CORPORATE CAPABILITY

Advocates for Human Potential, Inc.
Real-World Solutions for Systems Change

Advocates for Human Potential (AHP), Inc., is a research and consulting firm that specializes in changing or improving the organizational systems that help individuals create full and productive lives.  Founded in 1980, the company offers research and evaluation; technical assistance and training; system and program development, including strategic planning and information management; and resource development and dissemination, in core content areas.  These areas include mental health policy and services, substance abuse treatment and prevention, co-occurring disorders, workforce development, electronic medical records, homelessness, housing, employment program development, trauma, domestic violence, and criminal justice.  Company services focus on the needs of people with disabilities and disadvantages to help them achieve full community integration, including regular housing and employment.

AHP’s Federal clients have included the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and all three of its Centers—the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) – as well as the Office of Performance Review in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA); the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH); and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).  AHP manages Federal contracts in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, co-occurring disorders, workforce development, homelessness, domestic violence, elder abuse, rural elder health, and performance review and improvement. These projects enhance understanding of critical issues, help agencies improve performance, and provide the most current information to the field about effective programs and system development to better serve vulnerable populations.  AHP also provides extensive consultation to State government agencies, community-based providers, and governments internationally.

AHP has offices in Sudbury, MA (near Boston), Albany, NY, and Germantown, MD (near Washington, D.C.).  All offices feature state-of-the art computing, printing, and telecommunications technology.

Strategic Services

Technical Assistance

AHP provides technical assistance and training to help Federal agencies, States, communities, providers, and consumers implement best practices in system change and realignment, cross-systems collaboration, and community integration and employment for people with serious mental illnesses and/or substance abuse or co-occurring disorders, and for those who are homeless, victims of domestic violence, or other trauma.  AHP also assists health care organizations, especially those in behavioral health, to adopt and successfully implement electronic medical record systems. 

Technical assistance activities are wide-ranging and are provided both on-site and remotely through the use of teleconferences, webcasts, and other technologies.  Activities include, for example, site visits for diagnosis, monitoring and other purposes; needs assessments; resource mapping; focus groups, interviews and surveys; strategic planning; stakeholder engagement and consensus-building; workforce training and development; consumer training and involvement; program development; policy and legal analysis; legislative communications and strategy; production of curricula, training manuals, videos/DVDs, and other materials in print, electronic, and web-based formats; and strategic conference development, planning, management, and integration with other program activities.

Research and Evaluation

AHP evaluates and conducts research regarding innovative treatment and prevention programs that serve people with disabilities and disadvantages due to health and health-related problems such as serious mental illness; substance abuse; co-occurring disorders; interpersonal violence, including domestic violence and sexual assault; criminal justice system involvement; and homelessness. AHP staff also combine research capacity with practice and content knowledge in a significant range of specialized topic areas and populations, including youth substance abuse programming; homelessness and its impact on children; and health, mental health, substance abuse and co-occurring disorder treatment and prevention. 

AHP staff includes senior evaluators and analysts with long-term experience in longitudinal and secondary data analysis of large State and national databases and complex data sets; research design; project management; data collection and related reporting requirements, including those related to GPRA; performance measurement; and evaluating technical assistance.  Among AHP’s strengths and experience are working with and incorporating community-based organizations and consumers of services into research and evaluation projects; using existing data sources to inform research; using quantitative and qualitative methods in a mixed-methods approach; preparing and presenting research findings at national conferences; and writing reports, papers, and peer-reviewed journal articles. AHP studies reflect expertise in project implementation/field management and procedures; instrument selection/development; site visit and focus group methodology; and literature reviews.

Our evaluation portfolio includes both single-site research efforts and national multi-site demonstration studies, which include logic model development and analysis of key program components as they relate to outcomes.  AHP staff has also provided evaluation consultation with local programs in developing internal evaluation systems and measures to track performance over time.  AHP evaluators work closely with community-based programs and providers, and regularly include program personnel, consumers of services, and other key stakeholders in research design and interpretation.  Finally, AHP’s research staff also is expert in synthesizing complex research and practice materials into readable and practitioner-oriented products. 

System and Program Development

AHP conducts system and program assessments for government and both commercial and non-profit clients in order to help them implement new systems, or redesign and/or realign existing systems.  Through site visits, data analysis, literature review, legislative and regulatory analysis, on-site and remote technical assistance, and other methods, AHP helps clients define issues or problems, identify stakeholders and their respective interests, and ultimately come to consensus regarding necessary changes in infrastructure and system design.
AHP also helps clients plan implementation of systems changes, identify potential specific barriers and methods to overcome them, and develop communication and work flow plans that will facilitate the change process. 

Resource Development and Dissemination

AHP’s resource development and dissemination activities support major initiatives of the Federal Government and other clients.  AHP develops white papers, Congressional reports, program briefings, policy syntheses, videos/DVDs, web site content, curricula, training manuals, speeches, and other materials, with an understanding of the different requirements of print, electronic and web-based formats.  Frequently, these materials are integral parts of a technical assistance and/or training package of services.  AHP also frequently prepares articles for peer-review journals, and is especially adept at interpreting complex research findings for policymakers or other lay readers.  AHP’s research and evaluation staff also present frequently at professional conferences.

Experienced Staff

AHP is known for both the depth and breadth of its expertise, and its ability to identify and recruit appropriate resources, internally and externally, in order to accomplish a client’s goals across a broad spectrum of needs.  For each client, AHP can provide extraordinary expertise and experience in a given area, but also “connect the dots” and provide assistance in related areas in order to develop comprehensive, real-world solutions.  AHP’s staff includes nationally recognized experts with significant operational experience in both the public and private sectors, as well as extensive experience consulting with State agencies, community organizations and coalitions, and other stakeholders supporting community integration for people with disabilities. 

Senior Executives

NEAL A. SHIFMAN, M.A., President and Chief Executive Officer

Neal Shifman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Advocates for Human Potential.  Mr. Shifman translates knowledge in behavioral health care and human services to social policy and systems change.  He is a nationally and internationally known consultant and facilitator in service system redesign, with special expertise in substance abuse, mental health, criminal justice and a variety of at-risk populations and their interface with social service systems.  Mr. Shifman was an early pioneer in the development of continuum of care designs for substance abuse prevention and treatment.  He has worked extensively with Federal and State systems on a large number of substance abuse and behavioral health projects.  Internationally, a venue for his work has been in the Caribbean.  For the past 12 years, he has led a number of strategic initiatives as well as planning and facilitative processes involving governments (both civil servants and political ministries), the judicial systems, non-government organizations, and the private sector.  Examples of his work have included the design of the substance abuse delivery system in St. Maarten; the coordination, development, and implementation of a WHO-sponsored Caribbean Initiative and subsequent conference on substance abuse; policy, facilitative, and writing support for the United Nations International Drug Control Programme’s International Drug Court Project; a three-year redesign of the criminal justice system in Bermuda known as Alternatives to Incarceration and a similar effort currently underway in St. Maarten; numerous strategic planning, program design, and needs assessments for NGOs ranging from HIV/AIDS, to child and adolescent services, women and violence, substance abuse prevention and treatment, labor and training, and welfare and social services.

DAVID A. WETHERBEE, M.B.A., Chief Financial Officer

David Wetherbee oversees the company’s financial affairs and spearheads its technological growth. He has worked in both the corporate and non-profit sectors for organizations as diverse as the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), the Arthur D. Little Systems, and the Foundation for Children with AIDS. Mr. Wetherbee’s special interests include strategic planning, project planning and management, and the application of technology to financial and administrative systems.

CHARLES R. GALLAND, J.D., M.B.A., Chief Operating Officer

Charles Galland has more than 17 years of operational experience and 13 years of corporate legal representation and governance. He has operated business from start-up through growth phases in educational, consultative, and retail services. Mr. Galland also has experience as a founding member of a middle market investment banking advisory firm representing companies in mergers and acquisitions activities, capital raises/private placements, and consultative services. He has been involved with more than 15 mergers and acquisitions and in five direct acquisitions, due diligence processes, and integrations. Mr. Galland taught legal and M&A classes for Babson College’s Executive MBA program.

Senior Technical Assistance and Research/Evaluation Staff

LYNN ARONSON, M.S.

Lynn Aronson is Team Lead for the Evidence-Based Practices Supported Housing Resource Kit, a Task Lead for the Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative, former Director of the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) Technical Assistance Program, and a Senior Program Assistant. In 1997, Ms. Aronson created LA Associates and serves as its CEO.  She has 30 years experience in housing and support services for persons with disabilities.  She has assisted numerous state and cities throughout the country in identifying housing and service needs for this population and served as a consultant as these entities embarked upon and successfully experienced system redesign.  She worked for CMHS as Housing Director and has served as program officer for multiple homeless and housing grants.  In this capacity she conducted grantee site visits and provided technical assistance as needed.  Ms. Aronson is an experienced consultant with both technical and managerial skills.

RICHARD BECKER, M.S.W., Director of Operations, Albany

Richard Becker has more than 25 years of professional experience in management of health and human services. As the Director of Operations, Albany, he directs professional staff who provide technical assistance, training development, conference planning, evaluation, and organizational development services for programs with missions related to mental health, homelessness, or substance abuse. He is responsible for budgeting, performance oversight and assessment, resource allocation, and strategic planning for the Albany office.  Over a 10-year period, beginning with a staff of three, Mr. Becker guided AHP’s emergence as a source of nationally recognized expertise on housing and homelessness. Prior to joining AHP in 1996, he was a senior manager at the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYSOMH), where he was responsible for development, implementation, and oversight of New York State’s mental health residential and homeless programs.  In this capacity, he provided statewide technical assistance to local governments and hundreds of providers to help them develop plans for continuum of care, program financing strategies, and applications for Federal funding. He also developed performance indicators for use by State and local government agencies in monitoring contractual obligations and system performance, and designed and conducted an outcomes study of residential program models funded by NYSOMH.  Previously, as a Senior Mental Health Program Evaluation Specialist at NYSOMH, he developed and implemented program evaluation studies, analyzed results, and provided guidance based on findings to senior management.

