Empowerment Initiatives
825 NE 20th Avenue, Suite 130
Portland, OR, 97232
(503)249-1413

Multnomah County Brokerage Program

If you had access to funding to help your mental health recovery, and you could decide how to use those funds, what would you do?

Eligibility for this Program:

  1. Are you receiving mental health services in Multnomah County?
  2. Do you have Oregon Health Plan insurance?  If so, are your mental health services funded by Verity?  (you can check your OHP paperwork to answer this question.)
If so, you may be eligible!

So what would the Brokerage mean to me?

EI is about to start our fifth Multnomah County Brokerage!  It will run from October 2009 through September 2010.  Individuals will work with a resource broker to create a person-directed plan. This plan will help you set goals for yourself in many areas of your life. The Brokerage program offers individuals the freedom and the resources to investigate, determine and secure the products and services they themselves consider most effective for their mental health and well being. You will have a "personal spending account" available to help you make purchases that will assist you to achieve these goals.  Your resource broker will work with you during the plan year to help you with implementing your plan, making purchases, and accessing various community resources to help you achieve your goals. They create a plan with goals in six life areas: Productivity, Home Environment, Personal Health, Hobbies, Relationships and Spirituality. The Brokerage provides you with more personal control of your recovery than ever before. The Brokerage gives you an opportunity to become more proactive in your treatment and recovery process. We believe that life goal planning and access to resources to implement your plan is invaluable for mental health stability, growth, and recovery.

So how does the Brokerage work?

The EI Brokerage will employ a resource broker who is available to help you in these five key ways:
  • Individual planning.
  • Coordination of community resources, information, and referrals to other agencies and services.
  • Education and training in selecting and retaining the most effective vendors and providers.
  • In some cases assistance in moving to a residence of greater independence.
  • Purchase of cost effective products and services, through individual brokerage fund accounts, to increase independence, and facilitate goal attainment.
During your planning process your resource broker and you will keep the following in mind:
  1. Recovering from your mental illness/ mental health challenges
  2. Becoming more independent
  3. Achieving your goals
When you leave EI, our hope is that you walk away with a set of skills and resources that you will continue to build off of as you become empowered and successful.

Customer Quotes

"The brokerage program changed my life totally. It has been wonderful!"

"The program gave me emotional and psychological independence."

Eligibility

To be eligible you must be receiving services through an agency funded by Multnomah County Mental Health and meet other selection criteria.  You can receive an application from your case worker or counselor.  Your caseworker or counselor needs to fill out the Participant Selection Criteria form.  You need to fill out the Application to be a Customer form and the Release of Information form.

Additionally, please include a copy of your medical card with your application. EI needs to verify that you have Verity using your Medical Card Recipient number.

If you have already applied and your application was received by September 19, you will be included in the selection committee's decision for the 09-10 Multnomah County Brokerage. We will enroll five new customers each month from October 2009 through February 2010. At this time this program can only enroll 25 participants each year.

In order to receive an application you must meet the following 5 criteria:

  1. Be At least 18 years of age
  2. Receive Multnomah County Mental Health Services
  3. Have Verity Insurance
  4. Have a Mental Health Diagnosis
  5. Live in independent community housing (not in group home/foster home)
Multnomah County requires that participants be enrolled in Verity insurance only.  Verity Plus clients and individuals without Verity are not eligible at this time.

How to apply:

We are now accepting applications on an on-going basis for the brokerage year beginning October 2009. Click on the link for Multnomah County application.

Bus Lines location by us are: 10, 12, 70, 74.

Applications can be mailed or dropped off between 8-4pm at our office:

Empowerment Initiatives
825 NE 20th Avenue, Suite 130
Portland, OR, 97232