home relationships work 2006.07 annual report 2006.07 contents who we are who we are 2 Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria is a membership-based visions & values 3 non profit organization that is driven by the passion and professionalism of 241 staff, over 400 volunteers, 1411 strategic plan – reporting on this year 4 members, a board of directors and other supporters. strategic plan results 2005-08 5 This year we assisted 1700 people affected by mental president’s report 6 illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression and bipolar chief executive’s report 8 disorder who needed specialised assistance to overcome the governance 10 disabilities these illnesses cause. We also work with their family, highlights 12 friends, carers and employers. home 13 We provide people with a network of evidence-based services work 14 offering individual pathways through psychiatric rehabilitation. We also prioritize community education and advocacy. relationships 23 Everything we do is aimed at providing people with homes, our people 27 jobs and relationships. financials 31 MI Fellowship creates events that reduce stigma by raising our locations 47 awareness and giving the public contact with people with mental credits 47 illness including the annual Bruce Woodcock memorial lecture and the Open Mind Fiesta which attracts 30,000 people. What started in 1978 as a small band of volunteers has developed into one of Australia’s largest and leading psychiatric disability support organization with a budget exceeding $10 million and company limited by guarantee status. After almost three decades we know that the crucial phase of the journey is in front of us. www.mifellowship.org 1 in 5 Australians is affected by mental illness page 13 page 23 page 12 page 19 2 contents & who we are 2006.07 vision & values OUR VISION OUR VALUES Our vision is of a society in which We value the contributions of people with mental illness, their families mental illness will be understood and friends in our organization and the community. The following values and accepted. underpin all our activity: People with mental illness will HONESTY be afforded the same regard as Honesty is integral to all our dealings with members, volunteers, those with physical illness and clients, staff and the community. In relationships with people seeking resources will be available to offer support and advice we will be open, truthful, genuine and respectful. early interventions and state of Staff will reflect on their own practice and develop new insights from the art treatment and support. that process. There will be appropriate use of our resources to support These interventions will be so the mission of Mental Illness Fellowship and this will be accurately effective that long-term negative documented and recorded. There will also be a process to deal with consequences of mental illness will potential conflicts of interest. have disappeared for the person and their family. ACCEPTANCE People with mental illness will no Acceptance means that we include and accept people with mental longer experience stigma and illness and we value difference. Our relationships are interactive and society will treat them with the same based on non-judgmental attitudes. We welcome people into our respect and dignity as any other organization who have limited support options and who may have person and welcome and include experienced difficulties within the mental health system. We trust that them fully as community members. people can be well and must not be defined by their symptoms and we work to support that belief. We encourage healthy coping strategies that enhance the capacities of people with mental illness. EQUITY Equity means that we work to ensure mental health services are accessible and that people receive their entitlements. It also means that people with mental illness, and their families and friends from diverse cultural backgrounds and creeds have the same right to respect and dignified treatment as any other person. We identify service gaps, injustice and poor practice, which affect interventions, and we work with people to find solutions and strategies to address these difficulties. FLEXIBILITY Flexibility means that we are able and willing to adjust to individuality. We welcome diversity and use it for the benefit of the individual, the community and our organization. It means we try to find creative solutions to overcome problems and ensure that these solutions are open to scrutiny and fit within our total value system. We acknowledge the challenges flexibility brings and use these challenges to enrich all our activities. CoMMITMENT Commitment means we work towards the achievement of our vision and purpose. We expect our members, volunteers and staff to commit to these values and implement and promulgate them in all areas of our organization. All our activities ensure effective and efficient use of resources and we strive for excellence in all we do. PARTICIPATION Participation means that we will fully and happily engage in positive developments for people with mental illness, their families and their friends. We are a grass roots organization and encourage involvement in voluntary activity. We encourage staff to be members and to actively participate in achieving our goals. We encourage active membership, which is designed to strengthen the mental health voice and influence mental health development and policy. It also means co-operation within the membership, volunteers, staff and with a range of community agencies. mental illness fellowship annual report 2006.07 3 2006.07 strategic plan - services go from strength to strength There has been a 40% increase in the number of people with a mental illness accessing our programs and services over the past five years. The strategic plan 2004-08 was developed In 2003, benchmarking rated five of The outcomes of these strategies were during 2003 after consulting members, the categories in the median range re-measured in 2006, and are displayed people with mental illness and their of Australian organizational performance, on the opposite page. SEE FIGURE 1 PAGE 5 families, the Department of Human six in the top quartile and two in the top This snapshot demonstrates marked Services and other key people in the 10% of Australian companies. These 13 ratings organizational improvement across all 13 community. There was also a staff audit of SEE FIGURE 1 PAGE 5 measure organizational categories, and the organization consistently how well the organization was positioned capacity to manage for the future. The gaps performing within the top 10% of Australian to manage now and into the future. identified through this review became the new companies. This outcome was supported key performance areas: capacity building, by the result of the quality improvement and Both reviews identified that the organization building integrated service and system community services accreditation (QICSA) needed to strengthen its capacity to manage responses and evidence-based best practice process in 2006, in which we were awarded for the future through strategic growth and and innovation in the strategic plan. leading practice ratings in leadership and working in partnership with people with mental management, collaboration and strategic illness, mental health services, legal firms and The three key performance areas were positioning and community and professional government to address service integration. turned into actions through regional and capacity building. Organizational responsiveness to consumer and service plans and built into the organization carer need was rated highly by service users through the introduction of the staff Figures 2 and 3 show the breadth and their families and it was recommended that performance and development system. and growth of our organization. the high standard be maintained and that the Outcome monitoring and evaluation processes SEE FIGURES 2 & 3 PAGE 5 There has been capacity for innovation and formalizing best were reviewed and re-established, resulting a 40% increase in the number of people practice should be further developed. in an organizational restructure and the with a mental illness accessing our establishment of new committee and project programs and services over the past five The standardized audit tool provides a snapshot management arrangements. years. Our provision of services direct to of organizational performance across 13 carers of people with a mental illness also categories. These are benchmarked against continues to grow, reaching 7160 people organizations operating at the median, top in the past year. quartile and top 10% of Australian companies. The most effective rating is to operate in the top 10% of international companies. 4 strategic plan & results strategic plan results 2005-08 2003 & 2006 snapshots high of performance medium 2006 2003 performance low skills service staffing solutions strategies structures leadership stakeholers suggestions management shared vision shared shared values shared shared vision/ shared values alignment delivery systems organizational factor Figure 1 – Organizational performance displays the results of the audit tool used to measure organizational performance as discussed opposite. SEE MORE PAGE 4 number of participants over the past 5 years 1600 1495* 1400 1200 1067 1014 1106 1000 896 800 600 400 200 number of participants 0 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 financial year Figure 2 – Participant number growth shows the number of people with a mental illness receiving our