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