I recently returned from the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association annual conference in Boise, ID. Aside from some representatives from MD VA facilities, I was the only Marylander at the conference.
I think that this is a clear sign that the State of Maryland has abandoned any pretense of wanting the practice of psychiatric rehabiliation in the state.
The Mental Hygiene Administration has continually eschewed the acceptance of the CPRP certification for practitioners, effectively thumbing its nose at quality practice in the field.
The Mental Hygiene Administration has blindly pursued the implementation of expensive "evidenced-based practices" such as assertive community teams and supportive employment, spending scarce resources to benefit the few and ignoring the masses.
The Mental Hygiene Administration is in its 9th year of a moratorium of the development of affordable housing by community mental health providers, thereby denying hundreds, if not thousands, of Marylanders from affordable housing opportunities but denying them the opportunity to learn important living skills in the rare opportunities the get for housing.
The Maryland Mental Hygiene Administration, by forsaking strategies to implement and sustain psychiatric rehabilitation, has demonstrated that it is not only strategically bankrupt, but in the case of its housing policy, morally bankrupt, as well.
