAMHSA on a panel of experts appointed by the Institute of Medicine and on a national policy panel dealing with the quality of treatment for alcohol and drug problems. Currently, he is a member of the MacArthur Foundation Network on Mental Health Policy Research and a Commissioner on California’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. Dr. Feldman holds a graduate degree in psychology and a doctorate in public administration, with a specialization in health services policy.

Deborah Fickling
Deborah Fickling is the Behavioral Health Ombudsperson for the State of New Mexico Medicaid program and other New Mexico Behavioral Healthcare Collaborative member agencies. In this role, her “lived experience” as a recipient of services in the publicsector informs her passionate advocacy for individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues who are asking for help, seeking resolution to a problem, or just wanting to know that someone cares. Ms. Fickling is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration Board of Directors as well as Chair of the Membership Committee.

Sandra Forquer, PhD
Sandra L. Forquer, PhD, currently serves as Vice President for market development for Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc. Prior to joining CNS, Dr. Forquer served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Development for ValueOptions, and as Executive Director for Colorado Health Networks, the ValueOptionsColorado Medicaid Capitation Project. Dr. Forquer has also served as Deputy Commissioner for Quality and Management Information Systems for the New York State Office of Mental Health and as Director of the Division of Behavioral Health Education in the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Forquer is Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health and Sciences. She currently is President of the American College of Mental Health Administration.

Dennis S. Freeman, PhD
Since 1978 Dennis S. Freeman, PhD, has served as Chief Executive Officer of Cherokee Health Systems, Inc., a community-based provider of integrated primary care and behavioral health services in East Tennessee. The company now has over 500 employees, an annual budget of $37 million, and two-dozen service locations. Dr. Freeman is a licensed psychologist in the state of Tennessee and is included in the National Register of Health Services Providers in Psychology. His professional interests include health services development and management, preservation of the safety net, managed care, and the blending of behavioral health and primary care services.

Renata J. Henry, MEd
Renata J. Henry, MEd, is director of the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, Delaware Health and Social Services, responsible for the administrative direction and oversight of public sector behavioral health services for adults in Delaware. Ms. Henry has over 30 years experience in the behavioral health field, serving in various clinical and administrative positions in community-based mental health and substance abuse organizations. She has worked with county government in Pennsylvania. Prior to becoming the division director, she was the director of Substance Abuse Services for the State of Delaware. Ms. Henry has served on the National Advisory Mental Health Council for the National Institutes of Health. She has also participated on numerous committees, expert panels, and task forces, which have advised the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on behavioral health policy, practice, financing, and cultural competence issues. Ms. Henry is the president of the board of directors of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in education from Antioch University.

Gail P. Hutchings, MPA
Gail Hutchings, Chair of the Summit Planning Committee, is the founding President and CEO of the Behavioral Health Policy Collaborative, a private consulting firm in Alexandria, VA. Her clients include public and private sector organizations dedicated to improving mental health and substance abuse systems, services, and outcomes. Until late 2005, Ms. Hutchings was Chief of Staff of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), US Department of Health and Human Services. While with SAMHSA, she served in a variety of other senior roles including Acting Deputy Administrator, Acting Director of its Center for Mental Health Services, and Senior Advisor to the Administrator. For each she had lead responsibilities for coordinating and overseeing a wide portfolio of policy, programmatic, financial, management, administrative, and communications issues. She was directly responsible for major policy initiatives including serving as an Alternate Commissioner on the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and as the senior content editor and contributing writer to the Commission’s Final Report, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. Ms. Hutchings is the past Deputy Executive Director and Director of Technical Assistance of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. She is a nationally recognized expert on national- and state-level behavioral health policy and practices as well as effective technical assistance on a wide range of topics and issues.

Edward L. Knight, PhD
Edward L. Knight, PhD, is a nationally known consumer survivor leader, researcher, and trainer. He is Vice President of Recovery for ValueOptions and an Adjunct Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University. He is currently doing research with UCLA/RAND, Yale University, Nathan Kline, and Mental Health Empowerment Project. He is diagnosed with schizophrenia andhas been homeless. He is a user of mental health services in Colorado Springs, CO.

Ronald Manderscheid, PhD
Ronald Manderscheid, PhD, has more than 30 years of experience in the fields of mental health and substance use. He joined the Constella Group in 2006, coming from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) where he served as chief of the Survey and Analysis Branch within the Center for Mental Health Services. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At Constella, Dr. Manderscheid leads a program area that includes development, demonstrations, and research projects in the areas of mental health and substance use, with special emphasis on consumer and family empowerment. His work spans public, non-profit and private sectors, and focuses on services, systems, financing, program support, statistical information and information technology. Dr. Manderscheid’s federal career spanned a broad range of activities. He previously served as chief of mental health services research, mental health statistics and evaluation research programs at the National Institute of Mental Health. He later became the chief of mental health statistics and IT at the Center for Mental Health Services within SAMHSA. He also served as a senior policy advisor on health care reform in the office of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health, and was an editor of Mental Health, United States for the year spanning 1987 to 2004. Dr. Manderscheid is particularly noted for his work with the consumer and family communities and for introducing consumer participation in federal workgroups and consumer assessments of mental health care. Such assessments are now commonplace in the field.

Danna Mauch, PhD
Danna Mauch, PhD, is a principal/scientist with Abt Associates, Inc. with more than 30 years of experience in designing, implementing and leading clinical and administrative organizations in the health services arena, with emphasis on public insurance and care financing programs. During the recent past she has worked on the Massachusetts Unified Behavioral Health Initiative; the Primary Care and Mental Health Services Integration Study – a joint initiative of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA); and as Principal Investigator and Quality Review Officer for The Best Practices Documentation Project. She is a well known author and presenter. Mauch received her PhD from Brandeis University in Social Policy, Health Planning and Administration with a concentration in Health Economics. Her master’s degree is from Temple University in Psychology.

Barbara Mauer, MSW CMC
Barbara Mauer, MSW, CMCis a Managing Consultant for MCPP Healthcare Consulting in Seattle, WA. She has over 15 years of consulting experience focused on strategic planning, program design, performance management, and quality management processes. She is a co-author of How to Thrive in Managed Behavioral Healthcare and The Primary Care Performance Management System as well as multiple articles discussing organizational design and performance management. Ms. Mauer has worked with behavioral health systems throughout the West Coast in planning efforts that bring together consumers, advocates, families, providers, and partner organizations to identify ways to improve services and achieve better outcomes. She is nationally active in writing, training, and consulting on ways to better integrate primary healthcare services with mental health and substance abuse services, serving as the lead consultant for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare on this subject.

Jacki McKinney, MSW
Jacki McKinney, MSW, is a survivor of trauma, addiction, homelessness and the psychiatric and criminal justice systems. She is a consumer and family advocate specializing in issues affecting African-American women and their children and is a founding member of the National People of Color Consumer/Survivor Network. She has worked in a number of major and social policy initiatives including the Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health. Ms. McKinney has been a consultant and advisor to the Center for Mental Health Services and is well known for her moving presentations to national audiences on issues such as seclusion/restraint, intergenerational family support and minority issues in public mental health.

