1. vision mission programs services people contact Dear Friends,
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Dear Friends,
Thank you for visiting us today. Look around our site. Talk to our people. See why Alabama’s Office of Deaf Services is one of the most exciting programs in the country. We are committed to developing services for people who are
deaf or hard of hearing that are culturally and linguistically affirmative. We want all Alabamians with hearing loss to have access to mental health services that meets their needs.
Whether you need help or are looking for a career, we can help.
Director, Office of Deaf Services

2. HOME
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Among the one in 5 Alabamians who will need mental health services in their lifetimes are more than 39,000 people who are deaf or hard of hearing. People who are deaf or hard of hearing have difficulty finding services that are linguistically accessible to them. When they do find services where someone “signs,” often those services do not take into account the special cultural considerations that often make the difference between successful treatment and relapse and recidivism. Our programs will be designed by people who are deaf to not only be linguistically accessible but also culturally affirmative, giving the consumer every opportunity to make progress to recovery.
All Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing Alabamians With Mental Illness Will Have Culturally And Linguistically Appropriate Services
vision

3. Mission Values HOME consumer focused culturally affirmative
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The mission of the Office of Deaf Services of the Alabama Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation is to advocate for and provide culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services for deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing individuals. Our goal is to provide recovery-based services that support consumers in their efforts to live independently, while respecting their individual choices.
Values
consumer focused
culturally affirmative
statewide access
development of people
quality services
teamwork
Mission

4. programs HOME bailey acute deaf in-patient unit regional offices
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bailey acute deaf in-patient unit
regional offices
group homes
mental health interpreter training
standards and program development
visual-gestural communications
programs
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5. services HOME acute psychiatric care supported living
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acute psychiatric care
supported living
out-patient services
videoconferencing
training for clinicians
technical assistance and consultation
community education
services
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6. people HOME vision mission programs services people contact
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Region I
Office of Deaf Service, Central Office
Steve Hamerdinger, ODS Director
Charlene Crump, MHI Coordinator
Bailey Deaf In-Patient Greil
Dr. Frances Ralston, Unit Director Brian McKenny, Interpreter, Bailey Unit
Region I, Northern Alabama
Scott Staubach, Regional Coordinator
Dawn Marren, Region I Interpreter
Region II, Central Alabama
Shannon Reese, Region II Coordinator
Region II Interpreter (TBA)
Region III, Southeast Alabama
Liz Hill, Region III Coordinator, Region III Interpreter (TBA)
Region IV, Southwest Alabama
Ben Hollingsworth Region IV Coordinator
Region IV Interpreter (TBA
Region II
people
Region III
Region IV
ODS Regions

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Regional Offices
Region I
The Office of Deaf Services has four regional offices to better serve people with mental illness and hearing loss. This system allows our staff to be closer to our consumers and to be more involved in the local communities.
Click on the regions for more information.
Region II
Region III
Region IV
ODS Regions
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8. contact HOME vision mission programs services people contact
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For more information contact:
Steve Hamerdinger, Director
Office of Deaf Services Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
100 North Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) (voice)
(334) (tty)
contact

9. Office of Deaf Services Central Office
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Office of Deaf Services Central Office
The Office of Deaf Services is a unit of the Division of Mental Illness and is housed in the Central Offices of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation in Montgomery. This office oversees the delivery of culturally and linguistically affirmative services to deaf and hard of hearing Alabamians who have mental illness.
Charlene Crump is the Mental Health Interpreter Coordinator and is responsible for ensuring quality interpretive services.
Steve Hamerdinger is the Director of Deaf Services, and has overall responsibility for ensuring that deaf and hard of hearing people Have appropriate mental health services.

10. Region I, Northern Alabama Mental Health Center of Madison County
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Region I, Northern Alabama Mental Health Center of Madison County
Serving Calhoun, Cherokee, Calhoun, Cleburne, Colbert, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, and Morgan counties.
Contact: South Memorial Pkwy Huntsville, AL (256) (voice) (256) (tty)
Scott Staubach, MA, LPC Regional Coordinator

11. Region I, Northern Alabama Mental Health Center of Madison County
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Region I, Northern Alabama Mental Health Center of Madison County
Serving Calhoun, Cherokee, Calhoun, Cleburne, Colbert, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, and Morgan counties.
Contact: South Memorial Pkwy Huntsville, AL (256) (voice) (256) (tty)
Scott Staubach, MA, LPC Regional Coordinator

12. Region II, Central Alabama J-B-S Mental Health Authority
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Region II, Central Alabama J-B-S Mental Health Authority
Serving Blount, Chilton, Choctaw, Cullman, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Marengo, Marion, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Walker, and Winston counties.
Contact: 956 Montclair Road Suite 108 Birmingham AL, (205) (Voice) (205) (TTY)
Shannon Reese, MA, NCC Regional Coordinator

13. Region II, Central Alabama J-B-S Mental Health Authority
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Region II, Central Alabama J-B-S Mental Health Authority
Serving Blount, Chilton, Choctaw, Cullman, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Marengo, Marion, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Walker, and Winston counties.
Contact: 956 Montclair Road Suite 108 Birmingham AL, (205) (Voice) (205) (TTY)
Shannon Reese, MA, NCC Regional Coordinator

14. Region III, Southeast Region Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority
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Region III, Southeast Region Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority
Serving Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Clay, Coosa, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, and Wilcox counties.
Contact: 101 Coliseum Boulevard Montgomery, AL (334) (voice)
Liz Hill, MA Regional Coordinator

