Who We Are

Values

  • Healthy families require healthy communities; healthy communities are built through the partnership and collaboration of the public and system stakeholders.
  • Community collaboration assures that a safety net is in place and no one falls through the cracks of the system of care.
  • Consumers, families/caregivers, and advocates are central to the design, operation, and governance of the public system.
  • Services will be consumer-guided, culturally competent, recovery-oriented, and planned and delivered with the participation of families/caregivers in age-appropriate systems of care.
  • Services will be clinically of high quality, developed according to evidence and best practices, and organized to assist consumers to achieve satisfactory outcomes, including goals addressing physical health, housing, education, employment and other activities.
  • Services will be provided with the engagement of the client, and with dignity, respect, and choice of services, regardless of the setting in which services are provided or the legal status of the consumer.
  • Services will measure and report on consumer satisfaction and system achievement of outcomes.
  • Service systems will promote public understanding and awareness of mental illness, the damage caused by stigma and discrimination, and the public benefit of quality care.

Mission

The mission of the Association is to provide leadership, advocacy, expertise and support to California's county and city mental health programs (and their system partners) that will assist them in serving persons with serious mental illness and serious emotional disturbance. Our goal is to assist in building a public mental health system that ensures the accessibility of quality, cost-effective mental health care that is consumer-and family-driven, resiliency-based and culturally competent.

Leadership
CMHDA will lead through ongoing policy issue identification, analysis and advocacy, and collaboration with other state associations and state agencies, including the Department of Mental Health. We will support Mental Health Directors in their work on behalf of multiple constituencies: citizens, elected officials, Mental Health boards and commissions, consumers, families, advocates, payors, the California Mental Health Planning Council, other service system partners, and the county staff and/or community-based organizations that provide services.

Advocacy
CMHDA will direct its efforts to enhance the resources available to persons with mental illnesses, in systems of care that meet our values. The Association will promote public understanding and awareness of mental illness, the damage caused by stigma, and the public benefit of quality care.

Quality Care
CMHDA will support the delivery of quality mental health services through adoption and promotion of best practices and benchmarking of quality measures. We will provide information, guidance, and technical assistance in the implementation of best practices, and strengthen the ability of members to participate in complex health system environments. We will collaborate with the California Institute for Mental Health in the development of best practices, new delivery models, research, analysis, and options development for public policy, and program operation.


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