Identify what services and treatment options are currently available to service and counsel your target population based upon their identified needs

INTERVIEW OF COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL
You will select, contact, and visit (you must schedule an appointment) a mental health
agency from the community that specializes in clinical mental health counseling (a phone
interview will not suffice for purposes of this assignment). You will obtain contact
information and collect important information about the services offered at the mental
health agency. Think about the following before visiting your targeted agency: (What do
you want to know? What would your clients want to know? How might a client feel
being referred to the agency?)
Take a tour of the mental health agency, find a brochure and/or written information about
the services offered. During your in-class (3/28/17) sharing of your interview experience,
please distribute any relevant literature, business cards, brochures relevant to the mental
health agency/professional, etc to your classmates.
During your formal interview you will gather information about the professional’s
current job duties, training and experience requirements, salary range, degree of job
satisfaction, number of counselors & other mental health professionals working at the
agency, obstacles and frustrations, involvement with emergency management such as
interface with law enforcement and/or disaster response, referral procedures, the nature of
consulting work associated with the counselor’s role, type of client population, average
case load per counselor, average number of client contact sessions, type of services
provided (group counseling, psychoeducational counseling, individual, family and/or
couple counseling), & source of funding for the agency.
In class on March 28, 2017 you will each share what you learned about the mental health
counseling profession from conducting the formal interview with a clinical mental health
professional.
Please include the following in your sharing:

1. The mental health professional you interviewed and visited
2. Location and date of interview
3. Significant learning points gained from interviewing the practicing
   mental health professional
   EDC 568: Principles of Mental Health
   Spring 2017
   15
   COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT PROJECT
   Based upon your analyses of results from your needs assessment project, you and
   your partners will present to the class the following in a 40 – 45 minute group
   presentation:
   PART A. (10 minutes)
   1) Provide a rationale for why you chose your specific target population
   (Summary of findings; include relevant statistics, factual information)
   2) Prioritize needs of your specific population (think holistically)
   3) Identify what services and treatment options are currently available to service
   and counsel your target population based upon their identified needs
   4) Identify potential gaps in existing mental health options/opportunities here in
   the Buffalo area for your target population
   5) Identify potential mental health/counseling programs and services to be
   developed to meet those needs for the specific target population
   6) Highlight practical prevention services that realistically could be in place in
   the near future taking into consideration realistic challenges & barriers such as
   financial constraints, political and systemic obstacles (societal/cultural issues)
   PART B. Face to face interview experiences (5 minutes)
   Professional Contacts: You are required to contact and visit two mental health
   professionals in the Buffalo metropolitan area to secure relevant, current information
   about your target population. In doing so, you will gain a current understanding of the
   current needs of your chosen population, current resources available, as well as
   unavailable to your population, as well as enhance your awareness of what services,
   interventions, and community programs that could realistically be designed on both an
   individual and community level. During your class presentation you will need to identify
   and explain who you interviewed & the highlighted learning points you gained about
   your target population from your interviews.
   Given the time constraints of the class presentation, you will want to select the most
   pertinent learning points gained from your interviews.
   PART C. Your Specific Needs Assessment Project (10 minutes)
   Outline, explain, and describe the program that you have thoughtfully planned
   as a result of conducting a thorough needs assessment (part A) for your specified
   target population in the Buffalo metro area. Include a rationale that indicates how
   the process of needs assessment is part of an evidence-based research orientation
   to the profession of counseling.
   EDC 568: Principles of Mental Health
   Spring 2017
   16
   PART D. Increasing Social Consciousness (15 minutes)
   “Behind the Scenes” experiential component of your Needs Assessment Project: On
   Becoming Active, Socially Conscious Participants in your Community.
   After taking a careful assessment and study of the problems and challenges your target
   population faces in the Buffalo metro community (Part A), the challenge begins for you
   and your group. I want you all to start thinking about how YOU could insert yourself as
   part of a potential “solution” in closing the gap in services, as well as promoting good
   and a sense of wellbeing among your population.
   • WHAT DID YOUR GROUP DO? SEEING THINGS FROM YOUR TARGET
   POPULATIONS’ EYES.
4. What did you and your group DO to intentionally raise
   your level of social consciousness and awareness about your
   particular population in our community?
   • HOW? How did you connect and insert yourselves as part of this
   community of individuals (target population) & existing services in
   efforts to “see,” “feel,” “understand,” and “experience” the
   challenging conditions and contextual/societal problems/barriers
   that exist, to date, for your target population in WNY?
   • WHERE? Where did you and your partners go? Location?
   • WHO? Who did you contact to assist you with this experiential
   part of your group project? Professional resources utilized? What
   factors did you have to consider for successful consultation with
   the people you contacted?
   • AWARENESS OF SELF? As a result of intentionally connecting
   to your target population and integrating yourselves in this project,
   what did you learn about how you can contribute to the greater
   good of your target population as socially aware, conscious
   counselors-in-training?
   PART E. Funding (2 minutes)
   • Please identify and explain a realistic, appropriate source of funding (grant
   opportunities – which funding source?) for your outlined needs assessment
   program referred to in Part B. Identify a program evaluation method that will
   demonstrate to the funding source that you will be able to provide evidence of
   progress because of your intervention/program.
   EDC 568: Principles of Mental Health
   Spring 2017
   17
   PART F. Advocacy (5 minutes)
   • Please describe how you plan to advocacy for the rights of your target population;
   How you will act on behalf of your client population in efforts to promote your
   client’s rights and interests.
   • Who will you direct your advocacy efforts to?
   In Class Presentation (100 points): You and your partners will give a 40 – 45 minute
   class presentation in regard to your community needs assessment project. You will
   prepare a short Power Point presentation.
   (Please see and carefully read the Performance Scoring Rubric below for the group
   presentation).