Overview
What is the MHTTC Network?
The MHTTC Network includes a Network Coordinating Office (NCO), ten (10) MHTTC Regional Centers, a Tribal Affairs Center, and a Hispanic and Latino Center. Our collaborative network will support resource development and dissemination, training and technical assistance, and workforce development to the mental health field. The MHTTC Network will work with organizations and treatment practitioners involved in the delivery of mental health services to strengthen their capacity to deliver effective evidence-based practices to individuals, including the full continuum of services spanning mental illness prevention, treatment, and recovery support.
South Southwest MHTTC
The South Southwest MHTTC (SSW-MHTTC) serves U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region 6, including Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Our population of focus is mental health clinicians, supervisors, and program managers serving individuals with or at risk of serious emotional disturbances (SED) or severe mental illness (SMI); peer support providers; community mental health, health, or peer-run organizations; and single state agency administrators focused on comprehensive state public mental health systems.
Our Goals
The purpose of the South Southwest MHTTC is to build the capacity of the mental health workforce, organizations, and systems to deliver effective, evidence-based promotion, prevention, treatment, and recovery supports. Our goals will be to address key needs identified by stakeholders in the region, organized around the following goals:
- Increase the capacity of the mental health workforce to provide culturally sensitive, effective interventions that enhance the quality of life of individuals experiencing mental health disorders.
- Increase the number of organizations implementing evidence-based practices to promote mental health, intervene early, prevent suicide and serious mental illness, and effectively treat individuals with mental health and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
- Strengthen the region’s capacity to support the recovery of individuals with serious emotional disturbance and serious mental illness.
- Provide technical assistance in quality improvement models to enhance the outcomes of mental health services within the region.
Our Services
The South Southwest MHTTC will utilize the Continuum of Diffusion of an Innovation framework within the region, including information dissemination and communication, resource development and dissemination, targeted training and technical assistance, and intensive training and technical assistance. The content of our services will be responsive to the needs of the region, including areas such as school-based mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention; early childhood provider competencies; zero suicide practices and suicide prevention; trauma responsive systems and practices; social determinants of mental health; CLAS standards; recovery-oriented systems and implementation of peer support; and adult, youth, and family peer practices. Service topics will be developed to effectively reach underserved ethnic/cultural groups. We may also offer best practices for partnering with specific communities, such as LGBTQ+*, veteran, or those experiencing homelessness.
*Language is always evolving! Our team does our best to stay up to date with evolving and affirming language, and we apologize for any duress if the language in use on our site is not as affirming as it could be. We want to own up to any out-of-date language, so if you'd like to let us know about your experience while navigating our site, feel free to send an email to [email protected]. We are very grateful for any feedback.
Who’s Involved?
See our South Southwest MHTTC team here.
The South Southwest MHTTC will collaborate closely with the co-located South Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center (SSWATTC) and the South Southwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center to address the regional needs.
Our Advisory Board
A South Southwest MHTTC advisory board includes representatives from the Mental Health Single State Authorities in each state. Additionally, the board includes representatives from provider organizations, mental health professional organizations, mental health advocacy organizations, the SAMHSA Regional Administrator, the regional ATTC and PTTC Project Directors, and family and peer-run organizations.
Evaluation
We are striving to ensure that the mental health workforce in the region has access to the tools, resources, training, coaching, and organizational support needed to implement effective practices. We will examine our reach, participant satisfaction, and changes in practice quality for the services we provide to the region. The advisory board will play a key oversight role in our continuous quality improvement processes.
Team Values & Purpose Statements
Empathy
- In our practice of cultural humility and inclusion, we continuously strive to listen to and honor the perspectives of others and lift up the voices of those who are most marginalized within the communities we serve.
Integrity
- We prioritize activities that are likely to have the greatest impact on improving the lives of individuals with mental health challenges.
- We communicate transparently about the decisions we make with our team and community, and identify the ways in which those decisions are consistent with our values.
Community/Belonging
- We keep shared goals at the forefront of our work and prioritize the health and well-being of our families and colleagues.
Growth
- We aim to utilize the strengths of our team, create a space for learning, take responsibility for personal and professional growth, and support those around us to do the same.
Equity
- We actively identify and lift those who are most marginalized within the communities we serve, while honoring the unique intersectionality of each person’s lived experiences.
This work is supported by grant SM081778 from the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.