Addressing disparities in access to behavioral healthcare for deaf and hard of hearing persons; Innovation and success in strategic planning

In 2008, twenty Colorado leaders from mental health, substance abuse, the deaf and hard of hearing communities, education, government and consumer and family advocacy organizations came together to study policy and practice to best meet the mental health and substance abuse service needs of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. The process was funded, in part, by Colorado's Division of Behavioral Health and produced Colorado's Deaf & Hard of Hearing Mental Health & Substance Abuse Action Plan. The presentation describes an innovative, comprehensive, strategic planning process that included: reviewing policies and practices from other states; understanding a successful service delivery model in Colorado; listening to the life-experiences of deaf and hard of hearing individuals and their families; using specialized facilitation skills that addressed participants' varied cultural and linguistic needs; and focused on opportunities for improvement within the mental health and substance abuse systems. The resulting Action Plan is responsive to critical unmet mental health and substance abuse assessment, prevention, and treatment needs of deaf or hard of hearing clients who have, in effect, been excluded from most education about and participation in mental health and substance abuse policy development, administrative and clinical training, and access to culturally and linguistically competent services. The Action Plan led directly to funding from Colorado's Statewide Strategic Use Fund for the Daylight Project, a statewide effort to provide training and technical assistance to increase the capacity of public mental health and substance abuse providers to deliver quality services to this population.