MERCERVILLE, NJ (May 24, 2007) – As the newly elected president of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies, Inc. (NJAMHA) Board of Directors and Executive Director of a rapidly expanding community mental health agency, J. Michael Armstrong, MA, MBA, is taking on a leadership role for improving mental health services for New Jersey citizens. While he oversees a continuum of residential recovery programs for individuals with mental illness or co-occurring addiction disorders at Community Hope, Inc., Parsippany, Armstrong is equally committed to improving mental health care and battling stigma against mental illness throughout the state.

“The only way we can provide service to our consumers is to have a quality, educated and committed professional staff. It all comes down to funding,” Armstrong said. A major part of his role as NJAMHA Board President will be bolstering advocacy efforts that focus on the community mental health system’s need for adequate funding from the State.

“Since joining the NJAMHA Board in 1998, Michael Armstrong has provided much insight and powerful advocacy that have strengthened our efforts to ensure member organizations have the funding and training they need to provide the most effective services and supports to assist individuals with mental illness on their road to wellness and recovery,” said Debra L. Wentz, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of NJAMHA.

Equally important as securing sufficient funds is eliminating stigma, which actually impacts funding, according to Armstrong. Under his leadership, NJAMHA will continue to fight on this front, as well. “We won’t have a proper level of funding if individuals with mental illness are seen as second-class citizens,” he said.

With both local and statewide scopes, Armstrong provides leadership to improve mental health care—and ultimately, mental health and quality of life—for New Jersey residents of all ages. New and expanded programs at Community Hope are examples of the diverse populations Armstrong and his staff aim to serve and the impact they are achieving. For instance, Community Hope recently received funding to expand its “Hope for Veterans” program and established a “Partnership Program,” in collaboration with Comprehensive Behavioral Health (CBH) Care, Lyndhurst, at

Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. Both of these programs prepare individuals to live independently in the community and break the cycle of hospitalizations and homelessness.

On any given night, as many as 8,300 veterans—many who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, other chronic mental illness or substance abuse—are homeless in the state, according to the New Jersey Veterans Affairs Health System. Since launching its “Hope for Veterans” program in 2004, Community Hope has been making a tremendous difference. The agency is poised to achieve much more with a $78,000 grant recently awarded by the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. With this funding, Community Hope will establish a more intensive discharge planning program as veterans prepare to leave the transitional housing program, where they can reside for up to two years.

“It is tragic that so many veterans become homeless and we are pleased that our program is having a profound impact. During their two years in the program, veterans are making tremendous progress, including those who have been cycling in and out of homelessness since their return from the Vietnam War,” Armstrong said.

The program started with 70 beds and will soon expand with 25 additional beds. In 2005, “Hope for Veterans” received the national Community Partnership Award from the Mutual of America Foundation and the (New Jersey) Governor’s Excellence in Housing award.

Community Hope is also actively involved in helping consumers make a successful transition from hospitalization to community life. Through a contract with the New Jersey Division of Mental Health Services, Community Hope and CBH Care are remodeling eight cottages at Greystone to help 36 long-term patients re-learn skills to live in the community and overcome their reliance on the institutional system.

“We’re excited about this ‘Partnership Program’ to help consumers who are leaving the hospital, in some cases, after decades. Our goal is to help individuals transition from an environment where everything has been done for them to a situation where they are living independently,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong received his B.A. degree in psychology from Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. After serving in the army, he returned to Appalachian State to receive his M.A. degree in counseling. His first counseling position was at Lincoln County Mental Health Center, Lincoln, NC. Then, he moved to New Jersey and held a variety of counselor and director positions, including several years in substance abuse services. He served as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Serv Centers of New Jersey, Inc., West Trenton, before taking on the same position at Community Hope in 1999. While pursuing this career path, he earned an M.B.A. degree at Rutgers University.

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Based in the Greater Trenton, New Jersey area, the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies, Inc. (NJAMHA) is a statewide trade association representing nonprofit behavioral health providers. Founded in 1951, NJAMHA represents 125 hospital-based and freestanding mental health agencies throughout New Jersey. In aggregate, NJAMHA members help children and adults with mental health issues more than one million times annually and employ 85,000 members of New Jersey’s workforce. NJAMHA’s mission is to champion opportunities that advance its members’ ability to deliver accessible, quality, efficient and effective integrated behavioral health care services to mental health consumers and their families. NJAMHA is committed to recovery and wellness for all consumers.

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