Welcome To Northern Lakes CMH

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Welcome To Northern Lakes CMH

• Provider and manager of public behavioral health
  care services and supports

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What is Northern Lakes CMH?Our mission is to
promote the behavioral health of our individuals,
families and communities through programs that
promote recovery, build resilience, create
opportunity and improve quality of life.
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The Behavioral Health term in our mission
statement means we specifically help

• Adults with mental illness
• Children with serious emotional disturbance
• Individuals with developmental disabilities
• People with substance use disorders

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A Quick Clarification

• Mental illness and developmental disabilities are
  not the same.

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Mental illness is a term that refers collectively
to all diagnosable mental disorders.

• Mental disorders are health conditions that are
  characterized by alterations in thinking, mood,
  or behavior (or some combination thereof), that
  are all mediated by the brain, and associated
  with distress and/or impaired functioning.
• Some examples of mental illnesses include
  depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia.

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Mental illness does not discriminate.

• Mental illness affects 1 in 5 Americans.
• These disorders can occur in men, women and
  children of any age and in all races, ethnic and
  socioeconomic groups.
• They can be the result of family history,
  genetics, or other biological, environmental,
  social, or behavioral factors that occur alone or
  in combination.

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There is no Quick Fix for mental illness.

• However, the CMH system has a wide array of
  services and supports which can help promote
  recovery and build resilience.
• Our NLCMH system is involved in a transformation
  effort to become more recovery-oriented so that
  recovery is the expectation for people with
  mental illness.

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Developmental Disabilities

• Developmental disabilities result when the brain
  doesnt develop or work the way that is typically
  expected.
• Mental impairments make it very difficult to
  learn things.
• Physical impairments may prevent people from
  being able to control their movements or to speak
  clearly.
• Some developmental disabilities are a combination
  of both.

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Developmental Disabilities

• Appear before a person is 22 years of age.
• Some examples of developmental disabilities are
  learning disorders, mental retardation, cerebral
  palsy, Downs syndrome.
• There is no cure for developmental disability.
• However, the CMH system has a wide array of
  supports and services to create opportunity and
  improve quality of life.

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The Big Picture

• Northern Lakes is one of 46 CMHs in the State of
  Michigan.
• The 6 Counties Northern Lakes serves are shown
  here in red.

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The Big Picture

• In addition, Northern Lakes, doing business as
  the Northwest CMH Affiliation, is one of 18
  Pre-Paid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHPs) in the
  State of Michigan.
• In this role, Northern Lakes serves as the
  manager for behavioral health services for
  Medicaid beneficiaries.
• The 9 Counties in which Northern Lakes manages
  Medicaid services are shown here in purple.

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What does CMH do?
We cultivate hope. The hope that someone has when
taking their first small step toward recovering
from a mental illness.We nurture dreams the
dream of taking steps toward becoming gainfully
employed or living independently.Simply put,
what CMH does is grow human potential.
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How does one access services?When you contact us
you can expect prompt answers to your questions
about our services and eligibility requirements.
Priority is given to individuals with the most
severe forms of serious mental illness, serious
emotional disturbance, and developmental
disability. Three areas affect decisions about
your treatment 1) Clinical condition, 2)
Therapeutic appropriateness, and 3) Medical
necessity.If you do not meet eligibility
requirements as outlined in our contracts with
the Michigan Department of Community Health, we
will assist you with referral to other service
providers.
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What is the access process?A qualified Mental
Health Professional will complete a telephone
screening when you call to request services and,
if you qualify, will arrange a face-to-face
interview at a time and location convenient to
you. Emergencies will be promptly addressed by
professional staff from one of our local office
locations.After your confidential interview, we
will review your concerns and findings with you
and help you decide on an appropriate course of
care.
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Then what happens?If you qualify and are
interested in ongoing behavioral health services,
we will link you to the programs and/or services
best suited to your needs. In most cases we will
arrange your first appointment within 14 days.
We will also answer questions about your
benefits and costs for services. We coordinate
care with your doctor and your health plan to
make sure the services you receive are efficient
and effective.
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What if I dont qualify for ongoing
services?Emergency mental health services are
always available 24/7 for everyone who is
experiencing a mental health crisis. You do not
need to meet any eligibility requirements to be
served in an emergency. If you do not meet
eligibility requirements for ongoing services as
outlined in our contracts with the Michigan
Department of Community Health, we will explain
why and we will assist you with referral to other
service providers. For specific questions about
eligibility requirements call our Access staff at
231-922-4850 or 800-49-ALPHA.
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Services available to the general public
Information and referral Crisis intervention
and emergency services 24/7 (no eligibility
requirements) Community education Recovery
initiatives such as Learning Communities and art
groups
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What is Changing?

• Recovery the expectation for people with mental
  illness

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Northern Lakes CMH Definition of Recovery
(created by our Recovery Council)

• Recovery is a personal journey of hope, purpose
  and growth. It is the process of setting our own
  directions in life.
• We accept the responsibilities of meeting
  challenges, using our own abilities, strengths
  and determination.

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Some of our local Recovery initiatives include

• Integrated Co-Occurring Disorders Treatment
• Family Psychoeducation Groups
• Peer Support Specialists
• Recovery initiatives open to the public
• Recovery Learning Communities
• Pathways to Recovery classes
• WRAP classes (Wellness, Recovery, Action Plan)
• Art classes

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What needs to change?

• Person-First Language

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I struggle daily with self-acceptance, trying to
see myself as bright, pretty and kind. Often I
see the opposite dumb, ugly and mean. The
energy that I spend trying to feel normal is
huge, but it is what I want more than anything in
the world to be mentally and emotionally
stable.

• Words are powerful!

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Person-First Language is Respectful

• Its a way of showing the focus is on the person,
  not their disability. For example, use person
  with schizophrenia instead of a schizophrenic.
• Person-First Language also emphasizes the
  ability, rather than disability. For example, it
  is correct to say that a person is a wheelchair
  user, or uses a wheelchair, not is
  wheelchair-bound.
• Person-First Language helps to reduce the stigma
  attached to disability.

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Questions?