Abstract
Sustaining the self-determination of professional purpose in non-profit mental health work is imperative to the wellbeing of an agency, employee, and the client. Numerous research studies have shown that an increase in employee job specific knowledge correlates to an increase in their self-deterministic drive, or self-efficacy. Whether the employee is a new hire, or a senior member of the administration team, their drive to succeed is the single most important asset a company possesses. This was the first exploratory study in Sacramento County’s mental health arena that examined the effectiveness of a “Baseline Knowledge Manual” at increasing the clinical mental health knowledge of two agencies frontline mental health staff. Using a voluntary posttest only design, a quantitative and qualitative survey was distributed to 42 frontline mental health employees working at two private non-profit mental health agencies. At the time of the survey, the experimental group had reviewed the “Baseline Knowledge Manual” for one week. The control group had not. Thirty-six (n=36) were left at the end of the study. The goal of this needs assessment research was to highlight the importance of employee training with a cost effective and agency specific “Baseline Knowledge Manual.” This study proved with statistical significance that a “Baseline Knowledge Manual” could increase the clinical mental health knowledge of frontline mental health employees by nearly 20%. It was this researcher’s intent to encourage further research about the specific contents of an effective “Baseline Knowledge Manual” by capitalizing on both the successes and flaws of this research project.