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 Overview
By being flexible, creative, and sensitive to the changing needs
of New York City, as well as to empirical evidence, MHA is
changing the way mental health services are delivered to children
and adolescents, their families and adults.
MHA has long recognized that to successfully help emotionally
ill children and adolescents, their families must be helped too.
MHA runs Family Support Programs and Parent
Resource Centers in Manhattan and the Bronx. At these centers,
parents of emotionally ill youngsters can attend parent training
and support groups, and easily obtain up-to-date information and
referrals. Armed with these tools, parents are better able to help
their children. And, parents learn that they are not alone. Finally,
parenting emotionally ill children and adolescents is often draining.
Sometimes parents just need a break. For this, they can turn to
MHA’s Respite Care Service,
which provides in-home care for children, creating much-needed,
planned, free time for parents to take care of essential tasks,
socialize, or just relax.
MHA’s programs for adolescents, including the Adolescent
Skills Centers and the Adolescent Career
Development Center, serve a population often ignored. These
programs guide numerous youngsters towards continuing their education
and entering the workplace.
MHA’s model programs for
adults integrate multiple services vital for recovery and life
in the community. Individuals can receive a full range of recovery-centered
employment, housing, education and supportive services tailored
to meet their specific needs, all within MHA’s network
of programs. Fast Track to Employment,
recognized as a national best practice model by the President’s
Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, helps individuals
with psychiatric disabilities to obtain permanent competitive employment
in the community. The Harlem Bay Clubhouse
Network offers members a social network, recreational activities,
volunteer activities, skills training, and transitional and permanent
employment opportunities. Recovery Works
addresses the residential and rehabilitation needs of homeless men
and women with psychiatric disorders and chemical addiction problems.
Our Supported Housing programs provide
permanent, independent housing to men, women, couples and parents
who are in recovery from mental illness or mental illness and chemical
addiction.
Finally, one of the greatest obstacles to treating those with mental
health problems is lack of knowledge. Some individuals don’t
know that they have a problem, or they don’t seek treatment
because they fear being stigmatized. Others avoid treatment because
they wrongly believe that it is inaccessible or unaffordable.
MHA is fast becoming the recognized leader in fighting stigma
and providing New Yorkers with information on mental health and
mental illness. That’s because our programs work in a continuum,
educating the public step by step on all these issues. First, our
Community Outreach and Public Education
programs help raise awareness about mental health problems and encourage
people to seek treatment. Second, when someone is ready to seek
help for himself or herself, a friend or a family member, LifeNet’s
multicultural hotline network, the only toll-free, confidential,
citywide hotline for mental health and substance abuse concerns,
can provide immediate information on where to find accessible affordable
mental health treatment to English-, Spanish- or Chinese-speaking
callers.
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