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’s Mental Health and Literacy Conference: Workshop Suggestions and Speaker Presentations Now Online

The Center’s day-long conference Reading between the Lines: Rethinking Mental Health and Literacy, held at New York University on June 23rd, 2008 sought to address the current crisis facing a growing number of transition-age youth, ages 16-25, who are disconnected from school and deprived of the academic foundation necessary to their survival.  Experts from mental health, education, criminal justice, and local and state government, deeply committed to enhancing support for these young adults, identified the barriers to academic performance and laid out the beginnings of a framework for change.  Four afternoon workshops provided opportunities to brainstorm possible suggestions to enhance opportunities for increased literacy attainment in relation to:

• advocacy for youth and families
• making literacy relevant to marginalized youth
• bridging secondary and higher education
• integrating mental health and education.

Center staff plans to consult with an advisory group after the summer to think about ways to build upon these initial ideas and present them to key stakeholders.  To read the suggestions, and download the day’s presentations, go to: http://www.coalitionny.org/the_center/youth_initiative/. Stay tuned for further updates.

Center’s Training Menu Now Available Online

Throughout the coming year, The Center will continue to offer its Recovery Series Person-Centered Series, Psychiatric Rehabilitation  Series, Benefits Counseling  Series, and Leadership  Series  trainings. The driving purpose of all of our trainings is to promote best practices that foster consumer rehabilitation and recovery. As we begin to approach the fall, we will be updating our online training information to include specific training dates, locations and additional offerings. Check  http://www.coalitionny.org/the_center/training/  regularly for updates.

Youth Initiative Update: New United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report and Proposed Federal Legislation Focus on Transition Age Youth

The GAO report, Young Adults with Serious Mental Illness: Some States and Federal Agencies Are Taking Steps to Address Their Transition Challenges, illustrates that at least 2.4 million young adults (ages 18-26) had a serious mental illness in 2006 and outlines challenges faced by this group in finding services that facilitate their transition to adulthood. The Center’s report, A Chance for Change: Supporting Youth in Transition in New York City, co-authored by Alysia Pascaris and Amy Smiley, is referenced in the selected bibliography. 

Supported by the GAO report, new legislation was recently introduced in both the Senate and the House (S3192/HR6375) that would address problems of young adults with mental illness. This legislation would provide funds to states for planning and implementation to help adolescents and young adults with serious mental illness obtain skills and resources for a healthy transition to adulthood; the Senate bill is currently before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.  Stay tuned for further updates.

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Education and Training

Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH): Hot Topics in Supportive Housing Audio-Conference Series: New Web-Based Toolkit for Connecting Supportive Housing Tenants to Employment

This audio-conference on Tuesday July 22nd from 2:00pm-3:00pm will introduce CSH’s new web-based Toolkit for Connecting Supportive Housing Tenants to Employment. This toolkit is designed to provide access to a wide variety of resources to help supportive housing organizations, workforce partners, and employers address key challenges in the planning, implementation, and on-going provision of employment-related services.  Audio-conference participants will learn how to navigate through the toolkit, the scope of topics covered, and how it can be of use in efforts to help supportive housing tenants attain employment goals. To view the toolkit, go to:  www.csh.org/EmploymentToolkit . To register for the audio-conference, go to: www.csh.org/hottopics .

SAVE THE DATE! New York State Rehabilitation Association (NYSRA) Leadership Training Institute

NYSRA's Leadership Training Summit will take place on September 15-17, 2008, at The Desmond Hotel, Albany. One of the largest rehabilitation focused conferences of its kind in New York State, the Summit will offer more than 50 interactive educational sessions.  Marc Kutner, Director of Special Initiatives, The Coalition’s Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery, and Andrea Smyth, Executive Director, The New York State Coalition for Children's Mental Health Services will co-present a session focused on Recommendations for Developing Service Models for 18-25 Year Olds. This presentation will highlight the systemic challenges facing youth, 18-25, with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) and key recommendations for improving service delivery systems and relevant policies.  Go to: http://www.nyrehab.org/ for more information as it becomes available.

USPRA Webinar:  “Career Development-Everyone Else is Doing It”

This webinar on August 27th, 3:00pm-4:30pm, will discuss skills for improving academic performance, resources for achieving academic goals, and typical accommodations important in preparing people with psychiatric disabilities to move beyond the Secondary Labor Market (entry level jobs, short job tenure, low pay, no benefits, no vacation time, and typically little flexibility) to the Primary Labor Market (higher pay, benefits, flexibility, vacation/sick time, and career mobility). To register online, go to: https://www.uspra.org/i4a/ams/conference/conference.cfm?conferenceID=198.  Fee: $129 for USPRA organizational members, $189 for non-members.

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Funding and Grant Opportunities

New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) Division of Forensic Services: Connect Program 2008 Application Announcement

Deadline: August 22nd, 2008

Connect is a staff development and technical assistance program designed to meet the needs of those working with persons with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders on probation or in alternative to incarceration (ATI) programs and to facilitate systems change. The Connect products are designed to address these need areas and goals.  

For more information including the application, go to: http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/rfp/2008/connect/application.html . If you have any questions, please contact Denise Gold by email or phone at 518-474-6539.

