Mental health consumers serve on a variety of boards, councils and committees within the Michigan mental health system.  Some of these groups, including the Michigan Recovery Council, the Improving Practices Leadership Teams and the Advisory Council on Mental Illness are described in the Partners in Recovery section of this website.

Mental health consumers play a vital role in making community mental health service providers aware of the needs of their communities and contributing to quality improvement at local and systems levels.  In Michigan community mental heatlh agencies are expected to include primary or secondary consumers (family members) on their boards of directors.  Many service providers establish advisory councils or consumer advocacy committees to represent the interests of consumers.  The purpose of these groups, in part, is to provide a mechanism to solicit feedback and information about the needs of consumers and their families and to recommend program changes or enhancements to more effectively meet these needs.  Sometimes these groups also work to actively engage mental health consumers in Peer leadership, community education and anti-stigma activities in their communities.  

Consumer involvement in committees is not limited to those groups managed within the structure of community mental health organizations.  In addition to those committees hosted by community mental health agencies, empowered groups of consumers have established themselves as independent entities outside of agency heirarchical structures.  These consumer-run advocacy groups are a potent force for systems change.

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In addition to helping strengthen the community mental health system, Michigan Peers also serve on a number of national boards and committees.

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