cover image 4
National Drug Facts Week: January 27-February 2, 2014
National Drug Facts Week is a health observance week for teens that aims to shatter the myths about drugs and drug abuse. Find an event in your area or register your own here.   
January 23, 2014
The New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors   
Connect With Us:

Like us on Facebook   Follow us on Twitter   View our profile on LinkedIn
Betsy Gorman, Editor
[email protected]
WEBINARS & Resources:

  


Second in the GAINS Center Five-Part Series of
Evidence-Based Practice Webinars:  

February 18th  3:00-4:30
"Supported Employment for Justice-Involved
People with Mental Illness"

Link to the Brief.  For a list of all upcoming EBP webinars click here.  

 

____________________

 

The Intersection of Housing Policy and Health

January 24 12:30-2:00

Register

 

Providers: Prepare for the Transition to ICD-10

January 24th 12-1:30

Register

 

Join the 2014 Drug Facts Chat Day: The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is joining the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) on January 28, 2014 for Drug Facts Chat Day.  Learn More

The Affordable Care Act & Mental Health Parity
January 30th 11-12

DOH: 2014 OMH/MHANYS Suicide Prevention Minigrants Webinar January 31 3PM

Register


Healthcare Excellence in 2014 - Patient Engagement Innovations & Strategies

Feb. 6th 3PM

Register  

Save the Date for the next CLMHD Committee Day:  
Tuesday, February 25th 
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 pm 
 Best Western Albany, NY

JANUARY:

    

Fiscal Officers Workgroup 
January 28th 
9:00 - 10:00 
GTM/Call In
 
Director's Meetings
January 28th
10:30 - Noon
Albany - 41 State Street

Executive Committee Meeting

January 28th
12:30 - 2:00
Albany - 41 State Street

February:

Officers & Chairs
February 5th 8-9 AM
Call-in

Children & Families Committee 
February 11th
11:30-1:00 GTM/Call In
 

Mental Hygiene Planning
February 13th
11:00-2:00
Albany - 41 State Street  
 
CLMHD/OMH/DOH
HEALTH HOME CALL 
February 20th
10:00-11:00 
DCSs: call CLMHD for PIN

 

Executive Committee
February 24th 12:30-2:00
Call-in 

 

Fiscal Officers Workgroup
February 25th
9:00-10:00 GTM/Call In  

 


March:

Friday, March 14th
CLMHD Mentoring Workshop: 10-4:15 pm
Best Western Albany, NY

A Message from Kelly A. Hansen, Executive Director 

 

The Governor released his 2014-15 Executive Budget this week totaling $137.2 billion in state and federal funds and the anticipation of a $500 million budget surplus. The Executive Budget highlights the Governor's priorities for the state including, holding spending below 2%, reducing taxes (property and other taxes) by $2 billion by 2016-17 and $1.2 billion in capital funding to help hospitals and nursing homes restructure in the move to increase community based care. There is a strong focus on education support in the budget including; increasing education aid by $807 million, providing $1.5 billion over 5 years for a statewide universal full-day pre-K program (an initiative which is also a priority for NYC Mayor de Blasio), $720 million to expand after school programing and a proposed $2 billion Smart Schools Bond Act to increase access to technology in schools.

 

We will issue a full analysis of the budget in the near future, however, the larger pieces on the mental hygiene agencies includes the following:

  • $25 million in reinvestment due to reductions in inpatient psychiatric center beds.
  • $120 million (all funds) reinvestment package for 2 years under Medicaid re-design and closures of community hospital inpatient units and Art. 31 and 32 clinics. The Medicaid budget is a 2-year budget.
     
    • $20 million for managed care start up to help the system prepare for the transition to managed care
    • $15 million for Health Home establishment and infrastructure
    • $10 million for Health Home Plus for enrollees in AOT effective April 1, 2014. This funding is proposed to increase reimbursement, standardized caseloads and adapt the program to resemble ICM.
    • $40 million for Vital Access Providers (VAP) for essential behavioral health services in certain parts of the state.
    • $5 million for "OASAS Restructuring" relating to Medicaid services being provided in residential settings.
    • $30 million for 1915-i services under the HARP.
    • $6.5 million for a rental subsidy increase in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties.
    • $5 million (up to $5 m) for health home infrastructure grants to establish better linkages between health homes and state and local criminal justice systems.
    • $40 million for new supported housing units. $30 million for 500 new beds under the adult home settlement and $10 million for 200 beds under the nursing home settlement.
    • Continuation of the Medicaid managed care APG rates for MH and SA clinics through 2016 in NYC, and through 2017 for the rest of the state.
    • The Art VII bill would authorize the development of evidenced-based, collaborative care clinical delivery models in article 28 clinics to improve the detection and treatment of individuals with depression and other mental or substance use disorders.
    • A one year deferral of the human services Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). The COLA has been deferred for several years.

Much of the OPWDD budget has been moved into the DOH Medicaid budget and we are being briefed this week. We are also nailing down state operations and capital figures for all three agencies. There is much more analysis in store but hopefully this first blush overview will provide an idea of what we are looking at for budget issues in the coming weeks. - KH

 

Related: Cuomo Makes Push To Keep Medicaid Savings

 

   

Mental Health Programs See Increases in FY 2014 Funding;  $1.012 Trillion Package Provides Relief from Sequestration

 

A 2014 Fiscal Year spending bill crafted by Congressional appropriators provides important increases for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).  Read more. 

 

New York Receives an Overall "C" for its Policies that Support Emergency Patients

But.....New York earned a B in the category of Disaster Preparedness and is one of only 11 states with a budget line item specifically for health care surge capacity and one of 14 state that requires training in disaster management and response for emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. New York also has some of the highest per capita rates of physicians and behavioral health professionals registered in the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals.  Read more.
ADHD Experts Re-evaluate 1999's Study's Zeal for Drugs

 

 Twenty years ago, more than a dozen leaders in child psychiatry received $11 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to study an important question facing families with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Is the best long-term treatment medication, behavioral therapy or both?

 

The widely publicized result was not only that medication like Ritalin or Adderall trounced behavioral therapy, but also that combining the two did little beyond what medication could do alone. The finding has become a pillar of pharmaceutical companies' campaigns to market ADHD drugs, and is used by insurance companies and school systems to argue against therapies that are usually more expensive than pills. Read more.  


The Art of Presence:
One family's trauma offers valuable lessons on how to comfort those in pain.

The victims of trauma experience days "when you feel like a quivering, cowardly shell of yourself, when despair yawns as a terrible chasm, when fear paralyzes any chance for pleasure. This is just a fight that has to be won, over and over and over again.  Read more
Looking After the Welfare of Child Welfare Workers
Burnout among child welfare workers hurts kids in foster care. In 2011, an effort was launched to give New York City caseworkers the support they need to stay on the job.











Across the country an estimated 20 to 40 percent of child welfare caseworkers leave their jobs every year while 90 percent of agencies report difficulty hiring and retaining qualified staff, with devastating results for children and families.  Read 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