Awards of Excellence: 2008 Honorees
National Council Awards of Excellence
2008 Honorees
- Excellence in Innovation
- Excellence in Community Collaboration
- Excellence in Consumer and Family Leadership
- Excellence in Grassroots Advocacy
- Lifetime Achievement Staff Leadership
- Lifetime Achievement Volunteer Leadership
- Excellence in Public Service
- State Legislator of the Year
- Excellence in Addictions Education
- Excellence in Mental Health Education
Each year, the National Council bestows behavioral healthcare's most prestigious awards to honor provider organizations, their staff and leadership, consumers and families, community partners, and the media who exhibit leadership, dedication, and innovation and advance philosophies, messages, and programs that have a lasting impact on children, adults, and families with mental illnesses and addiction disorders.
The accomplishments of the 2008 Awards of Excellence honorees reflect the outstanding work that is being done by community behavioral health leaders and organizations across the country to ensure that all those with mental illnesses and addiction disorders receive quality care.
EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION
The Excellence in Innovation Award recognizes organizations that offer innovative, highly effective mental health and addictions services with an emphasis on demonstrating outcomes and putting research into practice.Centerstone Research Institute, Centerstone
Nashville, Tennessee
While tantalizing research is being conducted to advance the treatment of mental health and addictions disorders, much of doesn’t make its way into mainstream practice. To empower and enable those in need to lead successful lives, it is imperative that all available tools and techniques be considered and employed.
The Centerstone Research Institute has made exceptional advances in linking renowned behavioral health researchers with service providers. CRI helps individuals benefit from treatment by bridging the science-to-service gap and ensuring that the latest research is an integral part of treatment.
To date, CRI has secured over $30 million in grants to implement/evaluate services, conducted more than 90 service and clinical studies, and established partnerships with the state of Tennessee, community mental health centers in three states, and universities nationwide. By directly linking the best in science with the best in services, CRI is accelerating new findings, supporting improvements in care, and helping consumers benefit from the latest, most effective treatments.
In SHAPE Program, Monadnock Family Services, Inc.
Keene, New Hampshire
People with severe, persistent mental illness often suffer also from illnesses such as obesity, atherosclerosis, and heart disease; the result: dramatically shorter life spans. Reversing this trend is critically important—for those directly impacted and for society as a whole.
The unique “In SHAPE” program helps people with mental illnesses to develop and carry out individualized “Self-Help Action Plans for Empowerment.” With a recovery-oriented perspective, In SHAPE uses personal health mentors, personal trainers that help each participant to develop and maintain lifestyle habits that reverse disease risks and make them look and feel better.
Since its inception, the program has demonstrated the ability to help individuals not only reverse disease factors and control their weight, but also to reduce the symptoms of their mental illnesses. It’s so simple and so effective – give people with serious mental illnesses the tools that work for all of us and you get good outcomes!
EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
The Excellence in Community Collaboration award recognizes an organization, or group of organizations, that use the power of partnerships to solve community problems.Integrated Managed Partnership for Adolescent and Child Community Treatment (IMPACT) Program, Mental Health Center Serving Boulder and Broomfield Counties
Boulder, CO
The IMPACT Program is a Boulder, Colorado community collaboration designed to reduce the out of home placement of children and adolescents—placements away from their families and their communities. Since its inception, IMPACT is keeping more young people at home, in school, and out of trouble.
IMPACT’s numbers speak for themselves: the use of detention space has fallen well below the statewide average and the use of commitment beds is 40% of the statewide rate. These reductions are by-products of IMPACT's ability to keep increased numbers of young people with their families.
In 2007, IMPACT celebrated its tenth anniversary and now helps almost 500 youth and families a year. The enduring impact of the Boulder collaboration can be seen in the families that remain together and in the youth who remain a productive part of Boulder’s community.
EXCELLENCE IN CONSUMER AND FAMILY LEADERSHIP
The Excellence in Consumer and Family Leadership honors those who have used their own experiences with mental illness and/or addictions to educate the public and to support others on their journey to recovery.Baltic Street AEH, Inc. Advocacy, Employment, Housing
New York, New York
Since 1997, Baltic Street has quietly grown into a powerful, effective leader of peer-operated services in New York City. Promoting full social inclusion for all consumers, Baltic Street’s three service areas—advocacy, employment, and supported housing—have propelled it into one of the largest consumer-run agencies in the country, serving an estimated 12,000 individuals.
