TSG_Home

The Standards Group: Achieving Consistency and
Uniformity Across the Public Mental Health System

WHAT IS THE STANDARDS GROUP?

While Michigan’s public mental health system has many important strengths, it is widely believed that consumers and families will benefit from more uniform access and availability of services and supports. The Standards Group (TSG) is a joint effort of the Community Mental Health System, the Michigan Department of Community Health, and the Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards to work with consumers and advocates to provide focused attention to the development of recommendations for uniform and consistent administrative, programmatic and business practice standards for state-wide use in serving persons with mental illness and/or developmental disabilities and/or substance use conditions. These parties have committed to working together to create a capacity to standardize practices that affect how services and supports are organized and delivered. By building on and tightening coordination of existing committees, coalitions and initiatives, recommended standards will be developed that provide for:

Equity – Care is consistent in terms of the quality and array of services and supports

Effective Care – Services are provided in a manner that meets individual consumer goals as identified through the person-centered planning process. Consumers are informed and have opportunities to choose services and supports that produce intended results, including emerging practices, best practices and evidence-based practices.

Efficiency – Standards required to administer services and provide care are designed in a manner that avoids waste and assures that the maximum amount of funding available is directed to the delivery of consumer services and supports.

The work of TSG is guided by the following principles:

*Proactive inclusion of primary consumers, families, advocates and stakeholders
*Respect for diverse opinions
*Grounded in the fundamental values of person centered planning, recovery and resiliency
*Work products recognize diversity and are culturally competent
*Work is completed with a sense of urgency, and with transparency
*The Process provides for continuous search for and sharing of best practices
*Utilizes outcomes-oriented approaches to the projects prioritized for action
*Builds upon and harnesses the strengths of existing, related efforts