CAROL BIANCO
 
Carol Bianco has 25 years of experience as a practitioner and administrator in the mental health field, and is an accomplished trainer and program developer.  She has provided consultation to community-based mental health and substance abuse treatment organizations, behavioral health care networks, consumer-run organizations, States, and local governments throughout the States and US Territories.  Her expertise includes mental health policy and financing, organizational development, supportive housing development and financing, supported employment, and job creation for people with disabilities.  At AHP as Director of Mental Health, Ms. Bianco is involved with several contracts with SAMHSA to provide resources and technical assistance regarding best practices to promote community integration for children and adults with mental illnesses and co-occurring disorders. She also serves as a Technical Assistance Consultant/Advisor for the CMHS Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant Program, and is working directly with several states and communities to transform local service systems to be more recovery-oriented, and has contributed to several publications regarding policy and programming for people with mental illness.  Ms. Bianco is the former Director of Program Development for New York State’s largest provider of supportive housing and community psychiatric rehabilitation programs for adults with serious mental illnesses, where she led the development of more than 1,000 units of housing and dozens of community support programs throughout the State.  Over the past ten years, she has served on the Board and volunteered for two mental health consumer-run organizations in New York State, assisting with grant-writing, program development, strategic planning, and systems advocacy. Ms. Bianco also is the mother of a teenager with autism.

ADRIAN BISHOP

Adrian Bishop is a leading expert on the design and implementation of value-added systems that resolve operational issues and lead to increased efficiencies for service companies and health care providers of all sizes.  He has developed advanced business and quality management methodologies that have been benchmarked worldwide and have been widely published in articles and books. Specialties include strategy alignment/enterprise modeling; technology integration; process mapping and optimization; quality and excellence systems; and training and facilitation.  For the last three years, he has worked to transform the health care delivery system by using the cutting edge techniques he developed in the corporate sector.  As Director of Organizational Development at AHP, Mr. Bishop has worked with several large Community Health Centers in Massachusetts to improve service levels and operational efficiency. He developed a structured program and a comprehensive suite of supporting tools that have enabled his clients to institutionalize his methodology and acquire the capacity to become self sufficient. Additionally, Mr. Bishop is working with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers on a major project which will enable each of the State’s health centers to implement an Electronic Medical Record system with associated data sharing/warehousing capabilities that allow key data exchange between centers. This project is expected to continue until 2010.  Prior to coming to AHP, Mr. Bishop held a variety of senior and executive management positions in which he managed several large ($100M+) projects, and was a management consultant for more than 14 years, working at all levels within companies.  Projects ranged from mentoring the Boards of Directors of Fortune 50 companies to providing training programs for thousands of employees at large companies.

LAURIE C. CURTIS, M.A.

Laurie Curtis is the Project Director for the SAMHSA Shared Decision-Making in Mental Health project, a three-year initiative to develop resources and tools that facilitate and support collaborative decision-making among mental health consumers and practitioners.  She also co-leads a team developing an Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Implementation Resource Kit (Toolkits) for SAMHSA on Consumer Operated Services.  Her work on this project includes concept design, materials development, work planning and coordination. Through AHP, as a Senior Program Associate, she also provides consultation to mental health authorities on many aspects of transformation to a recovery-oriented system.  In her 30-year career in mental health, Ms. Curtis has worked as a practitioner, manager, educator, and consultant, and her accrued expertise includes policy and organizational development, community service management and service delivery, facilitation and technical writing. Her professional work is grounded in her lived experience with psychiatric disorders as an individual and family member.  Recent writing includes manuals on developing state-wide consumer networks, models of self-determined care, alternative dispute resolution, and curricula for team-based training on workplace safety and on ethics in helping relationships.  She is an Associate Clinical Professor for the Program in Community Mental Health, a masters-level counseling program offered by Southern New Hampshire University.

PATRICIA E. DEEGAN, Ph.D.

Patricia Deegan is a well-known consumer advocate and recovery expert.  She currently is leading a project to help the largest nonprofit managed care organization in the country implement recovery-based behavioral health systems in its 34 Pennsylvania counties.  For theNew Freedom Initiative: State Coalitions to Promote Community-Based Care (Olmstead) project at AHP, Dr. Deegan produced a documentary about the lives of long-term psychiatric hospital inpatients who made a successful return to the community.  Dr. Deegan also is the creator of an innovative resource and training program for service providers called Common Ground: Recovery Oriented Practice.  She was a co-founder of the National Empowerment Center, Inc., a consumer-run national technical assistance program funded by CMHS.  Dr. Deegan is an expert in the areas of recovery and empowerment and is an activist in the consumer/survivor movement.  She is widely published and has given keynote addresses and lectures to professional organizations around the world.  Since 1997, Dr. Deegan has been involved in documenting ex-patient perspectives on the history of mental health services and has explored modern issues of racial disparity in health care through the exploration of historically segregated asylums in America.  She has helped to collect the oral history of survivors of mental institutions and has advocated for the inclusion of these voices in historical accounts of mental health care.  Dr. Deegan’s other current projects include researching a recovery-based approach to using psychiatric medications at the University of Kansas, developing recovery-based competencies for mental health practitioners, helping to restore forgotten cemeteries at State hospitals, and helping consumers win money for new housing through the sale of State hospitals.

ANN V. DENTON, M.Ed.

Ann Denton has more than 25 years’ experience in public mental health systems and program development and is a recognized expert on homelessness, mental illness, system change, and housing issues for people with mental and other disabilities. She provides technical assistance to states and communities in many areas, including the development of Continuum of Care plans, strategic planning, project development and monitoring, prioritization, service coordination and operation of housing and service systems. Ms. Denton’s areas of expertise include permanent supportive housing, discharge planning, prevention strategies, and access to mainstream services. At AHP, Ms. Denton is Director of Housing and leads projects and activities related to housing, homelessness, mental health, system change, and substance abuse services. Training and technical assistance is provided to states, communities, advocates, and providers in the areas of homelessness (including Continuum of Care planning and operation), housing, supports and services, advocacy, program implementation and operation, planning, resource development, and strategic partnerships through contracts managed by Ms. Denton. She also provides consultation to states and communities regarding homelessness, particularly chronic homelessness. At the state level, Ms Denton currently serves as a member of the Texas Interagency Council on Homelessness and as a member of the State of Texas Policy Academy team focused on Access to Mainstream Services for People who are Chronically Homeless. Ms. Denton also serves on the State Promoting Independence Advisory Committee (Olmstead). As chair of the Housing Committee, she helped secure a $2 million per year commitment of housing assistance funds. She previously served as the Director of Housing and Residential Services for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation for 10 years, developing a statewide supported housing/housing first program.

JONATHAN H. GRAND, M.S.W, L.I.C.S.W. 

Jonathan Grand utilizes his years of administering substance abuse treatment and prevention programs to assist Federal and State agencies in promoting best practices in the behavioral health field.  Mr. Grand excels in facilitating the exchange of information through workshops, conferences, and meetings on a local, regional, and national level.  He presently serves as a Technical Assistance Coordinator for the HRSA Office of Performance Review Technical Assistance Project, coordinating the provision of on-site technical assistance to community health centers.  He is also a task leader on the SAMHSA Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative. Previously, Mr. Grand coordinated AHP’s participation in creating the National Center for the Advancement of Prevention, a CSAP-funded initiative.  He also conducted research, focus groups, and pre- and post-testing for four statewide radio advertisements sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to inform the public about the availability of treatment for problem gambling; helped develop a domestic violence awareness media campaign aimed at male teens in Boston; and did research and conducted focus groups for a cancer awareness campaign for the city of Boston.   Mr. Grand served as Project Director for a Compulsive Gambling Treatment Services Evaluation for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and worked with the Massachusetts Governor’s Task Force on Hate Crimes to increase the reporting of hate crimes by African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics.

SUSAN HILLS, Ph.D.

Susan Hills is a seasoned writer, facilitator, and training developer. She is adept at analyzing communications challenges and designing solutions appropriate to the needs of the client and the characteristics of the target audience.  She has developed handbooks, protocols, training programs, fact sheets, reports, and other documents related to substance abuse prevention and treatment, co-occurring disorders, and legal rights of persons with disabilities.  She was lead writer for Trends in Mental Health System Transformation: The States Respond 2005, a publication of CMHS, and for a second forthcoming “trends report”  that focuses specifically on trends related to State Mental Health Planning and Advisory Councils: Trends in State Mental Health Planning and Advisory Councils 2006: Fulfilling the Potential. She has also contributed to the design and editing of two toolkits for SAMHSA: one focuses on the evidence-based practice of supportive housing and the other on consumer-operated services and programs. Dr. Hills provided technical assistance to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) to help them improve an existing manual on co-occurring disorders and develop additional manuals in alternative formats and for different audiences. She has developed and delivered training to researchers at UMDNJ and at the Center for Medical Health Services Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School to help them communicate their findings to the field effectively. Dr. Hills also led an AHP team that collaborated with the MISSION program (Maintaining Independence and Sobriety through Systems Integration, Outreach, and Networking), a collaboration between UMDNJ and the Veterans Administration of New Jersey (VANJ), to develop a treatment manual and consumer workbook to help others replicate a successful program to transition homeless, dually-diagnosed veterans from a residential treatment program to community life. Prior to joining AHP, Dr. Hills served as Associate Editor for Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) 42, Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons with Co-Occurring Disorders. She also prepared draft chapters in nine other TIPs, including short-term therapy, group therapy, and motivational interviewing.

