Section 6: Spreading Recovery Based System Transformation
Spreading Recovery Based System Transformation includes a variety of writings focusing on the practicalities of system transformation. Many of them were first distributed as part of two Proposition 63 implementation toolboxes. “Recovery Based System Planning (Part 1 and 2)” is my favorite for system transformation planning. “The Power of Flow” is probably the most challenging. “Creating a Recovery Transformation Plan” and “Designing Transformed Clinics” are probably the most practically useful for program directors. This chapter also has several administrative tools for building a recovery-based infrastructure including the MORS and The Recovery Culture Progress Report as well as a set of recovery-based policies for staff-client interactions. There are also curricula and staff training materials in this chapter.
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My presentations and these writings have brought me a great deal of satisfaction and recognition over the years, but grounding all of it is my clinical work. Hundreds of people - coworkers, people with mental illnesses who I have worked with, their families, and even people in the community around us - have taught me so much about listening, hopefulness, compassion, and personal healing as we’ve struggled together to rebuild lives and attain recovery. If nothing else, I hope that some of my passion for this work and the people around me comes through as you explore this book.
Early Ideas
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A list of a dozen “putting beliefs into practice” items that programs seeking to “replicate the Village” should look at
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Wish List of Broken Rules -2004
A list of changes in administrative “rules” that would remove barriers and promote becoming a recovery based system
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Defining the Goals
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Recovery Based System Transformation Strategies: What Should We Do? - 2004
A brief set of goals for achieving system transformation that I described when California’s Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act, passed (Kate – begin the lead in comments to this one with the first two paragraphs from the section intro about prop 63)
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Socially Responsible Mental Health Services – 2004
A discussion of public mental health services being not just medically responsible, but also socially responsible
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Principles of a Recovery-Based Service System – 2005
A brief list of service principles based on recovery characteristics
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Defining a Recovery Culture – 2005
A brief early effort to define elements of a recovery culture including different points of view
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A copy of a speech outlining the goals of the recovery movement for changing our community and the way people with mental illnesses are viewed
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Recovery Based System Planning
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Recovery Based System Planning (Part 1 and 2) – 2005
A comprehensive tool for system and program planning based on three stages of recovery – unengaged, engaged but poorly self coordinating, and self responsible
A detailed discussion of the issues around promoting growth and flow in our programs and systems to reduce stagnation, rising caseloads, and increasing front end rationing of services
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50 Ways to improve Outreach and Engagement - 2014
A list of 50 practical strategies for improving outreach and engagement including needed infrastructure changes to sustain them
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Facilitating Transformation
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A Guide for Recovery-Oriented Leaders– 2005
A brief overview of the four values – hope, authority, healing, and community integration – we use in our recovery oriented leadership workshops
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Facilitating Recovery Based Transformation: Where Are You? – 2006
A discussion guide following five stages of transformation to help plan transformation steps
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A Recovery Based Program Inventory – 2004
This inventory is an effort to translate the recovery vision into a practical program evaluation tool made up of qualitative self-evaluation questions
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Creating a Recovery Based Transformation Plan – 2005
A tool for creating teams of line staff and consumers to empower them to take actions they choose to promote recovery
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A Roadmap to Recovery Based System Transformation – 2008
A description of the administrative tools and strategies that can be used to promote system transformation based upon our experiences with LA County DMH
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Including Psychiatrists in Recovery Advocacy and Planning – 2011
A plea for collaborating with psychiatrists to implement recovery transformation
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An advocacy piece outlining counterarguments to several common anti-recovery arguments
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Keeping Perspective and Staying Sane -2006
Some tips for transformation leaders to keep us going
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Creating New Recovery Based Programs
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Designing Transformed Clinics – 2006
A practical guide to transform the structure of traditional clinics into a recovery based, growth oriented structure
Staffing Full Service Partnership Teams – 2006
Nuts and bolts discussion of staffing issues for recovery based ACT teams (In California they’re called Full Service Partnerships.)
Building a Recovery Based Psychiatric Practice: Setting Priorities for Limited Resources – 2011
A concrete description of the hard choices and challenges for psychiatrists transforming to recovery within realistic limits
Can I Recover and Stop My Medications? – 2009
A lengthy response to a psychiatrist who wants to stop exposing her patients to recovery and the idea they can get off their medications
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Innovative Program Ideas from the Mental Health Services Act
A list of innovative recovery ideas I collected while doing MHSA planning meetings around California
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Building Infrastructure
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New Rules for Staff to Work By (with Rod Shaner) – 2006
A comprehensive set of recovery promoting parameters for service relationships developed and adopted by LA County DMH (that doesn’t prohibit hugs) for people who say “that’s against the rules”
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Mark Ragins’ MediCal / Medicaid Thoughts -2006
A brief list of recommended changes in MediCal / Medicaid’s overarching design that would promote recovtwitter.com/movies TV network ery
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A Guide to the Milestones of Recovery Scale (with David Pilon) – 2006
A scale that tracks people’s progress in recovery and can help guide administrative and service decisions. The MORS has been highly developed by us including testing, training, and tracking.
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Rating Engagement on the MORS - 2010
A discussion with lots of examples detailing the engagement dimension of the MORS
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Tracking Recovery With the Milestones of Recovery Scale: A Case Example (with David Pilon) – 2011
An article we wrote for the e-news MI Watch that describes using MOR clinically tracking the progress of a person’s recovery and the services we provided
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A Recovery Based Progress Report Card – 2009
An auditing tool that tracks progression in seven key areas of recovery based culture to see if programs are
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Training and Workforce Development
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Curriculum Outline Proposal – Helping Relationship Skills – 2005
Recommendations for a curriculum for training people, professional or not, to have relationship skills to help people recovery
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Transforming Psychiatric Residencies – 2005
Recommendations for a model psychiatric residency training program to promote community based recovery psychiatry
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MHSA Psychiatrist Manpower Proposal -2006
A proposal for implementing some of the ideas in the previous article in our local psychiatric residency training programs using MHSA funds
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Hiring and Supporting Consumer Staff – 2006
A discussion of the importance of hiring consumer staff, the roles they serve, and the support and supervision needed to succeed
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Curriculum for Staff Transformation -2005
I revisited the popular paper “12 Aspects of Staff Transformation” and tried to create an experiential curriculum for a two hour / week class for existing staff that might promote the desired changes.
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Recovery, Resilience, and Wellness Core Competencies Project - 2017
A comprehensive set of training materials specifically tied to the areas of recovery, resilience, wellness including pre and post tests, vignettes, curriculum objectives, and annotated bibliography
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Recovery Based Staff Development Assessment- 2012
One page tool for staff evaluations based on their career development as recovery professionals