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Missouri Mental Health Department Launches Community-Based Web Site for People with Disabilities

June 15, 2006
Missouri Department of Mental Health

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Mental Health today launched a breakthrough Web solution statewide for individuals, families, and agencies concerned with mental and emotional wellness. Network of Care for Mental Health is an online information site that provides critical information, communication, and advocacy tools with a single point of entry. It provides information for those navigating the system of behavioral health services, those working to avoid the need for formal services, and those ready to transition out of the behavioral health system.

Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Mental Health, Network of Care for Mental Health (www.missouri.networkofcare.org) is a pilot program for Missouri and the nation. Regardless of where individuals, families, and agencies begin their search for assistance with behavioral health issues, Network of Care for Mental Health helps them find what they need. The new Web site will enable people to find the right service at the right time, to educate themselves about their issues, to understand current policy initiatives, to advocate directly to elected officials, and to better manage their affairs, interactions, and important records.

“Network of Care empowers people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, or substance abuse issues, their families, and service providers by providing online access to comprehensive services available within each of Missouri’s counties,” said Mental Health Director Dorn Schuffman. “Having this type of information available and easily accessed by people who need our services as well as their families and advocates could make the difference in the quality of life of the people we serve.”

The Network of Care for Mental Health provides a comprehensive Service Directory of the community-based service providers in each Missouri county, putting people in touch with the right services in their communities. Network of Care also provides easy-to-search libraries and information about specific disorders, pending legislation and advocacy, and daily news articles from around the world concerning mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse.

To increase accessibility and accommodate Network of Care’s users, the site’s 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. Network of Care also is available in multiple languages. Service providers can share challenges and ideas – as well as create new mechanisms to better serve people with mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse – by embracing Network of Care’s communication tools, including message boards and community calendars. Service providers also may build their own free Web sites in the site’s “For Providers” section.

Trilogy Integrated Resources LLC of San Rafael, Calif., created, developed, and maintains Network of Care for Mental Health and all of the other Network of Care Web sites, including Network of Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities, currently serving one-third of California’s population and the entire State of Oregon; Network of Care for Kids (ages 0-5); Network of Care for Children & Families (ages 0-18); Network of Care for Developmental Disabilities; and Network of Care for Domestic Violence. Based on requests from across the nation, Trilogy is also developing a Network of Care site for substance abuse.

Trilogy, a leading information provider in the field of social services, now serves 12 states via the Network of Care. For more information, contact Trilogy at 415-458-5900 or at info@trilogyir.com.