Union Members and DMH Managers Develop Training Program to Help Employees Transition to New Treatment Model

Mental Health Services Committee with SEIU staff: (back row, from left to right:) Joy Clarke-Bowie, Herb Anderson, Kathleen Austria, Channing Hawkins (staff); (middle row:) Dennes Moore, Hallie Carter, Connie Blackwell, Arianna Jimenez (staff); (front row:) Rita Wright, Faye Quintal, Mary Henry. (Not pictured: Felicia Bolden, Patricia Claybrook, Alta Postar, Joel Solis.

SEIU 721 members on the Mental Health Transformation Committee: Herbert Anderson Jr. Recreation Therapist II, San Fernando Kathleen Austria Recreation Therapy Supervisor, MLK, Ingleside & LAC+USC hospitals Connie Blackwell Intermediate Clerk Typist, Specialized Foster Care Felicia Bolden Deputy Public Conservator/Administrator II, Hall Of Records Hallie Carter Medical Case Worker II, Antelope Valley David Cantu Mental Health Coordinator, Challenger Joy Clark-Bowie Patient Financial Services Worker, Rio Hondo Patricia Claybrook Mental Health Counselor/RN, Twin Towers Mary Henry Psychiatric Technician III, Access Telecommunication Dennes Moore Intermediate Clerk, West Central Alta Postar Senior Deputy Public Conservator/Admin., Hall Of Records Faye Quintal, Medical Case Worker II, Metro CCU Joel Solis Mental Health Counselor/RN, Le Sage Complex Tower

Implementation of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) will be complex and challenging, and our union has been working hard to ensure that all members working in the Department of Mental Health will have the resources and skills they need during this long transition period.

Toward this end, members and staff of SEIU 721 are working with DMH managers to develop a training program to help employees adapt to the transformation and develop a firm grounding in the “recovery model” on which the MHSA is based.
A series of “focus groups” will be held over the next six weeks to get input from members working in DMH on what kinds of information, resources and skills employees will need to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Some of the topics that DMH employees will tackle in the focus groups include:
• exploring the ways that MHSA will transform employees’ work and responsibilities;
• reviewing staff’s knowledge and understanding of the “recovery model.”
• identifying the specific skills training and other kinds of support that members will need during the transition process;
• helping identify obstacles and barriers to implementation of the MHSA.

The specific training curriculum based on what emerges from the groups will be developed in June and July. The goal is for the training program to begin in August.