MHAAC  Community Advocates

A program that provides support, education and advocacy 
to persons with mental illness

Community Advocates is a community-based program that provides individualized support, education and advocacy services for adult persons with mental illness. The program is a gatekeeper to the mental health system focusing on outreach and linkage of consumers to services in the community. 

The five areas of Community Advocates services are:

•  Direct Individual Advocacy - Short term intensive support to consumer with the goal of successfully linking them to existing mental health, medical, housing, employment, self help and socialization programs in the community. Once linkages are complete ongoing follow-up contact is made to insure continued participation in services.
  
• Mentoring and Companionship - A longer term support relationship between a volunteer or peer to personally help support a consumer's reintegration into the community.  This includes face to face meetings in the community and telephone contact.
  
• Community Based Support, Education and Advocacy Groups - The program conducts a wide variety of groups in the community to meet the specialized needs of mental health consumers seeking to reintegrate into the community.  These include self-help, wellness, employment, addiction, and recreational and social groups.  Sites for groups include churches, self help centers, YMCA's, community centers, and boarding homes.
  
• Systems Advocacy Support - Intensive individual support, education and training to consumers of mental health services who wish to become strong advocates for themselves and other consumers.  The focus is to increase the effective representation of consumers on local, county, state and federal mental health planning and monitoring bodies.
  
• Outreach to Multicultural groups - The program targets outreach activities to specific minority populations using all it's individual program elements to involve minority consumers in the program.  These include education programs on mental health, developing partnerships with minority organizations to expand access and understanding of the services in the community.

Community Advocates services are provided by staff, volunteers, college interns and consumers of mental health services working with their peers. Consumer providing services  are part of Peer Outreach Support Teams. POST workers combine their life experience with training and supervision to provide services to individuals who need assistance. All volunteers, interns and POST workers service receive training and supervision.

Community Advocates services are available to individuals identifying themselves as having a history of mental illness. Individuals can refer themselves directly to the program or referrals can be made, with the consumer permission, from family members, mental health or other human service organizations.  Services are provided without cost, but may be limited based on resources available to the program.

Community Advocates work in partnership with consumer operated self help and mutual aide centers to coordinate outreach, support, education and advocacy services to maximize services to individuals with mental illness.

Community Advocates are funded by a contract with the NJ Division of Mental Health Services and by the Mental Health Association in New Jersey.

Return