A. Kathryn Power, MEd
A. Kathryn Power, MEd is Director of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). CMHS provides national leadership in mental health promotion, mental illness prevention, and the development and dissemination of effective mental health services. Power leads the transformation of the nation’s mental health care system into one that is recovery-oriented and consumer-centered. In 2005, Power received the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service for spearheading the Federal Mental Health Transformation Team, an unprecedented interdepartmental coalition that produced the first ever Federal Action Agenda for Mental Health Transformation. Ms. Power served as President of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. She has also been recognized locally and nationally for her leadership and advocacy by organizations such as the Center for Performance Excellence, the Rhode Island Protection and Advocacy System, and the National Organization for Victim Assistance. In addition, Ms. Power has served on the boards of directors of over 100 non-profit agencies, commissions, and task forces in the public and private sectors. Power received her master’s degree in education and counseling from Western Maryland College. She is a graduate of the Toll Fellowship program of the Council of State Governments. She has also completed programs in senior executive leadership development, mental health leadership, and substance abuse leadership at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. Power is a Captain serving in the US Navy Reserve.

Brenda Reiss-Brennan, MS, APRN, CS
Brenda Reiss-Brennan, MS, APRN, CS, Mental Health Integration Leader, Intermountain Healthcare, has been a licensed psychiatric nurse practitioner for over 30 years. She developed the Mental Health Integration concepts, which have been adopted and refined at Intermountain and for which she is well-known nationally. In 2006 Ms. Reiss-Brennan received the “Osler’s Cloak Award for Excellence in Caring and Curing” for her outstanding contribution to patient care and the advancement of clinical learning. Ms. Reiss-Brennan serves as Principal Investigator on several Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grants related to implementing sustainable models of integrating mental health into primary care. She has published and presented both nationally and internationally and holds a joint faculty appointment with the University of Utah College of Nursing.

Delfy Peña Roach
From 1991 to 2005, Ms. Roach was the Executive Director of Parents for Behaviorally Different Children, a statewide family support and advocacy parent organization for families with children with neurobiological, emotional, and behavioral challenges in New Mexico. She left that position for ValueOptions New Mexico where she is the Vice President of the Service Systems Relations Department. This department through its liaisons is responsible for problem-solving, interagency support, and program development related to specific consumer populations and programs. In addition to providing key links with the New Mexico Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative agencies, Ms. Roach and her staff work with providers and other ValueOptions New Mexico Service Center staff to implement planned changes in service system philosophy and design throughout the provider network. She is also the parent of a tax paying, voting young adult who has been diagnosed since age four with bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Alexander F. Ross, ScD
Dr.Ross is a senior health policy analyst in the Health Systems Organization and Financing Group, Office of Planning and Evaluation, Health Resources and Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services. The focus of his work is on policy and evaluation studies that address the health care concerns of low-income and uninsured population across the nation. He is currently working on the impact of marketplace changes on safety net providers, access to behavioral health care services for patients seen in managed care and primary care settings, and the role of safety net providers in Medicare Advantage managed care plans. Previous to his position with the Health Systems Organization and Financing Group, Dr. Ross worked in the Bureau of HIV/AIDS as Chief of the Program Development Branch and Acting Chief of the Legislative Branch within the Office of Program Development. He began his federal service in the Division of Program Evaluation and Methodology Development, US Government Accountability Office. Dr. Ross holds a Doctor of Science from The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health as well as an undergraduate degree in anthropology from the State University of New York at Albany.

David L. Shern, PhD
David Shern, PhD, was named in 2006 as the president and CEO of Mental Health America, formerly the National Mental Health Association, the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness. Prior to joining NMHA, Dr. Shern served as dean of the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida, one of the largest research and training institutes in behavioral health services in the US. He also founded and directed the National Center for the Study of Issues in Public Mental Health, a National Institute of Mental Health-funded services research center located in the New York State Office of Mental Heath. His work has spanned a variety of mental health services research topics including epidemiological studies of the need for community services; the effects of differing organizational, financing, and service delivery strategies on continuity of care and client outcome and the use of alternative service delivery strategies such as peer counseling and self help on the outcomes of care. He has received more than $20 million in external grant support and authored more than 100 publications including papers in Health Affairs, Psychiatric Services, Medical Care, Health Services Research, Behavioral Health Services and Research and the American Journal of Public Health.

Alicia D. Smith, MHA
Alicia D. Smith, MHA, has over 10 years of experience in Medicaid and behavioral health policy, financing, and reimbursement matters. Prior to joining Health Management Associates, Ms. Smith operated a consulting practice assisting state and local behavioral health authorities and providers with the development of needs assessments and resource inventories, strategic assessments, and coverage and reimbursement policies. As Deputy Director of Resources For Recovery, a national grant program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Alicia assisted states with identifying and implementing strategies for the expansion of alcohol and other drug treatment access and resources. She also worked as a health care consultant with one of the nation’s largest law firms specializing in behavioral health and worked as a Medicaid health services administrator for the Ohio Medicaid program. Alicia serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Community Housing Network – a supportive housing services provider and real estate development company – and also serves as a member of the Rebuilding Lives Update Strategy Committee to plan and address the needs of homeless families, children and adults in Franklin County, OH.

Sandra Spencer
Sandra Spencer, Executive Director of the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, has commanded respect from national policy and program leaders, family members, youth, and children for more than a decade. Ms. Spencer has navigated a highly visible career path through local family organizing, state level systems of care development, advocacy, national meeting planning for both the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health and the Technical Assistance Partnership, and providing training and technical assistance to family-run organizations. In addition to her successes Sandra’s struggles have led to the deepest ways of knowing and learning. Sandra has been homeless and on welfare. She has spent sleepless nights protecting her son from the symptoms of his emotional disorder. She has developed and managed resources to raise her children alone in an environment of unconditional love and support. Those are the real skills and abilities Sandra brings to her work.

Andrew Toribio
Andrew Toribio is a 19-year-old American Indian from Via Pueblo, New Mexico. During his early teens, Andrew was diagnosed with depression, contemplated suicide, used drugs, was involved with a gang, and was truant from school – all leading to his involvement with the criminal justice system through a Drug Court. Andrew attributes his mother’s dedication to helping him, and his involvement with Judge Amy Lovell and the local Tribal Educator who interacted with his school to his recovery. He is now earning good grades as a freshman at Central New Mexico College and pursuing a nursing degree on his path to become an Emergency Room Nurse.

Wilma Townsend, MSW
Wilma Townsend, MSW, provides consultation for states, local government entities, managed care organizations, and consumer and family organizations in the areas of cultural competence, consumer outcomes, and consumer involvement. Ms. Townsend was chief of the Office of Consumer Services, State of Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH) for over 15 years. In that role, she was the state’s liaison with statewide consumer and family organizations. She also worked with the culturally diverse communities of Ohio in developing culturally diverse programs and culturally competent systems of care. She was instrumental in ODMH funding of a Diversity Resource Center, which serves as a statewide clearinghouse for cultural diversity materials, as well as providing resources and training for the Ohio Mental Health System and other state and local entities. Ms. Townsend now manages her own company, WLT Consulting.

