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MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
June 2012

National Alliance on Mental Illness, California State Organization 

Welcome Members and Affiliates
We welcome your ideas for topics to cover, your feedback on issues that face consumers, families, and providers across the state. Contact us at [email protected].
Transparency Doesn't Only Benefit Consumers 
dataset

The push for health care consumers, providers, and payers alike to track quality measures is steadily gaining momentum. But it isn't only consumers that are benefiting from the availability of this type of data. By making more information widely available, service provider organizations will also gain valuable knowledge about the health care market and industry trends.

 

Recently the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added another resource for consumers looking for transparency by launching the Health System Measurement Project. This HHS project assembles federal government data sets by topic, which can then be used to track changes in the health care system over time. The purpose of this project is to track the affects of the Affordable Care Act. Out of these topical data sets, three trends stand out:

 

Access to care data set - The percentage of people who reported difficulty seeing a specialist rose steadily from 2000 (18.95%) to 2005 (27.23%) before falling steadily through 2009 (14.22%).

 

Cost & affordability data set - Personal health care costs have risen steadily from 2000 ($4,128) to 2010 ($7,082), with the largest increase seen in Medicare where costs rose from $5,569 to $10,600 in that same 10-year period.

 

Quality data set - The number of consumers who reported "good communication" with their health care providers has risen from 78.27% in 2000, to 81.89% in 2009.

  

Another smaller trend is, sadly, of interest to many of us:

 

Depression Screening - The percentage of primary care physicians conducting depression screening has fallen from 2.5% in 2005 to about 1% in 2009.

 

Each of the data sets made available through the Health System Measurement Project can provide new insights into how payers and consumers are affecting health care market. The enhanced availability of these types of quality measures and data sets is continuing to increase and will have some as-yet-seen affects on the field.   

-- Bettie Reinhardt

Acting Executive Director/NAMI CAN! Coordinator

[email protected]

MHSA News 

MSHAOC

NAMI Involvement in K-12 Student Mental Health 

 

NAMI members have a vested interest in improving Student Mental Health for grades K-12. In the past, NAMI California has provided an overview of the Statewide Prevention and Early Intervention programs, and showed how Student Mental Health is an essential component. For more information on how these programs fit together visit www.calmhsa.org. Now, we hope we are a step closer to connecting you to these projects. For K-12 Student Mental Health, there is more than one venue for involvement: 1) Policy development on the statewide level - and the opportunity to provide your perspectives and use your experience to influence the work of the California Department of Education's newly formed Student Mental Health Policy Workgroup; or 2) On the regional/district level, where we hope you can become part of a local planning group.

 

Regional/District level: Click here to find a listing of all the Regional Leads for the K-12 Student Mental Health Initiative. Find your county within the region. This contact should be able to provide you with more information about the focus of the student mental health projects in your region and how you can become involved. NAMI California has also initiated contact with these Regional Leads and will be contacting local affiliates as we hear more about opportunities to be involved in community or district processes.

 

Statewide policy level: NAMI California has been included as part of the Student Mental Health Policy Workgroup. The group is tasked with developing policy recommendations that address critical problems or gaps that exist in K-12 student mental health. Click here for an example of discussion questions from the first meeting. This workgroup will benefit greatly from public participation and the voices of students and parents to help guide its work. The next Student Mental Health Policy Workgroup meeting will be held on August 31, 2012 in Sacramento. If you are interested in attending as a member of the public, please contact Kathleen Derby, Director of Advocacy, at [email protected].

Family Programs Update 

Family to Family


We are expanding our Basics Education program in June with a workshop for Basics trainers who will be available to lead trainings in Basics throughout the state. We are excited about this new opportunity that was made available to us in the form of a grant. 

 

Some comments we have received about the Basics program include:

 

"My overall impression of the Basics course was OMG, I'm not alone! And Hope! This is what brought me back to each class..."    

 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your dedication and support [of teachers]. Education was amazing..."

 

--Lynn Cathy, Family Programs Coordinator 

Volunteer Appreciation: Marina Lee

marina
NAMI California would like to extend sincere thanks and appreciation to Marina Lee for her volunteer efforts over the past year. Marina has assisted and supported the NAMI CA office at least once a week and has contributed to numerous projects including helping prepare for the recent office move! 

Marina has been accepted into the Clinical Forensic Psychology program at Alliant University (Fresno) to pursue her PhD. We wish her lots of luck in her new endeavors. Keep in touch with your friends at NAMI CA, Marina!

