Guest Post - Mia Veroy, Program Coordinator

Today's guest post is from Mia Veroy, Program Coordinator at both the RAMS Hire-Ability Vocational Services Employee Development Program as well as the new Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate program being offered by RAMS and San Francisco State University. Started in Fall 2010, the Certificate Program's goal is "to prepare consumers and/or family members with the basic skills & knowledge for entry-level employment in the behavioral health system of care and with academic/career planning that supports success in institutions of higher learning".

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The Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate Program - a collaboration between Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. and San Francisco State University’s Department of Counseling - is proud to announce its first cohort of graduates from the Fall Cohort of 2010.

This unique class offering, funded by the Mental Health Services Act, allowed both agencies to create a pioneering curriculum designed to prepare individuals for employment into the behavioral health system. After 12 weeks of intensive and rigorous training, the students are ready to increase the workforce and let their voices be heard. Engagement and retention was high, with 18 students successfully completing the course out of the 20 that were selected for the initial class offering. The program included weekly classes, quizzes & exams, job shadowing and volunteer experiences that each individual had to complete in order to pass this course.

The success of this program would not have been possible without the amazing support that was received from the San Francisco community that came in various forms, such as the contributions of valuable hours from our panel of guest lecturers who agreed to share their knowledge and expertise free of charge, as well as donations of food and supplies.

The Certificate Program had the opportunity to acknowledge all these contributions and honor the students’ accomplishments during the graduation ceremony held in December 2010. The presence of family members from as far as Alaska and Utah as well as having representatives from three generations truly made this event memorable. It was a fitting way to honor the level of commitment, focus, and determination of all the students who plowed through all obstacles imaginable just to finish this course.

Many of the graduates are now in the process of getting registered with the Employment Services of RAMS Hire-Ability as well as the State Department of Rehabilitation to begin the job search. For some students, it is a matter of following up on the job leads or offers already received from their job shadow sites as well as contacts from the Job Fair hosted by the program. Organized activities such as alumni events as well as advisory committees are in the pipeline and ready for implementation in the coming months to ensure that the graduates receive continued support and guidance. In fact, several of the graduates came to the recent Open House for the Spring 2011 cohort to show support for the program, but more importantly, to provide assistance to the new applicants, a testament to how they have eased into their roles as peer counselors.

With the amount of work that has been accomplished in the past year, there is still a lot more to be done, yet RAMS is filled with an overwhelming sense of renewed hope and faith in the future. The best is yet to come!

Meet the folks behind the Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate Program (L-R): Angela Tang, MSW, RAMS Operations Manager; Mya Vaughn, PhD, Assistant Professor, SFSU; Robert Williams, PhD, Department of Counseling Chair, SFSU; Mia Veroy, RAMS Program Coordinator; Kavoos G. Bassiri, LMFT, CGP, President & CEO, RAMS.

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RAMS is now accepting applications for the Spring 2011 session! Click HERE for more information and for application forms & instructions.

Photo (at top) credit from jpellgen on Flickr