Mark Weist, PhD
Mark Weist received a PhD in clinical psychology from Virginia Tech in 1991 and has since then worked at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he is a professor. Dr. Weist directs the School Mental Health Program, which provides mental health services to students in 28 Baltimore City schools and the Center for School Mental Health Analysis and Action, a federally funded program and policy analysis center. He is active in a number of professional organizations including the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care, the American School Health Association, the International Union for Health Promotion and Education, and helped to launch the International Alliance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Schools. He has served as principal investigator on a number of research grants, including a current grant from the National Institute of Mental Health on Enhancing Quality in School Mental Health. He serves on numerous editorial boards and has written four edited books on children’s and school mental health.

2006 Summit

March 18, 2006 by Holly Salazar

March 15 – 18, 2006
Eldorado Hotel & Spa Santa Fe, NM

The 2006 Santa Fe Summit focused on the goal of transformational change within the behavioral health community and how the tools of collaboration, especially across systems, could promote that change. Building on prior years’ work, the Summit Planning Committee created space for dialogue around key issues of transformation in order to step over barriers that hamper change and create new possibilities through interaction with colleagues. The committee had three goals:

To explore and understand the complexity of how behavioral health problems manifest themselves in systems outside of the specialty behavioral health sector (e.g., primary care, public health, child welfare, education, adult/juvenile justice, or law enforcement).
To present examples and identify various strategies that address behavioral health problems in non-specialty settings with an eye toward generalizing to broader social policy solutions.
To provide a forum to explore how the behavioral health field– particularly the roles of professionals and policy makers–will be transformed by the growing recognition of the ubiquity of behavioral health problems.

197 leaders and change agents came together March 15 – 18 in Santa Fe to discuss the role of cross-system collaboration in transformation, the role of leadership development in transformation, and to establish specific goals for their own participation in the transformational process. Dynamic keynote speakers, presenter teams from across the nation sharing successes in collaboration efforts, and poster presentations of research and further examples of transformational change were all central to the success of the summit.

As post-Summit activities continue, ACMHA will add additional information to this page related to the continual movement of transformation in the behavioral health system. The links below provide information from keynote speakers and presenters.

Keynote Presentations

Cross Systems Collaborations: Catalysts for Transforming Behavioral Health
A. Kathryn Power, MEd, Director, Center for Mental Health Services

The Context for Collaboration: Behavioral Healthcare 2006
Michael F. Hogan, PhD, Director, Ohio Department of Mental Health

Environmental Scan: Issues and Challenges in the Field
Marie E. Sinioris, President & CEO, National Center for Healthcare Leadership

Transformational Leadership
Bob Stilger, PhD, Co-President, The Berkana Institute

Cross Systems Collaboration: Some Serious and Persistent Questions
David Shern, PhD, Professor and Dean, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute

Collaboration Within and Across Systems: From Segregation to Collaboration
King Davis, PhD, Executive Director, The Hogg Foundation

Additional Presentations

Cross Systems Collaboration: The Role of Leadership Excellence Networks
Marie E. Sinioris, President & CEO, National Center for Healthcare Leadership

Improving the Quality of Healthcare for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions: A Report in the Quality Chasm Series
Allen S. Daniels, EdD, University of Cincinnati Department of Psychiatry

Annapolis Coalition Update
Michael A. Hoge, PhD, Chair, The Annapolis Coalition

Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment Update
Betta H. Owens, MS, Deputy Director

2005 Summit

April 2, 2005 by Holly Salazar

March 30 – April 2, 2005
Eldorado Hotel & Spa Santa Fe, NM

The ACMHA Summit, “Tracking the Transformation” was a huge success, gathering of 152 national leaders in the field of behavioral health and substance use disorders to discuss and design transformational strategies to move the field forward. Welcomed by Governor William Richardson, the participants heard inspiring keynote presentations by Kathryn Power, airline industry expert Karolin Chebowsky and Annapolis Coalition leaders Michael Hoge and John Morris. Twelve “transformational leaders” presented enlightening and stimulating overviews of progress in the key areas of transformation highlighted in the President’s Commission Report. The discussion groups, led by 12 spirited facilitators representing administrative and consumer leadership, kept the dialogue moving and the recommendations for transformation took shape. Pamela Hyde, J.D. and Areta Crowell, Ph.D. were honored by ACMHA with awards for their service to the field. The ACMHA 25th Birthday Party and traditional “wine-off” added to the fun and festivities, all surrounded by the beauty and artistry of unique Santa Fe. See presentations and summary recommendations below.

Proceedings of the 2005 Summit: Tracking the Tranformation (pdf)

2005 Photos

2005 Wine-Off Results

2005 Summit Powerpoint Presentation, Web Version (ppt)

Mike Hogan:
Transformation: ACMHA, The President’s Commission, And the Change that we Seek (ppt)

A. Kathryn Power:
Tracking the Transformation: A Celebration of Our Progress (ppt)

Saturday Summary:
Workgroup Recommendations (pdf)

Small Group Recommendations (ppt)

Dr. Rudy Arredondo & Dr. Nancy C. Speck: Texas State Strategic Health Partnership: Sharing Leadership and Accountability for Public Health in Texas (ppt)

MBHP Outcomes Initiative (ppt)

Wayne Stelk:
MBHP Outcomes Initiative (pdf)

2004 Summit

March 13, 2004 by Holly Salazar

March 10 – 13, 2004
Eldorado Hotel & Spa Santa Fe, NM
David Shern, Ph.D., Summit 04 Program Chair

Summary
By Richard Lippincott, MD, ACMHA Fellow

The AMCHA Summit 04 was designed to work on and about the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health report, with the goal being both critique of the recommendations and development of proposals for action. Thus the design included presentations and small group discussion groups.

The major presenters included:

  • Michael Hogan, Ph.D., Commissioner, Department of Mental Health, Ohio, and Chair of the President’s Commission
  • Charles Currie, M.A., A.C. S. W., Administrator, SAMSHA, Department of Health and Human Services
  • Kathryn Power, M.Ed., Director, CMHS
  • Mary Jane England, M.D., President, Regis College

The presentations promoted meaningful discussion within the groups. Focusing upon the commission report, there was explicit recognition of the significant compromise to mental health care: fragmentation of services, stigma, and shift in the locus of the problems and the service delivery /care responsibility. For many the summit the reflection from years passed – “When we know what to do, why do we not do it” And “The system is in shambles” – rang clear again. However, the commission report expressed optimism through the concept of “transformation.”

The report emphasized recovery and resilience and proposed the following six goals to enhance the transformation:

1. Education Americans to understand that mental health is essential to overall health
2. Energize mental health care by inclusion of families and consumers of services
3. Eliminate Mental health service disparities
4. Improve access to mental health screening across the age spectrum
5. Implement evidence-based services to promote excellence
6. Increase use of technology to improve access to mental health services

Through presentation, SAMHSA representatives made it clear that transformation demanded attention to “policy, funding, and practice,” not just a belief system. The good news was contained in proposed money to initiate state incentive grants for the transformation. Charles Currie announced a transformation team to be led by Kathryn Powers that will be responsible for a working “to do” list.

