The Consumer Quality Team is the result of cooperative planning by a number of mental health organizations. We are staffed solely by consumers and family members.
Program Development
Based on the reported success of other consumer quality programs, a group formed in the 1990s to advocate bringing this program to Maryland. This Working Group included consumers, family members, providers, advocates, Core Service Agencies and the Mental Hygiene Administration. The team evaluated similar programs in other jurisdictions and concluded that a program in Philadelphia was the preferred model to reach Maryland consumers of the public mental health system (PMHS).
Philadelphia Model
The Consumer Satisfaction Team, Inc. (CST)of Philadelphia was founded in 1990, and is a consumer/family run organization using qualitative interviews. They have successfully resolved consumer problems and formed a successful partnership with providers by collecting information without judgment or blame and focusing on problem resolution.
Maryland Program
CQT began making site visits to mental health facilities in January 2007. Within the first few weeks of operation, we were able to identify specific areas of consumer dissatisfaction about programs. Providers made immediate changes based on our findings, and consumers reported substantial improvement within a month of our initial visit.
Based on positive feedback from both consumers and providers, the Mental Hygiene Administration elected in November 2007 to provide the funding to take our program statewide. Click here to see the current list of counties and inpatient facilities we visit.