Collaboration for Better Mental Health Care in 2008

ALBANY, NY (01/17/2008)(readMedia)-- The Inter-Office Coordinating Council (IOCC), reinstated by Gov. Eliot Spitzer to improve care for New Yorkers with mental health disabilities, today set forth ambitious priorities for 2008 in a report to the Legislature.

The IOCC, which had not met in 18 years until reinvigorated by the Governor, includes Commissioners and staff from the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), the Office of Mental Health (OMH), and the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD). The council is charged with advancing coordinating and integrating the services of those agencies to improve care for people with multiple needs.

Following the series of People First Coordinated Care Listening Forums in five New York cities in 2007, Gov. Spitzer signed into law in July the reinstatement of the IOCC to continue the collaboration among state agencies. The People First forums gave individuals with multiple needs, and their caregivers, the opportunity to describe their needs and issues in navigating state and local service systems before the Commissioners of OASAS, OMH, OMRDD and the Department of Health. The full report on the "People First" Coordinated Care Listening Forums <https://email.oasas.state.ny.us/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.oasas.state.ny.us/pio/forums/documents/PeopleFirstRpt.pdf> is available online.

Consistent with Governor Spitzer’s priorities, collaboration across systems during 2007 has led to fundamental change in how the State does business. The IOCC remains a beneficial statutory vehicle for the three Mental Hygiene systems to work together to ensure that people are first in the State’s policy agenda.

The IOCC had been inactive since 1989 when it met last summer. During the first IOCC meeting, Commissioners Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo (OASAS), Michael Hogan, PhD. (OMH), and Diana Jones Ritter (ORMDD), committed to meet regularly throughout the year.

The IOCC plans significant and aggressive progress in 2008. The IOCC will conduct regular public meetings that will be webcast for public viewing, form a Mental Hygiene Planning Committee and a Program Committee to address specific collaborative topics, and will address short and long-term goals set forth in the People’s First Listening Forum, aimed at systematically eliminating the structural, financial and regulatory barriers to accessing services.

Other actions the commissioners took during the meeting are:

• Each commissioner appointed an agency coordinator for the IOCC.

• Each agency may recommend additional tasks for the IOCC that are interagency in nature, focused on access and coordination, and achievable.

• Staff of the three state agencies will continue their work with the Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors (CLMHD) to improve and align planning. Progress will be reported at a future IOCC meeting.

To improve services for persons with multiple disabilities, IOCC member agencies are reaching out to the Department of Health (DOH), State Education Department (SED), Office of Children and Family (OCFS) and the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC) to include their input and involvement in cross agency issues.

OASAS Commissioner Carpenter-Palumbo, IOCC chairperson, said, “The People First Forums confirmed what Governor Spitzer had set forth as a priority for this administration: that collaboration to break down the silos of government is our job. I am excited to be a member of the newly revitalized IOCC. We are dedicated to our agenda and will work aggressively to implement our plans.”

Michael F. Hogan, PhD, Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health, said, "An active IOCC will further Governor Spitzer’s vision of a person-centered system of care that addresses all of an individual’s needs as smoothly and seamlessly as possible. This collaboration will go far to improve access to all needed services, better coordinate care across multiple service systems, and support the recovery of all New Yorkers with mental disabilities."

Diana Jones Ritter, OMRDD Commissioner, said, “Developing new and improved ways of working together to identify and implement common solutions is key to meeting Governor Spitzer’s charge to collaborate seamlessly as state human service agencies. The IOCC will play a vital role in helping us provide top-quality, person-centered supports across our agencies.”

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