At the same time, there was recognition of the years facing many of the same issues, and the problems of politics, attitudes, bureaucracies, and “human nature” in reaching real change. Additional presentation detailed these concepts and proposals, stimulating significant discussion.

In the wrap-up sessions, there was emphasis on looking at our mental health system in new ways, new product development, accountability shifts, and the emphasis that health is a basic human right. The committees worked with this spirit and defined the primary recommendations.

1. Implementation is the key. We know what the barriers are, we know what to do for services, but we do not seem to know how to make the transitions called for in the President’s Commission report.
2. Pay attention to projects that show evidence of transformation. Collaborate with programs that have family and consumer involvement, are community-based, culturally relevant and focused upon improving services.
3. Acknowledge the importance of recovery by aggressively promoting outcomes and real-life quality such as friends, housing and work.
4. Mental health transition may involve a change in thinking, i.e., “Equality opportunity for health is a basic human right,” and “Healthcare coverage is a right for all.” Basically, separation of behavioral health from general health is not a good idea.

Conclusion: The discussions, presentation and consensus at Summit 04 has provided the framework for the ACMHA Summit 05, entitled “Tracking the Transformation,” to be held March 30 – April 2, 2005 at the Eldora do Hotel, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Summit 05 will examine what individuals, organizations (public and private), coalitions, state and federal governments and others had done in the 20 months since the release of the President’s Commission report to transform the behavioral Health system.

2003 Summit

March 19, 2003 by Holly Salazar

Acknowledgements
This paper summarizes the proceedings of the American College of Mental Health Administration’s (ACMHA) 2003 Summit entitled “Reducing Disparities: Achieving Equity in Behavioral Health Services”. The Summit was held from March 13-15, 2003 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. These proceeding are intended to summarize the results of the Summit and to point to the ways that the College can continue to facilitate progress in this important area.

Many thanks and expressions of gratitude are due to the members of the Summit Planning Committee, the other volunteers at the Summit and, of course, our speakers. Everyone volunteered their time. The Committee members were critical in planning and conducting the Summit and in reviewing this document. The Committee consisted of Richard H. Dougherty, PH.D., Chair; Neal Adams, MD, MPH; Fred Fowler, Ed.D.; Eric N. Goplerud, Ph.D.; Jerome H. Hanley, Ph.D.; Leighton Y. Huey, M.D.; Francis G. Lu, M.D.; Ken Martinez, Psy.D.; Hubert A. (Ting) Mintz III; and Josie Romero, MSW. In addition, the Committee was assisted by a number of other volunteers who, in addition to members of the Planning Committee, helped to facilitate the breakout groups at the conference. They included: Kana Enomoto, Miriam Delphin; Mareasa Isaacs; Russell Pierce; Sharon Yokote; DA Johnson; Steve Petre; Sharon Walter; Diane Valdez and Charlie Williams. Finally, our speakers (described herein) also gave considerably of their time and wisdom to the Summit attendees. Without the speakers, clearly this would not have been possible. With them, I believe that we significantly advanced the debate and understanding of the scope of change required to reduce disparities in our behavioral health system. Thanks to everyone!

The American College of Mental Health Administration Summits would not be possible without the continuing support of the Eli Lilly Company, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and our members. Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

Richard H. Dougherty, Ph.D.
Chair, 2003 Summit
August 28, 2003

Introduction
Our health care system is riddled with disparities. Healthcare purchasers and government programs manage and report on access to services as a core value and measure of quality and yet disparities still occur by geographic area, between racial and ethnic groups, across cultures, between classes and by gender and age. There is disparity in health status, service utilization, procedures used and in the experience of care even after adjusting for the nature of the condition, income and health coverage.[1] For state and federally funded services the level of care used, service utilization, and quality of care are enormously inconsistent across states, from provider to provider and across individual staff. The work of the Institute of Medicine, first in “Crossing the Quality Chasm” and later in “Unequal Treatment”, has highlighted the reduction of disparities as a cross cutting issue and challenge for health care in the next decade.

Behavioral health services are certainly not immune to disparity, inequality and prejudice. The President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health outlined six broad areas for reform of the mental health system, including the goal that “disparities in mental health are eliminated”[2]. Mental illness and addictions are enormously stigmatizing conditions by themselves; no surprise that they may also fall victim to racial prejudice and cultural stereotyping. Behavioral conditions are subject to enormous variation in diagnosis and thus more likely to be influenced by differences in the perceptions of professionals and organizational differences between providers. At the heart of our profession and industry are relationships between the caregiver and individual receiving services. As with all human relationships, behavioral health treatment services are based primarily on interpersonal communication and they fall victim to the bias and prejudice that are part of our culture. While professionals in the behavioral healthcare system pride themselves on objectivity and empathy, we often overlook the importance of the cultural and environmental causes of behavior and the impact of cultural differences on the diagnosis and treatment of behavioral conditions.

To begin to address the problems of disparity in behavioral health will require the efforts of individuals receiving services, professionals, managers, policy makers and researchers at all levels of the system. At each stage of our service system – access, treatment and outcomes – different interventions or analyses may be relevant to reduce disparity. The complexity of this type of change effort requires a long and substantial effort first by leaders in the industry and later at all levels. To meet this challenge, the American College of Mental Health Administration devoted its 2003 Santa Fe Summit to the topic of “Reducing Disparities: Achieving Equity in Behavioral Health Services”. This paper reviews the issues and challenges that were identified in that Summit and outlines an agenda for the field to begin to reduce these disparities.

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Background and Scope of the Problem
Behavioral health lags behind the overall health care system in identifying the scope and nature of racial and ethnic disparities in our systems of care. Yet the behavioral health field, led at the federal level by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, has for many years taken leadership in efforts to improve the cultural competence of our workforce as one element of the effort to reduce disparity. We have trained thousands of workers and held conferences and seminars on the topic over the last decade. Many public and private funds have been invested in these efforts. Despite significant progress in this area, these efforts are necessary but they are not sufficient to create the needed change. Unfortunately, there is little if any direct evidence of success of many of these training efforts in the actual reduction of disparity in access, treatment and outcomes.

From a research perspective, we have long recognized that the numbers of African American adults in state hospitals significantly exceed their ratio in the population.[3] The reasons are unclear and though we have many hypotheses, we have not aggressively pursued answers to them. Hispanic children are under-represented in the children’s mental health system and black children are over-represented[4] and yet we can only offer more hypotheses as to the reasons for this. Finally, we have very little information with any certainty that lets us understand the reasons for the enormous variation in practice that results in the level of geographic variation we see in the behavioral health and the overall health care system. Variation is evident in public programs across states because of the different benefits available to recipients[5] but significant variation is also seen across counties and regions within states, where the benefits are technically the same. It is extremely difficult in public mental health systems to reallocate resources to match community need – too many providers will be negatively affected. Yet even within Medicaid programs, where any willing and qualified provider should be able to participate and individuals have a relatively high degree of choice of providers, disparate practice patterns persist. To help reduce disparity and yet remain cost neutral, imagine the irony in having to waive “freedom of choice” within Medicaid in order to reallocate resources and improve equity!

