NJAMHAA-70th-anniversary-publication

57 “We don’t wait for the national organizations to tell us what to think and say in our advocacy. They offer valuable resources and we collaborate with them, but we are also directly involved in policy develop- ment,” Dr. Wentz stated. Fighting Stigma and Discrimination From working together first on the 1998 state parity bill and then on the Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma, NAMI-NJ, then under the leadership of Sylvia Axelrod, and NJAMHAA often took the lead in what would be significant progress toward eliminating stigma. “We brought on an executive director for the Council and achieved many advances, most notably through broader state and federal parity legislation. However, stigma and discrimination still exist and we have more work to do,” Dr. Wentz said. Years ago, NJAMHAA and NAMI-NJ presented a series of conferences focused on serving individuals with mental illness who were involved with the criminal justice system and established a committee. They also worked together to expand Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) throughout New Jersey after NAMI member Elaine Goodman introduced it here. “When law enforcement personnel have an understanding of mental illness, there is less trauma for consumers during their interactions with police officers,” Dr. Wentz said. “NAMI-NJ and NJAMHAA have a long history of collaboration and mutual support. We look forward to working with NJAMHAA to expand CIT even far- ther across the state, as well as to strengthen the Children’s System of Care,” said Meredith Blount, NAMI-NJ’s current Executive Director, who first heard of NJAMHAA when she started in this position three years ago. “I was learning about the landscape of New Jersey and NJAMHAA’s name came up many times as a valuable resource,” she recalled. “NAMI and NJAMHAA have been coordinating our advocacy efforts to improve the lives of individuals across the state. Understanding the need for family members to be part of conversations is very important to NAMI. NJAMHAA understands this and is a great advocate,” Blount added. Building the Behavioral Healthcare Workforce In early 2010, NJAMHAA approached Professor Emer- itus WilliamWaldman, then Executive in Residence at the Rutgers School of Social Work (SSW) and former New Jersey Commissioner of Human Ser- vices, and Ericka Deglau, PhD, LSW, Director of SSW’s Intensive Weekend (IW) program. This program was originally designed nearly 15 years ago for child welfare workers to earn the Master of Social Work degree, and NJAMHAA was interested in creating a similar program for behavioral healthcare staff. The new program was launched in September 2010 and currently, more than half of the student body are employed by NJAMHAA member agencies, according to Dr. Deglau. These agencies also provide internship opportunities for SSW’s undergraduate and gradu- ate social work students and field placements for IW program participants. “There is a great symbiosis between NJAMHAA agencies and the Intensive Weekend program. The NJAMHAA members support their full-time staff through the program, which provides them with opportunities to expand their knowledge and efficacy, and to advance in their careers to clinical, “There is a great symbiosis between NJAMHAA agencies and the Intensive Weekend program. The NJAMHAA members support their full-time staff through the program.” – Ericka Deglau, Rutgers School of Social Work