Staff turnover in behavioral healthcare organizations has always been a challenge for sustaining service innovations that improve quality of life and other outcomes for people diagnosed with severe mental illness and addiction to alcohol, tobacco, opioids, and other drugs. The Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University celebrates its 20th Anniversary helping service systems and organizations advance workforce development to support and sustain best practices that improve quality of life and other outcomes for individuals and families. / The Center is supported by the Ohio Department of Medicaid.

Help people discover and talk about their desire for personal change, like managing symptoms of mental illness; reducing the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; and improving physical health. Attend our Center's Motivational Interviewing (MI) training events. MI is an evidence-based treatment utilized in a variety of service settings and models (e.g., ACT, IDDT, SE/IPS, Integrated primary health, housing services, residential treatment). / Supported by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS).

The State of Ohio continues to make Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) a top priority for people with severe mental illness who are most at-risk of homelessness, psychiatric crisis and hospitalization, and involvement in the criminal justice system. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and Department of Medicaid are supporting the implementation of ACT in local communities with help from the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University. Our Center is providing consultation, evaluation, training, and learning communities for behavioral healthcare organizations that are implementing ACT or thinking about starting the process.

The Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University has created new resources and free downloads for its online ACT Team Meeting Tools resource page. Among the new resources is an eight-page booklet that provides an introduction to some popular tools that ACT teams use in daily-team meetings to organize information about their work supporting the recovery of people with severe mental illness. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and Department of Medicaid are supporting the implementation of ACT in Ohio with help from the Center.

Providers of housing services for adults with severe mental illness and addiction (adult-care facilities and recovery housing) are building the capacity to reduce the impact of trauma upon residents and staff with a new training developed by the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS). The event, titled "Creating a Trauma-Informed Culture of Care for Housing Providers," will take place on 14 dates in 2018-19 in 7 cities throughout Ohio (Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Portsmouth, and Toledo), beginning in July.

Lenore A. Kola, PhD, of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University has co-authored an editorial that encourages lawmakers and other policymakers to abandon harsh opinions and policies which may brand people who suffer from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, including opioids, as morally inadequate and, thus, not entitled to or eligible for treatment. Kola and her co-author, Mark I. Singer, PhD, argue that the time has come for social systems to adopt a public-health approach to addiction treatment that includes harm reduction.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) has developed the Expedited SSI & SSDI Program as a way to reduce the processing time of applications for disability determination for adults with severe and persistent mental illness. OhioMHAS is training community-based behavioral health providers in the state about the program, so they may assist eligible individuals. Ohio providers may request an in-person training from OhioMHAS to take place at their organizations.

In an effort to increase housing stability among people with mental illness, addiction, and co-occurring disorders, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) has teamed up with the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University to host an important training for owners, operators, and staff members of adult-care facilities throughout the state. "Motivating Residents for Housing Success" takes place on 15 dates (Jan-Aug) in 8 cities. Participants learn to assess stages of behavior change among residents and engage in conversations that minimize resistance to change and maximize personal transformation.

Crystal Smith of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices received the 2016 B. Lenora Benson Award for Excellence from the Jack, Joseph & Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences in a ceremony that took place on Friday, January 20, 2017. The annual award is named for Mrs. Benson, who worked at Case Western Reserve for more than 30 years and managed the Mandel School’s finance department for a decade. Mrs. Benson and Grover "Cleve" Gilmore, PhD, dean of the Mandel School, presented this year's award.

It's time to update your address books. The main office of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices is now located in the newly renovated Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. We moved on November 30, 2016. Our new office is located just down the street from our old office. Our phone number remains the same but our fax number and address have changed. Please update your records with our new contact information and be sure to use our complete 9-digit postal (zip) code.