On September 7th, Mr. Neal Cash, CEO and President of Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, will be recognized for his tireless efforts in promoting mental health recovery with the Daniel Moreno Advocate Award.

In the words of Greg Taylor, who nominated Mr. Cash:

Neal’s vision, leadership and advocacy as president/CEO of CPSA have resulted in creation of the most comprehensive, integrated behavioral health crisis-services network in the country. The system’s centerpiece, the Crisis Response Center, opened in August 2011, just after state budget cuts stripped many people with serious mental illness of ongoing support and treatment. 

n 2005, Neal recognized that Pima County’s fast-growing population and the increased enrollment in CPSA’s care system demanded development of an enhanced, fully integrated crisis network. Neal and community stakeholders including law enforcement and county officials identified the need for an “urgent care” center to address mental-health crises that do not involve medical complications or more acute problems. Neal tirelessly advocated for bonds to build the CRC, which were approved unanimously by the county’s Board of Supervisors and by 63% of voters in 2006.

The new facility also provided the opportunity to create a comprehensive, integrated network of crisis services, with a phone-based “command and control” center at the CRC. The resulting network has drawn national attention from publications such as Behavioral Healthcare magazine, which predicted that the CRC is “destined to change the practice of behavioral healthcare,” and Mental Health Weekly, which noted that the CRC “has fast become a magnet of attention for officials elsewhere who grapple with how to keep jails and hospital emergency rooms from essentially becoming a community’s mental health centers.”

Mr. Cash has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling and administration from the University of Arizona. He has been involved with the behavioral health industry in Tucson for over 35 years.

Mr. Cash also presents and provides consultative services nationwide in the area of mental health and substance use treatment.   He serves on task forces, expert panels, and Boards of Directors on  local, state and national levels,  including the board of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.

For more information about the event, please visit www.planetaurora.org

or visit the Facebook page for Daniel Moreno Awards:

https://www.facebook.com/TheDanielMorenoAwards?ref=hl