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NJ Medicaid Plan Amendment Opens the
Door to Reimbursement of
Peer Services
NJ Medicaid has announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have approved an amendment to provide new Medicaid billable rehabilitation services - Community Support Services (CSS) to the state. CSS is defined as: comprehensive needs assessments; partnering with consumers to develop, implement and monitor individualized rehabilitation plans; skill development; illness management; recovery training, and support; as well as the coordination of these services. One of the significant components of this service is that the Medicaid reimbursement rates are dependent on the credentials of the individuals providing the services. It includes peer services provided by a Certified Recovery Support Practitioner (CRSP) - formerly the CMHA, Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner (CPRP), and Certified Peer Wellness coach with experience. During the upcoming year, DMHAS will develop regulations, as part of Supported Housing regulations to initially enable supported housing providers to become licensed to provide CSS. Read the full amendment and Division Director explanatory memo to the community.
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Consumer Connections Spring Job Fair, Graduation, and Summer Institute
The spring Consumer Connections Core training ended in mid June with the graduation of 21 studentson their way to completing their CRSP (Certified Recovery Support Practitioner) certifications. Coinciding with the graduation was the Spring Job Fair; - with eight mental health employers conducting job interviews on the spot, with eight CC graduates ending the day employed. Consumer Connections in July held its annual "summer institute" in Montclair, NJ. A series of four day long trainings, with the topics identified by program graduates, provided specialized training, along with recertification credits for the CRSP. Topics included: Overview of The 12 Steps; Working with People Having Cognitive Difficulties; How to Work with Ex-offenders Having Mental Illness or Co-occurring Disorders; and Financial Opportunities for Consumers and Consumer Providers.
Read more.
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CPANJ Annual Meeting focuses on the Transformation of Peer Specialists
The Consumer Provider Association in New Jersey (CPANJ) held its Annual Meeting and Conference on June 11th at the Rutgers University Cook College Center as part of an effort to demonstrate that the organization is accessible and valuable to fellow consumers who want to work in the mental health field. Robin Weiss, the outgoing President of CPANJ, opened the Annual Meeting by providing an overview of the accomplishments and goals of CPA. The theme of the meeting was "Transforming the System, Transforming ourselves". This topic was chosen in response to the changes taking place in the field of peer support and to mental health services. Elections to the CPANJ Board of Directors were conducted and two new Board Members were elected; Ron Klein and Robert Piscitello. CPANJ's Board held its election for officers. Lori Bell, President, Michele Ferrante, Vice President, Cyndy Walters, Secretary, and Harry Coe, Treasurer.
Read the full CPANJ Update.
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Leading Peer Provider Urges Advocacy
by Jay Yudof, MS, Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Practitioner, Wellness & Recovery Educator
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Pat Deegan Ph.D.
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One June 21, a small group of us, peer providers from New Jersey, traveled to Manhattan to attend the New York City Working Peers Conference. The entire conference provided useful information. I must
admit that some of us attended primarily to hear Pat Deegan speak. We were not disappointed!
Patricia Deegan, Ph.D. is one of the country's pre-eminent mental health peer providers (www.patdeegan.com). During her keynote speech, Dr. Deegan detailed her own journey from being disabled with schizophrenia (spending days watching television and smoking cigarettes) to completing a Ph.D. in psychology and leading a mental health agency, and from being discrete about her mental health diagnosis to deciding it was time to disclose. Some of what she shared was echoed in her famous paper, Recovery and the Conspiracy of Hope.
Dr. Deegan aslo spoke about stigma and discrimination. She showed several video clips of advocacy efforts. One particularly stirring segment was about a march on the then-named Smith Kline & French headquarters in Philadelphia protesting the use of Thorazine as a form of mind control and instrument of coerced treatment. Through the videos, Dr. Deegan pointed out some the visible leaders in the peer advocacy movement.
Dr. Deegan finished her keynote by urging peer providers to become or remain active in advocacy. She reminded attendees that this is avocation, not to be done on employers' time, and the importance of its continued advancement. Read the full story.
