A Call to Action | By Bailey Blair

On Tuesday, January 8, I addressed a panel of the state legislators representing the south-central region of Kansas; below is the statement I prepared and delivered regarding the imminent need for increased mental health awareness in our public school system and the impending cuts to mental health services.  

Bailey Blair speaking at Legislative Forum

My name is Bailey Blair, and I currently work for Wichita State University’s Center for Community Support and Research, facilitating a grant aptly named Youth Leadership Initiative in Kansas, or YLinK, which assists youth and their families struggling with mental health issues to establish leadership skills, develop social skills and healthy peer relations, transition to productive adult lives, and promote advocacy for youth state-wide.

Tonight, I am here to speak to you about mental health in the public school system. As a former high school teacher, I’ve experienced first-hand the demands that planning, instructing, and extra duties place on our teachers. I’ve also seen what impact teachers can have on individual students, both positively and negatively. I realize that budgets are tight for every sector right now; this cannot excuse negligence to one of our most marginalized populations. Despite incredible measures taken to ensure equity of treatment and provision of services to the developmentally delayed population and those with physical limitations in our schools, access to mental health services and training for teachers on these issues is falling severely behind.

It is my professional, and personal, opinion that each individual in our public education system must be provided continuing education in the fields of childhood mental health. Our teachers are the first line of defense for our children; never has this been more evident. However, many teachers report receiving little to no training on how to address mental health issues, how to establish rapport with youth with mental illness issues and their families, and how best to ensure the emotional safety of their students.

Youth with mental illness face stigmatization from educators each day. Recent studies have shown that nine out of ten young people who experience mental health issues are affected by stigma and experience negative treatment as a result of their disorders in the school and in the community. Nearly 50% of students report that this stigmatizing behavior comes from their teachers. I firmly believe that this is through no fault of the teachers or the administrative staff; they are simply not prepared to deal with such issues, and therefore, exacerbate the problem.

Specifically, teachers and school staff need training on identifying mental health issues, establishing appropriate lines of communication both with the student and with their caregivers, providing appropriate referrals to school social workers or counselors, and trauma-informed care to avoid further emotional distress to youth in their care. Most of our teachers are in the field of education because of their love of learning and their dedication to children; if provided the appropriate training in the fields of mental health, they would be our greatest resource.

Of course, this requires adequate funding for both education and mental health services. Rick Kagan, director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness recently spoke regarding mental health funding in the state, saying, “At a time when we should be increasing access to treatment, we’ve been reducing that access… The problem isn’t going away. Mental illness knows no boundaries.” However, in recent years, state funding to community mental health centers has been cut by tens of millions of dollars.

I am calling you to action. The Governor's Budget, we are told, includes more cuts to mental health this year. Kansas funding for uninsured and underinsured Kansans in need of mental health treatment has been reduced by $20 million, or 50% since FY 2008. The Governor will present his budget, January 14. Please act as your constituents will you to – protect funding for mental health services, and promote funding to educate our teachers. Our children need you to.

On Friday, January 11, Governor Brownback announced $10 million for mental health care in Kansas. I urge the south-central legislative delegation to work with the Governor to ensure adequate funding for mental health services in Kansas. For more information about the YLinK initiative, reach me at bailey [dot] blair [at] wichita [dot] edu.

Governor Brownback Proclaims January as Support Group Awareness Month

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback proclaimed January as Support Group Awareness Month in a signing ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 10 in Topeka.

As stated in the proclamation, support groups have been recognized national and internationally as an efficient, practical, cost-effective means of coping with life crises and physical and mental health care concerns.

“It is very exciting to have the governor recognize the importance of support groups as a supplement to health and human services in Kansas,” said Angela Gaughan, support group services project specialist at Wichita State University Center for Community Support and Research. “I constantly visit with people who are looking to make a connection with a support group in their community or who lead and organize groups around specific issues.”

