Using incentives for training participation.

Topic: This column describes how public partners can help incentivize participation in training. Specifically, a state mental health agency and its implementation center applied financial and nonfinancial incentives to encourage participation in training and implementation supports.

Purpose: Although training is not sufficient to change practice, it is a necessary first step in implementing evidence-based treatments.

The New York State Office of Mental Health Positive Alternatives to Restraint and Seclusion (PARS) Project.

Objective: The Positive Alternatives to Restraint and Seclusion (PARS) project of the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) was designed to build capacity to use alternatives to restraint and seclusion within state-operated and licensed inpatient and residential treatment programs serving children with severe emotional disturbances. Its long-term goal was to eliminate the use of these restrictive interventions throughout the state's mental health system of care by creating coercion- and violence-free treatment environments governed by a philosophy of recovery, resiliency, and wellness.

Methods: The central feature of the PARS project was training in, implementation of, and engagement with the Six Core Strategies to Reduce the Use of Seclusion and Restraint, a comprehensive approach developed by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors.

Best practices: New York's outpatient mental health clinic licensing reform: using tracer methodology to improve service quality.

This column describes how the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) redesigned licensing procedures for outpatient clinics by applying a person-centered focus and clinically relevant standards of care. OMH incorporated a tracer methodology to assess services; a licensing instrument that reflected OMH goals; and a systematic piloting, feedback, and implementation process. Clinic staff reported that the new procedures facilitated communication between OMH and clinics, accurately identified clinics' successes, and provided actionable and programmatic feedback.