The Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery provides assistance to the New York City mental health provider community through expert trainings, focused technical assistance, evaluation, information dissemination and special projects.

Center News

Center Trainings

a.  Association for Community Living New York City (ACL-NYC) Conference: Building Partnerships on the Road to Recovery

As part of ACL’s 2007 conference on May 2, at Wave Hill House, 675 West 252nd St, in the Bronx, Aaron Vieira, the Center’s Coordinator of Education and Training will be co-presenting Building Hope with Psychiatric Rehabilitation alongside Julia Orlando, The Bridge Inc.’s Director for Residential Services. Their presentation will focus on increasing knowledge of interactive and motivational approaches that inspire hope, and how Psychiatric Rehabilitation and recovery principles can be applied to residential services toward achieving desired outcomes.  For more information and to register, contact David Plotka at dplotka@geelcommunityservices.org

b. Benefits Training Series: Ask the Expert: Solving Your Real-World Benefits Dilemmas

This full day, highly interactive session will provide an opportunity for attendees to present, discuss and work through ongoing benefits related challenges encountered in the field (SSI, SSDI, Work Incentives and beyond). Facilitated by nationally recognized benefits expert Ed Lopez, Esq., this training will allow participants to learn from each other and arrive at comprehensive solutions in the best interests of the consumers we serve.  This is an ideal follow up to those who have attended previous trainings in this series. May 11, 9:00-4:00, The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies, Fee: $25. If the training fee is prohibitive to your agency’s participation, please contact Marc Kutner at 212-742-1600, x204 to discuss a fee waiver. To register, go to: http://www.coalitionny.org/ccrr/documents/BenefitsTrainingRegistrationFormWinter.Spring2007.pdf

c. New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC): AOT Symposium For Community Providers, Supporting Recovery for Individuals with AOT Orders

These are free, full-day symposia for staff from continuing day treatment programs, outpatient clinics, residential facilities, IPRTs and PHPs. Aaron Viera, the Center’s Coordinator of Education and Training will present alongside OMH AOT researchers, borough AOT team members, and consumers with AOT experience.

The symposia will take place on:

May 1, 8:30 – 4:00, Elmhurst Hospital (Queens)

May 8, 8:30 – 4:00, Metropolitan Hospital (Manhattan)

May 15, 8:30 – 4:00, Lincoln Hospital (Bronx)

May 22, 8:30 – 4:00, South Beach Psych. Center (Staten Island)

June 5, 8:30 – 4:00, Woodhull Hospital (Brooklyn)

To register, contact Sonia Jackson at 212-868-6708 or onlusyj@omh.state.ny.us. 

Center’s Youth Initiative:

a.Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model Site Update

On May 8-9, the six model sites will convene for the third Cross-Site Forum to share their progress toward implementing the TIP system. TIP experts Drs. Hewitt “Rusty” Clark and Mason Haber will provide technical assistance focused on:  identifying strategies to engage employers willing to work with Seriously Emotionally Disturbed (SED) youth; disclosure of information to employers about disability when creating partnerships; how to guide youth and staff in relation to issues of disclosure; and instruments and tools for tracking progress, data collection and outcomes.

b. WAVE Trainings

The fourth and fifth sessions of our six part training series with WAVE Inc., (Work, Achievement, Values and Education), Developing Employment Solutions for Seriously Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents and Young Adults: Job Readiness and Job Development, will take place on May 16 and 17. These trainings will: a) explore how to effectively help youth find, get, keep, and appropriately change jobs, b) teach staff how to create, maintain, and enhance workplace partnerships with employers.

*We are no longer accepting new registrations for this series as we have reached capacity.  For more information about our WAVE training series and to download presentations and information, please go to: http://www.coalitionny.org/ccrr/seminars/youth_initiative.html

c.Youth Initiative Work Group

The next Work Group meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30, 9:30am-11:30am at The Coalition’s 90 Broad St. offices, 8th floor conference room. This session will focus on youth involvement with the criminal justice system and gang prevention. Gerald Landsberg, Director of NYU’s Institute Against Violence, and Felix Castro, a staff member at the International Center for the Disabled’s (ICD) YES Program specializing in youth involvement with gangs will be attending. If you have questions, please contact Amy Smiley, Ph.D., the Center’s Youth Consultant at asmiley@coalitionny.org  or Alysia Pascaris, the Center’s Director at apascaris@coalitionny.org.

