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SAMHSA has announced the launch of MentalHealth.gov as an online resource for people looking for information about mental health. This website provides information about the signs of mental illness, how individuals can seek help, and how communities can host conversations about mental health. The website also features videos from a number of individuals sharing their stories about mental illness, recovery, and hope. Related:New toolkit helps states assess and meet behavioral health needs
NAMI
presents a new report, Medicaid Expansion and Mental Health Care. The report emphasizes the importance of Medicaid as a financing mechanism for mental health services and makes the case that Medicaid expansion represents the best chance states have to strengthen mental health systems. Appendices provide state specific information on the fiscal impact of Medicaid expansion, eligibility figures for people with mental illness, demographics of the uninsured population with serious mental illness and state status regarding whether or not to expand Medicaid in 2014.
The National Center on Learning Disabilities
New HUD Olmstead Guidance Step in Right Direction The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued new guidance on how the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Olmstead case applies to HUD's programs and activities. The guidance makes clear that HUD and entities that receive financial assistance from HUD must provide housing for people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. Integrated settings, according to the guidance, are "those that provide individuals with disabilities opportunities to live, work, and receive services in the greater community, like individuals without disabilities." Examples of integrated settings include scattered-site apartments providing supportive housing, rental subsidies that enable individuals with disabilities to obtain housing on the open market, and apartments for individuals with disabilities scattered throughout housing developments. "By contrast," the guidance states, "segregated settings are occupied exclusively or primarily by individuals with disabilities." Read
Effective July 1, 2013, for Medicaid Managed Care Plans, the "prescriber prevails" provision will be expanded to include medically necessary prescription drugs
in the anti-depressant, antiretroviral, anti-rejection, seizure, epilepsy, endocrine, hematologic and immunologic therapeutic classes,* including non-formulary drugs, upon demonstration by the prescriber, after consulting with the managed care provider, that such drugs, in the prescriber's reasonable professional judgment, are medically necessary and warranted. Read |
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WEBINARS:
New 5-Hour Online Primary Care Course for Substance Use Professionals
Begin the Course Anytime
Register
Effective Therapies for the Aging Addicted Population: Treating Boomers & Beyond
June 12- 2-3:30
Grants and Proposal Writing Course
June 13-27 Wednesdays 10-11
RegisterMeasuring Outcomes in Behavioral Health: What, When & How? June 18 Noon- 1 Register
Bridging Criminal Justice Systems and Community Healthcare: Integration's Role in Re-entry
June 18 2-3
Register
Treatment Innovations: Perspectives from Addiction Providers Integrating Primary CareJune 24 Noon-1:30
RegisterSOC Developing Cultural & Linguistic Competence/Sensitivity |
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CLMHD Calendar
JUNE
Officers and Chairs
June 12th
8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
call in only
Contact CLMHD for details
Mental Hygiene Planning
June 13th
CLMHD COMMITTEE DAY
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Albany Airport Best Western
Developmental Disability Committee 10:00-11:45
Mental Health Committee 12:30-2:30
Chemical Dependency Committee
2:30-3:30
JULY
Officers and Chairs
July 10th
8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
call in only Contact CLMHD for details
Mental Hygiene Planning
July 11th 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
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The New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors advances public policies and awareness for people with mental illness, chemical dependency and developmental disabilities. We are a statewide membership organization that consists of the Commissioner/ Director of each of the state's 57 county mental hygiene departments and the mental hygiene department of the City of New York.
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 The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 03, 2013
FACT SHEET: President Obama Applauds Commitments to Raise Awareness and Increase Understanding of Mental Health at White House ConferenceAt the National Conference on Mental Health, the President applauded the dozens of commitments made by organizations representing media, educators, health care providers, faith communities, and foundations to increase understanding and awareness of mental health. The Obama Administration has taken a number of steps to raise awareness and improve care for Americans experiencing mental health issues, including expanding mental health coverage for millions of Americans through the Affordable Care Act, improving access to mental health services for veterans and supporting initiatives to help educators recognize and refer students who show signs of mental illness. The National Conference on Mental Health is designed to increase understanding and awareness of mental health. As part of this effort, today the Administration is launching mentalhealth.gov, a new, consumer-friendly website with clear and concise tools to help with the basics of mental health, the signs of mental illness, how to talk about mental health, and how to get help. The website also includes a series of videos featuring celebrities and ordinary Americans whose lives have been touched by mental illness.
