Voices of Transformation - National Empowerment Center

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Voices of Transformation: Developing Recovery-Oriented Statewide Consumer Organizations OHIO ADVOCATES FOR MENTAL HEALTH Developing a Directory of Local Self-Help Groups The Ohio Advocates for Mental Health (OAMH) conducted a survey to identify as many self-help/peer support groups as possible to determine their organizational structures, management, funding, and service arrays, and to learn about their technical assistance and training needs. From the survey, a directory was produced to link those seeking self-help services with nearby groups. More importantly, the groups surveyed all expressed an interest in greater networking among groups. This resulted in the formation of the Ohio Advocates Affiliated Self-Help Network that continues to share information and to meet regularly. OAMH has developed a training program for the peer support/self-help groups covering community networking, advocacy, grant writing, marketing, public relations, and other issues that the groups have expressed an interest in sharing. The training sessions also serve as an opportunity for information sharing among group leaders. The individual groups are each locally organized and funded, and are only affiliated with OAMH and the Self-Help Network to the extent they choose to participate, ensuring that they remain autonomous. The number of peer support/self-help groups in Ohio has grown from seven in 1990 to more than seventy currently. Technical Assistance to Local Groups Many of the local grassroots groups in Ohio, like those elsewhere, begin with a lot of enthusiasm, but often lack knowledge about the practical steps of OAMH provides technical assistance to groups all over the state. running and sustaining an organization. OAMH provides technical assistance to groups all over the state, with a focus on such necessary matters as developing mission and vision statements, writing bylaws, becoming incorporated, building and sustaining a board of directors, and grant writing. This assistance ranges from simply meeting with groups to explore their long-range goals, to lending encouragement when their goals are to remain small and volunteer based, to providing more detailed and specific technical assistance when requested and needed. An example is the role confusion that has occurred in several long-running groups when the members of the Board of Trustees are supervising a paid director. Those same Trustees may be serving as peer supporters/volunteers on other days by helping with groups and/or activities. They may also be using peer support National Empowerment Center 41
Voices of Transformation: Developing Recovery-Oriented Statewide Consumer Organizations themselves. OAMH has helped these groups to clarify the different roles that participants may have at different times. Some groups faced problems when they grew substantially in numbers of participants and had increases in funding. As a result of this growth, some had difficulty keeping up with the business management side of operating a peer support/self-help group. Unlike professional agencies, which have sufficient funding to staff various administrative functions, peer support self-help groups often have one paid staff position, which may not even be full-time. Thus, there is often a conflict when sorting out priorities between supporting people and completing required paperwork. OAMH has provided training and leadership in assisting these groups to reassess priorities and to grow in ways that ensure both administrative and service needs are met. Statewide Cross-Disability Coalition Building OAMH has found it necessary to go outside the “mental health world” in its coalition-building. The Coalition of Healthy Communities, an existing mental health coalition that includes provider groups, parent groups, and local mental health boards, is not particularly friendly to OAMH’s mission and goals. Instead, OAMH joined a broad-based cross-disability network, the Disability Policy Coalition (DPC), whose membership includes independent living centers and groups representing people who are blind, deaf, mobility impaired, or have developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy, or head injuries. OAMH has found it necessary to go outside the “mental health world” in its coalition-building. What the members of DPC have in common is that they are composed primarily of people with various disabilities, rather than professionals, service providers, and family members. The Disability Policy Coalition advocates on matters of common interest such as Medicaid reform, voter rights, and funding for programs that support people with disabilities. OAMH is also a member of the Ohio Olmstead Task Force (OOTF), which has been designated as the advisory committee to the Governor on development and implementation of Ohio's Olmstead Plan. These coalitions are successful because the constituent groups all want the same things: to help people with disabilities be more independent and to lead productive, fulfilling lives. A major issue for OOTF has been the disparate funding priorities that promote institutional living arrangements (nursing homes, ICFMR facilities) and discourage independent community living. The Disability Policy Coalition and the Olmstead Task Force have been very successful in educating people with disabilities about state budget issues, impacting the priorities in the Governor's budget proposals, advocating with the Ohio Commission to Reform Medicaid, promoting home and community-based waivers to move people from nursing homes back into the National Empowerment Center 42
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