The 2012 Woodruff Forum will feature a keynote address by Thomas R. Insel, MD, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, on new advances in brain science and their implications for clinical practice.  The event is scheduled for February 24, 2012 at 11:00 a.m., with the keynote to begin at noon.  The Forum will be co-sponsored by Case Western Reserve University and the City Club of Cleveland.  Register online at www.cityclub.org or by calling the City Club of Cleveland at (216) 621-0082.  Friends of the Woodruff Foundation are eligible for a special member rate of $18 for the luncheon. 

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - 12:00 to 2:00 pm, Hilton Garden Inn

Downtown Keynote Speaker: Linda Rosenberg, MSW, President and CEO, National Council of Community Behavioral Health,

Keynote Address: Our Agencies Facing Health Reform”

Presentation of the Woodruff Prize to recognize a direct service staff member at a Cuyahoga County behavioral health agency will be awarded to Vady Vega, CPST Worker and HIV Educator, Recovery Resources

The Woodruff Prize awards were presented at the 19th Annual Woodruff Forum on November 10, 2009 at Hilton Garden Inn Cleveland Downtown. The event featured a panel discussion moderated by Dan Moulthrop of ideastream on Preserving the Behavioral Health Safety Net During Difficult Times. Panel members included: Steve Friedman, PhD, Executive Director, Cleveland Sight Center and former Executive Director, Mental Health Services, Inc., James McCafferty, MSSA, Cuyahoga County Administrator, Jean Therrien, RN, MS, Executive Director, Neighborhood Family Practice, and Deborah Vesy, President and CEO, Deaconess Community Foundation.

The purpose of the discussion was to begin to articulate some aspects of a long-term vision for the behavioral health safety net, including: a call to action in terms of advocacy, innovation, effectiveness, and collaboration; germination of new ideas to propel change; identification of trends in service delivery and financing.  In addition, the discussion touched on a brief overview of budgetary challenges and their impact on organizations.

The winner of the Woodruff Prize for individual achievement is Ruth A. Addison, President and CEO, Murtis Taylor Human Services System. Murtis Taylor Human Services System is a nonprofit organization providing a wide array of family and community services and behavioral health care. Ms. Addison received an award of $5,000, to be donated Murtis Taylor.

The winner of the Woodruff Prize for a nonprofit organization, PLAN of Northeast Ohio, Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization providing innovative home based, family focused services to those living with mental illness.  PLAN offers comprehensive and unique services that meet the needs of 130+ adult members and families.  PLAN of Northeast Ohio, Inc. received a $10,000 unrestricted grant.

The Woodruff Foundation also announced the winner of the Emerging Practitioner Leader prize, Christina Delos Reyes, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, ADAMHS Board of Cuyahoga County and the Emerging Volunteer Leader prize, Dani Altieri Marinucci, President, Parent to Parent Network. A Special Recognition for Life Achievement was presented to Janet Kessler, Ph.D.  

The 2008 Woodruff Forum, held on November 13 at the Hilton Garden Inn, offered the behavioral health community an opportunity to celebrate its own successes by placing the Woodruff Prize winners in the spotlight. The winner of the Woodruff Prize for individual achievement was Robert Weiss, M.D., Director of Psychiatry Consultation Service at MetroHealth Medical Center. Dr. Weiss was recognized by his colleagues for bringing psychiatric care to new populations, and also for the excellence of the teaching on his service. He received an award of $10,000, which he donated to MetroHealth for the training of social workers.

The organization award went to Emerald Development and Economic Network, Inc., (EDEN) is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop and provide safe, decent, affordable housing and support services for people in Cuyahoga County with mental illness or other disabilities.  The agency has expanded the number of affordable housing units in each of its 17 years in operation.  Current housing development plans will add 500+ units of supportive housing over the next five to eight year.  Over 50 agencies refer their clients to EDEN, Inc. for housing assistance and thousands of disabled persons have been helped. EDEN received a $10,000 unrestricted grant, and the Woodruff Foundation commissioned production of a promotional video about the organization and its connection to the Woodruff priorities in honor of the award, which was debuted at the luncheon.  The acceptance speeches of Dr. Weiss and Kathyrn Kazol, Executive Director of EDEN, offered great insight and encouragement on clinical, training, and advocacy gains in the field.