The WORKbook: 2007 Updated Edition

The Center is pleased to announce that a new edition of The WORKbook, a comprehensive guide to mental health employment programs in New York City, will be available for distribution in hard copy beginning in June 2007. Since its initial publication in 2002 and introduction online, The WORKbook has proven to be an invaluable resource to both staff and consumers seeking knowledge about employment resources, programs and supports. Center staff will provide ordering details in the coming weeks.

Top

Education and Training

Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies’ Professional Learning Center:

a. Addiction and Mental Health Training

On May 29, 8:30-12:00, Petros Levounis, MD, MA, Director of The Addiction Institute of New York, will lead a half-day training on the use of Buprenorphine in treating opioid addictions.  This training will particularly useful for providers working with a dual diagnosis population.  For more details, please email Patricia Gallo-Goldstein at patgg@coalitionny.org

b. Annual Management Institute

This training series is designed specifically for new managers.  Upcoming topics include: Financial Management, May 14; Human Resources Issues, May 31; and Management Tools, June, 8. Cost is $45 per session Coalition Members/ $75 for non-members. For more information and to register, go to: http://www.coalitionny.org/prof_learn_ctr/mti/index.html

c. Medicare Part D Training

To learn more about the latest changes to the Medicare Part D benefit, the Coalition is offering a Medicare Part D Breakfast Tuesday, May 22, 9:00-10:30.  If you would like to attend, please contact Karyn Krampitz at kkrampitz@coalitionny.org

d. Residential Provider Training

On May 21, health care consultant Mary Thornton, Mary Thornton and Associates, will present on issues relevant to residential providers including restorative services and medical necessity. For more details, please email Patricia Gallo-Goldstein at patgg@coalitionny.org

Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services (JBFCS), Martha K. Selig Institute:

Introduction to Mediation: Conflict Resolution Skills in the Therapeutic Milieu

This course on May 31, 9:30 - 4:30, will help therapists and other professionals gain a better understanding of how to use interpersonal conflict as a positive agent of change, and how mediation skills can be used to help conduct time effective family therapy. Participants will learn: how to manage disputes when working with couples and families; how to apply mediation skills in various settings; and to identify and model effective negotiation skills. To register, go to: http://www.seliginstitute.org/register.html

NYC Dept of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Office of Consumer Affairs: MIND YOUR HEALTH Workshop Series, Upcoming Sessions

a. Personal Empowerment: Becoming a Proactive Health Care Consumer:

This workshop on May 30, 3:00 – 5:00, at 125 Worth Street, 2nd floor, in the Auditorium will provide practical information to successfully incorporate physical wellness strategies into personal recovery oriented goals.

b. Stress Affects Wellness:  Let’s Do Something About It!

This workshop on July 11, 5:00 – 7:00, at Fountain House, 425 W. 47th St. (between 9th and 10th Avenues) will provide simple and creative stress reduction techniques to enhance physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

*For more information about future sessions, call (212) 219-5391.  No pre-registration is required for this free series.

New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), Heritage Health and Housing, Inc:

“SEEKING SAFETY” Trauma and Substance Abuse Training

“SEEKING SAFETY” is an evidenced based treatment for people living with trauma and/or substance abuse disorders. Key principles including safety as the overarching goal, integrated trauma and substance abuse treatment are addresses in terms of four content areas: cognitive; behavioral; interpersonal and case management; and attention to clinician processes. This free training will take place on May 31, 9:00-4:00, and June 1 from 9:00-1:00 pm. Both sessions will be held at OMH’s New York City Field Office, 330 Fifth Avenue, 9th Floor. For more information and to register, contact Jonathan Engel at jengel@heritagehousing.org

