NAMI California's 2012 Annual Conference will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Irvine, California on Friday August 17th & Saturday August 18th.  We are now accepting applications for workshops.

This year's theme is "All of Us Together: Advocacy in Action".

All applications must be submitted with this attached form. 

Please include a brief biographical sketch of each presenter, along with the title and proposed objective for your workshop. The may be up to a total of four presenters per workshop. You are responsible for your own LCD projectors; TVs and VCRs may be rented at the hotel.

Completed forms must be received by April 6th, 2012.

Fax or email them to:

NAMI California

Attn: Nikki Townsend

nikki.townsend@namicalifornia.org  

(916) 567-0163 office    (916) 567-1757 fax

I received the following news release from Andy Behrman regarding a planned protest:

On Monday, February 13th, the National Alliance on Mental Illness/Los Angeles will gather to protest their outrage at Cedars-Sinai's decision to shut down both its in-patient and out-patient psychiatric care facilities. This will eliminate fifty-one beds that are critical to the community at a time when both city and county wide services are shrinking.

The purpose of OCCUPY CEDARS is not only to protest the closing but to grieve this tremendous loss to the community. NAMI members and people from within the community will meet at 6:30 p.m. for a candlelight vigil in front of the Old Thalians building between the two medical center buildings on Alden Avenue and then a walk around the perimeter of Cedars will begin.

In addition to the protest, there will be speeches by mental health advocates including NAMI President Sharon Dunas, Elyn Saks (USC professor and the author of The Center Cannot Hold) and Andy Behrman (the author of Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania).

Cedars-Sinai claims that the "reorganization" is "designed to focus on the institution's core strengths while continuing to serve the community's healthcare needs."

There is absolutely no reason that all other illnesses deserve top level treatment at Cedars and those with psychiatric illnesses receive no treatment at all. But at the core of the hospital's decision is the fact that psychiatric care does not generate as much revenue for Cedars than other types of care, because there is not nearly as much expensive testing to be ordered.

 

The closing of the psychiatric facility at Cedars will also mean the loss of so many great doctors, nurses and compassionate staff that will not be replaced. Not to mention, people in the community will have one less resource and be forced to travel far distances to receive quality psychiatric care.

 

Cedars is clearly putting profit before the mental health of our community.

 

If you'd like more information, you can contact me at electroboy@electroboy.com or ssdunas@namila.org.

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has posted all submitted applications in response to the Request for Solutions for the Dual Eligibles Demonstration. There are 22 applications from health plans operating in 10 counties. DHCS will review these applications over the next several weeks and announce by late March which ones will participate in the demonstration.

If you have comments on the applications, please submit them to info@calduals.org.

ALAMEDA

• Alameda Alliance for Health (PDF 12 MB)
• Anthem Blue Cross (PDF 8 MB )

CONTRA COSTA

• Contra Costa Health Plan (Large Format PDF 4 MB )

LOS ANGELES

• L.A. Care (PDF 6.7) 
• Health Net (PDF 8.3)
• SCAN Health Plan (Large Format PDF 8 MB )

ORANGE

• CalOptima (PDF 20 MB)

RIVERSIDE

• Inland Empire Health Plan  (PDF 13 MB)
• Molina Healthcare (PDF Large Format 10 MB)
• SCAN Health Plan (Large Format PDF 8 MB )

SACRAMENTO

• Molina Healthcare (PDF 7.3 MB )

SAN DIEGO

• Care 1st (PDF 14.3 MB)
• Community Health Group (PDF 10.2 MB)
• Health Net (PDF 8.2 MB)
• Molina Healthcare (PDF Large Format 10 MB)
• SCAN Health Plan (Large Format PDF 8 MB )

SAN MATEO

• Health Plan of San Mateo (PDF 11.4 MB)

SANTA CLARA

• Anthem Blue Cross (PDF 11.9 MB)
• Santa Clara Family Health Plan (PDF Large Format 3 MB)

SAN BERNARDINO

• Inland Empire Health Plan (PDF 7 MB)
• Molina Healthcare (PDF Large Format 9 MB)
• SCAN Health Plan (Large Format PDF 8 MB )

A landmark study which was presented at NAMI's annual convention in July of last year contained the following statement: NAMI's Family-to-Family Education program "significantly" improves coping and problem- solving abilities of family members of individuals living with mental illness. 

Our teachers can attest to this fact. Says one teacher:

"Each student felt significantly empowered in their own journey with their loved one [living with a mental illness. Over half of the class shared that they had directly applied the information they learned during the course. One student used the information he received in the first four classes to communicate with the court in a child custody case, resulting in the judge acknowledging a new understanding of mental illness. A second student ... applied the Limit Setting information presented in the class to re-establish a safe and confident relationship with their family member."