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Mhw 05.10.10 reprint
1. Reprinted from May 10, 2010
Staff training persists despite cuts; Bottom Line…
many agencies turn to online formats Some mental health agencies are
seeing a variety of benefits in moving
T
These days in many community agencies. As part of that arrange-
more toward online training, from
mental health agencies, a client no- ment, the National Council hosts a
cost, productivity and staff satisfaction
show for an appointment no longer small-agency version of Essential
standpoints.
leaves a clinician grasping for alter- Learning’s Learning Management
natives to staring at the wall. The cli- System, tailored to the needs of
nician is likely to use the newfound member organizations with 60 or behavioral health agencies.
time to complete mandated training fewer employees and helping reduce “These types of training are not
activity, simply by going online to their overall training costs. going away; they don’t get cut when
access the educational material. “In online training, if a clinician governments cut agencies’ budgets,”
Community mental health agen- is waiting for a client, they can start Erskine said.
cies now have a number of alterna- on a course,” Essential Learning Providence Service Corporation’s
tives to sending staff members off- CEO Sue Erskine told MHW. “Also, Walsh said that while state training
site for training and incurring the some agencies let their employees requirements differ greatly among
transportation costs and productivity take the training classes at home.” the many offices in its decentralized
losses associated with employees operation, the company has been
leaving their work site for an extend- able to organize common training
ed period. A number of companies ‘These types of needs for everyone into an all-staff
offer online learning systems cover- orientation. Covered topics include
ing most or all of the training areas training are not ethics, the Health Insurance Porta-
affecting behavioral health organiza- bility and Accountability Act (HIPAA),
tions, and agencies are reporting that
going away; they cultural awareness and environmen-
staff members are becoming increas- don’t get cut when tal safety, she said.
ingly comfortable with less face-to- Likewise, the director of educa-
face interaction with a trainer. governments cut tion and training at community
“Some are hesitant at first, but agencies’ budgets.’ mental health agency COMTREA,
once they participate they get sold on Inc. in Missouri lists ethics training
it,” Tasha Walsh, a vice president in Sue Erskine at the top when asked to cite the
the Eastern Division operation of hot-button subjects in staff training
Providence Service Corporation, a these days. Overall, San Mueller
national company managing more Specific training needs says training remains an important
than 100 community mental health Staff training needs in behavioral priority in the organization’s admin-
offices across the country, told MHW. health organizations are far-ranging, istration. “We feel it’s important for
“Clinicians appreciate the flexibility, involving an array of state and our staff that evidence-based princi-
because in direct care they always national regulatory requirements, ples are used in the therapy that we
have to juggle a client schedule.” professional accreditation standards do,” Mueller told MHW.
The National Council for and other mandates. They have rep- Mueller said her agency has
Community Behavioral Healthcare resented something of a fixed cost used the Learning Management
responded to the emergence of for agencies, in that the requirements System from Essential Learning for
online training opportunities in don’t tend to be lifted when an about three years. In many cases,
recent years by cementing an exclu- agency’s government funding gets the provider organization employs a
sive partnership with the company reduced. If anything, the continued blended approach to training, offer-
Essential Learning, which offers cus- push to evidence-based practice will ing a combination of live sessions
tomized e-learning for mental health, only intensify the need for consis- and online learning. Mueller said
addiction and other human-service tently updated training schedules in See Training on page 2
Mental Health Weekly DOI:10.1002/mhw A Wiley Periodicals, Inc. publication www.interscience.wiley.com