Michael D. Lewis

Community-based mental health training

Community-based mental health training programs are characterized by their location within the neighborhood to be served and by the involvement of community members in program planning, implementation, and evaluation. Community-based programs are joint efforts, and use the resources of both institutions of higher learning and community organizations or agencies. This article describes one such effort: a mental health paraprofessional training program held on-site at The Woodlawn Organization, in Chicago, Illinois. The two-year project provided bachelors level education to members of the Woodlawn community, allowing them to assume roles as mental health leaders for Woodlawn. The Woodlawn Organization represents the people of the community, and had a long history of involvement in building self-determination for its members. This concept provided an underlying motivation for the mental health training program as well. Students were trained, not just to deliver direct services, but to develop and implement mental health programs that would respond to the priorities set by the citizens of Woodlawn.