Staff member Stephen Simpson’s own story reflects Baltic Street’s success in supporting the power of every consumer:
"I went through a system that focused on my weaknesses and illness rather than my strengths and health. I went from ward to ward in a state psychiatric facility and thereafter from community residence to community residence. I had a shared apartment that led to independent living in a scatter site supported housing program, finding employment as a peer advocate. I now use my work at Baltic Street to counteract the philosophy that defines people by their weaknesses rather than strengths. Joining other peers who faced the ‘risk of living’ and won, I am a powerful force in giving consumers a vision of themselves. I am committed to Baltic Street’s mission and believe the mental health movement is the most important social movement of our time."
Growing out of the seed of a single peer-advocacy support service, Baltic Street’s integrated network now encompasses vocational, educational, social, and housing services. It has exponentially expanded the reach of the most effective tools of well-being and recovery: respect, dignity, and peer-supported choice.
EXCELLENCE IN GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY
The Excellence in Grassroots Advocacy Award recognizes associations, organizations, and individuals that promote constructive engagement between behavioral healthcare advocates and government leaders.The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies, Inc.
New York, New York
At a time when medications and treatment modalities are reaching new heights of effectiveness, deficiencies in the current reimbursement rate structure are causing the collapse of mental health clinics. Clinics are a primary site of outpatient mental health services and are essential to the recovery of the people they serve.
Recognizing that the current clinic reimbursement rate structure was fast approaching the breaking point, The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies—the umbrella and public policy advocacy organization of New York City’s nonprofit community behavioral health agencies—embarked on a two-year analytical study and a policy dialogue with government officials and an array of stakeholders. The goal was to build a private/public consensus around a new reimbursement system based on the true costs of providing services; one that would equitably fund the full range of clinic programs and insure the continued availability of quality care for the more than 350,000 children and adults in New York City dependent on Coalition member services.
The Coalition's consensus-building campaign has exceeded expectations and is on the verge of creating a radical system change in the funding of mental health clinics. The Coalition’s success will inform the efforts of advocates in other cities and states at a time when the struggle to keep clinics open is a national crisis.
United Services, Inc. of Connecticut
Danielson, Connecticut
Diane L. Manning, President and CEO of United Services Incorporated, a private, non-profit comprehensive behavioral health center, has worked tirelessly to end the stigma of mental illness and to remind public officials that community “programs” equate to real people who deserve real opportunities.
USI provides mental health and addiction treatment, community-based supports, crisis intervention, and domestic violence services to more than 4,000 adults, children, and families in Northeastern Connecticut. Diane has witnessed firsthand the evolution of behavioral healthcare and has helped USI adapt and establish superior treatment standards and best practices; worked with leaders at all levels of government; and taken every opportunity to educate the public and advocate on behalf of consumers and their families.
Her efforts to help area businesses understand the economic value of behavioral healthcare services, to get the financing needed for high quality programs, and to secure cost of living increases for dedicated, hard working staff all make Diane Manning an outstanding grassroots advocate.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT STAFF LEADERSHIP
The Lifetime Achievement Staff Leadership Award is presented to an individual who as a behavioral healthcare leader has made extraordinary contributions to the field, to colleagues and to consumers.Moe Armstrong, Director of Recovery, Vinfen
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Moe Armstrong is the Director of Recovery Services at Vinfen Corporation, the leading community services provider for people with psychiatric conditions in Massachusetts. And for the last quarter century, Moe Armstrong has championed the rights of—and the right services for—people with psychiatric disabilities in Massachusetts and around the country. A Vietnam veteran diagnosed with schizophrenia, Moe has tirelessly dedicated his experiences, skills, and heart to the service of others.
At Vinfen, Moe pioneered the delivery of peer education and support services—first within the state and then nationally through the Veterans Administration system. He has given hope to thousands, transformed the lives of countless people with psychiatric disability and changed the way many professionals think.
Dr. Robert Rosenheck, Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, is one convert:
“I was trained in the ‘we-they’ professional mode. We, the professionals know stuff and they (the patients), do not. We are here to figure out what to do for them. … Moe has changed my view of the world. Everything else I do is science-driven. This is not. It’s about democracy. It’s about participation. It’s about inclusion. It’s about values!”
