Wait lists are always a big concern for families and people trying to get into mental health services. Scott Rasmus, Associate Director of the Butler County Mental Health Board, has set up a page on www.bcmhb.org that actively tracks the wait list times for all the public mental health agencies in Butler County. It also documents if an agency has "Board Subsidy Funding", meaning extra funds from the Board to address the needs of the indigent and those without a Medical card, Medicaid or Medicare.  This is valuable information to know so families in need of services can look and easily see which agency can provide the quickest access to services.  Two agencies representatives from Butler Behavioral Health Services, Inc. and St. Josephs' CARE Case Management for children will talk about their intake process and how they manage their wait lists.

Looking Ahead

There is no official NAMI educational meeting in June because we host instead our annual "Spring Fling" picnic/dance with the help of the Friendship Club at Transitional Living Corp., for the residents who live there and out in the community.   

When:  June 16th, dinner at 5:30 PM

What:  Picnic/Dance at TLC 2052 Princeton Rd., Hamilton OH

Why: Just for FUN! & Great Food  - fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw, beverages and homemade desserts!

We need NAMI volunteers to help set up, serve, make the homemade desserts and clean up - call NAMI office to help.

July 21st Educational Meeting:  Discussion on Suicide and the Grieving Process by Brigitte Boitano.

By now most of you have heard that I am retiring as of May 31^st.  This decision will allow me to spend more time with my family and to pursue some interests long shelved.  "Retiring" sounds so final, but rather than an ending, I'm looking at this as an opportunity to once again return to the ranks of NAMI volunteers who have always been the backbone of NAMI Butler County.  Officially retiring from everyday involvement is still a bittersweet decision since NAMI has been an integral and rewarding part of my life for the past 22 years. 

From my experienced perspective, it is the people one meets along the way in life that gives our lives meaning.  Mine has been greatly enriched by the remarkable people NAMI has brought into it, people who have been tested by one of life's greatest challenges as they heroically cope with the mental illness of a loved one. NAMI is filled with thoughtful and caring people, people who want to make a difference in other people's lives and to promote an excellent system of mental health care.  Because of NAMI volunteers over many years, our local NAMI has been able to host great mental health conferences, provide Family to Family and Hand to Hand education classes, fight stigma, host picnics and dances, support mental health diversion courts, advocate for changes in public policy, raise awareness of mental health through our NAMI Walks and presentations to churches and community groups, fight for fair legislation and the passage of local mental health levies.  Thanks also to the Butler County Mental Health Board for their encouragement and support since the very beginning of NAMI in 1989.  In fact, the speaker at our first meeting was the BCMHB Executive Director at that time.

The new Executive Director guiding this organization as it moves forward will be Rhonda Benson.  We have an outstanding Board of Directors, some who bring continuity from our past and other more recent members who bring knowledge in specialty fields such as social networking, graphic arts and fundraising. Their combined strengths will lead NAMI Butler County to expand and reach out to more people who need our unique and free services.

It has been a great blessing and privilege to be the director of this wonderful organization for so long and I owe a debt of gratitude to all of you for your untiring support. 

~Sally Fiehrer

Please warmly welcome our new Executive Director,  
Rhonda Benson MSW

Rhonda has a BA from Purdue University and an MSW from the University of Michigan.  She has experience in the field of mental health as a CRI case manager for 10 years, prior to that she assessed DWI offenders in Butler County to determine their need for treatment.  Rhonda also is a certified Life Coach whereby she is qualified to offer personal coaching to individuals on a variety of life issues.  Before becoming the Associate Director of NAMI Butler County two years ago, Rhonda actively volunteered in many NAMI events and activities. As the Associate Director, Rhonda now facilitates NAMI's Book Club, the Family to Family graduate support group, and recently started the NAMI Ambassadors' Club for organizing and recruiting volunteers for NAMI.  Rhonda also completed the W. Chester Leadership 21 class in 2010 and promoted NAMI as their class project, which resulted in our new DVD.  From that class she has also brought new members onto the NAMI Board of Directors.  We wish Rhonda every success in her new position and believe, with the support of our community, NAMI will prosper and grow under her capable leadership.

NAMI Butler County has also hired Kathleen Heins Stevens as Associate Executive Director.  She will be introduced in next month's newsletter!  

Sleep out for Mental Illness

On May 10^th 1,200 NAMI Ohio advocates across Ohio participated in a "Sleep Out" on the Ohio Statehouse lawn in Columbus from 5 PM - 10 PM to bring attention to people with severe and persistent mental illnesses who, without access to care, often end up sleeping on our streets. We hope Ohio legislators realize the consequences of their votes on this vulnerable population and on Ohio taxpayers' pocketbooks in their upcoming budget decisions.

May is national Mental Health Month and a good time to review a brief history of mental health care in Ohio and nationally: where we've been and where we are today.

Prior to 1960, many Americans with severe mental illnesses were locked up in state hospitals with little hope of being discharged. With the advent of new medications, in the 60s through the 80s many patients were released into their communities.

Under The Mental Health Act of 1988 money spent on state hospitals followed patients into their communities for mental health treatment supervised by local mental health boards. This act stemmed the tide away from historical state hospital use and transferred money to community mental health care.

The '90s officially became the "Decade of the Brain" when research established that illnesses such as severe depression, bipolar illness, schizophrenia, and a host of debilitating anxiety disorders were the result of a malfunction in the brain's complex neurotransmitter system.

The 1999 Surgeon General's Mental Health Report researched the neuroscience of mental illnesses, its impact on society and people's lives, and confirmed that persistent and severe mental illnesses were biologically-based brain disorders, often successfully treated. People can and do get better, and with adequate services, even become tax-paying citizens.

Today funding for these "adequate" services is in great jeopardy.  With a state budget deficit of 8 billion in Ohio, more cuts in mental health loom, even beyond the 57 million already cut since 2009 (a national report identifies Ohio as eighth in the nation for highest cuts to mental health). More people with severe mental illness will be caught in a freefall that results in cost shifting to exorbitant taxpayer bills for hospitalizations, emergency rooms, schools, nursing homes, police services, courtrooms and prisons. Suicide, which is at a 10 year high in Ohio, homelessness and more rarely violence, are also results of untreated mental illnesses.  A cost that can't be measured is the cost in human dignity when public policy promotes a penny wise/pound foolish approach to mental health care.

~Letter to the Editor, Hamilton Journal News, May 17, 2011

Sally Fiehrer, Executive Director, NAMI Butler County