All posts in 2014 Speakers

Sera has been a part of the Western Massachusetts Recovery Learning Community (RLC) since its conception in 2007. As a member of the RLC leadership team, she has supported its development from an idea to a thriving community that includes four resource centers, one of the only peer respites in the country (Afiya), and many other learning and growth opportunities. Sera is also a member of the Hearing Voices USA Board, and a new filmmaker, co-producing her first film, ‘Beyond the Medical Model,’ with the Western Mass RLC in 2013. Additionally, she is a mother, a film lover, a blogger on Mad in America (www.madinamerica.com), and a chocolate and bleu cheese connoisseur (not together!).

Mr. Almazar has many years of experience as direct care provider, administrator, organizational and clinical consultant, trainer, and speaker. Prior to working as full-time consultant in 2009, he served as Deputy Director for the State of Illinois Division of Mental Health where he was charged to facilitate an organizational culture shift in all 10 State -operated facilities towards person-centered, trauma-informed, recovery-promoting, non-coercive treatment settings.

He serves as faculty to the National Center for Trauma-Informed Care and Senior Consultant to SAMHSA’s Promoting Alternatives to Seclusion and Restraints through Trauma Informed Practices. He provides consultation, training and technical assistance to organizations in the areas of leadership, workforce development, consumer empowerment, organizational planning and changing organizational cultures to effect systems transformation towards development of non-coercive, trauma-informed treatments. He has expertise in working with youth and adult serving, institutional and community based, publicly and privately –funded programs across service systems.

Community Behavioral-Health Crisis Services play a critical role in public safety, which becomes ever more challenging in a difficult fiscal climate. At the same time ironically, the Criminal Justice System often end up being the entry-point to the “system” for many individuals who are experiencing behavioral health symptoms. In many communities, law enforcement and behavioral health feel like disparate entities. A partnership between Public Health and Criminal-Justice Systems, helps to improve safety in a community and serves as an opportunity for diversion into behavioral health treatment, spawning opportunities for recovery. There are two parallel and interconnected challenges; namely, how to effectively and meaningfully engage these important community partners, while ensuring there is a funding mechanism to support a wide spectrum of interconnected services across the community behavioral health system.

For the past thirty eight years, Leon Evans has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of people with mental illness. As President and Chief Executive Officer at The Center for Health Care Services, Evans has developed an innovative and highly integrated system of care for people in the San Antonio community who struggle with mental health disorders. Utilizing strong community partnerships and diverse funding sources, Leon’s programs have created an effective public safety net that keep people with mental illness out of emergency rooms, jails and prisons and link them to treatment programs that help them lead independent, productive lives.

As President/CEO, Evans has developed a number of nationally recognized initiatives including the Bexar County Jail Diversion Program; the 24/7 Crisis Care Center; Crisis Intervention Training for public safety officers; and The Restoration Center, an integrated clinic providing psychiatric care, substance abuse services, transitional housing and general health care services for the homeless population. Each year, these programs save thousands of lives and result in millions of dollars of cost savings for the community.

Ken Cole, MPA, is currently a consultant with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Mental Health Program, based in Boulder, Colorado. Ken consults with state behavioral health agencies, health foundations, and psychiatric hospitals and provides systems assessment and improvement strategies. He has provided consultation to Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, South Dakota, and Oregon.

Prior to joining WICHE, Ken served as Deputy Director and Interim Director for the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health. In 2012-13, with Colorado’s Mental Health Commissioner, he led the development of a $22 million Governor’s initiative (funded by the Colorado Legislature) to strengthen Colorado’s mental health care. As part of this initiative, Ken led the development of an innovative jail-based restoration to competency program in the Denver metropolitan area.

His work with the Office of Behavioral Health included leadership and supervision of Colorado’s two state psychiatric hospitals and the Colorado public behavioral healthcare system. Ken is a trained Lean process improvement facilitator and he is actively engaged in applying Lean tools to improve the delivery of behavioral health services. Ken led the implementation of Lean process improvement methodologies at the Colorado state psychiatric hospitals.

Prior to joining the Office of Behavioral Health, Ken served for several years as a nonpartisan senior policy and budget analyst for the Colorado General Assembly. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics and Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Since 2001, Kevin has been the CEO of Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc. (GOBHI) a member-owned benefits management company (501 C 4) dedicated to assuring the delivery of high quality behavioral health services in rural Oregon. GOBHI is also a licensed child placing agency and operates more than 30 therapeutic foster homes throughout rural Oregon.

In 2012, the Oregon Health Plan was transformed from a carve-out delivery system to a carve-in model with the Medicaid benefit now being delivered through 16 coordinated care organizations. Kevin is the CEO of two of these CCOs – the Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization, in which GOBHI is a majority owner, and Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization, in which GOBHI is a risk bearing partner. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Umpqua Health Alliance in which GOBHI is a risk bearing collaborator.

Having worked since 1995 in leadership position of rural behavioral health, Kevin is very familiar with the impact of the social determinants of health upon the cost of healthcare. He is a strong advocate for paying for community based prevention first as a priority of healthcare reform.