This year, the Woodruff Foundation instituted 2 new categories of prizes. The Emerging Practitioner Leader prize is for a professional in the mental health or substance abuse fields for fewer than 5 years. The winner was Angeline Sulak, Child/Adolescent Specialist at Domestic Violence Center.  The Emerging Volunteer Leader prize is for volunteer active for fewer than 5 years. The winner was Harvey Kotler, Vice President, Board of Trustees of PLAN of Northeast Ohio, and Board Member of Jewish Family Service Association and Hopewell. Also, the Woodruff Foundation has made a Special Recognition for Extraordinary Service to Senator Bob Spada and Jim Spada. Senator Spada's speech was a personal and moving account of the efforts to pass Ohio's Mental Health Parity legislation, and the policy challenges still ahead.   

The Woodruff Foundation presented the 17th Annual Community Issues Luncheon on November 5, 2007 at Windows on the River.  In order to continue the Woodruff Foundation's focus on the integration of primary and behavioral health care, Dr. Richard Frank, the Margaret T. Morris Professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, was invited to present the keynote address.  Dr. Frank is also a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research and has served on the Congressional Citizen's Working Group on Health Care, advising several state mental health and substance abuse agencies on issues related to managed care and financing of care. 

Currently, Dr. Frank and his colleagues are examining competing strategies for organizing and financing mental health and substance abuse care under research grants from the Hogg Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Under grants from NIDA and the MacArthur Foundation, Dr. Frank and colleagues are studying the performance of social insurance programs for people with mental and addictive disorders. Dr. Frank generously made available to attendees of the luncheon his recently published book ‘Better but Not Well' which he and colleague, Sherry Glied authored.

The luncheon featured the Presentation of the 2007 Woodruff Prize Awards.  The winner of the Woodruff Prize for individual achievement is Frank A. Fecser, Ph.D. of Positive Education Program.  Dr. Fecser donated his award to the Positive Education Program.  The Children's Program at The Gathering Place was the winner of the nonprofit organizational prize.  More information regarding the 2007 winners can be found in the Woodruff Prize section of this website.

The 16th Annual Community Issues Luncheon and Presentation of the Woodruff Prize Awards was held on November 16, 2006 at the Myers University Club. This annual event is hosted by the Woodruff Foundation in an effort to heighten community awareness and encourage dialogue on critical issues facing the behavioral health care system.

Key Ingredients for Effective Collaboration, presented by Barbara A. Gawinski, Ph.D., and Alan Lorenz, MD, both Associate Professors of Family Medicine and Psychiatry at University of Rochester. The presentation addressed the need for effective collaboration between health care practitioners and mental health professionals to provide comprehensive care to people afflicted with both mental health problems and biomedical problems. Multiple health professionals working together to provide comprehensive care can be a source of great satisfaction, or a daunting struggle. The presentation focused on six universal ingredients for effective collaboration: relationship, common purpose, paradigm, communication, location of service, and business arrangement.

The winner of the Woodruff Prize for individual achievement, Dr. Robert J. Ronis, was nominated by several colleagues at University Hospital Health Systems, and Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Ronis is the interim Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Medical School. In addition, Dr. Ronis is the Co-Director of the Center for Evidence Based Practices, comprised of the Ohio Substance Abuse/Mentally Illness (SAMI) and the Ohio Supported Employment Coordinating Centers of Excellence, a collaboration between the Department of Psychiatry and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Ronis has chosen to split the winnings between two organizations - NAMI Greater Cleveland and Suicide Prevention Education Alliance of NE Ohio.

Winner of the $10,000 Woodruff Prize for a nonprofit organization, Community Assessment & Treatment Services, Inc. (C.A.T.S.) provides holistic programming to chemically dependent or dually-diagnosed individuals, primarily those involved with the criminal justice system. Current programs included: Men's and Women's Residential Treatment, Therapeutic Community for Men, Outpatient Services for Men and Women, and Assessment Services, among others. Community Assessment & Treatment Services has been working in the Broadway-Harvard community for over 16 years. This year new initiatives, such as the Halfway House Initiative, funded by the Cuyahoga County Commissioners, the Male-Trauma Recovery Empowerment Model, funded by the Reuter Foundation and the Mt. Sinai Health Foundation, continue C.A.T.S. commitment to providing innovative programming.

