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NEWS, COMMENTARY, AND ARTS BY PSYCHIATRIC SURVIVORS, MENTAL HEALTH PEERS, AND OUR FAMILIES
COUNTERPO!NT
VOL. XXXII NO. 3
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FROM THE HILLS OF VERMONT
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SINCE 1985
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WINTER 2017
Peer Support Program Begins In Vermont Prisons By ANNE DONAHUE Counterpoint
SWANTON – A new peer support program has been rolled out in three of Vermont’s prisons, and Annie Ramniceanu, the mental health systems director for the Department of Corrections, said the administration hopes to expand it to the three other men’s prisons in the state and to the women’s facility as well. The program was established by the department, but is now being coordinated by inmates recruited by DOC. In a half-day meeting in October, five inmates, Ramniceanu and the staff liaison at Northwest State Correctional Facility worked out final details for launching the program there. Each facility will adopt protocols specific to its own institution, she said. The peer coaches identified potential lastminute glitches, reworked policy language and proposed ways to encourage other inmates to access the program, which they have named Open Ears. They discussed issues as mundane as notebook supplies and as serious as ensuring confidentiality. They also discussed the nature of peer support within the program, identifying it as listening and trying to be supportive in how to address stresses their peers are identifying, without taking on a counseling or clinical role. All 15 of the new coaches participated in an
eight-day intensive training on peer support in the summer and then began working on implementation, Ramniceanu said. The training was led by a former Pennsylvania inmate who works with Peerstar, a company that specializes in forensic peer support in that state. The peer support roles will be the highest-paid inmate jobs, at $7 per day. They will work 20 hours per week over five days. TELLING HIS STORY – Tim Dowd shares his reaTim Dowd, the inmate sons for taking on peer support leadership in an Open Ears coordinator, interview with Counterpoint. (Photo courtesy of said in an interview that Robert Sheehan, Department of Corrections) he had experienced abuse and trauma but had learned to cope and turn across every plane.” negatives into positives. He said he thinks he is Like every peer an approachable person, which makes him well support coach, Dowd Peer support workers suited for the role. has completed his own will wear badges with Being nonjudgmental will be key, Dowd said. WRAP plan “to get the name and logo “You look at a person for who they are” and me through what I’ve they designed for the not what they’ve done. There are “a lot of people been through” and to program. here who have good hearts.” stay well while helping “Their sense of self-worth is in the toilet. Their others. WRAP stands for Wellness Recovery sense of being is minimalized.” It’s important Action Plan. for people to understand that “mental illness is “Me being a positive role model makes me feel not incurable,” he said. That “should be known (Continued on page 3)
ED Wait Times Soar
WATERBURY – Wait times skyrocketed this fall for people in psychiatric distress being held involuntarily in emergency rooms as the deadline neared for a report on recommendations by the Agency of Human Services on addressing shortcomings in access to mental health care. Data has shown a doubling of average emergency room waits in some categories in the last quarter. At least two people were reported to have spent a month in the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital emergency room. Between July and September of this year, 102 people were held involuntarily waiting for an inpatient bed, after a low of 58 in JanuaryMarch 2016. Those numbers do not include numbers for people who come voluntarily for help, or how long they wait, because DMH only collects data for involuntary patients. Voluntary patients represent about 70 percent of the total, but the state’s hospitals have not yet implemented a means to monitor voluntary patient waits. The commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Melissa Bailey, (Continued on page 4)
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Number of times that an involuntary inpatient placement was unavailable, and an adult was held in the emergency department.
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Survivors Testify About Overcoming Trauma
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