PRA’s 2012 Award Recipients

Each year, PRA presents awards for outstanding contributions to the field of psychiatric rehabilitation. Recipients were awarded at PRA’s 2012 Annual Confernece.

The 2012 recipient of the Isaiah Uliss Advocate Award is Mr. John Travers, CPRP, trainer, advocate and a dedicated founding director of the Mental Health America Wellness Center (MHALA) in San Pedro, CA.

Phil Floyd, CPRP, Manager, Adult Clinical Support Services, Rockbridge Area Community Services, Buena Vista, VA, has been named as the 2012 recipient of the John Beard Award.

The 2012 recipient of the Irvin Rutman Award is Deborah Delman, Executive Coordinator, transformation Center, Boston, MA.

Dr. Alicia Lucksted, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, Division of Mental Health Services Research, Baltimore, MD, has been named as the recipient of the 2012 Armin Loeb Award.

The 2012 LeRoy Spaniol Educator Award is awarded to Maria E. Restrepo-Toro, MS, CPRP, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University. (This award is sponsored by Thresholds, Inc., Chicago, Il.)

Dr. Crystal Glover, PhD, UIC Center on Mental Health Services Research & Policy, Chicago, IL, has been named as the recipient of the 2012 Carol T. Mowbray Early Career Research Award.

The 2012 recipient of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner Award is Rebecca Anderson, CPRP, Vinfen,Plymouth CAR Team, Cambridge, MA.

Recipients of the 2012 PRA Chairperson’s Award: Awarded to champions of supporting the strength-based model that is the foundation of the psychiatric rehabilitation service system.

Paolo del Vecchio, MSW
Acting Director, Center for Mental Health Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Mr. del Vecchio, MSW, is the Acting Director of SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). SAMHSA is the lead Federal agency designed to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. Previously, Paolo was the CMHS Associate Director for Consumer Affairs where he managed SAMHSA’s precedent-setting activities in addressing consumer participation and education, issues of discrimination and stigma, consumer rights, wellness, recovery, trauma, and others.

Susan Bergeson
Vice-President of Consumer Affairs for OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions Ms. Bergeson is a mental health consumer and a family member of mental health consumers. In her position as VP of Consumer Affairs, she is charged with enhancing the consumer centered, recovery oriented programs, policies, and services within OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions. WithinOptum Health she has implemented a range of recovery oriented programs including peer bridger services which are reducing hospitalization between 50-70%, peer health coach programs which are reducing hospitalization by 96% in late life populations among many other programs.