The New York State Tobacco Control Program: Youth Action Programs

Deadline: August 27th, 2008
RFA#: 0802260501

 The focus of these programs is to engage youth age 13 - 18 in action-oriented activities and teach them the leadership skills needed to work on policy-related tobacco control issues aimed at improving the health status of communities by changing community policies and norms about tobacco.  Contractors must be able to recruit youth who have an interest and desire to do tobacco control policy work to change social norms in their communities.  The number of active youth will vary from contract to contract, but it is not expected that contractors have large numbers of youth to work on these projects.

Successful applicants will demonstrate experience and competency in 1) advocacy and community education; 2) working with youth, including building civic engagement and leadership skills; and 3) community tobacco control.

To read the RFP, go to: http://www.nyhealth.gov/funding/rfa/0802260501/0802260501.pdf

U.S. Department of Education: Participation and Community Living for Individuals With Psychiatric Disabilities (Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers)

Deadline:  Aug 22nd, 2008
Grant ID:  ED-GRANTS-070808-004

The purpose of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, through advanced research, training, technical assistance, and dissemination activities in general problem areas, as specified by NIDRR. Such activities are designed to benefit rehabilitation service providers, individuals with disabilities, and the family members or other authorized representatives of individuals with disabilities.

For more information, go to: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-15506.pdf.

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News Briefs and Events

NAMI-NYC Metro and the Hunter College School of Social Work: RECOVERY: IT’S HAPPENING EVERY DAY

This interactive presentation by Dr. Larry Davidson, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Program for Recovery and Community Health, Department of Psychiatry at Yale University will take place on Wednesday, July 23rd,  6:00pm-8:00pm, at the Hunter College School of Social Work Auditorium, 129 East 79th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues).  Attendees will explore what recovery is, what it looks like in both practice and in the real world, and learn about a model for living with mental illness that enables consumers to regain a sense of self, control, and meaning in life.  To RSVP, or for more information, please call 212-684-3264.

NYAPRS 26th Annual Conference: “Integrating Our Services, Integrating Our Lives”

This year’s conference will take place on September 24th – 26th at the Nevele Grande, Ellenville, NY. The conference program will highlight innovations to help overcome systemic and personal barriers in ways that best help people with psychiatric disabilities to “live, work, learn and fully participate in their communities.” Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery Director Alysia Pascaris, and Marc Kutner, Director of Special Initiatives, will co-present two workshops with staff and consumers from NYC mental health programs on improving services for transition age youth, 16-25, with serious emotional disturbance/serious mental illness, and on the role of consumer leadership in improving mental health programs.  Go to: www.nyaprs.org for more information and to register. 

Save the Date! Supportive Housing Network of New York 2008 Gala

This year’s event will take place on October 22nd, 6:00pm-9:00pm at Cipriani 23rd Street, 200 Fifth Avenue.  More information will become available at www.shnny.org within the coming months.

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Publications and Reports

The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School and the Center for an Urban Future:  Child Welfare Watch Vol. 16, "Homes Away from Home: Foster parents for a new generation."

This edition of Child Welfare Watch documents the city's increased reliance on foster families to care for children with emotional and mental health issues. It finds that foster parenting is harder than ever, as fewer foster teens––especially younger teenagers––are placed in institutions and a fast-growing percentage are moving in with families. Although studies show between 50 and 70 percent of children in foster care have emotional and mental health problems, access to counseling and mental health care remains a severe gap in services, especially for teens in foster homes. To view or download the full report, go to: http://www.newschool.edu/milano/nycaffairs/cww_summer_2008.html

Mental Health News Online: Accepting Articles Submissions for fall 2008 edition, "The Interrelationship Between Physical and Mental Health"

Deadline: Friday, August 1st

Mental Health News is a free, up-to-date source of mental health news, illness information, treatment options, and resources in the community. Coalition staff members regularly contribute to Mental Health News. Contact the publisher at (570) 629-5960 or [email protected] if you would like to submit an article relevant to this theme.

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH): Health E-News

Health E-News bulletins detail health issues important to all New Yorkers. All Health Bulletins are available in English, Spanish, and Chinese, and many are available in other languages. To sign up for these e-mail updates, Click here and select the Health Department updates you'd like to receive.

SAMHSA/Boston University’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation:  New Resource Section Added to Wellness Website

A new resources section has been added to Boston University’s Center for Rehabilitation’s National Wellness Summit for People with Mental Illness website content. This section provides information and links to a number of organizations, articles, and reports focused on this important topic.  To access, go to: http://www.bu.edu/cpr/resources/wellness-summit/wellness-resources.html

New SAMHSA Publications:

Getting There: Helping People with Mental Illnesses Access Transportation

This publication explores current barriers that mental health consumers face in accessing transportation. It gives emerging best practices for providing transportation to mental health consumer, identifies potential sources of funding for transportation initiatives, and makes recommendations for developing transportation initiatives to help mental health consumers access their communities and services. To download, go to: http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/ken/pdf/SMA04-3948/Getting_There_COMPLETE_DOCUMENT.pdf

Transforming Housing for People with Psychiatric Disabilities Report

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