JOHN A. HORNIK, Ph.D.

John Hornik has been Director of Research since 1997.  Dr. Hornik has more than 30 years of experience in services research, evaluation, and planning in mental health and substance abuse.  He brings a very wide range of skills and experiences:  research and evaluation, national evaluations and multi-site studies, methodology, analysis of large data bases, State planning and systems change, performance indicators, information systems, Federal policy, and co-occurring disorders. He is currently the director of the national evaluation of the SAMHSA Co-occurring State Incentive Grant (COSIG) program, the evaluation of the Oklahoma Transformation State Incentive Grant, and the co-director of the national evaluation of the CMHS-funded program of Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness.  He was the Principal Investigator of four grants under three of AHP’s SAMHSA-funded cooperative agreements, including the CSAT Co-occurring Disorders Initiative; the CSAT/CMHS Homeless Families Initiative; and the CMHS Supported Housing Initiative. He also directed program evaluation for Parsons Child and Family Center under a grant funded by the CMHS National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, and was Principal Investigator for development of a Residential Outcomes Monitoring System under a National Institute of Mental Health grant.  He participated as a consultant in the development of the SAMHSA Report to Congress on Co-Occurring Disorders.  Previously, Dr. Hornik initiated development of the Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program (MHSIP) consumer-oriented report card sponsored by CMHS. Dr. Hornik is a former Director of Planning for the New York State Office of Mental Health and the Director of Evaluation and Client Tracking for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.   He has been a senior consultant to CMHS, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute (NRI), several individual States, and other organizations in the areas of program development and evaluation, mental health planning, policy, and outcome assessment. He has also held faculty appointments at the University of Virginia (Psychology) and Hampshire College (Social Sciences) and adjunct appointments at the University of Massachusetts (Sociology) and New York University (Psychiatry).  He has expertise in needs assessment and forecasting, organizational development, services research, technical assistance, organizational consulting, public policy analysis, information systems design and development, and statistical analysis.

ANDREW R. KLEIN, Ph.D.

Andrew Klein, Senior Research Analyst, has served as a Principal Investigator on numerous research and evaluation grants for multiple Federal, State and county government and non-profit agencies covering a diverse range of areas from family violence, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), victim rights, batterer intervention programming, faith-based rural domestic violence programming, elder abuse, and residential prison substance abuse treatment. Editor and columnist for Thomson-West’s National Bulletin on Domestic Violence Prevention, he is also the author of major texts on Alternative Sentencing, Intermediate Sanctions and Probation (Anderson Publishing Co.) and The Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence (Thomson/Wadsworth). As a nationally recognized expert in the study of domestic violence and criminal justice, he has served on numerous national commissions and advisory boards on development of domestic violence courts, sentencing and supervision of youthful drunk drivers, probation, and more. He has provided technical assistance, headlined conferences and provided professional training in his areas of expertise in almost every state of the Union and United States Military bases abroad.

RICHARD LANDIS, M.S.W.
 
Richard Landis, AHP’s Director of Behavioral Health Services and Workforce Development, has more than 20 years of experience that includes program management, direct clinical practice, and extensive experience conducting human services research. Mr. Landis is Project Director for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative, a multi-year effort to expand and improve the workforce serving those with behavioral health disorders.  Mr. Landis is a specialist in the areas of substance abuse and mental health treatment and in HIV/AIDS. From 1999-2003, Mr. Landis was the Project Director for a U.S. State Department initiative that conducted local and cross-site evaluations of promising drug treatment and prevention practices throughout the world. He has led several knowledge dissemination, application, and adoption projects, including the DC/Delaware Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC), which provided technical assistance and training in the mid-Atlantic area.  In addition, for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), specifically he directed the development of the Drug and Alcohol Problem Assessment (DAPA) screening instrument, including an online brief intervention course for physicians, the WWW Support for Drug Abuse Researchers and online grant writing tutorial course, and evaluation of the Phases of Treatment Methadone Toolkit.  Mr. Landis was an integral member of the ATTC's Research-to-Practice National Committee and the CSAT task force on workforce issues. Mr. Landis has demonstrated expertise in workforce development issues related to behavioral health care based on years of experience serving in leadership roles and working on related projects.  He co-authored the Report on the State of the Substance Abuse Workforce in 2002: Priorities and Possibilities and wrote substantial portions of The Change Book: A Blueprint for Technology Transfer. He is frequently invited to speak and conduct workshops on behavior change and technology transfer, and is the author of more than 27 articles and presentations in the fields of substance abuse, HIV, technology transfer and workforce development.  Mr. Landis’ experience spans all aspects of corporate and project management including operations, business development, human resources and marketing. 

ALAN MARZILLI, J.D.

Alan Marzilli joined AHP in 2005 as a Program Associate, bringing with him experience in mental health policy issues as well as writing, training, and curriculum design.  He has helped to develop toolkits on permanent supportive housing and consumer-operated services, under contract to SAMHSA; training materials for providing employment services for people who are homeless, under projects funded by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Labor (DOL); and a program manual and training materials for a Veterans Affairs Health System program serving homeless veterans with co-occurring disorders. He has conducted training in 30 states and territories and has designed three training curricula that are used nationally to educate people about mental health, housing, and support services issues. These include developing a curriculum for CMHS on the topic of involving people with mental illnesses in planning housing and other supports necessary for community integration; a curriculum for the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse (NMHCSHC), a CMHS-funded technical assistance center, on the topic of self-advocacy for people with mental illnesses; and a curriculum for NMHCSHC on the topic of peer-run mental health support services. Other writing projects have involved housing and transportation issues affecting people with mental illnesses. He has also authored 12 non-fiction books on topics of law, public policy, and criminal justice, all published by Chelsea House Publishers.

SHERY MEAD, M.S.W.

Shery Mead currently is the AHP Task Leader developing a CMHS-funded Evidence-based Toolkit for Consumer-Operated Services and Programs.  She is the past director of three New Hampshire Peer Support Programs, including a peer-run hospital alternative.  She has done extensive speaking and training, nationally and internationally, on the topics of alternative approaches to crisis, trauma-informed peer services, systems change, and the development and implementation of peer-operated services.  Ms. Mead’s publications include academic articles, training manuals, and a new book co-authored with Mary Ellen Copeland, Wellness Recovery Action Planning and Peer Support.  Ms. Mead’s current interests include developing a theory and practice base for peer-operated programs, de-pathologizing the effects of trauma and abuse, and finding research and evaluation models that accurately reflect the work of peer programs.

REBECCA MORRIS, M.P.A.

As AHP’s Director of Communications, Rebecca Morris coordinates significant communications initiatives, supports new business development, and has lead responsibility for writing, editing, and production of documents for print and electronic formats.  With more than 27 years’ experience, Ms. Morris has written and edited a wide variety of monographs, working papers, briefings, manuals, conference documentation, and other reports.  In particular, she has written extensively about health care and criminal justice topics, including substance abuse, mental health, and co-occurring disorders; the relationships between these disorders and the criminal justice system; behavioral health workforce development; elder abuse and neglect; domestic violence; data-based advocacy; innovations in health care systems at the local level; and effective conceptual tools and practices for addressing these issues, such as community partnerships, electronic communities, systems integration, and performance measurement.  For example, Ms. Morris prepared a Report to Congress and training manuals regarding domestic violence; led the development of a mental health portal in its initial stages; developed nine conference reports and a Practitioner Perspectives briefing for the Department of Justice; and prepared a wide variety of reports for other agencies and organizations such as HHS; the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy; the Annie E. Casey Foundation; the Harvard Business School; and The Medical Foundation.  Before joining AHP, Ms. Morris was a journalist for more than 10 years, primarily as a staff writer with Newsday, and covered government and politics, employment, banking, environmental and economic development issues, and other issues. In 1999, Ms. Morris founded Gallais Communications and its conference unit, Conference Reports & Internet Services, to provide research and editorial services, conference reporting, and communications consulting. Ms. Morris also is founder and president of the National Lipedema Association, and a former board member of the Lymphatic Research Foundation. She has served as a faculty member, convener, and/or presenter at symposia and conferences about lymphatic clinical and policy issues.

DARBY PENNEY, M.L.S.

Darby Penney is a qualitative researcher and an experienced writer and editor with a background in mental health needs assessment, planning, proposal writing, and project management. She currently directs a SAMHSA-funded project developing peer support training manuals for people with mental health and substance abuse issues, and mental health and physical health problems.  She is part of a team writing the SAMHSA-funded Consumer Operated Services and Programs (COSP) Toolkit, and has participated in research and writing of SAMHSA issue briefs.  Ms. Penney is a member of a team evaluating SAMHSA’s Co-Occurring State Incentive Grants (COSIG), and is Senior Evaluator on a SAMHSA-funded contract developing materials for Shared Decision-Making.  For 16 years, she worked in increasingly responsible positions at the New York State Office of Mental Health, nine of those years as a Cabinet-level official responsible for bringing the perspectives of people with psychiatric disabilities into all aspects of planning, program development, evaluation, and policy-making. Ms. Penney was a founding member of the National Association of Consumer/Survivor Mental Health Administrators (NAC/SMHA), and was the group’s president from 1995-98.  She was honored for her work promoting the civil and human rights of people with psychiatric disabilities by being named a 2005 Fellow by the Petra Foundation.  Ms. Penney has consulted, lectured, and published nationally and internationally on topics including elimination of restraint and seclusion, the history of women’s mental health services, mediation and alternative dispute resolution, service users’ perspectives on evaluation and research, and development of self-help and peer support programs. With Peter Stastny, MD, she is co-author of The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic (Bellevue Literary Press, 2008).

ELLEN RADIS, M.M.H.S.