Top

News Briefs and Events

Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies: 35th Anniversary and Annual Awards Reception

Please join The Coalition on Thursday, June 14, 2007 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm, at Pfizer World Headquarters, 235 East 42nd Street, New York City as we celebrate our 35th anniversary and honor Alfred P. Miller, Chief Executive Officer, FEGS; Katharine Noel, Author of Halfway House; Honorable Edolphus Towns, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; and Elaine Rivera (invited) Reporter, WNYC Radio. Please reserve your tickets and Coalition Journal ad space as soon as possible online at: http://www.coalitionny.org/special_events/mental_health_awards/2007/

New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), New York State Education Department (NYSED): National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day

On Tuesday, May 8, 10:00-12:00 (registration and breakfast beginning at 9:00), OMH Commissioner Michael F. Hogan, PhD, and Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills, will discuss the shared goals and new directions that their offices are undertaking for the children of New York State. Key stakeholders will gather to celebrate children’s healthy development and to learn how we can promote mental health in schools, how to recognize mental health issues earlier, and how to access services to treat children and their families who are struggling with serious emotional disturbances. This event will be held at the Huxley Theatre, Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY. Please RSVP by May 1 by calling 518-474-4403 or email Susan Watson at colespw@omh.state.ny.us

Supportive Housing Network of New York:  7th Annual New York State Supportive Housing Conference

This year’s conference on June 7-8, 8:00-4:00 at the Hilton Hotel, New York City, 1335 6th Ave., New York, will host the three State Commissioners most important to supportive housing. Workshop topics include: how to combine valuable 4% tax credits with OMH capital funding; a panel on how to use multiple State funding streams to build supportive housing outside of New York City; and a workshop on new models of supportive housing that increase disabled people’s integration with the community. For more information and to register, go to: http://www.shnny.org.

Top

Publications and Reports

American Psychiatric Association (APA): Select Abstracts from the April 2007 Psychiatric Services Journal:

Barriers to the Appropriate Clinical Use of Medications That Improve the Cognitive Deficits of Schizophrenia [Abstract] 

Characteristics and Use Patterns of Patients Taking First-Generation Depot Antipsychotics or Oral Antipsychotics for Schizophrenia  [Abstract] 

Analysis of U.S. Trends in Discharges From General Hospitals for Episodes of Serious Mental Illness, 1995–2002 [Abstract]

Rural-Urban Differences in Hospitalization Rates of Primary Care Patients With Depression  [Abstract] 

Quality of Diabetes Care Among Adults With Serious Mental Illness  [Abstract]

Outcomes of Obese, Clozapine-Treated Inpatients With Schizophrenia Placed on a Six-Month Diet and Physical Activity Program  [Abstract]

To read these abstracts follow the above link. To view all articles in the current issue and to subscribe, please go to: http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/current.dtl

Boston University Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation: Select Titles and Abstracts from the Current Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Spring 2007

Integrating Religion and Spirituality in Mental Health: The Promise and the Challenge

Spirituality and Religion in Recovery: Some Current Issues

Integrating Religion and Spirituality in Mental Health: The Promise and the Challenge

Spirituality and Religion in Recovery: Some Current Issues

Personal Perspectives about the Meaning of Religion and Spirituality among Persons with Serious Mental Illnesses

Relevance of Spirituality for People with Mental Illness Attending Consumer-Centered Services

Spirituality and Psychosocial Rehabilitation: Empowering Persons with Serious Psychiatric Disabilities at an Inner-City Community Program

To view complete articles, subscription is required. To subscribe, please go to http://www.bu.edu/cpr/prj/

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): Web Section Provides Key Points for Dealing with Trauma

A newly designed section of SAMHSA’s web site provides information for those seeking help after a traumatic experience.  In addition to the centerpiece, “Understanding Mental Illness—After the Virginia Tech Tragedy,” the new Web section offers resources targeted to the mental health needs of students, schools, adults, families, health professionals, emergency responders, and others.  To view, go to: http://www.samhsa.gov

Top