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The Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Agency (D-WCCMHA) designed the Virtual Center of Excellence in response to the demand for System Transformation. The idea originated through the Annapolis Coalition report on the Behavioral Health Workforce in 2000. The following year, The Institute of Medicine published the first of a series of books dedicated to quality in health care, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century.
The Institute of Medicine published a new volume each year, and in 2006, released a report for the mental health community. Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental And Substance-Use Conditions was the catalyst that helped to bring The Virtual Center of Excellence into existence. Chapter Seven of this book, "Increasing Workforce Capacity for Quality Improvement" shined a light on the inconsistent and uneven education and training of behavioral health employees. The formal education for medical doctors and nurses is based on the universal application of strict standards and guidelines. However, professionals providing behavioral health and counseling services to populations with a mental illness or substance use condition can potentially follow dramatically different educational tracks.
D-WCCMHA partnered with The Guidance Center, Wayne State University and Wayne County Community College District to establish the VCE in 2006. The Virtual Center of Excellence was created to overcome these differences, to maintain a trained and qualified Wayne County CMH workforce, and ultimately improve care and services for our consumers and their families. Using proven Evidence Based Practices, we offer the most current trainings and curriculums in the field to advance the knowledge and skill of our workforce.
In 2008 D-WCCMHA launched the VCE website. This multimedia website provides 24/7 training opportunities for the Detroit Wayne County CMH workforce. One of the key objectives of this site is to provide convenient and easily accessible event listings, online registration, archive of video recorded lectures and distance learning opportunities. Members have the benefit of a virtual transcript which tracks registration and attendance for VCE-sponsored trainings and online required courses.
The Guidance Center, a non-profit behavioral health organization headquartered in Southgate, Michigan houses and manages this unique program. The program is directed by Carol Ann Oleksiak, LMSW, ACSW, who leads a team dedicated to the VCE mission. With staff specialists and event planning specialists, plus the use of cutting edge technology, the Virtual Center of Excellence has the capability of researching, creating, and implementing successful, organized educational opportunities for the D-WCCMHA.
Communication and collaboration between partners has been an important part of the process of developing the Virtual Center of Excellence into the unique model it is today. Collaboration with multi-talented and skilled staff, partnered with current and new partners ensures the creation of a widespread learning community where we can share knowledge, decision-making and experience.
Our goals are:
- To identify who comprises our workforce and to understand their learning needs through focus groups, surveys and evaluations.
- To support evidence-based practices, including offering trainings important for implementation of EBP.
- To develop new trainings for CMH staff.
- To distribute quality information in a variety of formats and media including web-based training and
teleconferences for the convenience of our workforce.
- To provide continuing education credits for trainings, workshops and conferences to ensure the D-WCCMH workforce meet and maintain licensure requirements.
- To evaluate, analyze and summarize the results of new systems transformations in Detroit, Wayne County and Michigan.
- To ensure continuous process improvement and to continue evolving into the best system of care possible.
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