Services Provided

The Office of Consumer Affairs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida provides an array of outreach services for people in need of or currently receiving services in the state funded or licensed behavioral health care system.

Some of the main outreach services it provides are:

• Evaluation of customer satisfaction levels through the use of "Recovery Dialogue" surveys with consumers (individuals and/or groups) in state funded/licensed mental health, substance abuse, and Co-occurring disorder programs in Broward County

• Complaint resolution

• The Florida Department of Children and Families Statewide "Elimination of Barriers Initiative" - Consumer Projects

• Promotion of Consumer-run Programs and Initiatives

• Educates community on recovery

• Statewide Mental Health Advance Directives Initiative

• Information on recovery

• Access to Peer Specialists/ 24/7 answering machine/Monday through Friday daytime hours (except Holidays)

• Policy development

• Sensitivity Training for Providers of services

• Consumer Technical Assistance

• Sponsoring of consumer conferences

• Specific Job information for consumers

• Community education

• Certification of Peer Specialists

• Information/linkage to community resources/referral

• Online complaint/suggestion/ideas/input forms

• Over 400 Web links to main behavioral health related sites

• Southeast Florida Drop-in Center Association Development

• Easy Access to staff via phone, voice mail, fax, e-mail, and website online forms

• Provides for the facilitation of collected consumer input, to the Florida Department of Children and Families, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Program Office of District 10

• Peer Specialist Training/Certification

One of the unique qualities of the Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) is that OCA Team Members can show up announced or unannounced at any state funded/licensed mental health or substance abuse service agency, talk with people receiving services about recovery in individual or group dialogue format, provide peer listening to, give information/referral, accept or investigate complaints, or provide any other OCA service. People in need of our services from other cities, counties, and states in the United States that contact the office are not turned away. The Office of Consumer Affairs here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida also provides services to high profile persons such as city or county commissioners, state legislators, and the governor’s office that may need our services such as complaint resolution about people receiving services in the behavioral health care system or in need of those services. "Recovery Resource Informationals" are another service that the Office of Consumer Affairs provides. This service is innovative and worth mentioning. This is where OCA Team Members provide education on recovery and resources in the community to people receiving services in Baker Act facilities and at mental health or substance abuse programs. This education (i.e. resources in the community, Social Security, drop-in centers, housing, information on recovery and knowledge about the system) may help to reduce the chances of costly hospitalizations. Through this cost-effective method, consumers may become better able to handle the challenges of life through the information and resources they are given. The OCA Team may help link the people they meet at the Recovery Resource Informationals, to community resources or services that may help them in their recovery in the community, so as to reduce the possibility that they will return back into the system of intense care. All of the Office of Consumer Affairs’ services are free to the community.