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November 21, 2013: 
No newsletter next week, Happy Thanksgiving!

Tobacco use continues to be the largest cause of disease and premature death in the United States, yet nearly one in five Americans still smoke. Individuals with mental or substance use disorders smoke at even higher rates, causing many to die too early from preventable, smoking-related health problems. That's why supporting the American Cancer Society's (ACS) annual Great American Smokeout on November 21, 2013, is a great way to get involved.

  

The New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors   
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Libous: Legislation would suspend closure of mental health facilities

 

NYC Raises Tabacco Sales to 21

Candy Flavored Tobacco Products on the Rise

 Organization Helps Children Play Nice On The Playground

Drug Use on Decline at Work/Positive Tests Climb for Prescription Medications

Medicares' Failure to Track Doctors Wastes Billions on Name-Brand Drugs

Costs in New York raise ranks of poor

Living In Disordered Neighborhoods Gets Under The Skin

Depression can make people physically older by speeding up the aging process in the body's cells  

WEBINARS & Resources:

 
OASAS recently issued OPRA Guidance. 

 

SAMHSA:
Managing Chronic Pain in Adults with or in Recovery From Substance Abuse Disorders 

 

Webinar:

Improving Health and Healthcare for People with Serious Mental Health Conditions

December 16th  3-4:30

Register  

 

SAMHSA: Seminar/Webcast

Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT)

December 2nd  9 -1 

Register 



DECEMBER:

Officers and Chairs
December 11th 
8:00 AM (call in)

Mental Hygiene Planning
December 12th 
11:00-2:00 
Go To Meeting TBD

Director's Meetings
 
December 17
th
10:30 - Noon
Executive Committee Meeting
12:30 - 2:00
41 State Street Suite 505
Albany, NY 12207

Save the Date for the next CLMHD Committee Day:
Tuesday, February 25th
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 pm
Albany, NY
Open Position: Director of Community Services, Clinton County

 

The Clinton County Community Services Board, Plattsburgh, New York, is in search of a qualified applicant for the title of Director of Community Services. The salary range for this position is $75,870-$104,741.

 

The Director administers the operation of the Community Services Board which includes contract management, annual planning, and local governmental oversight of the mental health, developmental disability, and chemical dependency programs countywide. Additionally as a county department head the Director oversees the management of the county mental health and addiction clinics.    

 

Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. Applications received by December 31, 2013 will be guaranteed full consideration. Please submit a detailed letter of interest summarizing relevant qualifications, a current resume, and 3 letters of professional references. Send to the attention of Katie Duquette, Clinton County Community Services Board, 16 Ampersand Drive, Plattsburgh, New York 12901.  

 

The job description including qualifications is listed on the Clinton County website at www.clintoncountygov.com under job openings. Anticipated start date is early June 2014. Residency requirements may be waived.

 

Health Home Legacy
Rate
s Extended

   

The NYS Department of Health will be submitting a State Plan Amendment to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to extend the legacy for the former OMH and COBRA Targeted Case Management (TCM) Health Home rates until January 2015, which is coincident with the carve-in of the behavioral health care benefit into Managed Care.  It is anticipated that legacy providers will continue to bill directly as long as the legacy rates are in effect.
 
The Department has been working with stakeholders to simplify and modify the current Health Home payment structure to better align the per member per month care management fees with the required level of service intensity. We anticipate that this improved rate structure could be implemented prior to January 1, 2015.  
 
DOH is working closely with their State Health Home Implementation Partners (The AIDS Institute, OMH, and OASAS) as well as our Health Home Managed Care Organization Workgroup to assure the new rates cover clinically appropriate caseloads. To ensure as smooth as possible transition to Managed Care they further plan to mandate this new rate structure for a period of time beyond 2015. Legacy rates will remain in place while the SPA is under review by CMS.  Read more.
Virginia Political Figure Stabbed as Son Takes Own Life, Police Say

 

State Senator R. Creigh Deeds campaigned for Governor in September 2009 with his son Gus, who apparently stabbed him on Tuesday and fatally shot himself in what a police official called "an attempted murder-suicide."

 

On Monday, state mental health officials unsuccessfully sought to find a bed in a hospital psychiatric ward for Gus Deeds, who had undergone an evaluation, according to Mary Ann Bergeron, the Executive Director of the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards.

None could be found and he returned home, even though a magistrate had issued an order of involuntary commitment. "In that particular rural area of the state, it is not unusual to have contacted anywhere from seven to 15 hospitals" looking for an available bed, Ms. Bergeron said.  Read more.   

 

Westchester Launches OnTrackNY 

OnTrackNY is an evidence-based team approach to providing recovery-oriented treatment to young people who have recently begun experiencing psychosis. Read more.  

 

Related:

Most Teen Psychiatric Disorders Go Untreated

 

Related: Tweens Self-Medicating with Over-the-Counter Drugs

Research shows that kids at young ages are self-medicating themselves using over-the-counter drugs. Georgia Poison Center Director Dr. Gaylord Lopez said they get several calls a week about fifth and sixth-graders overdosing on over-the-counter medication.

Read more 

 

Anxious mice calm down when they get an infusion of gut microbes from mellow mice. That has scientists wondering if gut microbes play a role in the human brain, too. Research on that is only just beginning. But it's intriguing to think there could be a real truth to the phrase "gut feelings."  Read more.
At Clinics, Tumultuous Lives and Turbulent Care

 

The patient is an addict. His doctor is an addict, too. Over the last decade, both men hit their own versions of rock bottom. For the patient, it was the concrete floor of a jail where he writhed in withdrawal. For the doctor, it was the food stamp office where, his career as a child psychiatrist in tatters, he ashamedly sought help.

Then they both found buprenorphine, the patient as a user, the doctor as a prescriber. And because of that drug, an opioid used to treat opioid addiction, they both rebounded, even thrived.  Read more 

 

Watch Video: here 

    

Related: Addiction Treatment With a Dark Side 

 



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