A veteran manager, Ellen Radis brings more than 25 years of experience working in and managing human service programs and projects on the local, State, and Federal levels.  As Assistant Director of Behavioral Health Services and Workforce Development, Ms. Radis is involved in the development and management of numerous TA projects.  She is Project Director for the HRSA Office of Performance Review Grantee Technical Assistance Project, and Assistant Director for SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative.  Formerly, she was Project Director for the SAMHSA Treatment Improvement Exchange. During the last 15 years, Ms. Radis has focused her efforts in the area of substance abuse treatment and prevention. Her experience includes “in the trenches” work with a large treatment agency that provided detoxification, residential, outpatient, pharmacological, and prison-based treatment programs; leadership of the Quality Improvement Collaborative, a unique state-wide substance abuse treatment and prevention services quality improvement program in Massachusetts; and service as a SAMHSA grant reviewer and team leader for the National Evaluation Data Services (NEDS), a project under contract for the CSAT/DSCA. Her NEDS responsibilities included managing the data infrastructure teams responsible for the development of a substance abuse secondary data strategy, and inventories of State and Federal substance abuse data sets. She also coordinated an effort to work with State directors and their advocacy organization, the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), and compiled a report, SSAWW Recommendations to States on IT Infrastructure Requirements to Support Effective Treatment Service Delivery Systems (March, 2004).   The NEDS contract also designed, developed and launched the CSAT GPRA Web Site, www.csat.gpra.samhsa.gov.

PAM RAINER, C.S.W. 

Pam Rainer has extensive experience developing and managing programs, especially in the area of community mental health. She serves as Project Manager for the Community Care Recovery Initiative, a project funded by Community Care Behavioral Health Organization to provide technical assistance and support to more than 30 Pennsylvania counties in implementing recovery-based systems of care.  Ms. Rainer conducts performance review site visits for the CSAT Co-Occurring Homeless Activities Branch (CHAB). In addition, she assists other project development activities for various federally funded projects, including specific tasks related to the SAMHSA Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative, and content development for the CSAT/CHAB Annual Grantee Meeting and CMHS Joint National Conference. Previous projects include directing the CMHS New Freedom Initiative State Coalitions to Promote Community-Based Care technical assistance activities to help States/Territories implement the recommendations of the Final Report of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and the community integration requirements of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Olmstead v. L.C., and coordinating technical assistance for the CMHS-funded PATH program. Ms. Rainer is a member of AHP’s federally registered Institutional Review Board (IRB).  Prior to joining AHP, she served as Regional President and Board Member of a statewide housing group and chaired several committees at the local planning level. Ms. Rainer is the former Mental Health Services Director for a large human service organization in upstate New York, where she developed model programs, policies, and procedures.

M. ELIZABETH REARDON, MPH

Liz Reardon, Senior Program Associate, has 30 years of experience in health care, from direct service through administration and public policy development. She is nationally recognized as an expert resource in the areas of quality improvement and chronic illness/disability program design, and has worked with a wide variety of consumers, providers, and policymakers as a facilitator, negotiator, and project manager. She has consulted with State and Federal agencies, medical schools, behavioral health organizations, and community health centers on strategic planning, quality improvement, and business development for programs that serve populations with limited access to health care. She has published and presented at national conferences and webcasts on behavioral health/primary care integration, disease management, and Medical Home development for children and adults with disabilities or chronic conditions.  As the Managed Care Director for Vermont’s Medicaid Program, she created the Robert Wood Johnson(RWJ)-funded “Vermont Medical Home Project,” which combined recovery and primary care supports for mental health consumers.  She also served as Principal Investigator for the RWJ-funded “Vermont Community Depression Project,” forming local partnerships that integrated primary care and community mental health services for low income Vermonters. In 2002, she was appointed by Governor Howard Dean to the Commission on the Treatment of Psychological Trauma, and facilitated the task force that incorporated the Commission’s findings into the Agency of Human Services programs and operations.

JOHN RIO, M.A., CRC

John Rio is a Senior Program Associate at AHP and Co-Director of the Chronic Homelessness Employment Technical Assistance Center (CHETA), supported by the U.S. Department of Labor. He also provides HUD and SAMHSA supported technical assistance. With more than 35 years’ experience in rehabilitation and recovery services, supportive housing, and homeless assistance services, Mr. Rio’s work has focused on developing materials, delivering technical assistance, and training and designing strategies to help increase the capacity of supportive housing and service organizations to offer employment services to formerly homeless people with disabilities, to educate government about more work-encouraging social policy, and to assist supportive housing and service providers on innovative programming.  Mr. Rio managed two U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration Special Project grants, one to link the supportive housing industry and the vocational rehabilitation system in New York City, and a career advancement initiative for homeless individuals in Chicago.  He also initiated career development initiatives for supportive housing tenants in Columbus, OH and Bridgeport, CT with funding from the Ford Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Before joining AHP, Mr. Rio was a senior staff member of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) where he directed national employment initiatives and worked on public policies related to employment and supportive services for homeless people with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disabilities.

AMY SALOMON, Ph.D. 

Amy Salomon has more than 20 years’ experience in applied research, human service program development, and technical assistance. She has been Director of Evaluation Studies at AHP since 2002 and currently is Director of AHP’s Center for Research and Evaluation. In these roles, Dr. Salomon oversees all staff working in the research and evaluation sector and is responsible for the day-to-day oversight for all AHP research and evaluation activities. The primary focus of her work has been on critical social issues, including family homelessness, substance abuse and co-occurring disorders, extreme poverty in women and children, public welfare, and interpersonal violence. Dr. Salomon is currently the lead evaluator, in collaboration with ICF International, on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ national review of programs addressing international and domestic human trafficking. Dr. Salomon is leading the effort on the domestic side, with a focus on behavioral health and residential programming for sexually exploited youth. She also is lead evaluator for a CSAT-funded Targeted Capacity Expansion Grant increasing substance abuse services to women victims of domestic violence living in rural Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and recently completed a systems change evaluation for the State of Alaska’s State Incentive Grant project (COSIG) for treatment of persons with co-occurring substance related and mental disorders, funded by SAMHSA. Prior to coming to AHP, Dr. Salomon was Executive Director at the National Center on Family Homelessness (formerly the Better Homes Fund). She directed the Center’s National Institute of Mental Health-funded longitudinal study on family homelessness, considered one of the nation’s most comprehensive studies to date on risk factors for family homelessness.  Using these data, Dr. Salomon led a National Institute of Justice-funded study on The Etiology, Course and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence against Extremely Poor Women.  She also served as the Center’s Project Director for a cross-site process evaluation of SAMHSA’s Women, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Violence Study.  Her areas of expertise include research and evaluation design and management, site visit methodology and protocol development, process and outcome measurement, focus group facilitation, and qualitative and quantitative methods.

KRISTIN STAINBROOK, Ph.D.

Kristin Stainbrook serves as Assistant Director of Research at AHP and brings expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods and analysis, outcome studies, the collection and reporting of GPRA data, research instrument design, data collection and analysis, training, proposal writing, project management, and preparing and presenting written reports. Dr. Stainbrook currently serves as lead evaluator for three SAMHSA-funded programs: a CSAT-funded program to provide case management and trauma services to homeless families; a CSAP-funded program to expand Substance Abuse, HIV, and Hepatitis C education and treatment services targeting at-risk minority populations, especially those who may be reentering communities from prison, jail, and substance abuse treatment; and a CSAT-funded evaluation of a street outreach and substance abuse treatment program for targeting individuals at risk for HIV; all projects are in Albany County, New York.  Dr. Stainbrook also serves as an evaluator on the National Evaluation of SAMHSA Co-Occurring State Infrastructure Grant (COSIG) program, an evaluation of states’ efforts to develop or enhance their infrastructure to increase their capacity to provide services to persons with co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders.  Most recently, Dr. Stainbrook was the project director for the CMHS/CSAT Homeless Families Initiative where she studied the effectiveness of case management for families leaving homeless shelters in upstate New York. This evaluation used a quasi-experimental design that compared the outcomes of families who received the intervention case management services to families in two other counties who received low levels or no case management.  Among her responsibilities are project management, staff training, data collection, analysis, and presentation of findings at national and local meetings. Prior to joining AHP, Dr. Stainbrook was on the staff of Policy Research Associates, Inc., where she served on two SAMHSA-funded projects—the GAINS Center for Co-Occurring Disorders and the Jail Diversion/Mental Health and Criminal Justice Program. Both of these Knowledge Development and Application projects focused on individuals with mental health and substance abuse disorders. As a part of her work, she also developed best practice reports which presented individual, exemplary programs in mental health and criminal justice.  In 2001, Ms. Stainbrook spoke at the American Public Health Association meeting as one of the first two recipients of the Mental Health Section’s Kenneth Lutterman Student Paper Award. 

TERRI TOBIN, Ph.D. 