15. Region III, Southeast Region Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority
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Region III, Southeast Region Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority
Serving Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Clay, Coosa, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, and Wilcox counties.
Contact: 101 Coliseum Boulevard Montgomery, AL (334) (voice)
Liz Hill, MA Regional Coordinator

16. Region IV, Southwest Region Mobile Mental Health Center
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Region IV, Southwest Region Mobile Mental Health Center
Serving Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, and Washington counties.
Contact: Mobile Mental Health 5750-A Southland Drive Mobile, AL (251) (voice)
Ben Hollingsworth, MS, CRC Regional Coordinator

17. Region IV, Southwest Region Mobile Mental Health Center
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Region IV, Southwest Region Mobile Mental Health Center
Serving Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, and Washington counties.
Contact: Mobile Mental Health 5750-A Southland Drive Mobile, AL (251) (voice)
Ben Hollingsworth, MS, CRC Regional Coordinator

18. Frances Ralston, Ph.D Unit Director
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Bailey Deaf In-Patient Unit Greil Memorial Psychiatric Hospital, Montgomery
The Bailey Unit will be opening in the Winter of 2005 and there are numerous career opportunities. These include:
Social Worker
Nurses
Psychological Assistant
Communication Specialist
Mental Health Technicians
Recreational Specialist
Contact Personnel: Greil Memorial Psychiatric Hospital 2140 Upper Wetumpka Rd Montgomery, Al (334) ext 232 or 231(voice)
Frances Ralston, Ph.D Unit Director

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Bailey Deaf In-Patient Unit Greil Memorial Psychiatric Hospital, Montgomery
The Bailey Deaf Unit, located in Montgomery, will be a culturally affirmative treatment option for people with mental illness and or chemical dependency. Opening in early 2005, this unit will provide caring sensitive treatment for deaf or hard of hearing individuals in need of acute psychiatric services.
It will have 10 beds, with two beds designated as statewide crisis beds. It will be designed to be a culturally affirmative Deaf Program unit with signing staff who are trained to work with people who are mentally ill and deaf. This program will be a leader in providing culturally affirmative services.

20. Acute Psychiatric Care
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Acute Psychiatric Care
The heart of Alabama’s acute psychiatric care for people who are deaf will be the Bailey Deaf In-Patient Unit in Montgomery. People in crisis and in need of short term help can come find it here.
Additionally, our network of video-conference locations means that a signing therapist is just minutes away

21. Outpatient Services BACK
The Regional Centers of the Office of Deaf Services provides community based programming for people with hearing loss who also have mental illness. Each center has a coordinator and at least one signing therapist. The Regional approach makes sure that services are appropriate for people in that area.

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Supported Living
Modern treatment approaches and improved medication make it possible for most people with mental illness to live in the community. Many people who are deaf, however, have missed out on services that teach independent living. For these consumer, the Office of Deaf Services has a network of supported living options, allowing each person to live with the degree of independence he or she wants.

23. Training for Clinicians
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Training for Clinicians
A vital part of the work of the Office of Deaf Services is providing training for hearing clinicians who may encounter deaf or hard of hearing consumers. These clinicians are sometimes the first point of contact and are an important part of the overall service delivery system. Training includes:
Deafness and Deaf Culture;
Program standards and best practices;
Effective therapeutic approaches;
Screening for hearing loss;
Working with interpreters;
And many other topics.

24. Technical Assistance and Consultation
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Technical Assistance and Consultation
Because of their expertise, staff members of the Office of Deaf Services are often asked to provide technical assistance to other state agencies in Alabama and around the country. Deaf Services staff are in demand as workshop and conference speakers.

25. Community Education BACK
The stigma of mental illness is just as pervasive in the Deaf Community as in the general population. To help people who are deaf or hard of hearing understand mental illness better, Community education is an important part of what we do

26. Mental Health Interpreter Training Interpreter Standards
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Mental Health Interpreter Training Interpreter Standards
Alabama has passed the nation’s first standards for mental health interpreting, defining skills and knowledge needed to be effective in this vital area. The Office of Deaf Services has established special training for interpreters to help them meet these standards. This training leads to a special certification as a mental health interpreter.
To be a Qualified Mental Health Interpreter a person must take the course of training, do a supervised practicum and pass a comprehensive examination.

27. Visual-Gestural Communication Deaf Relay Interpreting
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Visual-Gestural Communication Deaf Relay Interpreting
Many deaf people with mental illness are dysfluent in any language. Growing up in a linguistically deprived environment, without the chance to develop either English or American Sign Language skills, they often learn to communicate with gestures and “home-made” signs. This presents a tremendous challenge for clinicians.
Visual-Gestural Communication specialist are people who are deaf and have special ability to communicate with those with poor language skills. The Office of Deaf Services works closely with the Deaf Community to help train those with this valuable skill.

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Group Homes
Specialized group homes for deaf people with mental illness provide an important step between in-patient care and independent living. In these homes, consumer can learn important coping skills and be in an environment where everyone can sign It’s a vial part of the recovery process.
Currently the Office of Deaf Services has 2 homes open with more coming soon.

29. Statewide Services connecting through videoconferencing
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Statewide Services connecting through videoconferencing
Alabama’s goal is to make culturally affirmative services available to every deaf or hard of hearing Alabamian with mental illness. To this in our heavily rural state requires innovative approaches. That’s why we are putting videoconference capability in each mental health center. Help is available anywhere, any time.

30. Program Standards And Development
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Program Standards And Development
To assure quality service the Office of Deaf Services has worked with Policy and Planning to develop program standards which address how mental health services to people who are deaf will be delivered. The Office also researches best practices and works on program design