What's Great
in Our State:
Celebrating Children's Mental Health 

Kathy Alonge-Coons, Commissioner, Rensselaer County Department. of Mental Health 

2013 Children's Mental Health Awareness Week honorees from across the state and included Rensselaer County for their work integrating physical and mental health. 

SAMHSA: Challenges of Pregnant Teens in Substance Abuse Treatment

A new report shows that among the approximately 57,000 teenage (ages 12 to 19) female substance abuse treatment admissions each year, about 2,000 (4%) involve pregnant teens. SAMHSA's report finds that these pregnant teen admissions tend to involve greater challenges than other female teen admissions in a number of key areas, such as financial and educational status.

Pregnant teen admissions were three times more likely than other female teen admissions to receive public assistance as a primary source of income (15 percent vs. 5.3 percent, respectively). Similarly in education, while 74 percent of non-pregnant female teen admissions who were not in the workforce were students, only 44.2 percent of pregnant teen admissions not in the workforce were students.

The report, Characteristics of Pregnant Teen Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions, is based on findings from SAMHSA's 2007 to 2010 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). TEDS is a national system of tracking annual admissions to substance abuse treatment facilities throughout the Nation.

View the Report Findings | 

New Underage Drinking Prevention Campaign Launches Today: "Talk. They Hear You."

Reducing Hospital Re-admissions for Clients with Addictions

May 22nd  2-3:30

Register 

CLMHD COMMITTEE DAY

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Location: Albany Airport Best Western  

In 1995, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) launched the Medicaid Managed Care Program, coordinated by the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), to help states explore the new frontier of managed care. Back then, states were looking to invest public dollars more prudently and improve health care for not quite 40 million Medicaid beneficiaries.

Today, Medicaid is again at a pivotal juncture, poised to expand its role in many states across the nation, and for the first time, establish a major source of coverage for the uninsured in the U.S. To mark the conclusion of the Medicaid Managed Care Program and explore the implications of an expanding Medicaid program, CHCS engaged 20 of the nation's leading Medicaid experts for conversations on the program's past and future. Read more.   

The Community of Practice for Local Planners held a training session on May 7th in Syracuse NY.   Mat Roosa, chair of CPLP and Director of Planning and Quality Improvement Onondaga County Department of Mental Health designed the session to address how the LGU Planner finds, uses, and shares the data needed to steer systems management decisions to better serve those in need in an integrated and managed care environment. Barry Beck, Deputy Director from Onondaga County Department of Mental Health reviewed Excel, tools for effective data analysis. Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Chair, Scott LaVigne addressed how pivot tables can be employed to analyze massive amounts of data that will be necessary to monitor as counties are combined in various regions for various state transformation efforts.  

Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Co-Chair, Jean Audet, director of Planning Unit at NYS OASAS provided an overview of the County Planning System (CPS) and Mandy Teeter, Contract Manager from the Monroe County Mental Hygiene office demonstrated how Monroe County has made use of the Inquiry Reports.    

Jim Walsh, formerly with the NYS Department of Health currently serving as the Director of Data Systems for CHCANYS, presented analysis of SPARCS data and Preventable Quality Indicators to identify individuals with behavioral and physical health needs.

A webinar on ways to use the County Data System to create specialized reports will be held on May 30th at 1pm.  Register here.  

How Foster Care can Benefit Mental Health    

Children who are placed in foster care could enjoy mental health benefits as a result. This is the suggestion of new research to be presented at the Paediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Washington DC, which found out-of-home placements can help the emotional health of some young people who have been mistreated by their mother or father.  Read more

Will be holding three full day conferences for mental health providers across NYS in the following regions: Binghamton, Friday, May 31,  

Topics presented will include military culture, screening and assessment of combat specific Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, Suicide Prevention,and substance abuse, as well as family issues related to deployment and re-entry. The events will also provide information regarding the benefits, resources, and services available to support New York State's returning soldiers, veterans and their families.

Registration Rates: General $45 Student: $45 NASW-NYS Members $35 Veterans $35
Registration fee covers full day conference, continental breakfast & lunch