Florida’s Consumer Directed Transformation to a Recovery-Based Mental Health System

A Florida Peer Network Initiative

• Transformation at a Glance (PDF, 25k)
• Florida Department of Children & Families Mental Health Transformation

Like other states, Florida is engaged in transforming its mental health system to become more recovery oriented. While the system may have done a good job of taking care of people with mental illnesses, they have often failed to facilitate recovery of most people who are labeled with severe mental illnesses, leading to an increasing expression of dissatisfaction by people using services, their families, and administrators.

In accordance with the President’s New Freedom Commission’s Mental Health report, mental health consumers and survivors representing different cultural backgrounds should play a leading role in designing and implementing the transformation to a recovery-based mental health system.

In order to understand what a transformed system would look like, these are some of the components that have been identified nationally:

• Culture Change needed—This may include the training and hiring of peer specialists.
• Shift to person center treatment planning—plan that includes a person’s dreams, interests, strengths and capacities. Person drives their own treatment plan.
• Focus on Cultural Values—Need for services that are effective across all cultures.
• Based on Informed Choice—to include holistic options and services.
• Based on partnership between consumer and provider—equal participation in treatment and open, honest communication.
• Access to care regardless of benefits/lack of benefits
• Expansion of peer-provided services—Drop-in centers, crisis alternatives, etc.

What about here in Florida?

The Florida Peer Network is an organization that was formed to represent consumers/survivors in the state of Florida and to play an active role in the transformation of the mental health system. To date there have been two working retreats held that have established some of the priorities and issues that we feel are important in this process.

We are focused on the following

• Medicaid Reform—Peers should be involved in Medicaid reform and particularly hired to be Choice Counselors to help people with enrollment procedures.
• Transformation State Initiative—We are asking to be members of all decision making meetings in the state and to serve on Roundtables between providers and consumers to facilitate transformation.
• Evaluation and Consumer Satisfaction—The Florida Peer Network will be working with the state to develop quality evaluation tools and will assist with developing a team to conduct satisfaction surveys in individual interviews and/or satisfaction dialogues.

We are looking for additional input regarding the state transformation efforts. Please let us know your thoughts, recommendations, ideas, and even complaints. Some answers that would be helpful are:

• How would you like the mental health system change?
• How would you do it?
• What are some of the services that are not available to you?
• Do your problems get addressed effectively?

We are looking for big and little ideas you may have. NO thought too big - none too little. All ideas are good ones.

We have set up a form that you can fill out to make your suggestions.

 

This website is funded in part by the Disability Rights Florida,
through the PAIMI grant from SAMHSA.

Florida Peer Network, Inc. Office: 850-922-0090 Email: info@floridapeernetwork.org

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