MHAAC 
About MHAAC

Table of Contents

About MHAAC
People helping people...it’s what we’re all about. For over sixty years, the Mental Health Association has contributed a gift of hope to our community... hope for individuals who suffer from mental illness, hope for their families affected by mental illness, hope for the children who were victims of abuse and neglect and hope for those families struggling with violence and life-threatening issues. Through education, advocacy and support, the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County has reached out to thousands of people and provided hope for a better future.

History of Services Offered in Atlantic County
Early Chapter Efforts
The Mental Health Association in Atlantic County began as a Chapter in the 1940's. At that time concerned citizens visited the patients in the Atlantic County Institution known as Stillwater. MHA volunteers worked diligently to establish a local state psychiatric hospital and in the mid 1950's Ancora State Hospital opened. Association volunteers worked to ensure that patients at this new facility received proper care.  MHA volunteers also visited residents in the boarding homes throughout the county.  Stillwater Boarding Home, was one such home that was operated by Atlantic County Government.  Stillwater closed in the mid 1980's.

Boarding Home Efforts 
 In the early 1960's Congress passed the Community Mental Health Act, thereby creating community mental health centers. These centers were designed to provide care to mental health patients in the community. About this time, Atlantic City’s tourist industry began to unravel and many old hotels were converted into boarding homes which housed people with mental illness. The Association created a women’s auxiliary that began providing socialization activities to the residents of three of these boarding homes. The auxiliary, under the leadership of Molly Herman, offered services at the Mental Health Association offices until 1983 when the women, mostly in their seventies disbanded.

In response to the de-institutionalization that occurred during the 1970's, the Mental Health Association was awarded a CETA funded program that provided outreach services to residents in Atlantic County Boarding homes. In 1980, United Way, the major contributor to the Mental Health Association prioritized their funding to agencies providing direct service.  The advocacy work being done by the Mental Health Association did not fit that criteria, therefore with this loss of funds the Atlantic County Chapter of the Mental Health Association folded.

Community Companion Program 
 The Mental Health Association in New Jersey, committed to providing services to Atlantic County residents, began operating programs through the Community Companion Program. The program design enabled persons returning to the community after hospitalization, to be linked with trained volunteers who provided the support needed to facilitate readjustment to community living. The expanded use of volunteers allowed the Association to provide recreational and educational programs to boarding home residents throughout the county. During the programs two decades, the Association trained and placed 900 volunteers working in various settings and providing a cost benefit to Atlantic County totaling $271,424.00. In 1999 the program was reorganized and renamed Community Advocates.

Family Support Group 
In 1981, the Association developed the Atlantic County Mental Health Family Support Group to provide education and support services to families of persons with mental illness. Staff technical assistance to the group included; location of a meeting site, public relations, provision of the monthly education program, empowerment training to secure family positions on local boards, support and assistance during times of crisis whether it be day or night, case management services, advocating for family needs locally and statewide and acting as a clearinghouse for information and referral. Since it's inception, MHAAC staff have worked with over 800 families. Group members are encouraged to join the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and members have participated in national, state and local AMI activities. 

Mental Health Players 
In 1983, the Association responded to increased demand for community education on mental health topics by creating a local troupe of the NJ Mental Health Players. The Mental Health Players are trained volunteers who provide community education through role play techniques to dispel the myths of mental illness and to combat stigma associated with mental illness. The Players average five performances per month and have been involved with local civic groups, churches, social service staff training, police training, schools, national conventions held in Atlantic City and have traveled to other states to train national members of AMI to develop their own troupe.

ICE, Individuals Concerted in Effort
In response to local mental health consumer interest, a self help/mutual help group was established in 1983. I.C.E., Individuals In Concerted Effort was created to meet the needs of consumers who identified a need for peer support. I.C.E. has become an integral part of the mental health system in Atlantic County and today continues to operates a self help group and a self-help center.

Family Companion Program
In 1984, the Family Companion Program was created in Atlantic County to establish a volunteer support system for DYFS referred families. The program was developed to assist parents under the supervision of Division of Youth & Family Services (DYFS) who lacked the skills associated with child care. Many of these families lived under stressful situations resulting from inadequate housing, unemployment, language and cultural barriers, inability to deal with school systems and agencies in general. Family Companion Volunteers were recruited, screened, trained and then linked with families who are identified and referred by DYFS.  FCP Volunteers also served to identify and highlight gaps in human service systems.   

In 1997, the Family Companion’s companionship contracts were rebid and MHAAC was awarded a Parent Support Program contract. The design of this program was to provide in-home face to face parent education and support to Division of Youth & Family Service (DYFS) parents. In 1998 the Mental Health Association chose not to continue providing this service due to budgetary constraints the program had to operate under.

Client Volunteer Placement  
In 1985, the Association began an initiative known as Client Volunteer Placement.  The design of this program was to meet the needs of consumers who were interested in returning to the workforce. Many of these consumers completed their college degree and wanted the challenge of skilled work, without the fear of financial repercussions if they failed. Examples of these placements include: County Welfare, ASPCA, Atlantic City Medical Center, Mental Health Association, Office of Emergency Management, Nutrition Sites, Family Life Center to name a few. Many of these placements developed into paid employment opportunities.  Today many consumers still volunteer their time while building skills which will enable them to return to the workforce.  