Kevin serves as a nonvoting member of the Board of Directors of the National Council for Behavioral Health. He is native Oregonian, Kevin is a University of Portland Graduate, former County Judge and is the owner of a fourth generation, family owned, cattle ranch in the John Day River Valley.

As Founder, President and CEO of META Services in 1990, Gene had the vision of a non-profit organization that would create a better future for those receiving mainstream mental health services. Moving beyond stabilization, META Services soon became known as “the Recovery Alternative” – offering individuals the opportunity to find their own recovery path to health and wellness.

Learning from experts by experience, those with lived recovery experiences, in 1999 Gene made a declaration to stop the violence in the agency’s crisis facilities.  Within 18 months seclusion and mechanical restraint had been eliminated and the principles and practice of “No-Force-First” was created.  Believing that an education model would promote recovery outcomes, in 2000, Gene formed the Recovery Education Center where individuals shifted their role from patient to that of student, colleague and teacher and began to earn college credits.  Having started several peer-run organizations, Gene understood the power of support from a peer.  In 2001, Gene added a new discipline to all his service teams; Peer Support Specialist.  Since then, over 5,000 service recipients in the United States and abroad have graduated from the Recovery Innovations Peer Employment Training program.  Today Recovery Innovations employs over 425 Peer Support Specialists, 62% of the Recovery Innovations workforce, who work in complimentary roles alongside other mental health professionals delivering recovery-oriented programs of crisis response, housing, employment, education and peer support.  In 2008, Gene created an innovative approach to outpatient services, Wellness City, based on the principles of citizenship and wellness in nine dimensions.

Today Recovery Innovations has recovery services in 21 locations in Arizona, Delaware, North Carolina, California, Washington State and New Zealand serving over 25,000 individuals annually.

In 2013, Gene was recognized for his work by receiving the esteemed Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association John Beard Award for outstanding contributions to the field.

Eddy Broadway serves as chief executive officer (CEO) of Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care (Mercy Maricopa), the new Regional Behavioral Health Authority in Maricopa County. He is responsible for leading the financial, medical and operations management of this provider-sponsored, not-for-profit plan that serves the behavioral and medical health needs of Maricopa County residents. Mercy Care Plan and Maricopa Integrated Health System sponsor Mercy Maricopa.
Mr. Broadway is an accomplished health care executive with more than 20 years of extensive leadership experience in behavioral health operations. Most recently, he was with ValueOptions, where he served as CEO of ValueOptions Florida. He previously was vice president of public sector development for the company from 2009 to 2012 and CEO of ValueOptions New Mexico from 2008 to 2009.
Prior to joining ValueOptions, Mr. Broadway was the deputy director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, where he administered Behavioral health and Children’s Rehabilitative Services for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). He also has held additional positions in behavioral health with hospital systems in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Mr. Broadway earned his bachelor’s degree in social work from Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, a master’s degree in health systems management from Tulane University and a master’s degree in health and mental health from Grambling State University, all located in Louisiana

Claudia A. Sumrall, LCSW, joined Cenpatico in June 2005 and is currently the Vice President of Clinical Operations. Cenpatico’s expertise lies in managing benefits for vulnerable populations. The organization’s healthcare specialties include behavioral health, school-based services, specialty therapy and rehabilitation and more. Claudia is accountable for ensuring quality, person-centered behavioral health treatment is provided to Centene members through effective utilization, case and disease management efforts, provider profiling and training, and data driven interventions demonstrating optimal outcomes. At her time with Cenpatico, she has successfully implemented new business growing Cenpatico from serving six states and 800,000 lives in 2005 to 18 states and 2.9 million lives in 2014. In addition, Claudia has expanded the clinical department from seven clinicians to eight national regions and approximately 350 clinicians.
Prior to Cenpatico, Claudia worked for Inspiris in Phoenix, Arizona as the Clinical Director, where she successfully merged the Utilization Management Department and Post-Acute Services Department into a fully integrated Care Coordination Department. Before Inspiris, Claudia worked for PacifiCare as a Social Worker and Case Manager, and later as Manager of Clinical Operations. As the Manager of Clinical Operations, she was responsible for meeting HEDIS measures, obtaining full NCQA Accreditation and developing cost-saving programs that improved mem- bers’ quality of life.

Dr. Bernstein is the Executive Director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law in Washington D.C., the nation’s leading legal-advocacy organization representing people with mental disabilities.  A nationally recognized expert on public mental health, he was the architect of an innovative system serving older adults with persistent mental illnesses in integrated community-based settings.  He holds a doctorate in psychology and is an experienced clinician.   Dr. Bernstein has served as expert witness in litigation aimed at promoting community integration; including fair housing cases and the landmark Wyatt lawsuit that established basic rights for institutionalized individuals.  He has also served as an expert for the U.S. Department of Justice and state Protection and Advocacy agencies, conducting surveys of facilities and case reviews. He currently serves as Court Monitor in an important settlement agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Delaware, relating to the civil rights of people with serious mental illnesses. Dr. Bernstein joined the Bazelon Center in 1997.  He articulates his mission as the establishment of policies and systems that will foster the integration and empowerment of consumers of mental health services— beyond “deinstitutionalization” and toward “community membership.”