The Schizophrenia Society of Alberta
partners with other community groups and government agencies to promote
advocacy.
Alberta Disability Forum Member: Belonging to the ADF
provides the SSA with the opportunity to have the wider disability
community (32 province-wide organizations) speak out in support of those
disabled by mental illness. The SSA is represented by the
Chair of the SSA Advocacy Committee
and the SSA's
Executive Director.
AAMIMH Member: The Alberta
Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health is a consortium of
professional and consumer organizations speaking out on mental health
services issues. The AAMIMH has, and will continue to have, dialogue
with the Minister of Health. The SSA is represented by the
Chair of the SSA Advocacy Committee
and the SSA's
Executive Director
.
Provincial Diversion Framework Working Committee
Member: This is a proposed multi-year plan which is in
intended to divert the mentally ill where appropriate from the justice
system to mental health and social support systems. See
below for the work of this group.
Forsenic Advisory Committee Member: Two committees are
underway by the AMHB. A Provincial Board member and Chair of the
Calgary Advocacy Committee represent the SSA on the Provincial Forsenic
Advisory Committee. The SSA's
Executive Director
attend the Northern Alberta Forsenics Committee. Both Committees
seek to improve the mental health services to those involved with the
Justice system.
This areas will be revised and updated in
the weeks to come. Below are a number of initiatives which reflect
advocacy in Alberta and across Canada.
Alberta's Provincial
Diversion Framework Working Committee
This committee reports to the Mental Health and Justice
Partnering Deputies Committee composed of the Deputy Ministers of
several Alberta Government Departments and CEO's of several
Government Funded Organizations. Co-chaired by Alberta
Mental Health Board and Alberta Justice, the work of this
committee will extend over a number of years and is intended to
develop a framework to ensure that whenever appropriate,
individuals with a mental illness and in conflict with the law
receive support and treatment from the mental health and social
support system and thereby reduce reliance on the criminal justice
system.
The work of the Provincial Diversion Framework Working Committee
focused on some of the specifics of how that diversion strategy
could be implemented, defining guidelines that communities
interested in establishing local initiatives could use to divert
mentally ill from the justice system to mental health and social
support systems. The report entitled: Diversion Program
Implementation: Phase 1 was presented in April 2003 and approved
by the Partnering Deputies Committee.
