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The New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors   
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Early Detection Of Schizophrenia: The Time Is Now

Mental Health Court Seeks To Treat, Rather Than Jail, Defendants

The Hidden Scars Of Child Trauma

Hispanic Teens More Likely to Use Drugs, Study Says


Video: New study: 12 million Americans use sleep aids

Latest Research Reveals Wide Gaps in Health Status

New data show antipsychotic drug use is down in nursing homes nationwide   

 

Teen Dating Violence Can Affect Later Education, Earnings  

 

Poverty Strains Cognitive Abilities, Opening Door For Bad Decision-Making, New Study Finds   

 

More Cities Sweeping Homeless Into Less Prominent Areas   

 

September Is Recovery Month-Get Involved Now

 

There are so many ways to participate in Recovery Month! Events are taking place all over the country.  Find an event in your area today. Contact your local TV and radio stations and ask them to air a public service announcement to increase awareness about recovery in your community. You can post your personal story of recovery on the Recovery Month website.  

 

Recovery Month observance this month.  

 

Share your support via Facebook,  Twitter, and YouTube! Be a voice for recovery!

 

WEBINARS & Resources:

 

Webinar: Childhood-Onset Schizopherinia

Sept. 9th  2-3

Register 

 

Webinar: #6 in the Preventing Underage Drinking Series

Sept.18th  2-3:30

Register  

 

Webinar: Integrating Behavioral Health in Primary Care:  Lessons from Health Centers

Sept. 19th   1:30-2:30

Register 

 

Webinar: Using an Integrated

Relational-Motivational Approach in the Evaluation and Treatment of

Eating Disorders

September 27th  12-1:30

 

Uniform Assessment Practices in Medicaid Managed Long-Term Services and Supports Programs

  
NIH study finds chronic alcohol use shifts brain control of behavior
Read the Brief

Health Insurance Marketplace:  If you're a professional learning about the Marketplace and helping people apply, get the latest resources here.


How To Prevent Opioid Overdose and Overdose-Related Death

 

Nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers may raise the risk of turning to heroin use 

  

 

The NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) has released a request for proposals (RFP) for a third round of geriatric mental health demonstration programs entitled Integrated Health Care for Older Adults. Funding is available for projects to integrate physical and behavioral health care for older adults. For a three-year grant period, recipients can receive up to $200,000 a year for the first two years and up to 50 percent of the first year's grant for the third year.  The full RFP is available on OMH's website.

 

The deadline to submit applications is September 20, 2013. 

 

CLMHD Calendar

Monday September 9th

CLMHD Mentoring Workshop in Syracuse NY: Double Tree Inn  

 

CLMHD Fall Full Membership Meeting:
Monday-Tuesday
September 23-24, 2103
Genesee Grande Hotel
Syracuse, New York
September 5, 2013

The Three Bears Meet the County Planners

 

Last week the New York State Office of Mental Health and Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services held a joint hearing on their respective 5.07 plans.

 

Scott LaVigne, Second VP and Co-Chair of the Mental Hygiene Planning Committee presented testimony (here) on behalf of the Conference membership. Noting that the transformation to managed behavioral health care will require new ways of minoring and oversight for LGU's he offered the following recommendations for the LGU Role White Paper.

 

The Conference recommends the formation of Regional Planning Consortiums (RPC's) that are comprised of LGU's in each region, and representatives of mental health, substance abuse service providers and housing, peers, families and health home leads. The RPC would work closely with the MCO/BHO/HARP and State agencies to guide policy and problem solve on regional issues related to the implementation of managed care.  

 

  • Data sharing - Build on our current data
  • Service System Planning - Identify gaps in services and increase access 
  • Reinvestment of savings
  • Input into reinvestment- Identify local priorities in context of the State's overarching objectives
  • Monitor the moving parts - Access, networks, esp. for 1915-i like services, case finding, engagement, housing, care coordination, criminal justice, etc.  
  • Quality and performance measures
  • Share best practices - Region and statewide 

In his testimony, Onondaga County Planner and chair of the Community of Practice of Local Planners (CPLP), Mat Roosa drew on the classic story of the Three Bears to provide an analogy for RPC's and a regional approach to behavioral health planning.   Mat stated that planners, like Goldilocks, are looking for just the right data fit to inform their projections. While state level data is too large, and county level data is too small, regional planning consortiums data sets would be "just right".