Peer Outreach Support Team 
In 1986, MHAAC piloted a training program for mental health consumers to work as peer counselors.  The Peer Outreach Program utilizes mental health consumers as links between mental health providers and other mental health consumers, so that treatment, safe housing, and other social services can be provided. Training programs teach former mental health consumers how to become successful workers in social service programs.

I.C.E.'s Peer Outreach Support Team has become a model for consumer groups statewide and members have presented workshops throughout the state and at national conventions. The Peer Outreach Program began as a result of a number of families requesting active I.C.E. members to provide outreach to family homes to talk with their relative, who have mental illness and had stopped their participation in mental health services.

The program now operates with trained consumers who provide outreach to persons with chronic mental illness for whom traditional services have not met their needs. Staff encourage their participation in activities. Staff support and case management is provided by the Association. I.C.E. is a member of the Coalition of Mental Health Consumer Organizations, COMHCO, and has participated in statewide rallies, conferences and visits to local, state and federal legislators to advocate for increases in the amount and quality of services.

POST staff working with the Community Advocates Program are working with individual clients throughout the county as well as providing much needed linkage services to clients using the soup kitchen at Jean Webster's and those who come to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.

Intensive Family Support Services 
In 1989, MHA Atlantic was granted funding to develop Intensive Family Support Services to families with an adult relative with a mental illness. MHAAC received one of the eight grants awarded in the state.  The Intensive Family Support Services has several key components:

Parents Network 
In 1991, MHAAC received a one-time grant through DMHS's Children Services to provide a parent support group for children with Serious Emotional Disturbance. The Parents Network brought families together to participate in support groups, advocacy projects and educational seminars; and became a source for recruitment of parent volunteers on local and state boards and committees.

Consumer Case Management 
Starting in July of 1991, consumers, family members, county government representation, DMHS regional and hospital staff, and representatives of each mental health service provider began meeting to create a system of care in response to NJ's "450" plan. This plan was designed to take persons with chronic mental illness who had been hospitalized for years and had a history of not successfully remaining in a community placement. This system needed to be both consumer driven and flexible in its delivery approach as to allow consumers various options to obtain support.

In 1992 a partnership between Jewish Family Services and the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County created a team of clinical case managers. This team was the first in NJ to employee consumers as equal peers in a team with clinical case managers.   

In 1996 the Division of Mental Health Services awarded Jewish Family Service the Integrated Case Management Contract. The existing MHA-AC consumer case management team joined with the Southern Team of Collaborative Support Program to provide services to persons with mental illness. This team is jointly managed by MHA-AC and CSP-NJ.

Active Parenting 
In 1993, MHA-AC was awarded a Children's Trust Fund Grant to provide Active Parenting classes and home visits to 60 minority families in Atlantic City and Pleasantville. As we approached the close of that three year grant, the Parent Empowerment Program had worked with over 320 families. This number exceeded our contracted level of service by 140 families.  In the first six years of the programs operation Active Parenting worked with over 700 families.  Today that number exceeds over 1100. 

In 1996, the Human Services Advisory Council awarded MHA-AC a Social Service Block Grant to provide Active Parenting Classes throughout Atlantic County. This money replaced some of the funds that the Children's Trust Fund had been providing.

Building Esteem Through Mentoring 
In the 1996 contract year, MHA created a Mentoring Program for children known as Building Esteem Through Mentoring (BEM). MHA-AC provided mentoring services to 20 DYFS school age children through educational and recreational programming.

ICE Self Help Center Expansion
In 1997, ICE secured additional expansion dollars for their self-help center. This new funding gave them the dollars needed to locate and expand self-help center services. Working with the Atlantic County Office of Inter-generational Services, ICE began sponsoring recreation trips with the transportation costs being funded through the county transportation grant. These trips offer many first time members entree into the self help center and their activities.

Boarding Home Outreach
The Boarding Home Outreach Program provides services to over 300 persons with mental illness living in Atlantic County’s 16 Boarding Homes and Residential Health Care Facilities. A team of peer helpers schedule visits to each home in order to explain the social and recreational services being offered by the program in conjunction with the ICE Self Help Center.

Trained BHO staff will work to encourage residents to take advantage of these social and recreational opportunities.  Often times it is that encouraging word that may help someone decide to participate. Transportation is provided to the self-help center several days per week by the use of agency vehicles. Schedules are arranged with each Boarding Home. 

During the year special trips are arranged such as camping, visits to local cultural events, attendance at sporting events etc.. When these events are scheduled, the Self-Help Center staff to arrange pick up points for the buses that are used for transportation.

Mental Health Association Grows into New Office
In the fall of 2002 MHA moved out of the building which was shared with CSPNJ, and moved into their own office space. This exciting move allowed MHA to provide greater on site educational programming as well as provided staff with more office space to provide personal advocacy services to their clients.  

Kid's Cope
In January 2003, Intensive Family Support Services staff created and facilitated a "Kid’s Cope" group for children who are growing up in homes where one or more parent or guardian has a mental illness.

 

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