Mission

The Office of Mental Health is the New York State government agency which creates opportunities for children and adults who have psychiatric disabilities to safely and effectively work toward recovery. These opportunities shall:

• reflect the expectation that each person can recover from mental illness;
• be provided in a changing health care environment characterized by comprehensive formal service networks organized at the local level;
• provide for full, open and meaningful participation of people who use services in all aspects of service provision, planning and policy making; and
• encourage a holistic approach to individuals and families through a balanced array of medical, therapeutic, self-help, social, supportive and rehabilitative services.

This approach shall include:

• individualized services which respect dignity, cultural differences and autonomy of the people using services in a manner which minimizes coercion and maximizes choice;
• flexible services which are responsive to measurable outcomes and user satisfaction; and
• quality services, based on the highest standards of research, provided in a cost efficient and effective manner.

Vision

The New York State Office of Mental Health will foster the development of an integrated system of effective mental health and related services to promote the mental health of citizens of the New York State while emphasizing the recovery of those with significant psychiatric disabilities.

Stakeholders

• Advisory Groups
• Advocates
• Economic Beneficiaries
• Employees
• Families
• Government:Federal, State and Local
• Providers
• Recipients
• Control/Oversight Agencies
• Taxpayers
• Unions

Key Result Areas

• Stakeholder Satisfaction

  Stakeholders believe that there is available a flexible array of services and related supports provided in a safe, cost-effective manner.
  
  

• Quality Services

  Effective and flexible individualized services are available to promote the mental health of New York citizens while emphasizing the rehabilitation and recovery if persons with significant psychiatric disabilities.
  
  

• Safety

  Services are provided in a manner designed to ensure the safety of the individual receiving the services, other recipients, employees, family members and the general public.
  
  

• Fiscal Responsibility

  Resource generation and utilization is characterized by providing quality services in the most cost-efficient and effective manner.
  
  

• Productive Workforce

  Qualified, diverse workers are trained and empowered to provide and administer mental health services.
  
  
  

Key Result Measures

• Stakeholder Satisfaction is measured by:

  • Access to services
  • Choice
  • Privacy rights
  
  
• Performance of the mental health services system is measured by:

  • Holistic approach to health, mental health and related services;
  • Recipient-defined measures of quality and maximization of choice;
  • Compliance with cultural competency standards;
  
  
• Safe environments in OMH-licensed services are measured by:

  • Numbers of serious incidents
  • Compliance with safety standards in performance contracts and network subcontracts
  • Recipients'/employees' perceptions of safety
  • Number of persons who are missing from inpatient facilities considered dangerous to others
  • Number of endangered persons missing from inpatient facilities who are considered dangerous to self or unable to care for self
  • Achievement of appropriate physical plant standards
  
  
• Fiscal performance measured against:

  • Spending Plan
  • Revenue Targets
  • Standard Unit and Per Capita Cost
  • Managed Care Network Contracts
  • Annual Management Plan
  
  
• Workforce effectiveness measured by:

  • Role qualifications defined by professional credentials or required training
  • Diversity reflected by a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural workforce
  • Results from satisfaction surveys of recipients, families, and employees
  • Indicators including, but not limited to, recipient outcomes
  
  

Strategies/Major Improvement Opportunities

• Improvement strategies identified in the following areas:

  • Quality services
  • Safety
  • Fiscal responsibility
  • Productive workforce
  
  
• Quality Services

  • Use research outcomes and implement results of service recipient and family satisfaction surveys.
  • measure the performance of networks and providers against: defined outcomes, performance profile over time, improvement in the system, standards and mandates of oversight agencies, and approved practice guidelines.
  • Include recipients and families in development of policies, programs and services.
  • Develop and implement cultural competency standards.
  • Develop and implement timely interventions to assure persons will receive the most appropriate and least restrictive services.
  
  
• Safety:
  
  Community-based programs: (State-operated and voluntary)

  • Convene focus groups statewide to identify recipient and staff safety concerns. Outcomes will be used to develop other safety strategies.
  • Develop and implement safety standards and risk assessment and safety perception tools.
  • Meet adequate and appropriate staffing guidelines.
  • Develop appropriate relationship with law enforcement agencies.
  
  OMH inpatient facilities:

  • Convene focus groups statewide to identify recipient and staff safety concerns.
  • Develop and adopt safety standards for facility management and staff to improve staff and patient interaction on wards to promote a safe environment.
  • Complete hospital security plans for each facility by September 1996.
  
  
• Fiscal Responsibility

  • Develop and utilize key indicator reports.
  • Develop and utilize appropriate non-personal service standard.
  • Develop and utilize appropriate staffing standards,
  • Track implementation of performance management plan.
  • Increase working partnership with control agencies and sister agencies to further empower OMH to manage resources.
  • Develop responsive administrative systems to allow local governmental units and operation to manage resources.
  • Monitor and evaluate performance against management care network providers.
  • Explore strategies to allow providers in the public mental health system to adapt to managed care environment.
  • maintain federal revenue to OMH.
  
  
• Productive Workforce

  • Develop and implement minimum workforce standards for networks and providers.
  • Develop satisfaction surveys for recipients, families and employees and use data to improve work environment.
  • Ensure employees are trained to meet recipient needs directly and are empowered to make decisions in their work area.