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Keynote Address: King Davis, Ph.D.
Our research into and our understanding of disparities in our health system cannot be separated from the socio-political context. King Davis, Ph.D., the Executive Director at the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Policy and Services Research, delivered a keynote presentation at the ACMHA Summit that provided this socio-political context for disparities efforts and reviewed the status of research and findings in the field for the four primary racial and ethnic groups identified in the Surgeon General’s Report. Entitled “Behavioral Health Status of People of Color in the United States 2003, Dr. Davis reviewed more than two centuries of history, legislation and public policies that profoundly affect our world-view today. According to Dr. Davis, this review of the historical context and public policies to treat people of color leads us to the conclusion:

“Groups of American citizens and their descendants, identifiable by color, language, culture, race, (and) ethnicity, have been and remain at greater long-term risk of co-occurring poverty, ill health, hunger, violence, impaired self-esteem, powerlessness, sub-standard housing, unemployment, (and) environmental hazards. (This) is manifested in a higher than expected frequency of unrecognized, under-diagnosed, over-diagnosed, and untreated behavioral disorders in unresponsive systems.”

Dr. Davis continued with a detailed, and perhaps the most comprehensive review conducted to date, of the status of research on issues of racial and ethnic disparity in behavioral health care. In general, the number of high quality research studies on access to and outcomes of care by people of color in America is minimal. Research over the last two decades has increased on this topic, led in no small degree by Manderscheid and Sonnenschein and his 1985 research on admission rates by type of facility and racial and ethnic group[6]. This study documented significantly higher admission rates to state hospital and general hospitals for African Americans and American Indians than the general population. The rate for African Americans in state hospital was more than twice the general population rate.

The Surgeon General’s groundbreaking report on culture race and ethnicity in mental health [7] documents key findings on mental health status by ethnic group. For instance while African Americans have overall lower rates of depression than the general population, female African American have higher rates than the general population. Poverty is strongly linked to the rate of illness and African Americans have significantly higher rates of homelessness and use of inpatient services. The report went on to document the paucity of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in research studies and to highlight the particular importance of culture in defining symptoms in this population. Asian Americans and Hispanics generally experience lower levels of suicide and substance abuse conditions. Incidences for Hispanics are strongly influenced by their countries of origin. Finally, American Indians have much higher rates of substance abuse, aged depression, suicide and conduct disorder.

More recent research studies help to further identify contextual issues in the general statements identified above. For example, there are significant exceptions to general statements about racial and ethnic groups when results are analyzed by age and sex. Current research is delving into issues of access to care, family roles in access and treatment, effective service models for specific populations, workforce training and medication differences. All of these will further help to identify effective service interventions to reduce disparity. In conclusion, King Davis stated:

The level of scientific knowledge, as shown in high quality epidemiological studies, of people of color and behavioral disorders is minimal. The quality of studies conducted on these populations has been minimal over the decades, with greater productivity and quality in the past decade. These populations are often left out of samples or the analysis of data does not focus on differences by culture, race or ethnicity”.

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Panel Discussion: Other Perspectives on Race
Larke Huang, Ph.D, Josie Romero, and Candace Fleming, Ph.D. each discussed the unique perspectives of people from Asian American, Hispanic-Latino and American Indian and Native American cultures toward behavioral health services. Dr. Huang also addressed the unique needs of children of color. Each of their presentations highlighted the differences in the incidence of behavioral disorders and the unique experiences in accessing and receiving treatment, by individuals from these specific racial, ethnic and cultural groups. Our attempts to simplify thinking by grouping people of color into larger racial and ethnic categories, as has been done in the Surgeon General’s Supplement and also in this Summit, masks significant variation within these groups. For instance, the needs and cultural strengths of Chinese Americans, Cambodians and Japanese are quite different. Similarly, Hispanics from Cuba, Brazil, Mexico and Spain all have enormously different socio-cultural histories that influence access to care and family and community strengths in treatment. The different needs and reactions to services by people of different ages and sexes within cultures can also be particularly significant. We cannot make assumptions about what is needed by the people we serve. We need to ask the individuals we serve, understand their culture and environment, and listen to their responses!

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Culturally Relevant Diagnosis and Assessment
A consumer-centered approach is at the heart of the cultural formulation that has been appended to the DSM-IV Manual. Dr. Francis Lu presented the background and key elements of this cultural formulation to the ACMHA Summit attendees. With an introduction and then by showing us the videotape, “The Culture of Emotions”[8], Dr. Lu emphasized that the diagnosis of an individual, particularly an individual from a non-majority culture, should be supplemented by a clinical review of several other cultural factors. These include the:

  • Cultural identity of the individual;
  • Cultural explanations of the individual’s illness;
  • Cultural factors related to the psychosocial environment and levels of functioning;
  • Cultural elements of the relationship between the individual and the clinician; ;
  • Overall cultural assessment for diagnosis and care.

It was clear to all of us that the cultural formulation should be at the heart of the overall diagnostic process, rather than being relegated to an addendum.

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Examples from the Field
Four specific examples of efforts to reduce disparities were shared with attendees at the 2003 Summit. Each operated at different levels of the system and exemplified different types of interventions. They included two statewide efforts in California and Connecticut, a community based approach in the Hill District in Pittsburgh and an example of program change in New York City’s Chinatown district.

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Statewide Efforts:
Statewide initiatives are far reaching and have the advantage of affecting many people. Often, however, there are many barriers to large scale change that can only be addressed at a local level. The California and Connecticut examples are significant because of their scope and the different approaches they take to the reduction of disparities

California:

Josie Romero summarized the efforts to improve the cultural competency in the state of California’s mental health system, the most culturally diverse state in the country. More than ten years of work has gone into the development of a statewide effort that was initiated by legislation in 1994 as a part of California’s managed care plan. Cultural competency plans are required as a part of each County’s managed care plan and standards are embedded in all statewide program planning. The statewide Cultural Competency Advisory Committee provides guidance to state leaders and seeks to implement the following goals/principles:

  • The elimination of Access Disparities and improve Quality of Care for California’s consumers and Families.
  • “Normalize” culture, as we all have it and cannot function outside of it. Culture is dynamic and at the core of Cultural competency.
  • Cultural Competence needs to be understood, acknowledged and imbedded at all levels of MH services, from policy to practice.

The scope and persistence of the effort have transformed California’s mental health service system.

Connecticut:

A different approach has been taken by the state of Connecticut over the last two or three years. Arthur Evans, Deputy Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services outlined the state’s efforts. Initial research using data from the state confirmed many long held beliefs about the extent and scope of disparities. Blacks and Hispanics were hospitalized more frequently in the state hospital than whites and blacks had less access to the newer generation of atypical medications. Similarly, whites were much more successful than other racial and ethnic groups in maintaining the continuity of care between acute detoxification services and longer term rehabilitation services.

