Priscilla Ridgway, who recently joined 黑洞社区鈥檚 Center for Community Support and Research (CCSR) with a focus on CCSR鈥檚 mental health consumer initiatives, has been recognized for an important contribution to permanent support housing for people in need.
Ridgway was an assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry before coming to CCSR.
As part of her previous work, Ridgway co-authored an evidence-based practice Permanent Supported Housing Kit released in July 2010 by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA). The toolkit was prepared by Advocates for Human Potential Inc. and Westat Corp., under a contract with ABT Associates.
SAMHSA has funded the development of a series of evidence-based practice toolkits to close the gap between common practice in the mental health field and what is known to be the most effective service models supported through research and consensus among exemplary providers.
Permanent supported housing programs serve people with prolonged psychiatric disabilities through the provision of scattered-site socially integrated housing linked to flexible support services that are individualized to the person's needs.
The Permanent Supported Housing Kit that Ridgway helped develop includes literature review, fidelity guidelines, and a variety of tools for consumers, staff, administrators and evaluators of such programs.
The toolkit was awarded 鈥淏est of Show鈥� at the Society of Technical Communications International Summit competition held May 15-18 in Sacramento, Calif. The toolkit is commended 鈥渇or emphasizing important information in an interesting and appealing fashion, with beautifully written text that truly meets audience needs.鈥