Deborah Allness

Deborah Allness of Middleton, died Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at her home. Deborah J. Allness died at her home in Middleton, Wisconsin on June 19, 2007. Throughout her life, Debbie was blessed with unending curiosity and the unique ability to connect with others in a deeply personal way. In her professional career, she worked tirelessly on behalf of people with mental illness and their families and helped countless individuals for whom hope often had been lost. In Wisconsin and across the United States, she was a major influence in the development of innovative community-based mental health services. Debbie earned bachelors and masters degrees in psychiatric social work from the University of WisconsinMadison. In 1973 she joined the staff of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT), Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison. This research-based program is dedicated to establishing protocols and standards for team-based services which enable people with serious mental illness to live satisfying lives in the community. Debbie worked for PACT from 1973 to 1986 in roles as a clinical social worker and associate director. She also served as co-director of the PACT Model Dissemination Project to Wisconsin Counties and as co-principal investigator of a major PACT research study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. From 1986 to 1990 Debbie served as Director of the Office of Mental Health, Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services in Madison. She was responsible for promulgation of standards for Community Support Programs and successfully worked to secure federal Medicaid funding for these programs. Debbie worked with government agencies and organizations in many states and Canada, helping to establish PACT programs and evaluating client services. She was a speaker at numerous conferences and professional meetings. Collaborating with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Debbie coauthored, with Dr. William Knoedler, NAMIs Manual for ACT Start-Up based on the PACT model. From 1987 to 2004 Debbie was a lecturer in the area of serious mental illness at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work. Her students found her to be demanding of the highest standards of care and dedicated to providing respectful services to support the recovery of people with mental illness. Although Debbies professional life was full, she was enormously generous with her time and great love for her family and close circle of friends, with her niece, nephews and their children holding a very special place in her life. She is now at peace with her Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, whom she was growing to know more intimately day by day. Born November 2, 1948, Debbie grew up in Viroqua, Wisconsin. Her parents were Halvor and Aida (Larsen) Allness. She is survived by her sisters Ann Louise (Mrs. Paul Fuqua) and Judy (Mrs. James Rhodes) both of Arlington, Virginia, and Beth (Mrs. Richard Kilen) of Westby, Wisconsin. She is also survived by nephew Christopher Kilen, wife Tina and children, Truman, Tucker, Gunnar and Martha, of Belleville, Wisconsin; nephew Benjamin Kilen, wife Courtney and children, Savannah, Shakanah, Benaiah and Moriah of Kansas City, Missouri; and niece Carolyn Fuqua, husband John Stewart and son Maccabi of Arlington, Virginia. Burial was at the Viroqua Cemetery on June 22. There will be a memorial service, to which all are invited, in Madison, Wisconsin at the Pyle Center (702 Langdon Street) on July 21st at 2:30 p.m. The Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home of Viroqua is serving the family.