The Woodruff Foundation looked to the 15th Annual Community Issues Luncheon to spark conversation, focus vision, and encourage new ideas on the future of behavioral health in Cleveland.  Held on December 8, 2005 at Myers University Club, keynote speaker, Charles Ray, former President and CEO of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, currently Chief Executive, Government and Stakeholder Relations, Commission for the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) International, focused on the integration of behavioral health and primary health care and the trends at work that make integration necessary, and what such integration can do to help create healthy and safe communities. 

The behavioral health care system during the first part of the 21st century is being shaped by a number of forces within our society; including the increasing emphasis on quality and accountability, major neuroscience and biological advances, and the new knowledge-based technologies. The system of care operates within an increasingly complex environment, though, and providers who thrive among the forces mentioned above must also contend with compression of health care benefits, ongoing stigma assigned to mental illness and its treatment, and the shifting roles of governmental bodies. In light of these and other trends, in 2003, the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health called for a fundamentally transformed mental health system. Among other goals, the President's commission calls for all Americans to see mental health as essential to overall health and well-being. Key to achieving that goal and securing improved access to preventive care and treatment of mental illness and addiction will be the integration of behavioral health and primary health care.

The winner of the Woodruff Prize for individual achievement, Kelly Dylag, was nominated by Gloria L. Hilton, Chair, Board of Directors, Far West Center.  Ms. Dylag is President and CEO of Far West Center.  She has been with Far West Center for 8 years and has nearly 30 years experience in Behavioral Healthcare and Administration.   Ms. Dylag designated her winnings to Far West Center.

The winner of the $10,000 Woodruff Prize for a nonprofit organization, Magnolia Clubhouse was founded in 1961 as a program of Hill House and provides community-based employment, educational, advocacy and social programs for persons with mental illness.  Magnolia Clubhouse, Inc. recently celebrated its first anniversary as a free-standing entity.  Magnolia Clubhouse is the only certified Clubhouse in the state of Ohio and the only providers of this type of comprehensive psychosocial rehabilitation in Cuyahoga County.

The 14th Annual Woodruff Foundation Community Issues Forum and Luncheon was held on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 at LaCentre, located in Westlake.  This event was sponsored in collaboration with the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board, Mental Health Advocacy Coalition, Cuyahoga County Suicide Prevention Task Force and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention-Northeast Ohio.  Kathryn Burns, M.D., Chief Clinical Officer at the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board, presented information about what Cuyahoga County is doing to address suicide.

Suicide takes the lives of more than 30,000 Americans every year and is now the 8th leading cause of death in America. In addition to this large number of lives lost, there are the loved ones left behind. According to the Comprehensive Textbook of Suicidology, there are at least 6 other people intimately affected by each suicide. In Cuyahoga County, the suicide rate has remained fairly constant over the last few years at approximately 150 deaths. This rate is consistent with the national statistics. However, it is shocking to think that we are all more likely to encounter a suicide in our lives than a homicide. For every 2 victims of homicide, there are three deaths from suicide. 

The Cuyahoga County Suicide Prevention Task Force was formed to create the Cuyahoga County Suicide Prevention Plan. The plan was approved in 2003 and implementation began in 2004. This year's forum focused on suicide prevention by highlighting this important plan and by increasing awareness of this public health issue.  The plans goals are to: Increase awareness that suicide is a public health and mental health problem in order to reduce stigma and increase people's ability to seek help; Reduce factors that increase the risk of suicide; and Gather more data about suicide attempts and evaluate the effectiveness of programs designed to prevent suicide.

