NJAMHAA News Spring 2021

spring 2021 7 Jersey,” said Jim Cooney, MSW, LCSW, currently CEO of Ocean Mental Health Services and a former NJAMHAA Board Chair. Over the years, NJAMHAA has achieved many other significant advocacy successes. One of the most notable and recent examples is the full restoration of funding for the School Based Youth Services Program in Gov. Murphy’s proposed revised budget for FY2021. More examples of NJAMHAA’s impact and other highlights of its rich history will be featured in the commemorative journal that will be unveiled at NJAMHAA’s 70 th anniversary celebration, which will be held virtually on May 20, 2021 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. In addition to advocacy successes, another major achievement that stands out for many who have been involved with NJAMHAA for a long time is the creation of the Information Technology (IT) Project. See details on the impressive evolution of this unique in the nation, invaluable resource beginning on page 16. A comment about the IT Project from Jerome Johnson serves as a great preview: “I don’t knowwhere we would’ve been without the IT Project. We would’ve been in the Dark Ages.” Expanding Influence throughout NJ and far beyond its Borders All of NJAMHAA’s efforts align with its mission to maximize members’ effectiveness and efficiency in providing services to everyone in need. To provide additional tools and resources for members, NJAMHAA created the New Jersey Mental Health Institute (NJMHI) in 2000. According to Bill Sette, “NJMHI has been able to expand resources available to the Hispanic communities of New Jersey and the providers who serve those communities. In addition, it has brought new opportunities for mental health professionals to develop cultural awareness and sensitivity, which are essential for providing the most effective care for Hispanics, as well as other minority populations.” These initiatives also focused on serving Asians, African Americans and other minority communities. NJMHI’s cultural competence conferences addressed the unique needs of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer population. In addition, NJMHI engaged in policy development initiatives, which led to the state’s requirement for clinicians to earn continuing education units in cultural competence on a regular basis and the establishment of cultural competence training centers, which are operated by NJAMHAAmembers, Family Connections and the Center for Family Services. In December 2004, DebraWentz was in Sri Lanka to attend a friend’s wedding when the tsunami hit. She missed the waves by a matter of moments and immediately went to work, trying to provide whatever help she could to relieve the trauma and impart her knowledge of the collective mental health impact on citizens of Sri Lanka through communication with the Prime Minister’s Office and a television interview on the official station in Sri Lanka. Working with her contacts in the United States and a non-governmental organization in Sri Lanka, she began to lay the groundwork for what became the Sri Lanka Mental Health Relief Project, which helped more than 210,000 Sri Lankan individuals in three phases, beginning in 2005 and finishing in 2019. In 2006, NJMHI launched the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health to build on its internationally visible Changing Minds, AdvancingMental Health for Hispanics program. Mirroring its New Jersey vision, the goals were to address the nationwide lack of availability, access, and provision of quality mental health services for Hispanics, and to heighten awareness, acceptance and understanding of mental illness throughout the Hispanic population. Currently, NJMHI is working towards the creation of a Center of Excellence on Social Determinants of Health for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. As NJAMHAA’s work has been and is continuing with ongoing and increasing impact, this summary is a preview of the additional details on accomplishments and goals for the future that will appear in the 70 th anniversary commemorative publication in May. I have since considered NJAMHAA an asset to the state and a resource to me. - Governor Chris Christie Transforming Lives and Health Systems