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 Wellness Coaching Available to New Jersey Peer Providers Wellness Coaching services are now available for peer providers or consumer providers to help achieve a health or wellness goal in order to improve job performance and success. Wellness coaching is a process of setting and achieving personal wellness goals with time-limited supports. It includes assessing your physical health status, selecting an area you want to improve, and developing a personalized goal. Peer providers will meet with a wellness coach for approximately 12 sessions, most likely 2-3 times in person and 8-10 times by phone. This free service is available through a Transformation Transfer Initiative funded to New Jersey Division of Mental Health Services and will be provided at no cost to individuals who meet eligibility criteria. Wellness coaching services will be provided by UMDNJ-SHRP faculty. For additional information contact George H. Brice Jr. at bricejgh@umdnj.edu. Read more about this opportunity. |
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George Brice
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Work is a Key to Recovery- George Brice's Story
by Joy Forlenza
Our society has conditioned us to believe that owning a particular car or house is an indication of one's success in life. During these rough economic times, people are struggling to afford a house to call their own, as well as their own vehicles for commuting to work at their convenience. Even people who acquire personal assets that would normally ensure financial success - a college or graduate school diploma, a reputation as a diligent worker, extensive work experience, etc. are finding themselves unemployed, underemployed, or barely able to make ends meet. Often people living with major mental health challenges have had interrupted educations and careers, and lack these predictors of success. In spite of these seemingly dismal odds; people living with mental health challenges can participate in valued social roles in the community, gain self-respect, build relationships, and receive empowering person-driven services and supports.
People who are labeled with a diagnosis of mental illness are faced with an array of complex challenges such as the needing to assert their own sense of self-worth for privileges such as work, education, and housing that are readily obtained by mainstream society. Society needs to move past the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illnesses that implies that "we" cannot perform certain tasks such as completing school and working because of this label. George provided this insight when I interviewed him on his life experiences pursuing employment and education goals. Read the full interview.
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 Mental Health Provider Perspective: Consumer Connection's Peer Services Creates Solid Workforce by David Moore, Executive Director, AAH of Bergen County Alliance Against Homeless of Bergen County, Inc. has worked with the Mental Health Association in NJ and their Consumer Connections program for many years. This training has proved invaluable to our Peer Counselor staff and our clients. It is the foundation for effective communication between staff diagnosed with a serious mental illness and our clients who have similar deficits. The ability to model exemplary lifestyle patterns and choices as well as establishing a recognizable hope for future options has also benefitted out clients. We currently have four peer staff members who have gone through the Consumer Connections training at MHA. The staff members who have gone through this training are more well-rounded and able to cope with a larger array of circumstances that crop up over the course of their working careers. Consumer Connections helps keep the staff centered on their needs as well as the needs of the men and women for whom they provide services. Read more. |
Intentional Peer Support Empowers Peers on the Recovery WarmLine
by Matthew M. Doherty For many decades, the twelve step programs have been grounded in a fellowship-based, peer to peer oriented method of recovery that has shown positive results. With the advent of Sherry Mead's Intentional Peer Support (IPS) model for mental health, this peer based model is inching towards having a bigger role on the stage of the mental health community, whereas it took center stage in addition recovery some time ago, and has saved the lives of many. The MHANJ's Peer Recovery WarmLine staff is trained in the IPS model as to establish a consistent model of service provided by our growing cadre of peer staff and volunteers. Matthew M. Doherty, Peer Specialist on the Peer Recovery WarmLine writes of the impact of the IPS model on the WarmLine clients and staff. Read the full article. |
 Self Directed Care and Mental Wellness What will the health care system of the future look like when it is based on wellness and prevention rather than trying to fix people after they get sick? And what will happen when participants determine their needs for well-being? For many, this is a daunting question. It asks that we muddle through the residue of rigid and failed programs which are heavily dependent on funding programs decided by service providers rather than on patient needs. In mental health and substance use disorders, even the jargon speaks outdated realities with words like "silos," "fragmentation," and "exclusion" used to explain the challenging failures. How will coordinated, consumer-driven choices fit into this? What will be the role of the peer specialist? Read more.
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Employment Opportunity:
Peer Specialist for Peer Recovery WarmLine
The Mental Health Association in New Jersey's Peer Recovery WarmLine, located in Verona, NJ, is hiring Peer Specialists (Hourly, Per Diem and Volunteer) to work in their call center. Learn more about this opportunity.
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Peer Connections is produced by the MHANJ and CSPNJ. It is edited by Robert Kley, MHANJ and Peggy Swarbrick, CSPNJ.
For further information:
peerconnections@mhanj.org
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