We are writing to express our outrage that the Fairfax/Falls Church, Virginia Community Service Board (CSB) leadership decided to defund the position of the Director of the Office of Consumer and Family Affairs and to fragment the duties of this office among non-peers (people without lived experience with mental illness or addiction) .
This decision is a slap in the face to any peer or family member who believes that they should have a real voice in the policy and operation of the CSB.
The CSB administration is dismantling a system purposely built by the previous CSB Board and Fairfax County to engage individuals to become active participants in their own service system. It was also designed to have a peer established in an executive-level leadership position that would allow them to be an unapologetic advocate and voice for peers and families at the highest level of the organization.
The peer and recovery community has a slogan …
“Nothing About Us Without Us”
When the former Director of the OCFA was hired, it was a job requirement that the individual have lived experience. When this job was posted in January 2016, the CSB HR department advised that lived experience be “strongly recommended” rather than required. This is unacceptable. The federal government requires their peer employees at the Veteran’s Administration and SAMSHA to have lived experience. Why can’t we?
We demand the following:- The Immediate reinstatement and funding of the position of the Director of the OCFA.
- And that “lived experience” be a requirement for the Director of the OCFA
Please sign this petition. We appreciate your support!!
Sincerely,
The Northern Virginia Peer Support Coalition
The Recovery Work Group
The Fairfax-Falls Church WRAP Team
Updates
June 21, 2016
The administration remains silent on our demands but they are definitely tracking our progress. Call the CSB office today and ask why they are removing peer leadership from the decision table. Post the link to this petition on your Facebook wall to ensure our neighbors understand exactly what is at stake.
June 21, 2016
The administration is noticing our momentum and the pressure is building. Post this link on Facebook right now and email your county representative to demand they restore the Director position.
29 Comments
This is Pete Earley. For some reason, this signature is showing up as my spouse's, but I am supporting this campaign to fully fund the Director of the Office of Consumer and Family Affairs and to have the director be an individual with lived mental health experience. I would be upset if a non-family member was asked to speak for families and the same is true about non-peers being asked to be a voice for peers.
I am a peer / consumer client, CPS, WRAP Facilitator, WHAM Facilitator, Employment Specialist. With the support of our previous director's position that we are advocating to be restored has enabled me to achieve the opportunities of maintaining my sobriety by obtaining my certifications for wellness and recovery, enabling me to give back to the families, communities and neighborhoods. Offering lived experience testimonies and facilitating groups to empower and support peers to achieve a better way of life as well as to teach them the key concepts of recovery and to let them know that recovery is possible and presenting evidence based practices they can achieve the same goals.
One of the most significant changes to sustaining consumer voice this recovery orientation is the institutional practice of the consumer perspective and input through an official position whereby there is direct access and decision making abilities at the local mental health authorities. Removing these positions is a subtle but significant attempt to undermined that voice and perspective.
Mr. David Mangano, in his position as Director of Consumer and Family Affairs, has nurtured a fantastic, well organized peer network. He's enlisted many talented peers working and volunteering within the CSB and the Fairfax/Falls Church WRAP Team over the last several years. The position of director of Consumer and Family Affairs, informed of lived experience (first hand) with behavioral health difficulties, is crucial. That this position is now defunded or no longer requires having this experience is puzzling and irresponsible. We need the perspective of a person who's been in the trenches, so to speak. - Miriam, Peer Wellness & Recovery Services -
Under Dave Mangano's leadership Fairfax had become an important model for Virginia, and the Nation, of successful recovery-oriented mental health programming. Please allow peer leadership and programming to continue.
Please reinstate this asap.
It is critically important that the Director of the OCFA be a peer or a family member.
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We are writing to express our outrage that the Fairfax/Falls Church, Virginia Community Service Board (CSB) leadership decided to defund the position of the Director of the Office of Consumer and Family Affairs and to fragment the duties of this office among non-peers (people without lived experience with mental illness or addiction) .
This decision is a slap in the face to any peer or family member who believes that they should have a real voice in the policy and operation of the CSB.
