Concerns about CABHA Growing Among NC Consumers

The buzz across North Carolina about Critical Access Behavioral Health Agencies (CABHA) these past few weeks is setting mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse system stakeholders on edge. There are concerns from many different perspectives, but here are some of the common concerns I am hearing among others who are customers of the system or who otherwise have been personally affected by how services are developed.
* 1. The lack of inclusion of the consumer voice.
* 2. An implied disregard for the human and civil rights of citizens who have no input and who will have no choice in how the system serves them.
* 3. An absence of a humane values base. The basis of CABHA is economic. The stated emphasis on more clinical oversight to result in capturing savings does not necessarily guarantee improved outcomes.
* 4. Values such as goal-setting, growth, recovery, self-determination, resilience are not part of the discussion.
* 5. There is no emphasis on service outcomes as they are experienced in the lives of citizens. That is, there has been no expressed intent of promoting innovative services or evaluation of service results with outcomes defined by consumers.
* 6. The future of peer support as a significant component of our system is highly questionable as there has been insufficient training about the real value of consumer self-support and even consumer operated services in this state. Or if such discussions are happening, no one benefits by it.
* 7. The implementation which is to begin in January is to be implemented in such a hurry. Many smaller providers will be made to close because of short deadlines.(and unfortunately, many of the most successful service provisions have been through smaller, person-focused providers)

There are some very interesting dialogues currently on the NC Advocacy discussion site (ncadvocacy@yahoogroups.com) . I hope readers will check it out to become better informed about CABHA and other upcoming changes. Also, please go to the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services website for more information. You can read any ot the informational bulletins or updates (www.dhhs.state.nc.us/MHDDSAS/)