David Berkowitz, Executive Director, Wheeler Clinic
Plainville, Connecticut
Dr. David Berkowitz is a visionary, a leader whose extraordinary contributions to the behavioral health community in Connecticut created a seamless continuum of strength-based, solution-focused services; nurtured public-private partnerships that resulted in positive systemic change throughout the state and most importantly Dr. Wheeler’s efforts have improved the lives of so many children and families.
Under his tutelage, Wheeler Clinic has become a leading provider of behavioral health services, offering the most comprehensive evidence-based services in the state. Dr. Berkowitz has earned recognition and admiration from funders, designers of services and researchers as well as from his colleagues for his progressive approach to measuring the outcomes of treatments and his commitment to developing staff competency in the most effective practices. He has played a significant role in formulating effective solutions across the child welfare, adult mental health, addiction, and community justice systems.
David’s vision has helped Wheeler Clinic grow and adapt to meet the changing needs of the community. While his business acumen has been an important factor, his commitment to fostering positive change for individuals and families has been the defining characteristic of his career.
His dedication continues undiminished despite his recent battle with leukemia and resulting stem cell transplant. He has maintained an active interest in the workings of the clinic throughout his treatment and all are eager for his return from medical leave..
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP AWARD
The Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who as a volunteer leader has made extraordinary contributions to improving the lives of adults and children with mental illnesses and addiction disorders.Alfred H. Forsten
Board Member, Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County Houston, Texas
Board Member, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
Washington, DC
Al Forsten is a member of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, Texas and a beloved National Council board member. Never one to hold back and possessing a memorable personality that is infectious, Alfred Forsten is passionate about and dedicated to improving the lives of people with mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities.
Known for his unique ability to focus and invite people into the moment with him as he preaches the unapologetic gospel of more funding, more services, and more public education, Forsten weaves a purposeful web, and does not relent until his listeners are fully ensnared in his cause. He has been a positive agent of change across a wide range of issues, always seeking to build consensus and forge partnerships.
For all his past successes, it is in the arena of educating school age children about mental illness that Forsten sees as his next challenge. He knows that today’s children will change the world in yet unknown ways and wants to be sure that among their accomplishments in a changed perception of mental illness.
EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC SERVICE
The Excellence in Public Service Award honors a national behavioral healthcare leader who has made positive and lasting improvements to the public mental health and addictions service systems.Don Hevey, President and CEO, Mental Health Corporations of America
Tallahassee, Florida
Since 1968, Don Hevey has embraced and exceled in a multitude of roles in the behavioral healthcare field as varied as social worker, administrator, state director, and national leader.
From its inception in 1984, Don has served as President and CEO of Mental Health Corporations of America, an alliance of select behavioral healthcare organizations. MHCA’s 2007 executive committee, in nominating Don for the National Council award, described him as “A leader among leaders, a servant among servants. His steady, constant hand has guided MHCA skillfully, and his unrelenting commitment to excellence has resonated for decades throughout this nation’s behavioral healthcare community.”
The nomination went onto explain that “Don has inspired countless others to reach higher, think bigger, grow stronger, and fight longer so that more might be helped, more might recover, and more might lead satisfying lives as complete persons in understanding and supportive communities”
The National Council has the privilege of working with Don Hevey. And we share with those that nominated Don—indeed with the entire membership—great respect and admiration for his skills and for his style. Don is not a public leader that claims the limelight, instead he creates environments of trust and shared learning, enables talent and innovation, and inspires all of us to be our very best.
STATE LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR
The State Legislator of the Year Award honors our champions—elected representatives who lead champion mental health and addictions treatment services and supports in their state legislatures.The Honorable Steven M. Costantino, Chairperson of House Finance Committee
(Democrat - District 8, Providence)
Providence, Rhode Island
Representative Steven M. Costantino has been a leader in Rhode Island’s General Assembly on public health issues for over a decade, working to promote legislative initiatives that support the accessibility of health care and services for children, adults, and seniors in the state of Rhode Island.
Representative Costantino’s advocacy on behalf of people with mental illnesses and addictions disorders began over 20 years ago, long before he was elected to the General Assembly. As the Rhode Island Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association executive director, he led the effort to regulate managed care organizations and safeguard access to medical and behavioral health care for all Rhode Islanders.