Terri Tobin serves as Associate Director of Research at AHP and brings expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods and analysis, program evaluation, survey design, the collection and reporting of GPRA and other outcome and performance data, secondary data analysis of large state and national databases, database design and management, project management, and preparing and presenting written reports. Dr. Tobin is the Principal Investigator for the SAMHSA/CSAT-funded “Treating the Untreated: Identifying and Engaging Individuals Not Seeking Treatment” project that focuses on establishing a research base on the substance use disorder treatment gap. She is also the lead evaluator for two CSAT/CMHS-funded Treatment for Homeless programs that provide integrated clinical case management and trauma services to women experiencing homelessness, and is experienced in evaluating programs targeting adolescents with substance use issues. Collecting data and reporting on progress for all 50 states and many territories, Dr. Tobin also served as evaluation director for The New Freedom Initiative: State Coalitions to Promote Community-Based Care (NFI/Olmstead) project, funded by CMHS. Additionally, as the evaluator for the State of Alaska’s Co-Occurring State Incentive Grant (COSIG), and manager and analyst for the evaluation of the Alternatives Pilot Program for the State of California, Dr. Tobin is also experienced in working with particular state systems to specify, collect, and report on performance and outcome measures. Dr. Tobin also was a site project manager and analyst for the CMHS Supported Housing Initiative and the CSAT Co-occurring Disorders Initiative.  As a Ph.D. in gerontology, Dr. Tobin’s work also focuses on research and public policy issues concerning the aged population and their families. She co-authored Dementia and Wandering Behavior: Concern for the Lost Elder (2002), which received the 2002 Book of the Year Award from the Journal of Nursing.  Currently, she is the Principal Investigator on a HRSA Grant for Policy-Oriented Rural Health Services Research that focuses on the preventive care practices of a national sample of rural elderly and also serves as the analyst for a NIJ-funded study concerning elder abuse.

JENIFER URFF, J.D.

Jenifer Urff is an attorney and Senior Policy Associate with extensive experience in policy development and legal analysis. Her expertise in behavioral health policy and programs has been applied in work with government agencies at all levels. Past and current projects at AHP include coordinating and providing technical assistance to state mental health agencies and other behavioral health stakeholders, under contract with CMHS, to implement recommendations of the Final Report of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and the community integration requirements of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C.; working with the National Governors’ Association to engage States in the process of mental health transformation; developing a Mental Health Policy Handbook for employees of the U.S. Department of Labor; leading specific activities of SAMHSA related to behavioral health workforce development; and developing policy options regarding reform of State involuntary treatment laws and policies related to reducing the use of seclusion and restraint.  Previously, as Director of Government Relations and then as Senior Policy Counsel for the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), Ms. Urff advocated on behalf of state mental health agencies to members of Congress, the National Governors’ Association, and relevant stakeholder groups; developed and implemented NASMHPD’s policy agenda; provided legal and policy analysis; and developed legislative and regulatory strategies to support public mental health systems. Ms. Urff has consulted for various clients on behavioral health issues and has authored several publications, with a specific focus on the structure and policy goals of State public mental health systems.

SUSAN MILSTREY WELLS

Susan Milstrey Wells is an accomplished senior writer/editor with more than 30 years of experience. She is known for her ability to translate research findings into reports for the lay audience. For the past 20 years, she has researched, written, and edited documents about mental and substance use disorders and homelessness; her services frequently are requested by various SAMHSA divisions for specific projects.  Ms. Wells is the primary author of SAMHSA’s Federal Action Agenda in response to the final report of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and of SAMHSA’s Blueprint for Change to end chronic homelessness. She also helped draft SAMHSA’s Report to Congress on co-occurring disorders and has written numerous speeches and presentations for CMHS Director Kathryn Power and former SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie.  In 2006, Ms. Wells drafted Practical Advice on Jail Diversion: Ten Years of Learnings on Jail Diversion from the National GAINS Center. She helped draft a 10-year plan to end homelessness for the City of Raleigh and Wake County, NC.  Her book, A Delicate Balance: Living Successfully with Chronic Illness, was published in hardcover (Insight Books, 1998) and softcover (Perseus Books, 2000).  Ms. Wells is a former newspaper reporter and public relations official for private schools and colleges. 

Selected Projects

Following are descriptions of selected projects which reflect the range of AHP capabilities in technical assistance and training, research and evaluation, system and program development, and resource development and dissemination.

Technical Assistance and Training Projects

SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative

AHP is leading SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative, a multi-year effort to overcome a severe workforce crisis in behavioral health, including the aging out of the workforce; inadequate diversity; poor geographic distribution; demographic mismatches; problems of recruitment and retention; training that is inappropriate to the organizational context in which providers are expected to work; and training that does not reflect the need to deliver evidence-­based practices in a quality improvement framework with appropriate accountability measures.  All of this is occurring within fragmented systems of care.  Working with SAMHSA, AHP is engaging the relevant disciplines to address this crisis together.  We are identifying workforce practices and innovations throughout the country; developing new competencies that span the behavioral health disciplines; building a dynamic web portal to facilitate workforce development at all levels; preparing new tools to improve recruitment and retention; and helping states, communities, organizations, professional associations, and consumer and family groups adopt the most promising approaches that can bridge service gaps, and ultimately establish a stronger foundation for meeting the needs of those with mental health and substance use disorders.

Shared Decision-Making

Shared decision-making is an interactive collaborative process between a health care practitioner and a client that leads to a health care decision. Active consumer participation is critical in contemporary, quality-based mental health care and treatment planning. Consumers who choose interventions that fit their own preferences and recovery are better able to pursue a life that has personal meaning and quality. To facilitate this process, AHP is identifying existing proven shared decision-making technologies—tools, protocols, practices, and/or decision aids—from general health care, as well as emerging technologies from mental health care, that can be adapted for use by mental health practitioners and consumers. The AHP team will customize, adapt, and pilot test these technologies for use with the help of practitioners (physicians, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and others), consumers, and program administrators. AHP then will package the final, selected technologies; develop promotion and dissemination strategies; and provide limited training and technical assistance to help providers apply them.

Evidence-Based Toolkits on Supported Housing and Consumer-Operated Mental Health Services

AHP is developing CMHS-funded evidence-based practice tool kits on supported housing and on consumer-operated mental health services.  These tool kits are based on comprehensive reviews of research and practice guidelines; reflect expert consensus; contain fidelity measures to assure adherence to the consensus model; identify practical issues that affect implementation; and offer resources to help mental health authorities, program directors, providers, consumers, and others implement recovery-oriented practices that work.

Training Materials for Consumers, Family Members, and Providers

AHP is preparing two training manuals on peer support for the CMHS. One training guide will focus on developing peer support approaches for people with dual mental health and substance abuse diagnoses, and the other will focus on developing peer support approaches for people with both co-occurring mental health and somatic/physical problems. People in these two subgroups have self-help needs that are somewhat different, and often more complex, than those people with psychiatric diagnoses alone.  AHP is being assisted by review teams of experts on approaches to each type of peer support.  AHP laid the groundwork for the project by conducting a literature search of published and unpublished research and existing peer support manuals for each of the topics, then developed detailed outlines of the two manuals. AHP will pilot the programs, incorporate revisions, and prepare final drafts for dissemination. The training materials will be intended for consumers, family members, and professionals.

Implementing Supportive Housing and Supported Employment Evidence-Based Practices in Detroit/Wayne County      

AHP is supporting and guiding Detroit/Wayne County in its effort to establish an organizational culture and infrastructure that undergirds and facilitates recovery, supportive housing, and supported employment. Initial activities included providing training, conducting on-site assessment, facilitating stakeholder meetings, and providing recommendations. In the second phase of the project, AHP provided follow-up training to provider agencies, programs, and other stakeholders to help them understand the principles of supportive housing and supported employment, and to be prepared to implement effective programs that reflect these principles. AHP also assisted Detroit/Wayne County to develop its program capacity and infrastructure.  Starting in October 2007, AHP launched the third phase of the initiative, which includes developing a strategic plan that is achievable, sustainable, and embraced by stakeholders; developing guidelines for supported employment and supportive housing that guide providers in implementing the practice; assessing fidelity to the model; implementing technical assistance, training and mentoring; assisting with the development and expansion of local collaborations to improve consumers’ access to housing and to reduce homelessness.

Community Care Recovery Initiative

Community Care Behavioral Health Organization (CCBH) contracted with Pat Deegan & Associates, in partnership with AHP, to provide consultation and training on a comprehensive effort to implement a strong recovery orientation at all levels of their behavioral health service system. Based in Pittsburgh, CCBH operates in 34 counties of Pennsylvania and is the largest nonprofit managed care organization in the country. AHP is providing on and off-site consultation, training, mentoring, web site development and management, and infrastructure development to support the organization’s goal. The approach is multi-level and multi-dimensional, with simultaneous activities affecting different parts of the system, including CCBH’s internal operations. The initiative is designed to transform attitudes, impart knowledge, and build skills. Methods incorporate the leadership of people with psychiatric disabilities at all levels of the transformation effort – as advisors, co-trainers, peer specialists, and consultants – and in all training and technical assistance events.  Activities include providing 2-day intensive Recovery Institutes in strategic locations around the State; offering Engagement Workshops for community mental health center staff and local community members; developing a cadre of consumers who are prepared to become trainers for these workshops; offering “Booster” sessions to help new leaders hone their training skills and develop training plans; and fostering a Recovery Learning Community through a dynamic web site, consumer advisory committee, and off-site technical assistance.

Chronic Homelessness Employment Technical Assistance (CHETA)

AHP is collaborating with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) under a DOL, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) cooperative agreement to form the CHETA Center. The purpose of this Center is threefold: 1) to provide technical assistance to five demonstration sites which received awards through the USDOL and HUD program, “Ending Chronic Homelessness through Housing and Employment;” 2) to create a repository of information regarding employment and training services for people with disabilities who are chronically homeless; and 3) to identify policy concerns or issues that pertain to the implementation of employment services for chronically homeless individuals in the workforce development system and policy challenges to building collaboration between the workforce and homeless systems.  AHP has developed and delivered a five-day training institute on Customized Employment for line staff; a training program on Tenant Leadership; a white paper briefing document for USDOL senior staff on promising practices learned from the five demonstration sites; on-site and off-site training and technical assistance; a monthly series of national training teleconferences and issue briefs; and a white paper chronicling the transition from street homelessness to housing and employment, available in the spring 2006.  In addition, AHP has provided guidance to ODEP and HUD to develop cross-agency partnerships with other Federal branches, including CMHS and CSAT, to better coordinate their respective training and technical assistance initiatives.

