A recovery program was adapted from the Emerging Best Practices model of the Ohio Department of Mental Health in a set of processes known as "SOAR" which stands for "Systems Operating to Achieve Recovery". The Community Mental Health and Recovery Board has developed a very specific strategy for implementation of recovery for systems. A Recovery Steering committee made up of Board staff, Executive Directors of the mental health and the consumer operated services and a recovery consultant, oversaw the implementation. From there, different members of the steering committee provided training, education, resources, and support to facilitate the process for both the consumers and staff members. Two toolkits, Establishing a Recovery System and Consumer Operated Services, have been developed to help describe the SOAR program and help other systems implement the processes and outcome measures. These toolkits provide a step-by-step overview of how one community-based mental health authority developed a recovery based system of care. The toolkits are designed to be flexible road maps that adapt easily within your community mental health system's structure. Currently, SOAR is beginning to include the substance abuse agencies as well as attempting to engage the primary healthcare system in this endeavor.
If you would like additional information on the toolkits, please contact the Board offices at (740) 522-1232 for assistance.