The MHTTC Network included a Network Coordinating Office (NCO), ten (10) MHTTC Regional Centers, a Tribal Affairs Center, and a Hispanic and Latino Center. This collaborative network supported resource development and dissemination, training and technical assistance, and workforce development in the mental health field. The MHTTC Network worked with organizations and treatment practitioners involved in the delivery of mental health services to strengthen their capacity to deliver effective evidence-based practices to individuals, encompassing the full continuum of services spanning mental illness prevention, treatment, and recovery support.
South Southwest MHTTC
The South Southwest MHTTC (SSW-MHTTC) served the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region 6, including Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Its population of focus included mental health clinicians, supervisors, and program managers serving individuals with or at risk of serious emotional disturbances (SED) or severe mental illness (SMI); peer support providers; community mental health, health, or peer-run organizations; and single-state agency administrators focused on comprehensive state public mental health systems.
Our Goals
The purpose of the South Southwest MHTTC was to build the capacity of the mental health workforce, organizations, and systems to deliver effective, evidence-based promotion, prevention, treatment, and recovery supports. The goals were to address key needs identified by stakeholders in the region, organized around the following objectives:
- Increase the capacity of the mental health workforce to provide culturally sensitive, effective interventions that enhance the quality of life for individuals experiencing mental health disorders.
- Increase the number of organizations implementing evidence-based practices to promote mental health, intervene early, prevent suicide and serious mental illness, and effectively treat individuals with mental health and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
- Strengthen the region’s capacity to support the recovery of individuals with serious emotional disturbances and serious mental illness.
- Provide technical assistance in quality improvement models to enhance the outcomes of mental health services within the region.
Areas of Focus
The South Southwest MHTTC focused on several key areas to address the diverse needs within the region. These areas included School Mental Health, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Provider Well-Being, First Episode Psychosis, and the Peer Support Workforce Project. Click on each link to find resources related to these focus areas.
Resources
- School Mental Health
With targeted funding from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the South Southwest MHTTC expanded schools’ capacity to deliver evidence-based mental health services. We supported professionals in Region 6 through information sharing, resource development, and training. Our work aimed to improve the lives of students, especially those facing mental health challenges.
- Provider Well-Being
The COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented in its impact on the mental health of all providers, including those in high-stress positions and those experiencing new levels of distress. It became crucial to offer resources and self-care practices to support wellness, increase resilience, and reduce burnout. The South Southwest MHTTC provided wellness and self-care resources to support these essential providers.
- First Episode Psychosis (FEP)
The First Episode Psychosis (FEP) focus area of the South Southwest MHTTC provided cost-free training and support for mental health providers serving individuals with early psychosis. We valued evidence-based, recovery-oriented training that centered lived experience and cultural responsivity, offering diverse programming to enhance outcomes and accessibility for young people with early psychosis.
- Peer Support Workforce Project
The Peer Support Workforce Project is an initiative within the South Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC). It aims to enhance the role of peer support specialists in the mental health field by providing training, technical assistance, and knowledge dissemination. The project promotes the integration of peer support within diverse mental health settings and fosters collaborations among stakeholders. Its goal is to create a more equitable and empowering mental health system that supports recovery and well-being for all.
- Cultural and Linguistic Resources
The South Southwest MHTTC provides training and technical assistance to strengthen the behavioral health workforce and address inequities in the mental health field. By highlighting cultural and linguistic responsiveness, the MHTTC works to ensure that all population groups receive respectful, understandable, and appropriate services. Recognizing and tailoring approaches to the unique values, beliefs, and customs of each community helps organizations promote better mental health outcomes not only for the overall local community but also for each smaller cultural group.
- Trauma Informed Care
Trauma is pervasive and impacts all of us, children and adults. One way we can be responsive, healing centered, and recovery oriented in this space is to normalize that which we know is real. Building a form of care centered and informed by trauma can help promote a culture of safety, trust, empowerment and choice, and peer support. In collaboration with the Children’s Commission and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the South Southwest MHTTC has compiled and curated documents meant to provide all available trauma-informed care training resources for various professionals.
- Person-Centered Recovery Planning (PCRP)
Person-centered recovery planning is a collaborative process between a person and their behavioral health care providers and natural supporters that results in the development and implementation of an action plan to assist the person in achieving their unique goals along the journey of recovery. PCRP is increasingly required by state behavioral health authorities and funders such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with explicit standards within Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC) and Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program models. Despite existing and emerging requirements around PCRP, there remains much confusion in the field regarding its practical implementation. Learn more from this 2021 report on promoting person-centered planning within New England through learning collaborative supports.
