Chapter V: Improving Collaboration
Policy Statement 24: Obtaining and Sharing Resources
Recommendation d: Identify one of the partnering organizations - or establish a new entity - to serve as the locus for grants, new appropriations, and other resources contributed to the partnership.
Deciding which of the partnering organizations will be the recipient of a new appropriation or the share of a grant can be a thorny and divisive process. In some cases, it may make sense for the partners to establish an independent, not-for-profit organization, with representatives from each of the partnering organizations would help to govern, to receive and administer these funds.
Example: PERT, Inc., San Diego County (CA)
In San Diego County, in 1993, mental health and law enforcement professionals, consumers, and family members of consumers established a task force in response to several high-profile shootings of individuals with mental illness. The task force developed a series of Psychiatric Emergency Response Teams (PERT) to improve the response of the criminal justice system to individuals with mental illness. County and state agencies agreed to fund part of the initiative with a portion of the jurisdictions' share of federal block grant that the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration administers. Members of the task force could not agree on which organization should receive the grant, so they formed an independent organization: "PERT, Inc." PERT, Inc. supervises the PERT staff and coordinates billing for services rendered. The board for PERT, Inc. is made up in part by NAMI board members and board members from the Community Research Foundation, the largest private, nonprofit mental health service provider in the county.