UIC Department of Psychiatry

Director, Ron Davidson, PhD

The Mental Health Policy Program (MHPP) was designed to review the quality of care provided by group homes, residential treatment centers, and psychiatric hospitals serving foster children and to provide technical assistance and consultation, including training and continuing education opportunities, to community agencies that have encountered difficulties working with high-risk populations of DCFS wards or are seeking to enhance the clinical and professional skill-set of their staff. Services provided to community agencies include:

1. An extensive program evaluation including an assessment of the treatment model, delivery of clinical services, the physical plant and the adequacy of staffing,
2. Conducting training programs for managerial staff and board of directors,
3. Designing and helping implement a corrective action plan to address programmatic deficiencies identified in the program evaluation including technical assistance, consultation, and staff training aimed at helping the program develop a more effective model of care, and
4. Providing consultation aimed at improving treatment planning and therapeutic outcomes with difficult client populations.

To enhance its technical assistance and consultation capacity, the MHPP can engage expertise from the other BHWP programs.

Review Team:

Barbara Fish, PhD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology

Cynthia Petty, APN
Staff Spec in Nursing

Christina Kraemer, LCSW
Psychiatric Social Worker

Forrest Brown, RN
Specialist II Community