Representative Constantino has provided leadership on an array of vital legislative issues, including public health legislation on tobacco control, pharmacy practice, mental health parity, affordable prescription medications, access to long-term care, Worksite Wellness and updating the physician, nursing, and pharmacy practice statutes.
Even in a time of fiscal crisis, Representative Costantino continues to be focused on the well being of those individuals who are most reliant on state-funded services, with his most recent proposal to transform the state’s health and human services system into a more consumer-centered system that would increase access, quality, and accountability.
The Honorable Frederick E. Berry, Senate Majority Leader
(Democrat - Second Essex)
Peabody, Massachusetts
For nearly 30 years, Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader Frederick E. Berry has been the leading advocate in the Massachusetts Legislature for individuals with mental health or substance use disorders and has been steadfast in his belief that community-based treatment and services provide the highest quality and most cost-effective care for individuals in need of such services.
Senator Berry led the fight to close state institutions early in his tenure in the Senate, successfully sponsored legislation to extend coverage under Massachusetts' anti-discrimination laws to individuals with disabilities, and was the original sponsor of legislation that eventually became Massachusetts' first mental health parity law.
As the Senate Chairman of the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development, he championed legislation to protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination in housing. In this role, he engineered an innovative program to ensure that individuals with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues received the supports they needed to live safely and independently in public housing. He has successfully advocated for more funding in the "good" years and been equally strong in protecting state funding for services in the "lean" years.
Senator Berry's legislative colleagues acknowledge him as the "go-to" member of the Senate when it comes to any issue concerning mental health and substance abuse.
EXCELLENCE IN ADDICTIONS EDUCATION
The Excellence in Addictions Education Award honors a public figure for his or her commitment to educating the public about addictions prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services.Christopher Kennedy Lawford, Actor and Author
Christopher Lawford, the eldest child of Peter and Pat Kennedy Lawford, has worked extensively in politics, government, and business, as well as in Hollywood. However, before his successes, Christopher Lawford spent much of his youth battling drug and alcohol addiction.
Born into great privilege and burdened by repeated family tragedy, Lawford now shares his life story, offering a rare glimpse into the private worlds of the famous of both Washington politics and the Hollywood elite. A triumphantly inspiring memoir, the first from a Kennedy family member since Rose Kennedy's 1974 autobiography, Lawford's Symptoms of Withdrawal tells the bittersweet truth about life inside America's greatest family.
In this courageous and exceptionally well-written memoir, Lawford rises above the buried pain that first led to his addiction, and today lives mindfully by his time-tested mantra: "We are only as sick as the secrets we keep."
Today, Lawford focuses a great deal of his public service on the non-profit sector working for The Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, Special Olympics, and The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. In addition to his political career, he has spent more than 15 years in the film and television business as an actor, lawyer, executive, and producer.
EXCELLENCE IN MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION
The Excellence in Mental Health Education Award honors a public figure for his or her commitment to educating the public about mental health prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services.Professor Tony Jorm and Betty Kitchener
Australia
Betty Kitchener has been a nurse and health educator for much of her life. She’s taught more First Aid courses than she can remember, helping thousands of people recognize the warning signs and know how to help when someone experiences a heart attack, stroke or other medical emergency.
Yet most of us are much more likely to encounter a person experiencing a panic attack, depression or even contemplating suicide than we are to encounter someone who needs us to perform CPR. Betty Kitchener knows that first hand: she’s also experienced depression—at times, severe depression. A few years ago, she and her husband, the respected mental health researcher Professor Tony Jorm, teamed up to create Mental Health First Aid, a 12-hour mental health “CPR” like program at the ORYGEN Research Center at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Mental Health First Aid applies a very familiar concept—CPR and First Aid training—to mental health situations, which often feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable to many in the public. The program positions mental health and addictions alongside common health problems and then provides trainees with the tools they need to better support family, friends, co-workers and others in need.
Professor Tony Jorm and Betty Kitchener have contributed much toward making people more mental health literate—and more aware of mental illness as a treatable health condition. With help from Betty and Tony, Mental Health First Aid is being adopted by countries around the world, including the United States where the National Council is training Mental Health First Aid instructors in communities across the country. Their work has changed lives in Australia and will change lives here in the United States.
