Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
April 14, 2006, Vol. 06-40

Research and Training Center to Study Mental Health Self-Determination

The University of Illinois at Chicago, National Research and Training Center has been awarded a five-year grant by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Center for Mental Health Services and the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to study self-determination, evidence-based practice, person-driven services, and transformation of the mental health system.

The Center is partnering with Judi Chamberlin, Mary Ellen Copeland, Dan Fisher, Anthony Fox, Larry Fricks, Mike Halligan, Kathy Muscari, Joseph Rogers and many others on a series of innovative research and training projects.

This includes randomized controlled trial evaluations of Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) in Ohio, Certified Peer Specialist services in Georgia, the BRIDGES peer-led education model in Tennessee, and the self-directed care "money-follows-the person" model in Texas.

Training projects with the 3 CMHS-funded Consumer Technical Assistance Centers include national dissemination of Leadership Academy by CONTAC in West Virginia, development of statewide consumer leadership response to California's Proposition 63 at the National Empowerment Center in Massachusetts, and Freedom Self-Advocacy training by the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse in Pennsylvania. Other training and education projects focus on peer provider certification, financial asset development, research careers for people in recovery, inpatient seclusion and restraint reduction, and workforce development. An innovative academic curricular transformation effort incorporates principles of recovery and evidence-based practice into university instruction in the medical, social, and behavioral sciences.

The Center also offers online workshops, web casts, and web-based continuing education courses, as well as free downloadable resources.

To learn more, visit: http://www.cmhsrp.uic.edu/nrtc/
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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.