Toledo, Ohio – Lucas County residents will be able to have access to a breakthrough internet solution designed for individuals, families, and agencies who are concerned with mental health, emotional wellness and recovery and the fear and stigma that it brings.
The Network of Care for Behavioral Health is an online resource that provides its users with information about treatment services and supports all under one name. In recognition of May Mental Health Month, the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board is sponsoring a public launch event on Wednesday, May 16th at the Toledo/Lucas County Main Library in downtown Toledo from 10:00am to 11:30am.
The Network of Care concept was recognized as a model program in the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health final report in July 2003. Funding for the site is provided by the Ohio Department of Mental Health’s Transformation State Incentive Grant. Ohio is one of only seven states to receive this funding.
“The Network of Care website represents a new day of promise and hope for consumers with mental health issues in Lucas County,” said Jacqueline Martin, Executive Director of the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County. “With this site, consumers can obtain valuable information about programs and services that mental health agencies provide from the comfort and privacy of their homes.”
To increase accessibility and accommodate Network of Care’s users, the site’s innovative technology provides near-universal access, regardless of literacy or income level, to Web-based services through a text-only version of the site and other adaptive technologies. The site is fully ADA-compliant and Bobby-approved. Network of Care also is available in multiple languages.
Service providers can share challenges and ideas, as well as create powerful new mechanisms to better serve people with mental illness, mental retardation and substance abuse, by embracing Network of Care’s communication tools such as message boards and community calendars. Service providers can even build their own free Web sites in the For Providers section.