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Discussion of evidence-based practices in the mental health arena from the perspective of consumers, many of whom feel that there is a risk to consumer recovery and empowerment when evidence-based practices are funded and encouraged without equivalent funding to innovations coming from the consumers themselves.

Discussion paper from Psychiatric Services on approaches to having consumers and consumer advocates in recovery be supportive of incorporating evidence-based practices into practice in the mental health field.

SAMHSA newsletter article describing briefly six evidence-based practices that are effective for persons who experience mental illness and which are the focus of SAMHSA's national project on evidence-based practices. Components of the six Evidence-Based Practices toolkits are similar, but the practices themselves are diverse, and they may be unfamiliar to some practitioners and supervisors in the field today.

This brief examines four key questions that emerge related to how dual eligibles will fare under the Medicare Part D plans starting in January 2006. Given the potential that the dual eligible population could be adversely affected by the current legislation, it may be prudent to give serious consideration to the issues highlighted in this brief as the new benefit is being implemented.

SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is currently sponsoring a national project to promote the widespread adoption of six evidence-based practices (EBPs)—treatments that have consistently proven to generate positive outcomes for adults with serious mental illness. Specifically, project teams are working to develop, test, revise, and disseminate comprehensive resource toolkits that will enable practitioners to replicate EBPs successfully and reap the benefits in community settings.

This brief examines the efforts of a local area systems collaboration. In order to better understand partnership and collaboration at a local level, the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on State Systems and Employment at the Institute for Community Inclusion facilitated a collaboration to assist state systems in a local area to address employment services for people with disabilities.

The Community Partnerships for Older Adults fosters community partnerships to improve long term care and supportive service systems to meet the current and future needs of older adults. This Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program website features a resource center, which showcases the issues involved with creating, maintaining and sustaining a community partnership. Under the section on inclusion and diversity, you can find several resources on developing a culturally competent workforce.

This document presents examples of presumptive and fast track eligibility programs implemented by several states to reduce the time it takes to process the Medicaid application.

In response to the growing demand for self-directed services, state developmental disabilities agencies have begun to use individual budgets as a cornerstone of their efforts to help persons with disabilities to gain control over their lives. While interest in this subject is strong, until now very little comparative information has been available. To address this, NASDDDS is pleased to announce the report Having It Your Way: Understanding State Individual Budgeting Strategies.

This April 2004 issue brief on Medicaid eligibility policies is the first in a series designed to share with federal and state policy makers as well as other stakeholders the issues and options being considered by NASHP’s Medicaid Resource Center workgroup as they prepare “Making Medicaid Work for the 21st Century”. This brief outlines four key questions to consider when thinking of eligibility issues.