To empower adults with psychiatric disabilities and substance abuse problems to successfully live, socialize, learn and work in their community, for the purpose of empowerment to promote recovery.

Definitions

Empowerment to promote recovery describes the mission of the Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA). Empowerment is the awareness that there is a process of active choice. Recovery is defined as a very personal process of changing attitudes, values, feelings and goals as an individual pursues a more fulfilling life.

Office Summary

The Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) promotes grassroots development for consumer services at all levels in the community and nationally. This means consumers play a major role in the formulation, development and implementation of initiatives and activities designed to best serve their needs. The OCA is advised by the Council on Consumer Affairs, made up of fifteen mental health and substance abuse consumers statewide who are trained in an advisory capacity to represent the desires of consumers, the services needed, and to assist in the evaluation of consumer satisfaction for the services provided.

The OCA serves as the nucleus for a broad range of services and supports for mental health and substance abuse consumer initiatives and activities. Empowerment is promoted by enabling consumers to take charge of their own recovery through active participation with support systems, advocacy, self-help and educational opportunities. The informed consumer can begin to network with dignity, take action against the challenges and obstacles, and become responsible for their own recovery, which further enhances the quality of life.

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The grassroots movement in New Mexico encourages a recovery orientation from a system perspective and closely integrates the efforts of consumers, family members, mental health professionals and administrators through initiatives, projects and programs. The focus of consumer driven services such as Double Trouble and Recovery, Wellness Recovery Action Plans, and Leadership Academies are to advance the principles and values of the grassroots movement, which are designed towards the consumer’s needs of communal integration and rehabilitation, education and training for the purpose of empowerment to promote recovery.

Our grassroots efforts are recognized and endorsed at the National level through partnerships and collaborations with Dr. Ed Knight Ph.D., Howie Vogel CSW, Ike Powell, and Mary Ellen Copland and through conferences such as Alternatives, Behavioral Health Tomorrow (BHT) Southwest Behavioral Health Conference (SWBHC), National Association for Rural Mental Health (NARMH), and National Mental Health Association (NMHA). States such as Maine, Hawaii, Arizona and Colorado have sought our experience in designing and implementing the Ombudsman Program, Double Trouble and Recovery programs, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Surveys, Citizen Organizer and Coordinator programs. Many inquiries nationally are received requesting information on the following OCA Initiatives, Projects and Programs.

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