Information Center Bulletin
Volume 3, No. 1 Spring 1999

A Stronger Voice for Consumers

Engaging people receiving mental health care and their families in decision-making is a core commitment of CMHS. To fortify that commitment, the CMHS National Advisory Council recently began developing a subcommittee of consumer advocates and council members.

The subcommittee will serve as a fact-finding body for the Advisory Council. Its members will also provide the insight necessary to help ensure that CMHS programs are consumer-driven and consumer-centered.

"The CMHS Advisory Council has had at least one consumer member who is receiving mental health care," says Paolo del Vecchio, CMHS consumer affairs specialist. But the Council, and numerous consumer organizations all recognized the need for stronger consumer say and guidance in CMHS activities. According to CMHS Director Bernard S. Arons, M.D., "In the end, the people who are receiving mental health care are the ultimate judges of whether or not services work as intended."

It is proposed that the subcommittee will be made up of 10 individuals. They will serve 4-year, staggered terms. The process for determining membership is in the planning phase, del Vecchio notes. CMHS will appoint a group to identify what the characteristics of the subcommittee as a whole should be, as well as the criteria for selecting individual members.

This preliminary group will develop:

• A screening process for selecting a pool of candidates who meet basic eligibility requirements for membership in the subcommittee;
• Criteria to assess individual nominees based on the needs of the group as a whole;
• A review process that uses these criteria; and
• A nomination process that encourages an adequate pool of culturally diverse, qualified candidates from the consumer advocacy community.

"This is an exciting development for both CMHS and the consumer advocacy community," del Vecchio says. "The subcommittee will help ensure that CMHS programs provide the kinds of services people receiving mental health care want and need."

For more information, contact Paolo del Vecchio at CMHS, 301-443-2619.

Information Center Bulletin
Volume 3, No. 1, Spring 1999