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Did You Know?
The Bell Story
During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained people who had mental illnesses with iron chains and shackles around their ankles and wrists. With better understanding and treatments, this cruel practice eventually stopped.

In the early 1950s, Mental Health America issued a call to asylums across the country for their discarded chains and shackles. On April 13, 1956, at the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Md., Mental Health America melted down these inhumane bindings and recast them into a sign of hope: the Mental Health Bell.

Please visit our National site to read more about The Bell:
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Annual Conference 2011: Tracks and Break-out Sessions

Annual Conference

 

 

 

 

 

 






(For a complete agenda, go to http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/conference/agenda2011.)

HEALTH CARE REFORM

Health Reform 101
Hear from experts how the new health reform law will greatly expand coverage, including access to mental health and substance use services.
Speakers: John O'Brien, Senior Advisor to the Administrator on Health Care Reform, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); Mayra Alvarez, Director of Public Health Policy, Office of Health Reform, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Invited)

State Exchanges—What You Need to Know
This session will present up-to-date guidance on state exchanges, including important information mental health and substance use advocates need to know to be involved with the establishment of exchanges in their state.
Speakers: Sabrina Corlette, J.D., Research Professor, Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University (Invited); Joel Ario, J.D., MDiv, Director, Office of Health Insurance Exchanges, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, Department of Health and Human Services (Invited); Elizabeth P. (Beth) Sammis, Ph.D., Acting Insurance Commissioner, Maryland Insurance Administration

Medicaid Expansion, Digging In
Learn how the expansion of Medicaid will affect states, providers, and consumers, and what the mental health and substance use community needs to be doing to ensure proper implementation.
Speakers: Phil Wyzik, president and CEO, Mental Health Association of Connecticut; Steve Baron, Director of District of Columbia Department of Mental Health

Advocacy Strategies
An in-depth discussion of strategies that advocates can use to be involved in health reform implementation in their states.
Speakers: Celinda Lake, President, Lake Research Group (invited); Ralph Neas, J.D., President & CEO, National Coalition on Health Care and NCHC Action Fund (invited); Donald Rohner, CEO, Foothills Behavioral Health Partners; and Ann Boughtin, Mental Health America Board Member, Principal, Boughtin and Orndoff Consulting, LLC.

PEER SPECIALIST PROGRAMS

The Growing Peer Workforce: Change Agents Promoting Strength Based Recovery and Peer Support Whole Health
A review of the history, training competencies and state guidelines promoting the rapidly growing Certified Peer Specialist workforce delivery of Peer Support Services now sustainable by Medicaid reimbursement in 24 states.
Speaker:  Larry Fricks, Director, Appalachian Consulting Group

Professional Credentialing: Improving Service Delivery through Qualified Staff
Speakers will highlight the development and implementation of professional peer certification programs that have been specifically developed to assure competency in peer delivered recovery and resiliency skills. 
Speakers:  Amy Peloquin, Director of Certification, Florida Certification Board; and Patrick Hendry, Senior Director of Consumer Advocacy, Mental Health America

Eliminating Health Disparities Among Native Americans—The 4 Corners Project
Learn how Mental Health America is working to ensure adequate and culturally competent behavioral health care through development of a peer-to-peer program for use in the Navajo and Ute Nations region on tribal lands in the 4 Corners area. 
Speaker: Mellisa Logg, Program Manager, 4 Corners Project

Peer Services Explosion: Funding Services in a Time of Fiscal Crisis
This session will explore a variety of sources and methods for funding the use of Peer Specialists and peer run services in these troubled fiscal times.
Speaker: Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services

NEW IDEAS FOR NEW FUNDING

VET2VET and VETS4WARRIORS:  "Peer Navigator" Support for Military Families
This session will highlight a new partnership between the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), Mental Health America, and several MHA affiliates who are working together to build a nationwide "peer navigator" network for veterans.
Speakers: Christopher Kosseff, president and CEO, University Behavioral HealthCare at UMDNJ and others TBA

Building Your Revenue Base:  MHA Membership Campaign/Clifford Beers Society
Learn how to use these carefully designed fundraising programs, both of which offer as much as 50 percent revenue share for your affiliate, to create sustained sources of unrestricted revenue. 
Speaker: Michael Turner, Vice President, Resource Development, Mental Health America

Social Enterprise:  Profits for Nonprofits
Mental Health America and several Affiliates have begun a pilot program with several managed health care companies to offer workplace wellness services as part of an expanded FundaMENTAL Health program.  Find out how this innovative project can generate sustained, unrestricted income for your affiliate.
Speaker:  Kathy Greco, LMSW, CEAP, Vice President, Commercial Sales, ValueOptions and others TBA

Dialogue for My Recovery:  Ending Stigma Through Social Enterprise
Learn about a model social enterprise partnership that we have entered into with bLife, a new and highly innovative venture startup focusing on social media and online, interactive personal wellness applications. 
Speaker: Ran Zilca, Chief Scientist, bLife; and others TBA ::

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