ACMHA Announces Its New Name
ACMHA: THE COLLEGE FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH LEADERSHIP

After a two-year process of extensive consultation with ACMHA's membership, a unanimous vote by the board in support of the name change, and a supportive vote of a robust percentage of its members, ACMHA is proud to announce its new name. ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership reflects the mission, vision, and aspirations of the organization which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year: "To be recognized as the premier forum for the exchange of new policy ideas that contribute to the improvement in the lives of people with mental health and substance use disorders and the systems that provide treatment and prevention services."

The new name clearly fits the mission and goals, which are set out in the Strategic Plan:

• Identify and address complex issues of emerging importance;
• Develop consensus through cross discipline dialogs;
• Promote best and evidence-based practices;
• Broker ideas that contribute to the evolution of behavioral health outcomes;
• Promote leadership development and succession; and
• Provide education, networking, and other opportunities to interact with leaders in relevant fields.

The ACMHA membership is a diverse working network of influential leaders from across systems concerned with mental health and substance use disorders representing public and private administrators of services; national, state, and county government; professional organizations addressing mental health and substance use; managed behavioral healthcare organizations; research and academia; and consumer and family advocacy organizations. These leaders join ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership to brainstorm, discuss, and find common ground. Since 1979, ACMHA has brought together preeminent thinkers and innovators who continue to drive behavioral health forward.

"ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership, with its new name and its strong mission, looks forward to making contributions to the important challenges of the behavioral health field in the 21st century," said Kris Ericson, PhD, executive director.

ACMHA Honors Four Leaders During 2009 Santa Fe Summit (03/26/09)

King Davis Receives 2009 ACMHA Lifetime Achievement Award

The Board of Directors at the American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA) is pleased to announce that King Davis, PhD, has been awarded the 2009 Saul Feldman Award for Lifetime Achievement from ACMHA. The award honors the lifetime achievement and contributions of an individual to leadership and policy in the mental health and addictions recovery field. Few people have had the impact of Dr. Davis during his career. "King Davis' career has been distinguished in so many ways: as a scholar, author, and leader in academia, state government and with the Hogg Foundation," stated Mr. John Morris, ACMHA Fellow. "He has been a mentor to many emerging leaders throughout his career and is a treasured colleague of all who have had the pleasure of working with him. This recognition reflects his gift of blending incredible intellect with deeply held passion for quality services for all individuals."

Retired in 2008 as executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, a post which he held since 2003, Dr. Davis continues his contribution to the field as the Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy at the University of Texas at Austin, School of Social Work, a position he has held since 2000. He received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001 and in 2002, the lifetime achievement award from the Council on Social Work Education. Davis was a professor of Public Mental Health Policy and Planning at the Virginia Commonwealth University from 1984 - 2000. From 1998-1999, he was the holder of the William and Camille Cosby Chair at Howard University, Washington DC. Also in 1998, Dr. Davis was appointed to the Libra Chair in the School of Business and Public Policy at the University of Maine and was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Washington University in St. Louis in 1999. He taught at Norfolk State University School of Social Work from 1974 - 1984.

Davis' professional background and experiences are varied. He is a former commissioner of the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. As commissioner he held responsibility for executive leadership and management of a statewide behavioral health care system, comprised of 17 hospital facilities and 40 community service agencies with an annual budget of $700 million and 17,000 staff. Davis was responsible for providing and coordinating advice to the governor, secretary of health and human resources, and legislators on all matters pertaining to the mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse status of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

From 1985 - 1987, Dr. Davis served in the position of Galt Visiting Scholar, where he held full professorships at each of Virginia's three medical schools and departments of psychiatry. As Galt Scholar, he was responsible for developing and implementing collaborative education models between public universities and the Department of Mental Health.

Dr. Davis is a Viet Nam era veteran and was honorably discharged in 1969 at the rank of Captain. During his US Army duty, he was chief of social work services for a 500-bed acute care medical hospital and responsible for administration of CHAMPUS, the military health care program. He has served on a number of local, state, and national boards and commissions. Davis has written and published numerous articles and reports on mental health, managed health care, fundraising, and social justice. His book, The Color of Social Policy, was published in 2004. He recently served on the Surgeon General's Workgroup on Mental Health, Culture, Race and Ethnicity and helped write the report on cultural competence for the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003).

Davis was awarded the PhD from the Florence G. Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in 1971. His doctoral work focused on the linkages between fundraising, non-profit organizations, and communities of color. He holds the master's and bachelor's degrees in social work (concentration in mental health) from California State University in Fresno.

