Mental Health Transformation

The Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant (MHT-SIG):
In 2005, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a Request for Application titled “Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant”. Building on the federal New Freedom Commission for Mental Health Report Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America, this infrastructure grant is to be used to support a cross systems approach to implement a strategic planning process comprised of four key activities:

  1. Convening a Transformation Working Group appointed by the Governor and made up of senior leaders from agencies that serve individuals and/or their families with mental illness;
  2. Conducting a thorough needs assessment of each organization on the working group;
  3. Producing a thorough resource inventory of each organization; and
  4. Developing a comprehensive mental health plan to transform the system.

In October 2005, Maryland was one of seven original states to receive this grant award. Maryland’s grant totals $13.5 million dollars over a five-year period.

Transformation states are required to embrace a broad perspective that sees mental health and mental illnesses not as discrete entities, but rather as points on a continuum. State planning efforts must recognize that citizens with mental health needs move back and forth along that continuum depending on a multitude of biological, psychological, and social factors both positive and negative at any given time. Therefore, a truly effective, widely accepted, transformed mental health system must be relevant to the state’s entire population.

Agencies Involved:


The following agencies were named in the original grant and have been partners in the activities to date:

Transformation Working Group Membership:


In addition to representatives from the agencies noted above, Maryland’s Transformation Working Group includes representation from:

Achieving Genuine Transformation

Maryland continues to refine strategies to achieve organizational culture change that will transform mental health service delivery and fully support recovery and resilience. Our efforts target interagency service systems and the broader community. Our vision of recovery and resilience extends to people of all ages, cultures, and diverse backgrounds and to a wide range of programs and communities across the State.

As of January 2008, Maryland has already:

Public Meetings

Chaired by DHMH Secretary John Colmers, the Transformation Working Group (TWG) is the official advisory group for the Maryland Mental Health Transformation (MHT) Office, offering input on the transformation of the State’s mental health system. TWG members are key mental health stakeholders from across Maryland and include consumers and members of their families, staff from advocacy groups, providers of mental health services, state and local officials, and staff from state and local agencies. The quarterly TWG meetings offer an opportunity to review progress on MHT initiatives as well as solicit input and recommendations from stakeholders.

Visit Mental Health Transformation website here

http://www.marylandtransformation.org

For more information on TWG initiatives contact:
Daryl Plevy, Grant Project Director at 410-402-8348


Final Report Cultural Competency Workforce pdf logo