Reflecting a somewhat different approach to cultural competency, culturally competent services may not have attributes that we can independently identify, but they can be identified by their effectiveness and their outcomes. The evidence-based definition of cultural competency is:

“Outcomes + Client Satisfaction = Cultural Competence”

Evans presented a framework for thinking about disparities that describes the factors that influence disparities at three levels in the behavioral health care system. These include:

LevelsFactors
IndividualTreatment relationship; Racial Identity; Racism; and Mistrust
ProgramAccess, Environment, Language, Holistic Approach, Racism, Mistrust, Fear of treatment
SystemService Fragmentation, Workforce Skill; Policy Framework; Racism, Mistrust; Stigma (Public Education); and Physical, Psychological and Financial Access.

Dr. Evans noted that the issues at a system level are responsible for a much larger degree of the variation in disparities and yet the research literature has focused most attention at the individual level of analysis. To address the need for change at a system level, Dr. Evans outlined a multi-level and multi-dimensional approach that includes: training, standard setting, changes in contracts, new data reporting and data systems, quality management approaches, clinical and systems policies, consumer and family input and evaluation. As an example of an effective statewide change effort, Evans proposed multi-method data analysis efforts that include better understanding of disparity data at a system level, case studies of programs that work and “hearing the voice of consumers and communities”. At a policy level, contracts will be modified, RFPs developed and new funding targeted to areas of highest need. Treatment needs to move beyond formal treatment methods to include non-traditional services, faith based services, traditional healers and special efforts targeted at urban areas.

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Community Based Change: The Hill District
Community Connections for Families (CCF) is a system of care for families and their children with serious emotional disturbances in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. This CMHS System of Care grant was awarded to Allegheny County Department of Human Services in November of 1998 to work with five partner communities in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. These partner communities include: The Hill District, Sto-Rox, East End, Wilkinsburg and McKeesport. Dr. Jerome Hanley presented information from the Hill District site at the Summit.

Creating culturally competent services is a complex process in any community. CCF involves a strong neighborhood and family partnership which works with local government and managed care to provide integrated and family directed support and services, rather than just offering families what is dictated by service systems. By hiring people with a positive history in the neighborhood, and giving families and neighborhood residents an opportunity to choose who that person might be, the program has an opportunity to gain trust from local residents. Training is a key feature of the CCF initiative. However, however, some of the most important interventions according to Hanley are the neighborhood interventions. Social and recreational activities are sometimes coordinated with the efforts of other neighborhood groups such as the Resident Tenant Council or the Community Collaborative so that families are part of the larger community. Family support activities along with training, (which parents can use right in their neighborhood), increase involvement and build trust. Families are not only involved in training, but also may provide support to other families such as going with another parent to an IEP meeting. Finally, food has always been a staple in training and meetings with families. If you come to Allegheny County, the food is reflective of the culture of that neighborhood.

Engaging African American and low income families in planning, leadership, support and decision-making activities with professionals builds self-esteem and gives families an opportunity to meet and influence people within systems that they otherwise might only know through receiving service. It promotes mutual understanding and respect. “Cultural competence and family involvement go hand in hand; you can’t have one without the other.”

CCF has insisted that every program activity have inclusive procedures and that they are enforced. One way to keep true to this commitment is through program evaluation. Each community in CCF has family and neighborhood representatives that sit on a Community Evaluation Team. Each community also gets a bi-annual outcomes report of their progress, which is compiled and distributed by the CCF Evaluation Team.

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Programmatic Change: The Bridge Program
Asian Americans constitute over 9% of the population of San Diego County and yet only 3.6% of the clients served. The patterns are the same elsewhere. When Asian Americans finally seek services their disorders tend to be more severe. Barriers include language and economic barriers but to a very large extent the key issues are cultural stigma and culturally defined differences in the ways the population recognizes and interprets psychiatric symptoms. To address these issues, the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center created the Bridge Program to provide an active link between primary care and mental health services. The program includes training of primary care physicians, early detection and treatment of mental health problems in a primary care setting, and assistance with access to specialty services when they are needed. To better understand the ways in which Asian Americans can be best served in a primary care setting, the program screened nearly 2,000 people and more than 100 individuals have been identified with anxiety and depressive symptoms and agreed to participate in a randomized study that is currently underway. The study compares “integrated care” with “enhanced referrals” between primary care and mental health services. The Bridge Program has been replicated in Boston and Oakland and is a model of effective and culturally relevant, evidence based practice.

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International Perspectives on Disparity
Professor Norman Sartorius, MD, Ph.D. spoke to the Summit participants by videoconference from Geneva. In a brilliant, witty and insightful lecture, Dr. Sartorius identified the magnitude of the changes that we are going through as a society, the impact of these changes on mental illness and the enormity of cross cultural difference that exists across the world. Demographic trends such as longer lives, widening gaps between the rich and the poor, our definitions of community and the conflicts between our helping professions have significant implications for our field. His comments forced all of us to step back and recognize the extraordinary differences between the United States, Northern Europe and the rest of the world. Many of the differences in services across countries are defined by wealth and the level of development of countries, but other factors cannot be explained by wealth – such as the extraordinary average length of stay in the hospital for individuals with Schizophrenia in Japan (440 days) compared to 4.8 days in Canada. It became clear from this and all our other presentations that at each level of analysis – within and across programs, service systems, cultures and countries – we must confront and try to understand a variety of different types and causes of disparity in the mental health system.

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Participant Break-Outs
As has been the model for past Summits, the majority of work was accomplished in breakout groups organized by the key functions and levels of the behavioral health system. The levels of the system included: Consumers, Providers, Payers, Policy/Oversight and Research. In the breakout sessions, people participated and contributed action items from the perspective of each of these levels, focusing on the three principle stages of the service system: access, treatment and outcomes. We had an opportunity to hear from each group at the end of the Summit. The messages were clear and motivating. The challenge is large.

The key issues and action items for each of the system levels are summarized below:

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Consumers
The overarching message from consumers was consistent with the messages we receive from consumers and family members in other settings – “Listen to what we say we need!” It’s a simple plea and yet one which is quite profound. If we truly listen to and hear the voice of those we serve, then any disparities that remain should be the result of differing needs and perceptions of needs from people we serve. To help to ensure that the voice of consumers is heard, we must ensure that their legal rights under Title VI, to receive interpreter services when needed, are fulfilled. Nowhere is this more important than in behavioral health services, where communication is the core of the treatment intervention. Consumers and family caregivers also want to be involved in services and governance at all levels of the mental health system from direct care to oversight. As a measure of the importance of this, there are less than 5 consumer directed services in the country that are lead by persons of color in which the majority of the participants are of African, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American descent. Consumers, particularly those of similar cultures and backgrounds, can increasingly play important roles to provide peer support, participate as caregivers and provide community services. A nationally recognized and culturally relevant consumer empowerment training program needs to be developed to assist them. This is particularly relevant in helping people from other cultures. This role of peer support specialist may need to be more systematically addressed and guidance given to states on when to use them and how they may be reimbursed under Medicaid rehabilitation services.

