MACC is proud to have served Ohio’s behavioral health workforce since our inception in 2003. the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OMHAS) and other leaders recognized inequity in service delivery and outcomes due to the lack of recognition and specific focus on social determinants of health for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) communities.  This deficit was due to a lack of training around the Cultural and Linguistically Appropriate Services Standards – (CLAS Standards) and a lack of diverse representation within the workforce or racial concordance. MACC provides CLAS training and dozens of other culturally specific training modules developed to support the behavioral health workforce. However, we further support organizations through environmental scans, helping them review and assess their internal operations, policies, and processes.   In 2022, MACC developed the Cultural Competence Certification for the Behavioral Health Workforce for those organizations seeking a proper depth of understanding and impact. All trainings offer CEUs, and we have certified over 1,000 professionals in the behavioral health field.  We work with our behavioral health partners to support them in providing the most inclusive and equitable services to the clients possible to ensure the highest and best outcomes for all.

Successful businesses are laser-focused on the bottom line, and sustainability remains paramount. However, a critical element to many organizations is the understanding of how impactful a culturally inclusive and supportive environment, both internally and externally, can enhance that bottom line and promote greater sustainability. MACC supports organizations in getting to win-wins, gaining understanding and skills in cultural competence to increase employee engagement and satisfaction, increasing equity in upward mobility, improving service delivery and outcomes, reducing litigation, increasing the bottom line, and impeding attrition, all while receiving a return on investment that is measurable. Further, sustainability and market share are left on the table due to assumptions and biases about who prospective clients and customers are or are not. MACC works to expand the company’s opportunities for success and sustainability both internally and externally. Introductory training is available, and industry-specific modules are curated based on customer needs. Licensing opportunities are available as well.

Post-secondary educational institutions are the first places young minds can experience people unlike themselves, encounter ideas and ideologies different from their understanding and beliefs, and have their knowledge of people and the world around them challenged and expanded. These are often the centers of enlightenment, innovation, and discovery for our society, and MACC supports this as a valuable and necessary exploration. Students must feel welcomed, accepted, seen, and heard to engage and express themselves without barriers, bigotry, and biases. MACC works with our institutions of higher learning to support them in creating cultures that provide that exact environment for not just students but faculty, staff, and their entire academic community. The responsibility of educators to establish an inclusive and encouraging environment is as critical as the responsibility to provide academic education in multiple disciplines. MACC endeavors to support our colleges and universities in creating places of learning that expand all who participate and result in well-rounded, thoughtful, and humble citizens prepared to lead and walk side-by-side with their fellow citizens as appropriate.

MACC is developing its first-ever Grief Camp for youth. Our focus and intention is first to parse the difference between trauma and grief. The two are often linked together, but in reality, they are distinctly different. Trauma gets the attention and focus – as it should, and we address that through our Trauma Informed Care training. Unfortunately, grief is often left untouched. Not addressing grief – especially in these times of such unprecedented loss for young people due to violence, suicide, depression, anxiety, etc., -- is an incomplete approach to healing and being responsive to their needs. MACC and our partners Male Behavioral Health and Black Girl Rising will offer our first Grief Camp in 2024

Where we worship and live, we are at the front lines of engagement and opportunities for growth, healing, and service to our communities. MACC partners with our faith and community leaders by delivering Mental Health First Aid training. This national model does not position faith and community organizations to become direct service providers. Instead, Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course that teaches participants about mental health and substance-use issues. It helps participants identify and develop relationships with service providers in their areas and trains them to identify members in need better. It also trains lay people and everyday citizens to identify, understand, and appropriately respond to those in need of behavioral health services. Hopefully, there will soon be as many people certified in Mental Health First Aid as in CPR. MACC partners with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Ohio to deliver this training.