DISCUSSION
In November 2004, California voters approved the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), which provides funding dedicated to the support of community mental health programs. Funded by MHSA through a contract with Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), NAMI has been providing mental health education and recovery programs to Shasta County residents since July of 2011.
NAMI is dedicated to improving the quality of lives for individuals living with mental illness and their families through support, education, and advocacy. They work to increase public awareness of and eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness. They provide three NAMI-signature training programs that are wellness- and recovery-based whose purpose is to promote recovery, provide support, share resources, and create hope. NAMI has recently added a new program, NAMI On Campus, to the services to be provided through the agreement. NAMI On Campus provides support to student-led, student-run clubs that focus on mental health issues on school and college campuses by raising awareness, reducing stigma, educating the campus community, supporting students, promoting services and supports, and advocating. The agreement calls for the new program to be implemented no later than May 30, 2019, at a minimum of two local high school and/or college campuses.
Because HHSA has built an expansive educational and recovery training program through its MHSA-funded destigmatization program, known as Stand Against Stigma and Brave Faces, NAMI’s role has evolved over time. While NAMI’s original focus was providing educational programs, HHSA now depends on this group to provide more individualized services, such as peer-to-peer support, family-to-family support, and one-on-one mentoring. Their recent colocation at the CARE Center has provided increased opportunities to provide facilitated peer support to people in the midst of mental health crisis. The NAMI On Campus program will improve outreach at high school and college campuses. Additionally, the agreement authorizes the HHSA Director, or any HHSA Branch Director designated by the HHSA Director, to approve, in writing and in advance, budget line item shifts, provided that the line item shift does not exceed 10 percent of any Budget Category during the entire term of this agreement and provided further that the line item shift shall not increase the total compensation payable under this agreement. The retroactive nature of this agreement is due to contract negotiations surrounding the provision of additional services. There is no increase to the compensation for NAMI services, including for the newly added NAMI On Campus Program. |