1. 2006 Statewide Survey of Drop-In Centers in Pennsylvania
LaKeetra McClaine
UPENN Collaborative on Community Integration
Jim McCormack, PhD.
MHASP
John Farmer
I CAN in Pennsylvania
Mark Salzer, PhD.

2. Statewide DIC Survey Purpose
Gather information about:
Basic Drop-In Center (DIC) operations and staffing
Assess level of consumer involvement
Understand provider knowledge about DICs, recovery, and empowerment, and its relationship to their support of DICs
Describe common (and uncommon) DIC activities
DIC Operational Challenges
Use data for:
Informing others about DICs
DIC program improvement
Compare results to those obtained from survey conducted by McCormack in 1996

3. Survey Methods
Surveys were administered at the annual Drop-In Center Conference (May 2006)
Raffle incentive for completing the survey
I CAN provided a complete list of known DICs in PA
Surveys were mailed directly to the DICs that did not complete a survey at the conference in Summer 2006
Follow up phone calls were placed to the centers to remind them to complete the survey

4. Sample
Our final sample was 58 DICs out 93 known DICs (62% response rate)
We received a total of 62 surveys out of the 93 (67% response rate
Four surveys had to be discarded because they were incomplete
Surveys from 34 service systems
All PA regions represented
Area
Urban: 38%
Suburban: 16%
Rural: 45%

5. Attendance Average Daily Attendance: 22 people Range: 5 – 65 people
1-20 people: 31 (59%) of DICs
21-40 people: 19 (36%) of DICs
41+ people: 2 (4%) of DICs
6 DICs did not respond

6. Hours of Operation Average hours of operation: 35 hours/week
Range: 3 – 77 hours
1-20 hours/week: 11 (21%) of DICs
21-40 hours/week: 28 (52%) of DICs
41+ hours/week: 15 (28%) of DICs
4 DICs did not respond

7. Staffing Levels Average Paid Non-consumer staff: 2 people
Range: 0 – 12 people
Paid Consumer staff: 3 people
Range: 0 – 20 people
Average Total Paid staff members: 5 people
Range 0 – 22 people
7 sites completely volunteer (no paid staff)

8. Consumer Involvement in Decision-Making
Members primarily decide: %
Selecting activities to offer at center
96%
Managing conflict
84%
Setting policy on how the center is governed
Responding to consumer complaints
78%
Making rules about who can attend the Center
Organizing fundraising
76%**
Increasing consumer responsibility for the budget
50%**
Hiring/firing of staff
41%**
** Missing >20% of responses. Suggests an overestimate.

9. Provider Knowledge about Recovery and Empowerment and Their Support
How well informed about empowerment and recovery?
34% felt that local mental health providers are “very well informed” and 36% said “moderately informed”
59% felt that County OMH is “very well informed” and 20% said “moderately informed”
How cooperative in supporting DIC activities?
39% felt that providers are “very cooperative” and 27% said “moderately cooperative”
54% felt that the County OMH is “very cooperative” and said 29% “moderately cooperative”

10. Provider Knowledge about Recovery and Empowerment and Their Support
Correlation between knowledge and support:
Provider knowledge about recovery and empowerment and their support correlated 0.41 (p = 0.002)
County knowledge about recovery and empowerment and their support correlated 0.74 (p < 0.001)
County OMH’s and providers that were thought to be more knowledgeable about recovery empowerment were thought to be more supportive of DIC activities.