Recognizing that the government cannot do this alone, the Administration applauds commitments from private sector and non-profit organizations, including in five key areas: Read them here
For a complete list of commitments from private sector and non-profit groups, click HERE.
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C HCS: The Collaborative Care Model: An Approach for Integrating Physical and Mental Health Care in Medicaid Health Homes
States across the country are seeking evidence-based approaches to improve the health care of high-need, high-cost Medicaid populations. Strategies to improve the integration of physical and behavioral health services are essential for these beneficiaries with complex needs as are innovative payment models to cover the costs of care.
The collaborative care model offers one approach to integration in which primary care providers, care managers, and psychiatric consultants work together to provide care and monitor patients' progress. Programs using this model have achieved improved clinical outcomes and reduced costs for a variety of mental health conditions, in a variety of settings, using several different payment mechanisms. This brief, developed by the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Health Home Information Resource Center, details the collaborative care model as an option for implementing integrated care under Medicaid health homes made possible through the Affordable Care Act (Section 2703). It was written by Dr. Jürgen Unützer of the University of Washington in collaboration with experts across the country.
Read the brief
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After tragedy, who bounces back? Keys to resiliency may lie in childhood
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Thomas Trowbridge and his wife Kelcy salvage items from their house after a monster tornado struck Moore, Okla., on May 22. Within days, many officials spoke of the "resilient spirit" of the people of Oklahoma. But not everyone bounces back from trauma and scientists are only now beginning to understand why.
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After a tornado hit the Henryville, Ind., home of Stephanie Decker last year, injuring her so badly that both her legs had to be amputated, the 38-year-old mother of two knew she had to "push forward and thrive," she told NBC News. "If not only for myself, but also to show other amputees who have struggles of their own that the impossible is possible."
Since that day in March 2012, Decker, known as "Tornado Mom," has become famous for her resiliency and spirit. She's now a motivational speaker and has created a foundation to help other amputees. But not all victims of trauma are able to bounce back as Decker has. Read more
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Photo: The Granger Collection
Under the Kirkbride Plan, patients were treated in such institutions as the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane
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If it's true that "men moralise among ruins," as Benjamin Disraeli wrote, the ruins of America's nineteenth-century mental institutions should invite some serious reflection. Built between 1850 and 1900, these crumbling edifices speak to our onetime dedication to caring for the mentally ill. Almost all were designed on the Kirkbride Plan, named for Pennsylvania physician Thomas Story Kirkbride, author of an influential treatise on the role of architecture and landscape in treating mental disorders.
Even in their dilapidated state, it's possible to see how the buildings, which followed a method of care called the "moral treatment," gave the mentally ill a calming refuge from the gutters, jails, and almshouses that had been the default custodians of society's "lunatics."Read more.
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How OxyContin's Pain Relief Built 'A World Of Hurt
Prescription painkillers are among the most widely used drugs in America. In the decade since New York Times reporter Barry Meier began investigating their use and abuse, he says he has seen the number of people dying from overdoses quadruple - an increase Meier calls "staggering."
The current statistic is that about 16,000 people a year die of overdoses involving prescription narcotics. ... It's a huge problem. The number of people dying from these drugs is second only to the number of people that die in car accidents.
Read more
Related: More kids get poisoned as more adults get medicated. Read
Related: A simple way to reduce suicides: Changing packaging on Tylenol can save thousdands of lives each year. Read
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 Influential Journal Devotes Issue to Mental Illness Stigma
The American Journal of Public Health(AJPH) has devoted one of its issues solely to the stigma that is attached to mental illness and the people who suffer from it.
The journal's May issue was several years in the making, thanks to hard work not only by the authors of the published papers and the AJPH staff, but by staffs at the Carter Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read more.
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