Partners in CARE
Community Access to Recovery and Empowerment

Consumer Connections recruits, trains and supports "consumers" (individuals with mental illnesses) in jobs as human service and mental health service providers. The program is sponsored by the Mental Health Association in New Jersey and co-sponsored by Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey, a statewide self-help agency run by individuals with mental illnesses.

Mission

By providing a comprehensive system of job training and support, Consumer Connections strives to create opportunities for people with mental illnesses to become human service providers. The program gives people with major mental illnesses the opportunity to define for themselves what being a service provider means.

Population Served

Consumer Connections targets consumers of mental health services who are interested in employment in the field of human services. Program participants have widely varying levels of education and employment experience. Some individuals have no high school degree or work history, while others have master's degrees and extensive professional experience.

Philosophy

Consumer Connections was founded on the idea that service providers with mental illnesses can be great role models for their clients. Their stories of recovery and empowerment help eliminate stigma and encourage others to follow in their footsteps. In addition, these consumer providers give their clients invaluable peer support and understanding.

Program Goals

Consumer Connections aims to:

• Recruit, train, and support people with mental illnesses in occupations as human services and mental health providers;
  
• Expand the employment opportunities in the mental health and human service systems for people with mental illnesses;
  
• Educate mental health professionals about the value of service providers with mental illnesses on their service teams; and
  
• Integrate trained consumer providers into the mental health association and consumer advocacy networks as part of legislative, public policy and systems advocacy.
  

Program Highlights

Consumer Connections works with many organizations throughout the state, including the State Division of Mental Health Services, 22 self-help centers and a number of mental health associations, consumer advocacy groups, supported employment programs and other mental health agencies. Through Consumer Connections, these organizations work together to recruit, train, and place people with mental illnesses in jobs as service providers.

Consumer Connections' Core Training Program provides employment training to program participants. The 50 hours of training lasts nine days and is offered three times a year in different New Jersey locations.

Training includes lectures, role playing activities, videos, group discussions and a number of other individual and group exercises. The training staff use ideas from participant evaluations to change and improve the training.

After completion of the Core Training Program, Consumer Connections offers one-day workshops on a variety of topics for continuing education and training.

For those who complete the training program, Consumer Connections has a Job Opportunity Bank that facilitates outreach and job placement. An information and employment referral specialist works with individuals and agencies to match opportunities to potential employees.

The Consumer Connections Support Network is a comprehensive program that provides ongoing support to program participants who are employed or actively seeking employment. The Network functions as an employee assistance plan; services are voluntary and based on the needs of the individual. Four support coordinators, available by beeper 24 hours a day, provide any needed individual support to program graduates.

Support coordinators use the telephone, individual meetings, and monthly peer supervision group meetings to give individuals the support they need. Coordinators and program participants use meetings to solve problems, share employment opportunities, talk about potential training topics, and discuss conditions in the workplace.

In addition to its direct services to program participants, Consumer Connections also educates mental health and other human service agencies and encourages them to employ people with mental illnesses in their service systems.

Contact Person:
Jennifer Miller, Director of Training
Mental Health Association of New Jersey
60 South Fullerton Ave., #105
Montclair, NJ 07042
PH: (973) 744-2500
E-MAIL: mhanj@aol.com
WEB: www.mhanj.org