TRANSPORTATION ISSUES AND APPROACHES Transportation Issues and Approaches Briefing Paper Mental health consumers consistently have identified the lack of adequate and affordable transportation as a significant barrier to accessing necessary community-based treatments and supports. AHP developed a briefing paper for the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) that examined the scope of the problem and proposed solutions. Based on interviews with experts in the field, including consumers, the briefing also identified and presented in-depth information on successful programs with the potential for replication in other communities. To prepare the paper, AHP conducted and summarized interviews with key informants including representatives of agencies dealing with disability transportation issues, transit officials, and consumers. The project team also prepared a literature review, summarizing numerous sources of information about the barriers to transportation faced by mental health consumers. The team identified local and State programs that could be replicated in other communities, including rural, suburban, and urban programs, and a consumer-run program that used consumer volunteers. AHP produced a reader-friendly report that presented major barriers to transportation, model programs that addressed these barriers, and a set of recommendations based on the literature review, the key informants’ suggestions, and the review of the model programs..
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