Technical Assistance Services for the SAMHSA/CSAT Co-Occurring and Homeless Activities Branch (CHAB) and its Grantees

This contract is the first technical assistance (TA) contract awarded by CSAT’s Co-Occurring Homeless Activities Branch (CHAB).  Its purpose is to support the collaborative initiative to end chronic homelessness by providing technical assistance to CHAB and its grantees.  As a subcontractor to Johnson, Bassin, & Shaw (JBS), AHP provides diagnostic site visits and targeted consultation, training, data analysis, and materials development to help meet CHAB grantees’ emerging needs.  AHP also is helping bridge the gap between research and practice within and among the grant programs by creating products such as a Grantee Notebook, which synthesizes grantee information and documents program innovations, and by participating in the planning of several annual grantee meetings and conferences. 

Grantee TA and Support for the Office of Performance Review (OPR)/Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

AHP has developed and managed TA tracking systems that monitor the delivery of TA to diverse audiences in a culturally competent manner.  The major component of the project is the Technical Assistance Processing System (TAPS). The TAPS allows HRSA regional and central office staff to request technical assistance (TA), search its comprehensive database of qualified experts, approve and evaluate TA, manage TA budgets, and receive on-demand, real-time activity reports via a comprehensive, user-friendly web site.  TAPS is enhanced through TA coordination provided by AHP staff. TA Coordinators facilitate contact between the TA requestor and the expert as well as coordinate the logistics related to the effective and efficient provision of targeted technical assistance. TA services are monitored by the HRSA OPR central office and regional staff through the robust on-line evaluation, reporting, and budgeting capabilities within TAPS.

Mental Health Transformation Guidance

AHP supported CMHS in revising the guidance and instructions for the Fiscal Year 2009-2011 Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG).  This project, completed on a timeline of less than three months, involved convening a working group of Federal and State stakeholders by conference call for three meetings to discuss possible revisions to the MHBG.  In particular, the working group considered changes to the Fiscal Year 2008 guidance that required States to submit planned expenditures for 20 separate categories of mental health transformation activities.  The revised language significantly reduces the burden on States by permitting them to report planned expenditures in only six categories, while still ensuring that CMHS receives important information that is needed to justify Federal appropriations for the MHBG.  Additional revisions to the MHBG guidance included clarifying requirements for States related to SAMHSA’s National Outcome Measures (NOMS).  AHP also developed the Federal Register Notice related to the revised guidance and the OMB Justification Statement.  In addition, AHP worked with several States that were unable to report planned mental health transformation expenditures in Fiscal Year 2008 to help them submit data under the new reporting guidelines.

New Freedom Initiative: State Coalitions to Promote Community-Based Care (Olmstead)

This initiative supports implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. Under contract to CMHS, AHP and its partners created a National Coalition and statewide coalitions to help States develop community integration plans for adults and children with mental illnesses and emotional disturbances. AHP managed annual stipends totaling $1 million to the States and Territories to support coalition building; provided technical assistance and training to States and Territories related to community integration; produced annual reports describing States’ activities and emerging or promising practices; designed and managed an interactive web site that allows States to submit reports online; and organized an annual, national conference on Olmstead and mental health for CMHS. AHP staff and consultants provided technical assistance on such topics as supportive housing for people with disabilities, consumer involvement in community integration planning, cultural competence, Assertive Community Treatment, supported employment, coalition-building, transition planning for youth with serious emotional disturbances, and systems change strategies.  In addition, AHP produced several key technical assistance products, including briefing papers and a video.

Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)

The Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) formula grant program provides flexible, community-based services for people with serious mental illnesses and co-occurring substance abuse disorders who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. AHP provided on-site technical assistance and other activities to help States/Territories and local providers effectively operate and monitor the PATH program.  PATH technical assistance was delivered on-site, by national teleconference calls, telephone and web-based simulcast.  In addition, the PATH web site provided immediate availability to audio and text files of information from national experts, as well as a Bulletin Board for instant communication among PATH providers.  Under several PATH contracts, AHP  developed a well-defined method to assess a State’s or provider’s needs, develop technical assistance (TA) materials and finalize a TA plan, and deliver the technical assistance and any follow-up guidance that may be necessary. 

The Treatment Improvement Exchange (TIE)

The Treatment Improvement Exchange (TIE) is a resource sponsored by the CSAT Division of State and Community Assistance to exchange information between CSAT staff and State and local alcohol and substance abuse agencies.  CSAT contracted with AHP to identify technical assistance consultants and arrange for technical assistance to State substance abuse agencies, as requested; manage the TIE Forum web site; write and disseminate the TIE Communiqué, which comments on current issues in the substance abuse field; plan, organize, and conduct regional workshops on CSAT-directed themes; and coordinate the State Systems Development Program (SSDP) conference that is designed to share recent findings on alcohol and other drug treatment issues.

Research and Evaluation Projects

Evaluation of the National COSIG Initiative

AHP is participating in an evaluation of the COSIG, a SAMHSA initiative. COSIG is designed to support States’ efforts to develop and enhance their infrastructures and treatment service systems in order to increase their capacity to provide accessible, effective, comprehensive, coordinated/integrated, and evidence-based treatment services to persons with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders and their families. This four-year evaluation project is designed to assess the accomplishments of the 15 COSIG States in meeting the national goals and objectives of the program, and to determine the factors associated with success as well as the barriers that impede it.  In addition, the evaluation will assess the accomplishments of States in meeting their own goals as articulated in their own proposals and plans.  AHP will identify the generalized lessons for the field that emerge from both of these lines of inquiry. In addition, the AHP team, which includes the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, will develop an evaluation plan that includes the perspectives of relevant stakeholders including grantees, project staff, evaluators, and consumers and families, and prepare a package to present to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), if required. The team will also implement the evaluation according to the plan, through site visits and telephone consultations with grantees, analysis of State-produced reports and documents, secondary analysis of data provided to SAMHSA, development and piloting of a self-report measure of Dual Diagnosis Capability, collaboration in outcome studies, and assessment of the COSIG program design. The AHP team will also plan, develop, and manage a computer database for project information and prepare special reports and other resources to help disseminate lessons learned and provide supplementary analysis. Finally, AHP will also submit annual reports on findings and a final project report.

Addictions Treatment for Homeless: Families Living Together (FLT) Evaluation

AHP currently is conducting a five-year evaluation of a program funded by CMHS and CSAT. The Institute for Health and Recovery (IHR) program provides Integrated Clinical Case Management to homeless mothers, most with histories of abuse and trauma, who live in emergency shelters in greater Boston. The evaluation includes both process and outcome components; uses qualitative and quantitative methods in an integrated approach; and involves the target population in the design, collection, and interpretation of data. Through in-person interviews with mothers at intake, 6 months, and 12 months, it includes the measurement of several client outcomes including those related to residential stability, physical health, mental health, substance abuse, legal involvement, trauma, and social support. Focus groups with clients and project staff, key informant interviews, training surveys, group session fidelity forms, recording services given and referrals made, and document review complete the evaluation design.

Effective Adolescent Treatment: Live SMART Evaluation

AHP served as the evaluator for a CSAT-sponsored, adolescent substance abuse treatment program that was part of a multi-site initiative (38 sites nationwide). Using an evidence-based practice—Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MET/CBT 5)—the Rhode Island site, Gateway Healthcare, Inc., served 240 adolescents, aged 14-21, identified as needing substance abuse treatment. AHP’s evaluation included conducting in-person interviews with adolescent participants at intake, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months, with an 80 percent or higher follow-up rate across waves; conducting focus groups with youth and project staff; reviewing program records; and, collecting and analyzing encounter information. The project included coordinating with a central data repository; following complex data submission protocols, and using an FTP site for data transfer.  As part of this multi-site initiative, AHP staff members were certified by Chestnut Health Systems to be Local Trainers for the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN)—a comprehensive bio-psycho-social assessment.

Human Trafficking Victims Study

AHP is undertaking a study of Health and Human Services (HHS) programs serving human trafficking victims, funded through the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and in conjunction with ICF/Caliber. The purpose of the study is to provide HHS with timely and in-depth information on how their programs are currently addressing the needs of human trafficking victims, with a priority focus on domestic youth. The multi-faceted study will work to identify barriers (i.e., statutory, policy, programmatic) and “promising practices” for addressing the needs of victims of human trafficking. Findings will help HHS design and implement effective programs and services to help victims overcome trauma, regain dignity, and become self-sufficient. Major areas of interest include: 1) identifying service needs, especially as they differ between international and domestic human trafficking victims; 2) determining critical program components associated with effective services; 3) identifying specific treatment or interventions that appear to be effective in victim recovery; and 4) determining whether knowledge is currently sufficient to define and measure success/outcomes for these programs. Study methods include an extensive literature review and synthesis, which will help to identify promising programs or methods as well as provide an in-depth analysis of the state of the field.  Other methods include key informant interviews with experts in the field, synthesis of expert panel information, and site visits to a selection of programs in eight communities nationally, including HHS-funded programs.  Products will include multiple issue briefs highlighting interesting and innovative practices, and a final report synthesizing the information collected through the study.

Elder Abuse Research Study

AHP currently is completing an analysis of elder abuse across an entire state for a one year period. The study represents the most comprehensive investigation of its kind ever conducted based on actual incidents reported to law enforcement for all women fifty years and over.  Awarded by the National Institute of Justice, the research will provide seminal data on elder victimization and the prevalence of abuse, profile elder abusers, study the response of the criminal justice and adult protective services, and develop a predictive model of those abused elders most vulnerable to continued abuse.

