Jeanie Whitecraft, Director
Jeanie Whitecraft, M.Ed. CAC, CCS, received her Master of Education from Temple University, her addictions training from Villanova University, and her dual diagnosis training from the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
She developed the Friends Connection Peer Support Model and has been its director since the inception of the program in 1989. The Friends Connection Peer Support Model was one of the first treatment models that addressed the link between substance abuse and addiction and mental health disorders.
In 1991, Jeanie spearheaded the connecting of Philadelphia's Mental Health System with Villanova University's certificate program for co-occurring disorders. Later that year Jeanie created and produced a made-for-television video documentary of the Friends Connection program, which lead the way for the program to receive the Mayor of Philadelphia's proclamation award in 1993.
In 1994, Jeanie was honored with the Villanova University Lorraine M. Hinkle Memorial Award for her outstanding contribution to dual diagnosis in Philadelphia.
Based on the new treatment model the program implemented and the empirical data gathered validating its effects, Jeanie co-published an article with Dr. Amelia Rocco Klein and Dr. Ram A. Cnaan in Research On Social Work Practice in 1998, titled Significance of Peer Social Support With Dually Diagnosed Clients: Findings From a Pilot Study. The pilot study was designed and completed by Dr. Klein, Division Director of the John F. Kennedy Agency for Mental Health/Mental Retardation in Philadelphia in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School.
Jeanie's continued efforts on behalf of the Friends Connection program have led to its honorable mention by the National Association of Community Behavioral Health Directors for "best practices" in July 2000.
Jeanie is currently collaborating on another publication for a common ingredients book on consumer operated services, which will be a product of the program's current involvement in a National Research Project on Consumer Operated Services with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the University of Pennsylvania.
Jeanie's goal is to make the Friends Connection program a national model for alternative approaches and supplements to traditional services for people with co-occurring disorders.
Jeanie comes from a diverse background in public health education. Much of her work in the field of mental health and co-occurring disorders evolved from her own personal and family experiences with depression and substance abuse and concern regarding the lack of treatment options for people with both issues.
Prior to Jeanie's development and oversight of the Friends Connection program, she helped develop Harbor House, the first community-based assessment and reentry program for people with mental health disabilities leaving the Philadelphia State Hospital.
Jeanie Whitecraft
Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Telephone: 215-751-1800
jwhitecraft@mhasp.org