In Kansas, more than 3,000 community support groups, national organizations, and websites provide help for a broad range of specific issues. Groups gather around many medical conditions, parenting, caregiving, grief, and a variety of other topics. Contact information for support groups can be accessed online or by calling (800) 445-0116 or (316) 978-3843 in Kansas.




Governor Brownback at the Proclamation Signing

The photo includes (l to r)  Suz McIver, director of supportive care, Midland Care, Topeka; Stacy Davis, director of mental health promotion, Mental Health America of the Heartland, Kansas City; Sheli Sweeny, advocacy and member services coordinator, Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas Inc., Topeka; Kelly Potter, forensics coordinator, Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, Topeka; Randy Johnson, director of mental health initiatives, Wichita State University Center for Community Support and Research, Wichita; Angela Gaughan, support group services project specialist, Wichita State University Center for Community Support and Research, Wichita and Governor Brownback.

International Organizational Development

CCSR Community and Organizational Specialist Teresa Strausz, LMSW, had an opportunity to go to Bolivia in June to do organization development consulting with the nonprofit organization Hospitals of Hope. Her experience was an international component of her Master of Organization Development program at Friends University.

One of the ways the students worked with this organization involved hosting a World Café for the staff of the hospital in Cochabamba, Bolivia. World Café is an event that provides structure for creative and open conversations about topics that are important to an organization or community.

Jim Maddox, MSOD program director at Friends, posted about the World Café this group hosted. It was the first World Café documented for this country. One story he tells is particularly moving: 

A cleaning woman talks with Dr. Ricalde, Medical Director at the hospital.

"There were many thanks and a lot of hugs from participants to the hosts/facilitators. One cleaning lady, with tears streaming down her cheeks, thanked us, saying she had worked at the hospital for 7 years and this was the first time anyone had asked her ideas or what she loved about the hospital or what the hospital could become; for the first time, she was given a voice. This was powerfully moving."

If you’re interested in hosting a World Café for your organization, contact CCSR at 316-978-3843 or send us an email.

What's it like to work with CCSR?

Photo courtesy of Ramon Soto

When organizations want to work with the Center for Community Support and Research, they might have some idea of what they want to get done, but they need help figuring out how to do it. In this post over on the American Evaluation Association blog, Dr. Tara Gregory describes one creative way CCSR might help an organization complete a logic model:

"We ask participants to think of their program and its outcomes in terms of a movie trilogy. ...We specifically ask them to think of Part 1 as the story of what people experience while involved in the program; Part 2 picks up at a later date (the specific timeframe depends on the program) and reflects the progression of outcomes; and Part 3 represents the transition to 'happily ever after.'"

The American Evaluation Association is a group of evaluators committed to improving evaluation practices and methods. CCSR has ten researchers on its staff and regularly provides program evaluation services to nonprofit organizations and government agencies across Kansas.

If you are interested in CCSR's research and evaluation services, contact Dr. Tara Gregory at 316-978-3843 or email us.

Latest Certified Peer Specialist Newsletter

Opening door: courtesy mx2-foto

The latest Certified Peer Specialist newsletter is up and ready to go. Discussed are the recent Y-LINK conference, the healing power of revisiting sites of trauma with a supportive peer, and information on how the Olmstead ruling impacts peer support services.

Follow this link to download the .pdf, which you can read and share or print and share or talk about and just generally share.

The Art (Museum) of Leadership

By SETH BATE

Nelson-Atkins w/"Shuttlecocks" by Claes Oldenburg and Coosie van Bruggen. Photo credit: Frankphotos

If you’re going to be at the Kansas Museums Association 2012 conference http://ksmuseums.org/category/conference , please look for the session Amy Delamaide and I are presenting on (Re)Energizing Volunteers at 11 a.m. Oct. 25. See you there!

Oct. 24-26, I will be attending the Kansas Museums Association annual conference in Newton. That means it has been a year since I heard a keynote address by Julián Zugazagoitia, director and CEO of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art http://www.nelson-atkins.org/ , at last year’s conference. It really stuck with me.