Sandra L. Forquer Named 2009 ACMHA Barton Distinguished Fellow

The Board of Directors at the American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA) is pleased to announce that Sandra L. Forquer, PhD, has been awarded the 2009 Barton Distinguished Fellow Award from ACMHA. Few people have impacted the impacted the structure and work of the College as much as Dr. Forquer, while extending her force for system change in multiple employment situations across the country during her career.

Dr. Forquer has been a leader of ACMHA for more than half of the College's history, and has served in virtually every volunteer leadership position of the organization. A member of the Board of Directors for 14 years, Forquer ends her final year in office as the ACMHA past president. Under her leadership, the College hired a new executive director, strengthened its financial health, increased membership, increased attendance at the Santa Fe Summit on Behavioral Health (its flagship program), and developed a strategic plan to direct the long-term work of the College and increase accountability to members. Dr. Forquer has been the central champion of expanding ACMHA's commitment to recognizing and supporting the leadership of mental health consumer/survivors, families, and people in recovery within ACMHA. "I can think of no more deserving person than Sandy to receive this award honoring her contributions to the College," noted Board President Dr. Eric Goplerud. "She has served as a role model and established the bar that has raised ACMHA to new levels."

Currently the CEO of OptumHealth New Mexico, Forquer leads the company that has been selected by the New Mexico Behavioral Health Collaborative to serve as the statewide contractor for the management of behavioral health treatment and services. Forquer came to OptumHealth (formerly United Behavioral Health) in 2007 after most recently serving as a vice president with Comprehensive NeuroScience. She has held multiple university appointments during her career, including professorships with The University of Colorado Health Sciences, The Medical College of Pennsylvania, and the University of Pittsburgh. With experience in federal and state government and a host of public and private behavioral health organizations, Dr. Forquer is also a published author, successful grant writer, and sought-after speaker.

ACMHA Fellow Dr. Gail Barton, whose father Dr. Walter Barton was an ACMHA co-founder for whom the award is named, presented the award to Dr. Forquer during the 2009 ACMHA Summit on Behavioral Health Awards Luncheon in Santa Fe, NM on March 12.

Kana Enomoto Receives ACMHA King Davis Award

The Board of Directors at the American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA) is pleased to announce that Kana Enomoto, MA, has been awarded the inaugural King Davis Award for Emerging Leadership in Promoting Diversity and Reducing Disparities from ACMHA. The Davis Award is given to recognize emerging leaders who have made significant contributions in promoting diversity or reducing disparities through their work in the areas of behavioral health services, research, advocacy, or policy and honors the passions of its namesake, Dr. King Davis.

Ms. Enomoto is currently the Acting Deputy Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) having been moved into that position from the Special Assistant to the Administrator and Acting Associate Administrator for Women's Services of SAMHSA. In this role, she is engaged in the national policy, programmatic, and budget decision-making activities of SAMHSA, with a particular focus on the agency's mental health portfolio. Prior to joining the Office of the Administrator, Enomoto worked in the Center for Mental Health Services in a number of program and policy roles. She was involved in mental health policy efforts such as Transforming Mental Health Care in America: The Federal Action Agenda and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health Final Report. Ms. Enomoto also served as Associate Managing Editor for the Surgeon General's Report Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity in 2001. Since coming to the Department of Health and Human Services as a Presidential Management Intern in 1998, Enomoto has worked to raise the profile of mental health disparities and the interrelationship between trauma and mental health at the federal level. Prior to entering the federal government, she was at the National Research Center on Asian American Mental Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her background is in clinical psychology with a focus on research and clinical work with ethnic minority populations.

Dr. Davis, in presenting the award to Ms. Enomoto, noted "what struck me most was the clear indication that as a leader Kana has already emerged, with her best contributions yet to be made. She has made so many significant contributions to our field through her research emphasis on minority populations and through her creative administrative work at SAMHSA. It was truly an honor, both to have such an award named for me but equally powerful to be able to present it to Kana as the first recipient."

Joseph A. Rogers Awarded 2009 Coakley Award at ACMHA

The Trustees of the Coakley Fund and the Board of Directors at the American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA) are pleased to announce that Joseph A. Rogers, Philadelphia, has been awarded the 2009 Timothy Coakley Behavioral Health Leadership Award from ACMHA. Few people have influenced the mental health field more than Mr. Rogers. Over the last several decades, he has made extraordinary contributions to the national consumer movement, for system reform in Pennsylvania, and currently in developing a self-determination initiative in Delaware County, PA.

Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at age 19 and told that he was incapable of holding a job, Mr. Rogers spent the next few years in and out of state and local psychiatric hospitals. Upon his release, he descended into a life of homelessness and desolation until he eventually found a correct diagnosis and treatment for bipolar disorder, and a place to stay at a YMCA. After fate led him to a job as an outreach worker at a mental health center, he moved in 1984 to Philadelphia, where he began work at the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania (MHASP). It was there that he found his life's work.

Rogers was appointed executive director of MHASP in July 1997. His work has included setting up more than two dozen consumer-run programs at MHASP, organizing the first national consumer conference, and successfully advocating for the closure of state hospitals and the creation of community support services. From the outset, Mr. Rogers believed that individuals with mental illnesses are in the best position to direct their care and govern and staff their own services. Under MHASP's auspices, Mr. Rogers founded the Self-Help and Advocacy Resource Exchange (Project SHARE), which became the umbrella organization for programs that provide such essential services as peer support, drop-in centers, housing, homeless outreach, mentoring, and job training. He also has been instrumental in an ongoing effort to abolish the use of restraints in the treatment of patients in mental health facilities and in working to reform the methods used by police in apprehending at-risk individuals with mental illness. Mr. Rogers is currently Chief Advocacy Officer of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Rogers has testified before the United States Congress and served on the Congressional Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities. He also served on the Executive Committee of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. He is a past president of the board of directors and a former chairman of the advisory board of Pennsylvania Protection & Advocacy, Inc. (now the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania). He was an invited speaker in 1987 at the World Congress for Mental Health in Cairo, Egypt, and at the 1989 World Congress in New Zealand. In 1993, 1994, and 1995, he provided technical assistance to the growing consumer movement in Poland, where he met with consumers, service providers, and government officials. In 2005 he was awarded the 11th Heinz Award for the Human Condition - given to individuals who have developed and implemented significant new programs to improve the human condition - administered by the Heinz Family Philanthropies.

Coakley Fund Trustee Dr. Richard Dougherty, DMA Health Strategies, presented the award to Mr. Rogers during the 2009 ACMHA Summit on Behavioral Health in Santa Fe, NM.

Johnny W. Allem gives Testimony at the Democratic National Committee (07/24/08)

The Whole Health Campaign (WHC) sponsored a Platform Hearing in Alexandria, VA July 22, to present consensus recommendations for the considerations by national political parties. The event was part of an outreach program of the Democratic National Committee and was hosted by Mental Health America. The WHC is a coalition of more than 50 mental health and addiction recovery organizations dedicated to carrying recovery messages to America's political decision makers in 2008. The recommendations presented at the DNC event will also be included in a similar process for consideration by the Republican National Committee.

The WHC hearing featured policy presentations by William Emmet, of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform, and Eric Goplerud, Ph.D., of Ensuring Solutions for Alcohol Problems, a project of George Washington University. In addition, testimony from a recovery perspective was presented by Johnny W. Allem, President of the D.C. Recovery Community Alliance and ACMHA Board Member.

Allem's testimony follows:

My name is Johnny Allem and I enjoy long-term recovery from the disease of alcoholism. That specifically means I have not had a drink or drug in 26 years. I am very happy with this outcome. So are my family, neighbors, and the tax payers of the District of Columbia.

I have been an active advocate for fresh and science-based policies for addressing addiction in America since 1985 when I was appointed chair of the Mayors Advisory Council on Alcoholism in the District of Columbia. I speak out to demonstrate recovery and advocate so others may enjoy the benefits of recovery as I have.

While I have a story of spectacle and bad behavior as is often played up in the media view of this disease, my larger story - like millions of Americans - is one of service, responsibility, joy, and citizenship. I have been a successful businessman in the District, a cabinet member in DC Government, operations director of the District's mental health system, and president and CEO of a national non-profit organization.

I have written, testified, and demonstrated on behalf of addiction recovery and the larger field of behavior health and public health. In a national program known as Recovery Ambassadors, I have taught more than 2500 citizens in recovery how to be citizen advocates.

Fourteenth and V Streets, Northwest, in Washington, DC, is today in the heart of a gentrifying and thriving inner city neighborhood. On the northwest corner, however, is the worn and drab building more indicative of the neighborhood's history since the 1968 riots. Next to a deli on the corner is an unmarked door. The door opens to a narrow and dingy stairway with well-worn treads, stained walls, and the light of one 60-watt bulb.