Rural Elder Health Research

Using an integrative approach, including secondary data analysis of a large nationally representative dataset (the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, or MCBS, n=14,000), and complementary qualitative interviews with rural elders, this HRSA-funded research study aims for a more complete understanding of the factors influencing rural elders’ receipt of “gold standard” health care screenings and vaccinations. The analytic framework for the study is based on a widely-used theoretical model of health care access and utilization for disadvantaged populations (the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations), which links factors of vulnerability with use of health care services. The study’s primary purposes are to 1) Describe utilization of best practice preventive health care screenings and vaccinations among a national rural sample of Medicare beneficiaries, as compared to urban elders; 2) Identify individual level factors associated with utilization of these practices; and 3) Explore community and health system factors which impede or facilitate the utilization of best practice screenings and vaccinations among rural elders. Statistical analyses include propensity scoring, Logistic Regression, and Ordinary Least Squares Regression, with weighted data. With screening rates well below the goals set forth in Healthy People 2010, study findings will inform policymakers, health planners, researchers, and health care providers at all levels to encourage and promote healthier lifestyles for rural elders. A policy brief and working paper, as well as conference presentations, will help disseminate findings to a national audience.

Violence and Victimization: Research Implications

The National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the United States Justice Department, turned to AHP to review relevant violence and victimization research to develop a monograph on the research’s practical implication for criminal justice professionals, including law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges. Currently under development, the monograph will be reviewed by a national panel of expert practitioners in the field. The project is designed to ensure that practitioners are not only aware of the relevant research in their areas, but the implications of the research for their day to day practice and policies.

Project WAVE (Women Achieving Vital Empowerment)

Under a three-year CSAT targeted capacity expansion (TCE) grant, AHP is evaluating the Women Achieving Vital Empowerment (WAVE) project which is designed to increase substance abuse services to victims of domestic violence. This project is specifically targeted at rural Barnstable County on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and the challenges of serving women survivors and their children, many with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, living in rural communities. The WAVE project includes training for staff of both substance abuse and domestic violence agencies on how to respond to the two issues in an integrated fashion. The project is also providing evidence-based program enhancements, including improved identification, treatment planning, resource management, and integrated substance abuse/ trauma group services delivered at the domestic violence/sexual assault program sites. AHP works closely with program developers, clinicians, and consumers to design an evaluation which responds to Federal and local demands. As a start-up program, for example, AHP worked with program staff to create logic models and fidelity instruments for the new intervention as well as a design which includes feedback about the ongoing implementation of the expanded and enhanced services. AHP will measure outcomes at the system, program, and individual levels. The evaluation includes process, outcome, and fidelity components and uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. In-person interviews with 240 women at two project sites are conducted at three points (baseline, six months, and at discharge from the program in addition to a sample of twelve months) and the primary outcomes of interest include drug and alcohol use and their impact on functioning; engagement in education, job training, and employment; income; criminal justice status; health status; trauma and other mental health symptoms; retention in services; child custody status; and parenting skills. The Lead Evaluator routinely reports findings at scheduled Advisory Committee meetings. AHP also will collaborate with the client to disseminate findings widely through oral presentations at consumer, provider, and researcher meetings.

AIDS Council of Northeastern New York—Evaluation Project

AHP is conducting an evaluation of a prevention program under a five-year grant awarded under the CSAP  Minority AIDS Initiative. The program’s primary purpose is to prevent and reduce the onset of substance abuse, and to prevent transmission of HIV and hepatitis among targeted at-risk minority populations, especially minority populations who may be reentering communities from prison, jail, and substance abuse treatment. The first year of the project focused on conducting a needs assessment and developing the project’s strategic plan as part of CSAP’s Strategic Planning Framework (SPF). In years 2-5, the AIDS Council will implement an evidence- based intervention program called ‘Safety Counts’ to reduce the risk of infection and transmission of HIV and hepatitis viruses. AHP has designed an evaluation that will examine both client and program level data.  It includes a mixed methods approach using quantitative and qualitative data and addresses issues of process and outcomes. Client outcomes will be examined to assess the impact of program services on clients and whether it results in reduced risky behaviors. The outcomes of interest include: increased use of safe sex practices, increased knowledge of HIV/Hepatitis, increased safe practices related to needle drug use, decreased use of substances, and attitudes about HIV/Hepatitis counseling and testing. The primary source of data for examining client outcomes is in-person interviews. These interviews will take place at program intake, program discharge, and 60 days post discharge. The evaluation plan also includes collecting qualitative data through yearly focus groups with clients to gather information on program implementation and client satisfaction.

Homeless Families Initiative

Under the CMHS/CSAT Homeless Families Initiative, AHP conducted a study both to describe the population of homeless women with dependent children admitted to a family or domestic violence shelter, and to evaluate the effectiveness of Family Critical Time Intervention, a case management program that provides support to families after they have left shelter.  The study evaluated the effectiveness of the intervention in preventing future homelessness, increasing stability in housing, and improving mental health and social functioning.

Supported Housing Initiative

AHP conducted research in three of six study sites that were part of a national, multi-site study of residential programs for people with serious mental illnesses, funded by CMHS. The longitudinal study was intended to determine whether the innovative supported housing model was more effective than alternative housing models and whether outcomes were influenced by the fidelity with which programs implemented the supported housing model. Working with a team of 30 interviewers, individual interviews were conducted at baseline, 3-, 6-, 9-, 12-, and 18-months, with an 80 percent or higher follow-up rate across waves. These interviews included data on a range of outcomes including residential stability, income and employment, housing satisfaction, perceived empowerment, quality of life, isolation and community integration, social support, and utilization of services.

Co-Occurring Disorders Study

AHP conducted a primary research study funded by CSAT which compared two methadone maintenance programs for persons with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders. This longitudinal, intent-to-treat design followed admission and in-treatment samples for 12 months. The stratified, in-treatment sample included persons who had been in treatment for up to four years at the time of study enrollment. By including this in-treatment group, we were able to ask the same set of questions about persons who remained in the program beyond one year; as this was a select group it was the only way to address questions about the effects of the programs on longer-stay clients within the resources of the cooperative agreement. To help staff in both programs understand and adhere to the model being tested, AHP staff developed program manuals for both parallel and integrated treatment approaches. AHP staff members have given presentations on this study at professional conferences such as the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA), grantee meetings, and local site advisory committee meetings.

New Freedom Initiative: State Coalitions to Promote Community-Based Care (Olmstead)

For the CMHS National and Statewide Coalitions to Promote Community-Based Care (Olmstead) initiative, AHP developed and implemented a process evaluation to describe and measure States’ progress toward goals and the barriers they face in implementing community integration plans.  The evaluation also includes formal assessment of the value of technical assistance provided to the States to support their efforts.

System and Program Development

Conversion to Electronic Medical Records

AHP is helping the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers to convert to electronic medical record (EMR) systems by assessing both organizational and system readiness for change, supporting vendor selection, and providing project management for a tailored EMR implementation. AHP also is working with behavioral health organizations to help them evaluate their readiness to implement eHealth initiatives and to analyze their needs.  AHP’s eHealth Initiative provides a comprehensive suite of services, ranging from readiness assessment through needs analysis, strategic planning, selection, procurement, implementation and testing, and maintenance.

Linking Homeless Assistance and Workforce Development, Washington State

In King County and Washington State, AHP is working with leaders in a Community Employment Pathways (CEP) Project for Homeless Job Seekers, facilitating a process for formulating strategies that seek to improve collaboration, enhance homeless assistance and employment services, and promote systems change in order to encourage integration across the workforce development and homeless assistance systems.  In a project sponsored by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AHP is helping the community link the service systems required to prioritize activities, design funding strategies, and achieve outcomes that result in more jobs for homeless people that are aligned with the needs of employers in the local economy.  The CEP involves a six-step process: understanding the needs of homeless job seekers; building blocks for a community employment pathway; preparing for change; researching community needs and resources; development a formal CEP plan; and implementing community employment pathways.

Redesign of the Bermuda Criminal Justice System and Associated Behavioral Health Care

For the Island Government of Bermuda AHP managed a process to reinvent the Island’s system of justice and associated behavioral health care. The program, called Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI), established a system of restorative justice tailored to the Island people, culture, government, and business community.  AHP managed the identification and organization of key stakeholders – including government officials, health care managers and providers, consumers, and others – to participate in a strategic planning process designed and managed by AHP. AHP also sustained the long-term involvement and support of participants. The reform effort, which included changes in the criminal code and the development of programs addressing drug addiction, anger management, battering, employment, and community service, reoriented the Bermudian restorative justice system towards a more client-centered approach that offers a continuum of services beginning with police and ending in the community. The new system is marked by greater collaboration amongst divergent agencies that are now linked by a customized management information system.

Building the Capacity of St. Maarten Human and Behavioral Health Services

AHP launched and managed a project for the Island Territory of St. Maarten, which included building the overall capacity of their human and behavioral health system. This project has included development and implementation of a focused continuum of psychiatric services, including the design and implementation of a substance abuse residential half-way house; development of a juvenile residential treatment program; and comprehensive training for the professionals working with the client population.  AHP managed the identification and organization of key stakeholders to participate in a strategic planning process that AHP designed and managed, and has sustained the long-term involvement and support of participants.

Broward Partnership for the Homeless

Shortly after the Broward Partnership’s new, free-standing facility opened in Ft. Lauderdale, AHP facilitated a strategic planning process to focus on the organization’s future direction, mission, goals and objectives related to homeless assistance services. Over a three-year period, AHP helped the Partnership implement and renew the strategic plan, which included the further design and building out of the 200-bed facility, hiring and training staff, designing programming, developing funding, and building an evaluation capacity.