Families, caregivers and community members live in the fall-out of mental illness and are critical parts of an effective treatment plan, particularly for people from non-majority cultures. Consumers and family members need to be actively involved in the treatment plan and be informed about the availability and use of advance directives. They need preparation to be caregivers through educations, training and support. Access should be improved through social marketing and public health awareness campaigns designed to help people identify symptoms and understand the benefits of services and treatment. Finally though not mentioned at the Summit, consumer directed services can help to address many of these areas while raising new challenges of educating individuals so they can be knowledgeable consumers.

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Providers
The reduction of disparities in treatment and outcomes must involve changes by providers to better meet the needs of consumers of different cultures. This includes individual practitioners as well as provider organizations. Some of these changes are simple; for instance knowing how others see the organization. Staff need to be routinely trained in cultural competence and sensitivity to the impact of culture on the treatment process. Other aspects are more profound, such as truly individualizing care for the strengths, needs, ability and culture of the person being served, using consumer and family centered treatment planning. Finally, there is an enormous level of knowledge in providers that is poorly utilized when providers stay in their offices and that can benefit the field through the dissemination and analysis of “practice based evidence”.

Participants urged that providers conduct a self-assessment to better understand how others see them. What is it like when people arrive at your offices the first time? What does it say about your culture? Providers were urged to abandon their offices and reach out to the community using a variety of outreach methods. Similarly, providers must move out of their comfort-zone and be able to answer the question of who is the service really for. Treatment must be individualized and all should commit to the treatment goals. The mix of services may need to be adjusted to reflect these goals – less reliance on office-based visits and more focus on community interventions.

Many urged providers to actively try to identify ways to link to other members of the community and other natural supports. Psychiatry that is coupled with effective natural supports may be the most effective way to achieve change. Providing a single point of access within provider organizations and delivering systems is one way to ensure that consumers are educated properly and receive information about the full range of community supports. Several of the participants acknowledged the importance of consumer directed services and how this would change the perspective of providers to be more consumer centered. Finally many felt that providers needed to develop the capacity to track individualized outcomes for the people we serve. These outcomes should have specific operational outcome measures that aim at wellness, recovery and resiliency.

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Payers
Changes in the health care delivery system are most likely when driven by payers or purchasers, who establish clear goals and incentives for change. In behavioral healthcare services, the reduction of disparities is one of several major cultural shifts that must transform the delivery system. In many ways they are interconnected. These include:

  • A shift from treatment to public health approaches that involve wellness and community development;
  • The development of a recovery based approach to care, including self-care and peer support;
  • Shifting from reducing spending to reducing waste and increasing quality;
  • Leadership by example in the public behavioral healthcare system.

To achieve equity in our behavioral health system, purchasers may have to adopt a more strategic approach to the allocation of resources to underserved communities and providers from minority racial and cultural groups. In the past, many state behavioral health systems have been opportunistic in the development of new programs, providing funding to programs that had innovative proposals. Often these agencies have been the agencies that are the most successful – “success breeds success”. Medicaid services have grown with “any willing and qualified” provider. Once again, successful providers have often been the ones that have taken the most advantage of Medicaid growth. New efforts must more directly target underserved communities and provide funds to build capacity in the providers that serve or are willing to serve these communities.

Other issues that Payers need to consider include:

  • Connecting RFPs and contracts to outcomes that are clear and measurable;
  • Collect and disseminate data on performance to increase the transparency of the health system;
  • Ensure that efforts to implement evidence-based practices are built on a culturally sensitive and relevant framework.
  • Build treatment systems on natural supports and communities;
  • Plan prevention services and work to increase social capital in local communities;
  • Develop a communications, education and marketing campaign to shift the values of the behavioral health system and create the need for systems change.
  • Seek to make the reduction of disparities a competitive advantage for private health insurers and an issue of social justice.

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Policy/Oversight
As guiding principals, behavioral health systems that seek to reduce disparity must have policies that increase and ensure equitable levels of access, encourage choice, seek to increase the use of evidence based practices, and develop outcomes of interventions that both address personal and social benefits of treatment.

Behavioral health treatment systems must increasingly develop real choice across a range of treatments, services and supports for consumers. These services must be evidence based, but more importantly must be relevant to the individuals being served. This will help to ensure that services are both culturally appropriate and desirable to consumers.

More broadly, however, the participants at the AMCHA Summit felt strongly that our behavioral health service systems must explicitly adopt approaches that seek to increase the social capital of our communities. Social capital is a term used to refer to the characteristics of a social organization or community that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit. In the case of behavioral health services, policies that improve social capital would seek to increase the level of communication and connectedness between behavioral health care organizations and other voluntary and government funded programs that serve individuals, and their families, who have mental illness and emotional disturbance. Critical services that need to be better coordinated include the different levels of behavioral health treatment services, prevention services, primary care, school based services, the criminal justice system and employment services. While this may seem like a broad mandate, it is consistent with and provides a new framework for a public health approach to behavioral health and for many efforts at developing existing community support services in both the child and adult service systems.

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Researchers
As King Davis and others noted during the Summit, the research literature and public reports are considerably lacking on data about the nature and scope of disparities in many of our service systems. There is an enormous need for timely and relevant data on access, treatment and the outcomes of services by geographic area and for people from different racial and ethnic groups. These data are essential to understand the problems, design solutions to address these problems and set a baseline for measuring change. This needs to begin by collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on the numbers of people served and penetration rates by geographic area and racial groups.

Many at the Summit agreed that many of our data systems already collect information on the race and ethnicity of individuals being served but these data are not often analyzed in a manner that helps to identify patterns of disparate care. In other cases, key data elements on race and ethnic status may need to be collected and stored in a manner that facilitates their use in analyzing access and utilization data. The core data elements that were recommended for inclusion were as follows:

  • Race
  • Language
  • Gender
  • Sexual Orientation
  • Education
  • Economic Status
  • Geographic location of consumer
  • Employment status and history
  • Housing situation
  • Criminal Justice history
  • Welfare history
  • Family and caregiver history

Because of the lack of data on disparities, there was acknowledged to be little evidence on the effectiveness of cultural competency interventions in the reduction of disparity. The research agenda for the field needs to include cost-effectiveness research on cultural competency training and culturological assessments of the quality of care. As data are made more available, expected levels for different racial and ethnic groups can be estimated and actual access, utilization and quality levels should be compared to these estimates. In this way, jurisdictions that lag behind the expected levels can be held increasingly accountable for these results and for improvements.[9]

Successful outcomes are defined by the culture and economic status of the individual served. Just as the relevance of certain Quality of Life (QOL) measures vary by economic status, so also QOL measures may vary by racial and ethnic group. The differences include the role of the family, community, religious organizations in the person’s life, and other characteristics. Western dominated outcome measures, such as employment and independence, may not be salient for people of other cultures.