 

On behalf of the Conference members we extend our kudos and many thanks and appreciation to both Scott and Mat for their presentations and stellar performances at the joint OMH and OASAS hearing on the 5.07 plans.    

 

NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) Regional Centers of Excellence:

 

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING:  


ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH

 

Details and Dates:
Kickoff to the Fall ACA Insurance Enrollment Initiative

 

As a  "Kickoff to the Fall ACA Insurance Enrollment Initiative", NACBHDD, NACO, CWH, and ACMHA have joined together to present a webinar to help launch the  Health Insurance Marketplaces and the Medicaid Expansions.  


DATE:Friday, September 20, 2013 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM EDT

A fundamental goal is to enroll at least 7 million people in health insurance between October 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014. Many of these persons already will have a behavioral health or chronic health condition.

This webinar will discuss opportunities and challenges toward meeting this very important goal.
Register 
Deadline for Updating HIPAA Privacy Notice is September 23

 

Medical practices that have not added new patient rights to their privacy notices, as required by the federal government, have until September 23 to become law-abiding.

 

The formal name for the ubiquitous set of papers that receptionists hand to patients is the Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP). Created by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the notice explains how physicians may use and disclose the "protected health information (PHI)" of patients without their authorization, and what uses and disclosure require prior approval. In January, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published new HIPAA privacy regulations, which NPPs must reflect, that took effect March 26. HHS gave physicians and other entities governed by HIPAA until September 23 to comply.  More 


Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Charity Care Programs

 

Charity care programs have long played a critical role in the health care safety net - providing access to low- or no-cost health care for individuals without access to affordable health insurance due to eligibility or affordability barriers. Although up to 33 million individuals could still gain health coverage following full implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2014, 23 million or more will remain uninsured. Thus, the need for charity care programs will remain.

 

In response to the changing national insurance landscape, charity care organizations must consider the implications of the size, health care needs, demographics, and expected utilization of the remaining uninsured population. This new brief from the Center for Health Care Strategies examines options that charity care programs across the country are currently considering. These include: (1) serving as a consumer assister in their state's health insurance marketplace; (2) operating in a marketplace as a Consumer-Operated and Oriented Plan; (3) continuing to provide the uninsured population in their regions with access to affordable care; and/or (4) providing complementary services to those newly eligible for health insurance. The brief was informed by a US Charity Care Program Affinity Group that is led by CHCS and supported by Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.   

Read the brief


Pot most popular illegal drug; more deaths from painkillers, survey finds

 

Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used worldwide, but addictions to popular painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine kill the most people, according to the first-ever global survey of illicit drug abuse.

 

In addition to cannabis and opioid painkillers, scientists analyzed abuse of cocaine and amphetamines in 2010, largely based on previous studies. Ecstasy and hallucinogens weren't included, because there weren't enough data. The researchers found that for all the drugs studied, men in their 20s had the highest rates of abuse. The worst-hit countries were Australia, Britain, Russia and the U.S. The study is scheduled to be published online Thursday in the journal, Lancet.

 

But there were few concrete numbers to rely on and researchers used modeling techniques to come up with their estimates.

 

"Even if it is not very solid data, we can say definitely that there are drug problems in most parts of the world," said Theo Vos, of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the study's senior author. Vos said people tended to abuse drugs produced close to home: cocaine in North America, amphetamines and opioids in Asia and Australia. The lowest rates of drug abuse were in Asia and Africa. Of the estimated 78,000 deaths in 2010 because of illegal drug use, more than half were because of painkiller addictions.

More

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 depart
ment of the City of New York.
 
Affiliated