Re-engineering Business Processes

AHP is working with three health companies in New York State to re-engineer their business processes in order to increase efficiencies and develop new capacity.  For Hudson Health Plan, we are helping them align with internationally accepted management models regarding processes for member acquisition, clinical services, provider relations, human resources, IT, and finance. AHP is bringing cutting edge business improvement techniques into this service environment, including Lean, Six Sigma, Enterprise Modeling, and Rapid Cycle Project Management.  For the Hudson Center for Health Equity and Quality, we are helping them develop an implementation process for state-wide electronic processing and submission of Medicare and Medicaid applications, which will allow all New York State health plans to verify eligibility for services and complete applications for health care coverage in a paperless environment, dramatically increasing efficiency, reducing cost and providing a higher level of customer service. For Health Plus, we are helping it implement an IT project that also will enable electronic processing and submission of Medicare and Medicaid applications in order to ensure quality and reduce cycle times.

Resource Development and Knowledge Dissemination

Report to Congress on the Prevention and Treatment of Co-occurring Substance Abuse Disorders andMental Disorders

Two senior AHP staff drafted SAMHSA’s Report to Congress on the Prevention and Treatment of Co-occurring Substance Abuse Disorders and Mental Disorders.  This was a significant policy document that served as SAMHSA’s Five-Year Blueprint for Action and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to help States and communities develop increased capacity to screen, assess, and treat co-occurring disorders.  AHP staff researched and wrote all initial text for the 150-page report, which includes demographic and epidemiological data, prevention strategies, a summary of evidence-based practices for co-occurring disorders, and SAMHSA’s Five-Year Blueprint for Action.  With six months between contract award and the due date for the first draft of the report, AHP worked expeditiously to manage the constituent input process. This involved collecting and analyzing both verbal and written input from other Federal agencies, national organizations, States, providers, advocates, consumers, and families. AHP staff also reviewed epidemiological literature and consulted with experts in the field to determine 12-month and lifetime prevalence rates of co-occurring disorders.  Because communication and coordination between the mental health and substance abuse fields is often strained, at best, AHP staff had to negotiate competing priorities and help participants who advised the process to arrive at consensus on values, best practices, and resources.

Blueprint for Services to End Homelessness

AHP developed the Blueprint for Services for CMHS to disseminate state-of-the-art information about ending homelessness for people who have mental and addictive disorders. The Blueprint dovetailed with the Administration’s emphasis on ending chronic homelessness among individuals with mental and addictive disorders.  It offered practical advice about how to plan, organize and sustain a comprehensive, integrated system of care to end homelessness.  AHP staff researched, wrote, and edited text for the document’s substantive chapters, which discuss population characteristics, the Federal response, core values, evidence-based and promising practices, the elements of a comprehensive system of care, and how to sustain services to end homelessness, among other topics.  AHP staff participated in meetings of review teams asked to comment on the draft Blueprint, and then completed the document.

Biennial Report to Congress, Office of Violence Against Women, Discretionary Grant Programs

AHP developed Part 1 of a required Biennial Report to Congress, which analyzed, summarized, and explained program data collected by the DOJ Office of Violence Against Women’s (OVW) 10 discretionary program grantees over a two-year period, data which was presented in subsequent parts of the report.  The report was prepared for the Muskie School of Public Service, which had contracted with OVW to collect the performance data.  Part 1 reviewed the data in the context of OVW strategies to stop violence against women, provided historical and current analysis of the challenges OVW faces, and assessed OVW grant programs’ effectiveness to date. To prepare the report, AHP reviewed and summarized all pertinent related research on effective responses to domestic violence and sexual assault, including arrest, prosecution, and supervision of perpetrators as well as victim advocacy, and legal and social service programs. AHP also researched the prevalence of domestic and sexual violence for women across the country, and in the following special populations: Indians and Alaskan Native women, women with disabilities, women on campuses, women in rural areas, and older women. Finally, AHP analyzed the data collected from the ten grant programs.

Inside Outside: Building a Meaningful Life after the Hospital

AHP worked with Patricia Deegan to produce a documentary in 2004 titled Inside Outside: Building a Meaningful Life After the Hospital, with an accompanying Viewer’s Guide. The documentary captures the story of how eight individuals with significant histories of institutionalization, beginning as children and adolescents, made the transition from psychiatric hospitals to successful community living. The intended audiences are people of all ages in psychiatric hospitals, nursing facilities, adult homes or other long-term residential or treatment centers, who may be discharged to community-based settings under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Olmstead Ruling. This documentary has been produced in closed caption format, with VHS and DVD versions. It also has been produced in Spanish with an accompanying Spanish language Viewer’s Guide.

Manuals for MISSION Program for Veterans with Co-Occurring Disorders

Maintaining Independence and Sobriety Through Systems Integration (MISSION) provides support to formerly homeless veterans with co-occurring disorders. The first phase is a resident program that supplements an existing Veteran’s Administration program with group work, individual counseling, and peer support.  The second phase is aftercare – provided by case managers and peer specialists – as veterans return to their communities. AHP is supporting staff in developing manuals to facilitate replication and enhance consistent delivery of the program. These include: 1) A Treatment Manual designed to help others replicate the MISSION program in other settings; to promote sustainability; to enhance quality through documenting services/expectations; and to improve teamwork among MISSION team members by increasing awareness of each other’s roles and responsibilities; 2) A Consumer Workbook that provides a common reference for participants, case managers, and peer support specialists and that reminds participants of tools and key information related to their personal recovery; and 3) A Field Guide for Community Living to give clients returning to the community quick access to information and tips that will enable them to stay in the community. The guide is intended as a gift that illustrates the commitment of MISSION staff to provide sustained help to participants as they make the transition to community life.

Evidence-Based Best Practices in Responding to Domestic Violence Cases: A Guide for Probation and Parole Officers

AHP developed a manual for Missouri probation and parole officers regarding best practices for safeguarding victims of domestic violence and holding their abusers accountable.  Commissioned by the Missouri Department of Corrections and funded by the Office on Violence Against Women of the Department of Justice, each section of the manual describes research findings and their implications for officers in the field, or in the courts where officers often advice judges on sentencing, or in the prisons where they advice parole boards.  Chapters profile victims, perpetrators, discuss the role of alcohol and drug abuse, the use of firearms, protective orders, specialized domestic violence supervision, and the effectiveness of various practices throughout the criminal justice process from arrest and prosecution through sentencing, supervision and treatment.

Enforcing Domestic Violence Firearm Prohibitions: A Report on Promising Practices

Two senior staff at AHP drafted a detailed manual on promising practices for enforcement of state and Federal firearm prohibitions to disarm dangerous intimate partner and family abusers. Written for the Office on Violence Against Women of the Department of Justice and the National Center on Full Faith and Credit, and based in part on extensive AHP field research, as well as analysis of State and Federal laws, the manual covers model programs for law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, probation, as well as state firearm data bases and legislators. The manual is being widely disseminated across the country.

National Conference on Alternative Institutional Review Board (IRB) Models: Optimizing Human Subject Protection

AHP summarized the findings of a landmark national conference held in Washington, D.C. on November 19-21, 2006: “National Conference on Alternative IRB Models: Optimizing Human Subject Protection.”  Its purpose was to enhance the protection of human subjects of research by encouraging the use of alternative Institutional Review Boards (IRB) models under appropriate circumstances. Planners shared a belief that the changing nature of research involving human subjects, particularly investigations involving multi-institutional trials, has created an opportunity to be more innovative in selecting IRB models.  The many sponsors of the conference included the HHS Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  The widely disseminated report captured the findings and recommendations of stakeholder groups on key issues, as well as the edited remarks of speakers in plenary sessions and breakout groups.

Overcoming Barriers to Community Integration

For the New Freedom Initiative: State Coalitions to Promote Community-Based Care (Olmstead) project, AHP prepared a three-volume report on overcoming barriers to community integration for children, adults, and older adults with mental disorders.  AHP staff oversaw the work of an expert advisory committee; negotiated content and deadlines with researchers and practitioners assigned to write specific chapters; edited submissions for content and style; and wrote an introductory section.

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 CMHS that examined the scope of the problem and proposed solutions. AHP conducted and summarized interviews with key informants including representatives of agencies dealing with disability transportation issues, transit officials, and consumers; prepared a literature review which summarized numerous sources of information about the barriers to transportation; and 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.

Speechwriting, SAMHSA Office of Communications and CMHS

AHP has supported the SAMHSA Office of Communications by drafting speeches for CMHS Director Kathryn Powers and former SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie.  Topics have included mental health, substance abuse, co-occurring disorders, workforce development, trauma, and seclusion and restraint, among others.  Audiences have been regional, national and international, and have included Federal agency representatives, national organizations, researchers, providers, consumers, family members, and advocates. 

Conference Planning, Development, Management, and Documentation

In connection with several contracts, AHP regularly conceives, plans, organizes, and manages conferences and meetings of all sizes, in most cases with the goal of disseminating information to the field, encouraging the sharing of best and promising practices, and soliciting information and insight from State officials and/or front-line providers.  Following the conferences, AHP develops, writes, and distributes proceedings that are customized for the anticipated readership.  One such contract is the Treatment Improvement Exchange in CSAT, which has involved large biennial national conferences and multiple regional conferences.

Reports, Curricula, Training Manuals and other Materials

In connection with most of its contracts, AHP produces a wide variety of informational literature to support Federal and State agencies, community providers, consumers, and others.  This literature includes technical reports, literature reviews, operating and training manuals, curricula, special reports, guidelines, newsletters, brochures, and other materials.

Web and Other Electronic Communications

In connection with several contracts, AHP develops and manages interactive web sites and electronic bulletin boards in order to facilitate access, operations, and information exchange. 

For More Information

For more information about AHP projects, staff, and services, contact Neal A. Shifman, M.A., President and CEO, 490-B Boston Post Road, Sudbury, Ma. 01776, (978) 443-0055, nshifman@ahpnet.com.  

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