11. DIC Activities: Collaboration with Other Providers
Activity %
“Yes”
Provide training to providers on consumer empowerment and recovery
58%
Participate in crisis intervention services to avoid hospitalizations
53%
DIC reps serve on provider advisory boards
43%

12. DIC Activities: Career - Oriented
Activity %
“Yes”
Provide information re: Social Security Benefits
77%
Connect members with post-secondary educational opportunities
37%
Have OVR reps answer questions about work-related issues
36%
Provide vocational training:
25%
Conduct GED classes
10%
Conduct consumer-run businesses 7%

13. DIC Activities: Housing Supports & Transportation
Activity %
“Yes”
Provide transportation to attend CSP meetings
65%
Assist members to locate and maintain housing
55%
Provide transportation to DIC
54%
Operate a residential housing program 9%

14. DIC Activities: Self-Determination & Peer Support
Activity %
“Yes”
Help members complete Psychiatric Advanced Directives
54%
Conduct groups for members to work on Wellness Recovery Action Plans (WRAP)
52%
Utilize Certified Peer Specialists (CPS)
29%
Have CPS’s in paid positions
21%

15. DIC Activities: Civic Engagement
Activity %
“Yes”
Coordinate letter writing efforts
48%
Conduct voter registration
47%
Visit state legislature to make concerns known
37%
Host candidates to educate members on candidate qualifications and positions
23%

16. DIC Activities: Advocacy
Activity %
“Yes”
Attend regional DIC coalition meetings
61%
Teach members to serve on provider advisory boards
47%
Distribute “Call for Change” OMHSAS paper
Participate in County annual Needs-Based plans
Provide public testimony on County MH plan
45%
Have consumer reps on County MH/MR board

17. DIC Activities: Advocacy, continued
Activity %
“Yes”
Distribute & discuss minutes from State Advisory planning meeting
39%
Attend State Advisory planning meetings
37%
Ensure consumers serve on managed-care advisory committees
28%

18. DIC Activities: Institution-to-Community Transitions
Activity %
“Yes”
Visit state hospitals to facilitate integration upon discharge
32%
Visit community hospitals to facilitate integration upon discharge
27%
Visit prisons, county jails, and state prisons to facilitate integration upon release
11%

19. DIC Activities: Misc. Activity % “Yes”
Educate members on medical plan options and benefits
61%
Conduct warm-lines
24%
NOTE: Further analysis will include open-ended responses.

20. DIC Challenges: Consumer Involvement
% Moderate or Serious Problem
Consumers who want others to do things for them
49%
Consumer participation in Center activities
38%
Motivating consumers to attend the DIC
32%
Leadership among members of the Center
28%
Consumer participation at Center staff meetings
27%
Consumers feeling free to make their own decisions about the Center
17%
Maintaining consumer support of DIC Director
11%

21. DIC Challenges: Consumer Behavior
% Moderate or Serious Problem
Managing conflict among membership
22%
Coping with unruly members at the Center
17%

22. DIC Challenges: Community Engagement
% Moderate or Serious Problem
Involving family members in Center activities
43%
Collaborating with non-consumers on advocacy issues
30%
Community acceptance of the Center’s activities
24%

23. DIC Challenges: Operations
% Moderate or Serious Problem
Transportation for Center activities
36%
Fiduciary concerns over liability issues
15%
The location of the Center
11%
Assuring Center remains open during scheduled hours 9%

24. DIC Challenges: MH System Support
% Moderate or Serious Problem
Winning support from local provider agencies
24%
Support from Regional OMH Office
19%
Support from the County MH/MR Office
18%
Interference from professional staff in the way the Center operates
11%

25. What does all this mean to you
What does all this mean to you? What are some implications of these survey results?

26. Implications
Consider adding more activities to promote community integration
In the “DIC challenges” section there were identified problems (i.e., >20%) in many areas – this suggest a need to share ideas for addressing these challenges
For example, workgroups to address increasing consumer involvement.

27. Implications Possible ways to increase support for DICs:
Important to educate providers about Drop-In Center activities.
Increase training to providers about recovery and consumer empowerment.

28. To Be Continued…
Jim McCormack and I CAN conducted a survey of the Drop-In Centers (DICs) in Pennsylvania.
We will be conducting further analysis of the data from this survey in comparison with the survey data from 1995 to assess for changes that have occurred over time.

29. For More Information Contact Katy Kaplan at:or
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