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NorthWest Regional Mental Health Board
...dedicated to improving
the quality of life for individuals who need support in their recovery
from mental illness and/or addictions.
969 West Main Street,
Suite 1B, Waterbury, CT 06708
Phone/Fax: (203) 757-9603
Executive Director: Janine
Sullivan-Wiley
Chairman: Joe Shea
Email:nwrmhb@snet.net
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News and events
There are no meetings
of the Catchment Area Councils
or the Regional Board
in July or August.
The regular RMHB and CAC meeting schedule
will resume in September.
RMHB: September 2, 2010
CAC #20: September 20th
CAC #22: September 21st
CAC #21: September 23rd
There are still vacancies in several towns; please
check out these opportunities under the "Local Council" link, above.
The September meeting is a great time to come for a visit!
In the meanwhile, we wish all of our friends and colleagues a very
happy and safe summer. The office is still open.
We can be reached by phone or email.
NEWS:
- Our Annual Meeting was held on June 23, 2010
and was a great success!
Our guest speaker, Otto Wahl, PhD, gave an excellent presentation on
his area of specialty: Stigma. He presented information about stigma in the
media and community, and how it is being reduced slowly but gradually
through education and effective advocacy.
The Board was pleased to present Certificates of Appreciation to two
individuals this year for their excellence in legislative advocacy, their
support of people with mental illness and their families in legislative
advocacy, and their work on behalf of the services and supports needed by
people to live successful and fulfilling lives in the community. Those
individuals were: Doreen DelBianco, Legislative Liaison, DMHAS, and Cheri
Bragg, Coordinator for Keep the Promise Coalition.
The members of the CACs and Board were recognized for their outstanding work
as volunteers all year long, with lengths of service ranging from a few
months to 22 years.
The new slate of officers was elected as follows:
Joe Shea, Chairman
Barbara Roberts, Vice-Chair
Carleen Zambetti, Secretary
Jerry Cafasso, Treasurer
- Needs assessment and priority planning: The
survey results are in, we have held several focus groups, and the Priority
Needs and Planning Report was presented to DMHAS leadership the last week of
June. It was well-received and will be presented again to the full Regional
Board at the September 2, 2010 meeting.
- Funding reductions and more changes in service
model:
Regular readers and people involved with the system will recall
that
last year all of the Supported Employment services were re-bid, with some
funding reductions as well as a change in service model.
DMHAS has
moved forward with another model change: all case management programs are being
transitioned to the CSP, or Community Support Program model. A
new level of service will be added, called Recovery Pathways (RP).
There are also
some state-wide funding reductions involved in this transition. We do not yet know the
exact fiscal
impact this will have in our region. The state-operated and
private-non-profit agencies affected are working closely with DMHAS, and the
Regional Board has remained active in monitoring the process and calling
attention to issues as they arise.
- The Regional Board's Work Incentives Committee has
been busy!
The Meeting of the Minds with Social Security resulted in
ongoing progress in the implementation of new forms to improve reporting to
Social Security.
A training, conducted with a representative of the Social Security
Administration, and an outgrowth of the meeting above, was held on April 9th: "Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Social
Security (but were afraid to ask...)" It was fully subscribed
within two weeks of the announcement. Information from that meeting is
available upon request.
There will be a special guest speaker from DSS at the September 14th Work
Incentives meeting.
- The Board continues to be an active member of the Smoking Cessation
Supports Initiative (SCSI).
The SCSI Summit "Moving Towards Smoking Cessation in
an Age of Austerity" was held on May 4, 2010 at the Timexpo Museum in Waterbury.
It was very well-received with a full house attending, the "debut" of the
SCSI Resource Kit (with one very happy attendee winning their own set to
take back to their agency). This continues a major wellness initiative of
the Board.
- The Consumer/Family/Youth Continuous Quality Improvement Collaborative -
called the QuIC:
The Central Coordinating Committee continues to meet.
The new surveys are ready to be administered in select agencies as soon as
the final authorizations are complete.
Our Board continues to be an active partner in this process, and has been
pleased to incorporate many of the standards being developed into our own
evaluation process.
- Legislative Info:
The legislature is now
adjourned except for special session(s).
If you are interested in Legislative Updates as
prepared by Doreen DelBianco, Legislative Liaison to DMHAS, you can
access that via the "links" button, above.
To really keep up with what's going on in your own area, you are invited
and encouraged to come to your own local Catchment Area Council meeting. The
dates of those meetings can be found on this website, as can directions.
ALL of our meetings are open to the public and guests
are always welcome.
If
there is specific information you are seeking, call, write or send us an
email.
Thanks for visiting our site!
updated 8/6/10
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