A sign at the top of the stairs welcomes you to a twelve-step clubhouse. From 7 am to nearly midnight, hundreds of District residents climb these steps, walk down the hall to a coffee room, and spend a few moments in fellowship and gratitude for another 24 hours without a drink or a drug. The air is really different inside the club. It is weighted with the kind of gratitude only the dying can appreciate. To express this gratitude, someone several years ago pasted a homemade poster along side the official welcome sign at the top of the stairs. It simply said:

"It could have gone the other way."

In 1991, I was the alcoholic in recovery that first walked those stairs, signed a lease, and helped others organize a recovery club on that corner. I cannot describe the gratitude I feel as I meet those who began their recovery journey at 14th and V over the past 17 years.

But let me share an even more potent story for me:

Last Saturday, my son held a huge party at his home in Fairfax County. It celebrated his daughter's 14th birthday. This wonderful child, my oldest grandchild, has never seen her grandfather drunk. I am reminded that my grandfather died of this disease much younger than I am today. Her grandfather is alive, healthy, productive to society, and made her favorite home made ice cream for her birthday party.

I testify today not just on behalf of the millions of Americans who enjoy recovery as I do. I testify today on behalf of my three grandchildren, and the offspring of alcoholics and addicts everywhere. The science is clear. I know where their genes come from. I work so help will be there for their generation.

The science has taught us so much. But no disease in modern America has such a gap between what science teaches us and how we respond to illness. When I began my journey in 1982, I was told that many die without any intervention and most wind up in institutions and jails.

It is not any better today. In fact, in the same decade that has seen the most advances in brain science is also the decade in which America built more jail cells per capita than any civilization in history - largely to accommodate crude and inappropriate drug penalty laws.

The work of the 1990s has left us a horrible legacy. But it has produced one positive result: Today, American voters favor treatment - not jail - for people suffering with an addiction diagnosis.

I am reminded every day that I have choices. I choose to tend to my recovery because I know that "it could have gone the other way."

In America, we have not chosen recovery. Our story is going the wrong way. My grandchildren and your grandchildren will pay for our wrong choices. Those of you who craft policy for government action can make different choices.

That is why I and the DC Recovery Community Alliance strongly endorse the three-point platform recommendation of the Whole Health Campaign outlined here today:

1.Ensure equitable and adequate mental health and addiction treatment coverage in all public and private health care plans.
2.Support policies that promote individual and family recovery from mental illnesses and addictions as integral to overall health.
3.Commit to investing in America's future through prevention, early intervention, and research on mental illnesses and addictions.

Together, we can choose to recognize and honor recovery and the millions of citizens who enjoy successful outcomes from addiction disease.

We can choose to mainstream responses to addiction and mental illness so early symptoms are recognized and addressed.

We can choose to end the no-end, no-win, so-called War on Drugs and stop the expensive, corrosive and even racist jailing of Americans without attention to their primarily addictive conditions and illnesses.

We can choose following science to normalize recovery - moving addiction from an epidemic to a manageable health threat.

We can choose a healthy America - saving lives, saving money, restoring integrity and meaning to the American dream.

Let's not lose this opportunity to follow science, to follow success, and to follow the good sense of American voters.

Let's go the right way, the healing way, the recovery way.

Thank you.

Manderscheid Appointed to HHS Advisory Committee (03/17/08)

SRA International, Inc. announced that Global Health Sector Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Programs Ronald Manderscheid, PhD, has been appointed to Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael O. Leavitt's Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020. The committee was established to provide advice and assistance to the Secretary and HHS in developing health promotion and disease prevention objectives to improve the health of Americans by the year 2020. Manderscheid, who will represent interests in mental health and substance use, has more than 30 years of in-depth experience in these areas. He currently leads an SRA program area that includes development, demonstrations and research projects in mental health and substance abuse.

"Public Health - especially mental health and substance use services - has been much more than just a career or job for Ron; it has been his life's work," said SRA Global Health Sector Vice President and Director of Strategic Initiatives Stewart Simonson. "With Ron's expertise, the SRA Global Health Sector brings a level of expertise to the fields of mental health and substance abuse that makes a difference in the lives of Americans. We are extremely honored to have Ron on our team." The committee is comprised of experts in public health promotion, disease prevention, and public health benchmarking; Manderscheid was one of just 13 members selected from 400 candidates.

Manderscheid retired from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration after serving in a variety of leadership roles, including Chief of the Survey and Analysis Branch within the Center for Mental Health Services. He is a recognized national and international thought leader in mental health and substance use, has numerous published works, and is a recognized keynote speaker at industry functions. He has received many awards for his contributions to mental health and substance abuse, including the American College of Mental Health Administration's Lifetime Achievement Award.