by Rebecca Woolis*

Too often, when a loved one first exhibits worrisome symptoms or is diagnosed with a mental illness, no one in the family knows what kind of help is available, where to find a doctor or services for their loved one or for themselves. This is about to change with the launch of an exciting program in Northern California.

Alameda County is preparing to open a Family Education and Resource Center (FERC). The FERC will address long standing desperate needs of families for basic information about mental illness, services and support. It is designed to help create a more client and family driven system, one that embraces wellness, recovery, resiliency and cultural competence.

FERC will be the place an overwhelmed mother calls when she needs a warm understanding person to talk to about her son’s latest hospitalization and what steps to take next. It is the place a sister will turn to if she wants to learn more about what it means that her brother has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and how she can best help him. FERC will have classes, a library of CDs, DVDs, videos, books and computers, and knowledgeable people to talk to. The intention is to serve all families: non-traditional families, and those with children suffering with severe emotional disturbances through older adults who are culturally and linguistically diverse, and especially those who have been underserved by the public mental health system.

Alameda County located on the east side of the San Francisco Bay, covers a large geographic area with almost 1.5 million people. It is also a very culturally diverse county. Therefore, services will be provided at a main center and three satellites. Sensitivity will be paid to how different cultures understand such things as the behaviors and symptoms associated with mental illness or what it means to seek support outside of the family from professionals or mental health programs.

The primary focus will be to offer services to families such as support, education about mental illnesses, treatment, coping strategies, and how to navigate the system of care. Classes will be offered in a variety of lengths, formats, and languages. For example, NAMI's 12 week Family-to-Family course may be offered in the original format in one location and in a modified, shorter or more culturally nuanced way in another. Support, information and referrals will be provided in person by family advocates and via a telephone warm line. A website will also be set up so information can be obtained via the internet.

Additionally training will be offered to prepare family members for leadership roles in the county administration of mental health service and other decision making bodies.

To truly engage the culturally and linguistically diverse community that has not used public mental health services, FERC intends extensive outreach. Staff will find out what kind of education and support might be most relevant and useful for different groups and how to partner with them to build or rebuild trust in service providers. Trainings and support groups will be held in places of worship, community centers, libraries or other places people are accustomed to and comfortable being.

FERC will also address families’ desires to have providers recognize the importance of their support of their ill relative and develop more family-friendly policies and procedures. FERC will offer training and consultation to mental health service providers. The goals with be to help them appreciate a family perspective and develop strategies for involving families in the provision of services. A broad spectrum of issues that have limited family involvement will be addressed such as confidentiality laws. Providers will be taught how to both respect confidentiality and improve contact and relationships with families. Education and training to staff from related systems such as schools, local police departments, primary care clinics, child protective services, and the criminal justice system will also be offered to improve their knowledge of mental illness, enhance referral systems, and educate them about working effectively with family members and consumers.

The program is being funded by the Mental Health Services Act passed in 2004 in California which levied a one percent tax on incomes in excess of $1 million to provide funds to expand mental health services.

Never before has the adult public mental health system created a free standing program focusing on the needs of families with relatives struggling with mental illness. In this regard, FERC promises to serve as a model for services long needed yet rarely, if ever, provided in this centralized manner. The plan is available from Alameda County Behavioral Health Care. To read it in pdf, click here.

*Rebecca Woolis is a licensed therapist with three decades experience working with families, clients, in private practice and public agencies.