1. ACMHA Summit March 25, 2010 Wilma Townsend, MSW

2. Economic Implications for people People dropping from middle class economically More individuals having depression and anxiety More individuals turning to drugs and alcohol Increase need for behavioral care services Greater impact on ethnic and cultural groups

3. Economic Impact for systems Funding cuts at the state level Failure to diversify funding (reliance on Medicaid) Erosion of behavioral health budget by increase Medicaid match Impact of the possible decrease of direct care staffing and administrative over sight Increase access to behavioral health by people previously uninsured and underinsured Decrease funding to many ancillary support and advocacy services (MHA’s, NAMI, Boy/Girls clubs, etc.)

4. Economic Impact on Consumer Operated Services Decrease revenue for COS Increase use of services by persons effected by economic downturn including ethnic and cultural groups Recognize the need to demonstrate their service value and cost effectiveness

5. Solutions Collaborate and Coordinate Behavioral health must work with Primary Health care system (total health care i.e. private practice) Fiscal streams and management is different for the two systems, they must review, evaluate and implement the most fiscally sound process for collaborative patient care Increase collaboration between COS and provider agencies for peer support services Increase linkages between COS and other community human and social services

6. Solutions Continued Increase acceptance and recognition of the value and benefits of COS by the behavioral health and Primary Health systems “A CMHS study of consumer-run services conducted by Jean Campbell, et.al. (2004), found that peer support can reduce symptoms, enlarge social networks and enhance quality of life, especially when offered in conjunction with traditional mental health services. It also found that people who are offered consumer-operated peer-support services show greater improvement in well-being over time than those offered only traditional mental health services.”

7. Solutions Continued The development of culturally specific interventions and treatment processes The system does not provide services to culturally and ethnically diverse populations at a consistent competency level