The CSB administration is dismantling a system purposely built by the previous CSB Board and Fairfax County to engage individuals to become active participants in their own service system. It was also designed to have a peer established in an executive-level leadership position that would allow them to be an unapologetic advocate and voice for peers and families at the highest level of the organization.
The peer and recovery community has a slogan …
“Nothing About Us Without Us”
When the former Director of the OCFA was hired, it was a job requirement that the individual have lived experience. When this job was posted in January 2016, the CSB HR department advised that lived experience be “strongly recommended” rather than required. This is unacceptable. The federal government requires their peer employees at the Veteran’s Administration and SAMSHA to have lived experience. Why can’t we?
We demand the following:- The Immediate reinstatement and funding of the position of the Director of the OCFA.
- And that “lived experience” be a requirement for the Director of the OCFA
Please sign this petition. We appreciate your support!!
Sincerely,
The Northern Virginia Peer Support Coalition
The Recovery Work Group
The Fairfax-Falls Church WRAP Team
Updates
June 21, 2016
The administration remains silent on our demands but they are definitely tracking our progress. Call the CSB office today and ask why they are removing peer leadership from the decision table. Post the link to this petition on your Facebook wall to ensure our neighbors understand exactly what is at stake.
June 21, 2016
The administration is noticing our momentum and the pressure is building. Post this link on Facebook right now and email your county representative to demand they restore the Director position.
29 Comments
David Mangano, the former Director of the Office of Consumer & Family Affairs, was an invaluable resource to peers and the CSB alike. We need his caliber back in the game to drive peer resources and programs forward. Without a peer in this position, the person would be wholly ham-stringed and the peer community would suffer, as would the CSB as they could put resources in places of low impact. Also, without a dedicated position, there is no person to spearhead necessary and initiatives, or have the visionary capacity to plan ahead.--VLP
This is Pete Earley. For some reason, this signature is showing up as my spouse's, but I am supporting this campaign to fully fund the Director of the Office of Consumer and Family Affairs and to have the director be an individual with lived mental health experience. I would be upset if a non-family member was asked to speak for families and the same is true about non-peers being asked to be a voice for peers.
I am a peer / consumer client, CPS, WRAP Facilitator, WHAM Facilitator, Employment Specialist. With the support of our previous director's position that we are advocating to be restored has enabled me to achieve the opportunities of maintaining my sobriety by obtaining my certifications for wellness and recovery, enabling me to give back to the families, communities and neighborhoods. Offering lived experience testimonies and facilitating groups to empower and support peers to achieve a better way of life as well as to teach them the key concepts of recovery and to let them know that recovery is possible and presenting evidence based practices they can achieve the same goals.
One of the most significant changes to sustaining consumer voice this recovery orientation is the institutional practice of the consumer perspective and input through an official position whereby there is direct access and decision making abilities at the local mental health authorities. Removing these positions is a subtle but significant attempt to undermined that voice and perspective.
Mr. David Mangano, in his position as Director of Consumer and Family Affairs, has nurtured a fantastic, well organized peer network. He's enlisted many talented peers working and volunteering within the CSB and the Fairfax/Falls Church WRAP Team over the last several years. The position of director of Consumer and Family Affairs, informed of lived experience (first hand) with behavioral health difficulties, is crucial. That this position is now defunded or no longer requires having this experience is puzzling and irresponsible. We need the perspective of a person who's been in the trenches, so to speak. - Miriam, Peer Wellness & Recovery Services -
Under Dave Mangano's leadership Fairfax had become an important model for Virginia, and the Nation, of successful recovery-oriented mental health programming. Please allow peer leadership and programming to continue.
Please reinstate this asap.
It is critically important that the Director of the OCFA be a peer or a family member.
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David Mangano, the former Director of the Office of Consumer & Family Affairs, was an invaluable resource to peers and the CSB alike. We need his caliber back in the game to drive peer resources and programs forward. Without a peer in this position, the person would be wholly ham-stringed and the peer community would suffer, as would the CSB as they could put resources in places of low impact. Also, without a dedicated position, there is no person to spearhead necessary and initiatives, or have the visionary capacity to plan ahead.--VLP