Systems in support of services to persons with psychiatric disabilities are recognizing the benefit of developing a significant place for mental health consumers in shaping policy and services. This is an opportunity to enhance self-determination, but specific consumer attributes are required for success. The West Virginia Leadership Academy is a collective advocacy training program operating, since 1995, under the administration of grassroots consumer groups with the support of the West Virginia Office of Behavioral Health Services/Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities and, at the federal level, by the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The program is intended to meet the human resource requirements of a consumer-participatory system. The Leadership Academy has produced more than 375 graduates in West Virginia and, as a service of the Consumer Organization Networking Technical Assistance Center, it has evolved into a nationwide vehicle for the organization and training of mental health consumers.
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