News to Use Bulletin
CalMHSA
CalMHSA Provides a monthly roundup of stories about anti-stigma campaigns, social media efforts, suicide prevention outreach, and Proposition 63 grants and awards.

Click here to view this month's articles. 
Save the Date!
2012 Conference Logo

2012 NAMI CA Annual Statewide Conference

When: Friday, August 17th & Saturday, August 18th

Where: Marriot Hotel, Irvine, CA

More information to come!

 

Hope to see you there!

NAMI California Financial Statements and Supplemental Information 

 

NAMI California is posting the most-recent Independent Auditor's Report, June 30, 2011.  

  

Click here to read the full report. 

Contact Information
[email protected]
or call NAMI California
(916) 567-0163
In This Issue
Transparency Doesn't Only Benefit Consumers
MHSA News
Family Programs Update
Volunteer Appreciation: Marina Lee
News to Use
Save the Date!

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Proud Sponsor of NAMI California:

Janssen logo

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NAMI California's Tree of Tribute
Fiscal Year 2011-12

tree of tribute
Each year many donors elect to give a gift in celebration of an event, in honor of a special individual or in memory of a loved one.

The Tree of Tribute formalizes this tradition by providing a lasting acknowledgement
for individuals who are remembered, individuals who are honored or have an enduring record of a significant celebration. 
 
Gifts in Celebration, in Honor or in Memory

Gifts of $500 or more will be eligible for an engraved leaf on the Tree of Tribute or an engraved stone at the base of the tree.

$500 - Bronze leaf
$1,000 - Silver leaf
$2,000 - Gold leaf
$3,000 -- Small stone
$5,000 - Large stone

Major Donors  donors

NAM
I California thanks the following for their very generous contributions of $500 or more.

Humanitarian: $5,000-$15,000 Kelly Foundation, Sacramento, CA
Janssen Pharma
, New Brunswick, NJ
AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE
Ruth Knudtson, Redlands, CA
Phrma, Sacramento, CA
Lilly Grant Office, Kalamazoo, MI    
Patron:  $2,500 - $4,999
May S. Farr, Upland. CA
Samira V. Moran, Encino, CA
Sidney Stern Memorial Trust, Pacific Palisades, CA
Teva Biologics & Specialty Products, North Wales, PA
Lilly Grant Office, Kalamazoo, MI 
Benefactor:  $1,000 - $2,499
The Knudtson Family Donor Advised Fund
, CA

Ralph E. Nelson, Visalia, CA

Attias Family Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Frances Tibbits, Pacific Palisades, CA

Pfizer Inc., New York, NY

David M. Knapp Special Needs Trust, San Diego, CA   

Dwelle Family Foundation, Visalia, CA
Shackleton Adventure Racing, LLC,  Carmel, CA

Edward Gaston, MD, San Rafael, CA

Ngena Asante, Cypress, CA

Henry Garner, Yorba Linda, CA

NAMIWalks Los Angeles County

Shareholder: $750-$999

Orange County's United Way, Irvine, CA 

Teresa Walker, San Mateo, CA 

Ralph E. Nelson, Visalia, CA

Ronnie Okon, Tarzana, CA   

Sponsor:  $500-$749
Joseph Kotzin,, Los Angeles,CA

Patricia Goldring, PhD, Sherman Oaks, CA

Kessel, Young, & Logan, Charitable Account, Long Beach, CA

NAMI Glendale in honor of Tom & Kay Connus, Glendale, CA

Virginia Whitcombe, Palos Verdes Estates, CA  

Linda K. Pontious, Grass Valley, CA

Miriam C. Wille, Ventura, CA

Elizabeth Chamberlain, Woodside, CA 

Michael Aldrich, Glendale, CA

Arnold Klein, Malibu, CA

George Greenspon, Westlake Village, CA
Elizabeth Chamberlain, Woodside, CA
Google, Inc., CA

Joseph Kotzin, Los Angeles, CA

Patricia Goldring, PhD, Sherman Oaks, CA

Corning Exchange Club, Corning, CA

Linda K. Pontious, Grass Valley, CA 

  

NAMI California Annual Conference Donors, 2012 

Janssen Pharma, $7,500

Lilly Grant Office, $7,500 

Teva Biologics & Specialty Products, $2,500

River City Bank, $2,500

Turning Point Community Programs, $500   

     _________________________

 

All donations,
large and small,
are greatly appreciated by
NAMI California and help
us achieve
our mission
at the state level.
_______________________
state advocacy

This educational newsletter is supported, in part, by an educational grant from Lilly USA, LLC.  For further information concerning Lilly grant funding visit www.lillygrantoffice.com.