At the time, Zugazagoitia was a year into his position, and he was speaking about the state of the museum world and the new challenges and opportunities he was facing. He didn’t say he was there to talk about leadership, but he did.

Exercising leadership requires inspiring a collective purpose. Zugazagoitia asked his audience to let go of an outmoded purpose for museums, simply preserving contents in pristine condition. Instead, he spoke of museums as “places to produce innovation” and “incubators of new realities.”

 

Zugazagoitia was skilled at speaking to loss. To raise the aspirations and the quality of museums, he said, means inviting visitors who may not be well-versed in art, history or science to be participants in conversation, not just consumers of knowledge. That represents a sacrifice for people who have devoted their lives to museum work. “The notion of maybe no longer being the only authority is the greatest challenge for us,” he acknowledged. 

Even though people are passionate about museums, conversations about them tend to be exceedingly polite. Stop censoring yourself, Zugazagoitia  said. “I love candor. Self-regulation is not the way to make a difference.” Or as I might say to a leadership coaching client, get over “Kansas nice.”

 

Most of his presentation was about the need for change, but Zugazagoitia also showed the ability to start where “they” are. In this case, “they” was the people who love the museum he directs. He promised them that its core identity will stay the same. “There are some values that will never change at the Nelson-Atkins,” he said.

Of all the leadership lessons Zugazagoitia shared, whether he intended to or not, perhaps the most important one is that finding a solution requires learning and experimentation. For a new director in a high-profile position, he was remarkably calm about not knowing exactly how his museum would navigate the changing environment. “Perhaps in not having the answer,” he said, “I am looking for the answer.”

If you love museums—or a particular museum—I hope to see you at this year’s conference. I can’t wait to find out what we hear this time that will stick with us for the next year!

PTSD Support Groups: Hope for Veterans with Invisible Wounds

Photo credit: US Army, Master Sgt. Jonathan Doti (USAF)

by Jeremiah Raymo

Social Work practicum student

Wichita State University Center for Community Support and Research

In 2004, I was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  I served as a squad leader in a light-infantry platoon which completed over 300 combat missions. Unbeknownst to me, 2004 would be the second deadliest year (846 killed in action [KIA]) for American soldiers in Iraq. Fortunately, I survived and returned home in 2005. In 2007, I was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army and returned to civilian life. However, this transition would become equally as frightening as my experiences in combat. 

 

After my discharge, I began to suffer from depression, anxiety, and other debilitating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I found myself in and out of employment, destroying personal relationships, and contemplating suicide. In the spring of 2009, a clinical social worker who had diagnosed me with PTSD suggested I attend an Iraq and Afghanistan PTSD support group. It was an experience that would change my life and aid in my path to recovery.

It was a cool Tuesday evening the night of my first meeting. Anxious and skeptical, I entered the meeting room at the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital. There were seven other Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in attendance. Robert, the facilitator, welcomed me and the meeting began.  Within twenty minutes, I felt my anxiety melt away. This was the first time in two years I felt at peace. The sharing of stories and experiences were comforting, and I no longer felt isolated. There was a strong sense of camaraderie in the room which could only be shared by people with similar struggles and pains. After sharing my story, the group embraced me with compassion and understanding. I left the support group that night with a sense of hope that had been absent for so long. I could finally say to myself, “It’s going to be okay.” I went to every meeting for the next several months and each time I left with positive feelings and experiences that I did not receive anywhere else. That support group played an integral part in instilling a sense of hope in my life and was a key factor in returning me back to society as a functioning member.

In Kansas, more than 2,000 community support groups, national organizations and websites provide help for a broad range of specific issues. Contact information for support groups can be accessed through the Kansas Health Solutions website at www.kansashealthsolution.org/Shn1.0 or by calling 800.445.0116 in Kansas.