Birthday Wishes, Milestones and Transitions
The National Association for Rural Mental Health is 30 years old!
NARMH has come a long way from infancy in 1977 to our third decade of service to the rural mental health community. There have been 18 Presidents and countless volunteer Board members who have believed, since the association’s inception, that NARMH has a unique mission of service to rural people, providers, researchers and consumers. Just as a child goes though developmental milestones, so to has NARMH. A few of these milestones are listed below.
• In 1977, the National Association for Rural Mental Health was established.
• The establishment of the "Victor I. Howery Memorial Award" in 1987 that is given annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of rural mental health.
• The mid-1990s saw NARMH became a regular participant in the annual Carter Center Symposium on Mental Health.
• NARMH’s mission statement "Linking Voices to Promote Rural Mental Health" was created in 1995 to better communicate the association’s goals.
• The Board of Directors was expanded to include 15 diverse members to meet the increasing demands of the association.
• In 1996, NARMH created a new national award, the "Going to Bat Award," which is given to a person who has been a strong advocate of rural mental health.
• NARMH recognized its 25th anniversary with the publication of a special anniversary issue of Rural Community Mental Health.
• As NARMH entered the 21st century, the organization’s newsletter, Party Line, and journal, Rural Community Mental Health, were combined into a single magazine/journal style quarterly publication, Rural Mental Health.
• NARMH developed its own web site (www.narmh.org) in 1999.
• NARMH joined with over 40 other mental health organizations and interest groups to form the Mental Health Liaison Group, which develops recommendations on national mental health policy and advocates for mental health at the federal level.
• In 2000, in partnership with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, NARMH embarked on a yearlong process to develop Rural Mental Health and Behavioral Health Policy and Action Agenda.
• In recent years NARMH has been on the forefront of creating a “Building a National Plan for Rural Mental Health” with other stakeholders including SAMHSA.
The above milestones are only a few accomplishments that NARMH has seen over the years. However, NARMH and the Board are not resting on its past accomplishments but are actively moving forward on a number of fronts. For example, the NARMH website recently was updated and the Board voted to move to an electronic ballot for Board elections taking place this year. If you are interested in running for the Board it is not too late to submit your nomination materials. If you have any questions regarding running for the Board please contact the NARMH office at 320.202.1820 or Mark Mitchell at mitchellm@kahi.org.
A significant milestone recently taking place is the transition of Rural Mental Health, NARMH’s publication, to a peer review journal called the Journal of Rural Mental Health. This move was taken, with encouragement by our federal partners, to fill the void for a high quality journal which focuses on rural mental health research, practice, and policy. The new journal will provide those interested in rural mental health a central place to publish as well as an archival source for materials from which to draw upon. The transition and startup of the JRMH has taken more time and resources then expected. However, the final product is one in which the Board and the association can take pride in. Please check out our new editor, managing editor, associate editors and submission guidelines under JRMH on the publication section of the NARMH website.
As we come up on our 30th year of service to the rural mental health community, we would like to extend an invitation to come celebrate our three decades as an association at our upcoming national conference to be held in Kansas City, Missouri August 8-11, 2007. Join past Presidents and Howery Award recipients and renew old friendships with colleagues or make new ones.
Please plan on joining us in Kansas City to celebrate NARMH’s 30th Birthday.
