Prevention/Early Intervention as a separate component of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) represents the biggest change in mental health planning and funding that has occurred in twenty years. As a brand new part of our system, this component of MHSA has the greatest potential to reduce the costs related to long term mental health treatment, special education, welfare supports and involvement in the criminal justice system.

Prevention and Early Intervention approaches are intended to be transformational in the way they draw the mental health system and its community partners toward a “help first” approach and away from being a “fail first” system. Embedded in this approach is the opportunity to engage in dialogue with key partners and pose the question: “What does emotional health look like?” and “What as partners, can we do together that would make the biggest difference our community?”

Prevention in mental health involves reducing risk factors or stressors and, building positive protective factors, skills and supports. Prevention promotes positive cognitive, social and emotional development and encourages a state of well-being that allows the individual to function well in the face of changing and sometimes challenging circumstances. Prevention efforts that use a universal approach to reaching the general public raise mental health awareness in the lives of all members of the community through public education and dialogue. Prevention/Early Intervention programs that use selective efforts do so by addressing a core set of factors in at-risk groups. These efforts aim to prevent and intervene early by targeting initial onset of mental health problems. Prevention efforts have the potential to dramatically reduce multiple negative outcomes for all age groups.

All types of Prevention/Early Intervention efforts build capacity in the community for providing service at sites where people go for other routine activities (e.g., health providers, schools, community organizations and neighborhood gathering places including faith-based sites). Through Prevention/Early Intervention efforts, mental health becomes part of overall wellness for individuals and the community, reducing the potential for stigma and discrimination against individuals with long-term effects of untreated mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.

The Mental Health Services Act authorizes the California Department of Mental Health to establish guidelines for counties to follow in developing their Three-Year Program and Expenditure Plan. The guidelines have been developed in partnership with diverse stakeholder input. A variety of methods may be funded through local PEI plans to address key elements of the plan requirements listed below:

Prevention Early Intervention programs have the following characteristics:

·      Consistent with MHSA principles of transformation: community collaboration, cultural competence, consumer/family member driven, wellness focused, and integrated service experience.

·      Often designed and implemented in collaboration with other systems and/or organizations

·      Generally delivered in a natural community setting

·      Link individual participants who are perceived to need assessment or extended treatment for mental illness or emotional disturbance to County Mental Health, the primary care provider or another appropriate mental health services provider.

·      Recognize the underlying role of poverty and other environmental and social factors that impact individuals’ wellness, therefore, programs also help link individuals and family members to other needed services provided by grassroots organizations and local agencies.

·      Consistent with non-supplantation requirements, collaboration and leveraging principles and all MHSA statutory and regulatory requirements.

Prevention Early Intervention programs address some or all of these Key Community Needs:

·         Disparities in access to mental health services

·         Psycho-social impact of trauma

·         At-risk children, youth and young adult populations

·         Stigma and Discrimination

·         Suicide risk

Prevention Early Intervention programs serve these Priority Populations (51% of funds are to serve children/youth up to age 25):
•             Underserved cultural populations, all ages
•             Individuals experiencing onset of serious psychiatric illness
•             Children/youth in stressed families
•             Trauma-exposed, all ages
•             Children/youth at risk for school failure
•             Children/youth at risk of Juvenile Justice involvement

Complete proposed guidelines and other information maybe found through this link: http://www.dmh.ca.gov/Prop_63/MHSA/Prevention_and_Early_Intervention/default.asp
 

In Stanislaus County, planning for the Prevention Early Intervention component will begin in 2008 and will be linked with extensive community involvement. In partnership with diverse communities and agency partners, Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services will take the lead in determining local priorities for inclusion in a Prevention Early Intervention Three-Year Plan. The logic model for Plan development is as follows:

Planning documents are posted below:
10/22/2007: Prevention and Early Intervention Request for Funding for Community Program Planning
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