We need to put the issue of disparity in the foreground of behavioral health policy. Only through the collection and dissemination of data on the nature and scope of disparities can we convince public policy makers of the need for fundamental change in our behavioral health system. Suggestions for steps to achieve this include:

  • Conducting a survey of public purchasers, health plans, behavioral health MCOs and key provider groups to identify the data that are collected and how they are used in reporting on disparities.
  • Studying the effectiveness of cultural competency measures on the reduction of disparity.
  • Insisting that disparity data be included as a part of all cultural competence plans and that interventions are designed for areas of significant disparity.
  • Developing an annual or biennial report from CMS and SAMHSA reporting on the results of disparity related performance measures.
  • Analyze related data from other systems for disparity related information.

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Summary
The 2003 AMCHA Summit was an initial step only. It served to provide a broad outline of the socio-political context and key issues involved in reducing disparities and provided some momentum for change. However, much more work remains to be done.

The framework for our discussions produced a considerable level of discussion and recommendations for change at many levels. The principal recommendations to reduce disparities have been organized into the cells of a matrix. An example of some of the most critical elements of this framework follows:

System LevelsAccessTreatmentOutcomes
ConsumersSocial marketing and public health campaigns designed to increase accessConsumer and family education; peer and family support; self-help; Consumer operated servicesRecovery and improvements in functioning
Providers and Provider OrganizationsSingle point of access; Outreach efforts; Facility location and designConsumer centered and individualized planning and careTrack individualized outcomes by race at the provider level; Ensure cultural competence in providers.
Payers and Service SystemsID unmet community needs; use existing supportsStrategically reallocate resources to underserved communities; Improve services integration; monitor providersMonitor disparities; track outcome differences; pay for outcomes
Oversight / RegulationEnsure equitable levels of access; Increase social capitalEncourage real choice in person centered careIncreasing focus on outcomes and measuring social capital in communities of color.
ResearchCollect demographic and access data by race/ethnic group and geographic areas; Implement new core data elements; implement community needs assessments.Monitor treatment processes by race; Research on the effectiveness of cultural competency training.Quality of Life improvement by race and ethnic group; Implement culturological assessments of the quality of care.


The Summit demonstrated clearly that the reduction of disparities requires a multi-level approach and multi-disciplinary leaders. As a neutral convener, AMCHA is in a unique position to help advance the debate and lead the field in the reduction of disparities. Our membership and leadership includes people who receive services, researchers, administrators, clinicians, and policymakers from all levels of the behavioral health system. Our leadership has been particularly effective at facilitating groups to reach consensus on controversial topics.

As noted, a change agenda needs to include efforts at national, state and local levels involving consumers, providers, purchasers, oversight organizations and researchers. ACMHA is committed to advancing the field and helping the national effort to reduce disparities. Examples of potential projects include the following:

  • Training: Much has been done to develop effective cultural competency training modules and to guide states in its implementation. No one should reinvent the wheel at this time. Funding should be targeted to provide incentives to states for dissemination of existing training curricula and the documentation of effectiveness to all providers and administrators.
  • Data: Nationally, as we heard from our participants, the field will benefit from data standards for the collection of and reporting on system disparities. This will facilitate inter-state comparisons and provide baseline data for change efforts. Conducting surveys of providers, health plans and public behavioral health systems on the availability and current uses of data by race and ethnicity is one example of a useful first step in this process of setting data standards.
  • Research: Further research on the nature and causes of disparity is needed. Systematic research needs to take place on factors influencing access, treatment and outcomes for people of different cultures. Initially, because of the difficulties in deciding on standardized outcome measures, encounter and claims data will provide the most useful information for analysis. Later as standardized outcome measures are more widely utilized and the data collected, it may be possible to look for racial and ethnic differences in outcomes. The research agenda needs to be developed with a focus on services and health systems research data.
  • Demonstrations: Demonstration efforts are urgently needed, similar to Connecticut’s initiative, that integrate data on disparities with provider reporting, performance contracting and system-wide interventions. These best practices need to be shared with the field.
  • Coordination: The Summit showed that many are eager to learn from others in this area. As we move from further research to demonstration initiatives, AMCHA can play a role in coordinating these projects, particularly at the state and perhaps local levels. State efforts can benefit from best practice presentations from other states and by an improved understanding of the nature and the scope of the change required at a programmatic and local level. Local efforts need to clearly incorporate the views and perspectives of members of the community and consumers.

The 2003 ACMHA Summit has provided a foundation and a framework for work to proceed at all levels of the behavioral health delivery system. To accomplish meaningful change, we challenge SAMHSA, CMS and the other federal agencies to provide the leadership to develop: common and core performance measures focused on the reduction of disparities; to coordinate the research agenda, and; to facilitate the use of new information technologies to collect and review these data. This is completely consistent with the vision of federal “Leadership by example” that has been outlined by the Institute of Medicine[10] for the implementation of the Crossing the Quality Chasm Report. We need to facilitate the efforts of states and the federal government to identify and reduce disparities and provide a forum for states to share the results of their efforts, to benchmark their performance and seek technical assistance. Over the next several years, we also expect that states will expand their efforts to implement evidence based practices. However, we urge these states to implement existing evidence based practices cautiously, especially with culturally diverse populations due to the limited representation of ethnically diverse subjects in the research evidence on current practices. We strongly recommend that data are also collected for “practice based evidence“ – where effective interventions are routinely identified from existing practice and shared with the field, particularly those practices that seem effective with minority populations.

With one effort followed by another, step-by-step, incrementally across the country, the impact of a person’s place of residence, their race, or their ethnic status on the scope and quality of health care they receive can be diminished. The American College of Mental Health Administration looks forward to working with the federal government, states, managed care plans, providers and individuals receiving services to achieve this vision.

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[1] Institute of Medicine. “Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care”, National Academies Press: Washington, DC: 2003.

[2] President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. “Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America.” Final Report, July 2003: pp.49-55.

[3] Manderscheid, R.W. & Sonnenschein, M.A. (1987). Mental Health, United States, 1985. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.

[4] Richard H. Dougherty, PhD. “Reducing Geographic Disparities in Mental Health Access, Utilization and Cost: Implications for Policy and Planning” National Conference on Mental Health Statistics; Center for Mental Health Services. May 28, 2003.

[5] Dougherty Management Associates, Inc. “Children’s Mental Health Benchmarking Project: Year Three Report”, Lexington, MA: 2003; http://www.doughertymanagement.com/. Dougherty Management Associates, Inc. “Medicaid Managed Behavioral Healthcare Benchmarking Project”. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in press.

[6] Manderscheid, R.W. & Sonnenschein, M.A. (1987). Mental Health, United States, 1985. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.

[7] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity—A Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services: Rockville, MD: 2001.

[8] Koskoff, Harriet, “The Culture of Emotions”. Fanlight Productions, Boston, MA: 2002.

[9] Examples of preliminary work in these areas include the Children’s Mental Health Benchmarking Project

[10] Institute of Medicine: Committee on Enhancing Federal Healthcare Quality Programs. “Leadership by Example: Coordinating Government Roles in Improving Health Care Quality”. The National Academies Press: Washington, DC: 2003

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