Jim McCormack to Head New Consumer Support Program

Under a contract with the state Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS), MHASP has hired Jim McCormack, Ph.D., to serve as director of CSP Technical Assistance in Pennsylvania.

In this role, McCormack is providing education, support and other assistance to consumers, family members and professionals who serve as volunteers on Consumer Support Program (CSP) committees throughout the state.

These committees exist at the county, regional and state levels and help communities identify needs and develop comprehensive community support services for adults with serious mental illnesses.

McCormack comes to his new position with extensive clinical, research and psychiatric rehabilitation experience and a history of involvement with the CSP concept that reaches back almost to the time it was developed by the National Institute of Mental Health in 1977.

He also has helped train others on how to translate CSP values and principles into practical applications in order to improve the quality of community-based programs.

McCormack said one of his goals is to help promote the development of CSP committees in counties where they do not currently exist. He said he also would like to see both the state CSP program, as well as the state's behavioral health system, become stronger and better organized. "If we are going to promote system change, we need to have a coalition of different groups that will work together, a strategic plan and a staff dedicated to supporting this work," said McCormack. "Through the CSP committees we already have a coalition in place. We're working now to develop a strategic plan. The last piece that we need is to have a staff person in each of the state's four CSP regions whose sole responsibility is working with CSP committees and serving as a liaison with me and the other CSP committees."

The CSP concept is based on the goal of creating opportunities for people that will help them lead a more independent life, rather than fostering a life of dependence and disability. It also is based on the belief that traditional mental health services alone are not enough to help people with severe mental illnesses achieve that goal.

Instead, additional services such as housing, vocational training and employment, income maintenance, medical care and rehabilitation are also necessary in order for people to live successfully in the community.