News From NAMI Virginia

This year NAMI Virginia and the Virginia Crisis Team Coalition (VACIT) are teaming up to hold a two day joint conference, which is being held in conjunction with the 2nd Annual CIT International Conference!

Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other on how to build and develop CIT in your community! Anyone that cares about growing CIT in Virginia is welcome!

September 11-12th

Doubletree Hotel and Virginia Beach Conference Center

Register now!

Here are some links for convention information or visit our website at:

http://namivirginia.org/get-involved/state-convention

Convention Packet

Preliminary Conference Schedule

Online Registration

Paper/Fax Registration Form

Travel/Hotel Information

Scholarship Information

(deadline to apply is Friday, July 1 at 5pm)

Scholarship Guidelines

Scholarship Application

For more information, visit

http://namivirginia.org/get-involved/state-convention

or contact Stephany Melton, Convention Coordinator at

smelton@namivirginia.org

or 804-285-8264.

Press Release-

NAMI Virginia Calls on State Officials to Address Widespread Problem of "Streeting"

June 7, 2011

Virginia's Office of the Inspector General's recently released report contains troubling information about a practice known as "streeting" where persons with serious mental illness are released to the streets, even though they meet the criteria for a Temporary Detention Order (TDO), because of a lack of acute inpatient hospital beds or other acceptable services or treatment that can be provided to the person. The report found that approximately 200 individuals were "streeted" between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2010 throughout the Commonwealth. Approximately twenty three of Virginia's forty community services boards acknowledged that "streeting" had occurred in their agencies.

"Families and people in need of acute care services endure difficulty accessing these types of services. It's a well-known problem that is apparently not being addressed satisfactorily. Letting the situation get to this point makes no sense." stated Mira Signer, Executive Director of NAMI Virginia, an organization that represents adults and children with serious mental illness and their families. Click here to continue reading

Now is the time to speak up about children's mental health!

The Campaign for Children's Mental Health will be releasing it's Action Agenda for 2011-2012 next Tuesday, June 14. As part of our effort to gain support for this agenda, we are asking Virginians to sign our online petition to let Governor McDonnell and our legislators know that thousands of us care about children with mental health disorders and believe they should be able to get the treatment they need.

Please take 1 minute and click here to sign the online petition! Then, forward to your contact lists- colleagues, friends neighbors- post it on facebook and twitter.

Let's see how many signatures we can get in the first week!

Thanks to our Campaign steering committee partners for all their help in getting us to this point: NAMI Virginia, Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, and Mental Health America- Virginia.

It only takes 1 minute to sign the petition!

Click here to sign it now!

Call for Nominations for the NAMI Virginia Board of Directors!

Please refer to the links below for information including qualifications of potential candidates, deadlines, and how to apply.

We would greatly appreciate if you would help with outreach to qualified candidates who may be interested.

Nominations are due Friday, July 20th.

Letter to NAMI leaders, members, and friends

Nomination Form

NAMI Virginia Fact Sheet

Attention program staff planning to attend the National Convention:

The Education, Training, and Peer Support Center has lots of exciting activities planned for all those involved in our education and peer support programs. By popular demand, we have prepared an at-a-glance NAMI Convention Education and Support Programs timetable brochure.

Click here to view the brochure

Changing Minds...One Step At A Time

www.nami.org/namiwalks/VA

Get involved with NAMIWalks Virginia!

We are currently looking for individuals to help on the following committees:

1. Volunteer Committee- Help us recruit volunteers for this year's Walk!

2. Sponsorship/In-Kind Donation Committee- Helps us identify and recruit company sponsorships and in-kind donations!

3. Community Outreach/Marketing Committee- Help with advertising, PSAs, and press releases promoting NAMIWalks!

4. Kick-Off Luncheon Committee- Help us plan for this year's Kick Off Luncheon on August 11th!

5. Walk Day Committee- Help us plan for Walk Day!

If interested please contact:

Farleigh Fitzgerald

NAMI Virginia Walk Manager

ffitzgerald@namivirginia.org

Online Free, Anonymous Resource: Treatment Diaries

TreatmentDiaries.com is a unique online community, providing real information and exchange between people coping with or caring for anyone with a chronic illness or rare disease. This virtual support group is free and always available; offering a safe place to anonymously keep multiple diaries of your daily journey, across more than one condition - either privately or shared with others. TreatmentDiaires is dedicated to the needs of users including individual patients, caregivers, family members and advocates.

To learn more go to:

www.treatmentdiaries.com

From the Brain & Behavioral Research Foundation

A replay of the most recent Meet the Scientist Discussion, How Do Genes Cause Mental Illness is available from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

May 2011 Webinar: How Do Genes Cause Mental Illness?

Click Here to Subscribe to Receive the Update

HOW MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS ARE TREATED IN-THEATER

Dr. James Bender, a former Army psychologist who deployed to Iraq as the brigade psychologist for the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Hood, discusses how the management of mental health treatment in-theater differs from home. Click here for more information

PROGRAM OFFERS SPECIALIZED HELP TO SUPPORT THOSE TRANSITIONING

In the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) Blog, staff recently took the opportunity to chat with one of the inTransition program coaches about their work supporting service members. inTransition, a Defense Department program, helps service members who are receiving mental health treatment transition to a new health care system or provider. Program participants are assigned a personal coach who monitors and guides them through their transition.

Click here for more information

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

FORGING A PATH TOWARD SOCIAL INCLUSION: COLLABORATION AMONG INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITY PARTNERS, AND PUBLIC SYSTEMS

JUNE 23, 2011, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET

The SAMHSA ADS Center presents this free training teleconference to demonstrate how consumers of mental health and substance use services are working together with private and public officials to make socially inclusive systems across many dimensions of community life, housing, employment, education, arts and culture, transportation, civic and entrepreneurial leadership, health, and recreation. Speakers will provide strategies for building diverse collaborations to map community assets and discover individual capacities that benefit communities and the delivery of social services. Registration will close at 5:00 pm ET on June 21, 2011.

Click here for more information