Open to the public and professionals in the mental health field, the morning program included breakout sessions with experts from the field.  The topics included:

Depression and Suicide Among the Elderly, presented by Deborah Gould, M.D., Medical Director of Geriatric Psychiatry, North East Ohio Health Services

Risk Assessment in Children and Adolescents, by Kathleen Quinn, M.D., Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The Cleveland Clinic

Prevention Programming in the Schools, Catherine Ferrer, Executive Director, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Northeast Ohio

Survivors of Suicide Loss:  An Overview from the Inside Out, Joanne Harpel, Director of Survivor Initiatives, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

The Luncheon Program featured keynote speaker David C. Clark, Ph.D., the Stanley G. Harris Family Professor of Psychiatry at Rush Medical College in Chicago.  Dr. Clark is a member and former president of American Association of Suicidology and serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. In addition, he is the author of numerous publications regarding suicide prevention.  Dr. Clark gave an overview of Suicide in Ohio and the U.S.

Also presented at the Luncheon were the winners of the 2004 Woodruff Prize Awards.  This year's recipients are Stella Maris, for providing quality treatment services to homeless, chemically dependent and mentally ill men, and Helen Jones, President of Recovery Resources, for her consistent and superior work in the mental health and chemical dependency field.

Held on Friday, November 7, 2003 at Windows on the River the Community Issues Forum: A Report Card on Mental Health Care in Ohio: Local, State and National Perspectives, included a live broadcast on 90.3 WCPN ideastream. Moderator and show host April Bear interviewed panelists Kathryn Burns, M.D., Chief Clinical Officer, Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board, Michael Hogan, Ph.D., Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Paul Jarvis, legislative aide for Ohio State Representative Lynn Olman. She also fielded questions from the audience and callers.

Judy Peters, President/CEO of West Side Ecumenical Ministry, who served as the Project Director for a Federation for Community Planning study on improving the financing and delivery of behavioral health care services in Cuyahoga County, joined the second half of the morning program to give some highlights from this recently completed study. Also presenting this important information were Jeff Johnsen, Research/Program Administrator for the Cuyahoga County Community Health Board and David Biegel, Ph.D., the Henry L. Zucker Professor of Social Work Practice at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case.

The Annual Luncheon program Helping to Make the Grade: Partnering Higher Education and the Community Mental Health System featured a keynote address by Dr. Edward Hundert, President of Case Western Reserve University. In addition, the 2003 Woodruff Prize Awards were presented to William Wortzman and the Positive Education Program.

The 2002 Woodruff Forum, held on November 15th at Windows on the River, featured Evan Imber-Black, Ph.D., the Director of the Center for Families and Health at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City, and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Imber-Black's book,The Secret Life of Families, examines how secrets affect families and their relationships. Although secrets have existed throughout time, modern families face particular dilemmas regarding secrecy, silence, privacy and openness. Today, new reasons for secrecy have emerged - issues such as suicide, incest, rape, sexual orientation, illness and assisted reproductive technologies. People are unsure whether to reveal their secrets or even who they can reveal them to. The Forum's morning workshop presented an examination of effective therapy when secrets prevail and a multi-systemic model for assessing and intervening in couple and family secrets. The luncheon program also featured Dr. Imber-Black speaking about Family Secrets in Illness and Loss.

2002 Woodruff Prize Winners:

Miriam Solomon Plax, Executive Director of NAMI-Metro Cleveland, for her outstanding leadership, successful communication of mental health issues to the general public, and personal commitment to mental health consumers.

The Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland for its innovative, responsible, compassionate and cost-free mental health services to the community.

The 2001 Forum entitled Boys At Risk: The Crisis Facing Young Males in America was held in November, and addressed the mental health needs of womenn in prison and their children. Featured keynote speaker was Geoffrey Canada, President/CEO of Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families of New York City. Mr. Canada has written two books, Reaching Up for Manhood and Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America, which address issues that adolescent boys face growing up today.

Morning workshops featured many prominent local experts in the field and covered topics including the Influence of Fathers and Mentors, Building Self-Esteem through Education and Self-Exploration, Assessing Risk for Violent Behavior, and Adolescent Substance Abuse and Victimization.

2001 Woodruff Prize Winners:

Mario Tonti, Executive Director of Beech Brook, for his 20 years of outstanding leadership in providing innovative, quality mental health services for children and families.

Merrick House, for its long-standing commitment to integrating quality behavioral and physical health care programs