MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
| March 2013
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National Alliance on Mental Illness, California State Organization
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Welcome Members and Affiliates We welcome your ideas for topics to cover, your feedback on issues that face consumers, families, and providers across the state. Contact us at newsletter@namicalifornia.org.
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NAMI Can!
Integrated Care is All the Rage. We Just Have to Figure Out What it Is
"Integrated care" pops up a lot these days during health care discussions. But the landscape for collaborative care and integrated service delivery system models is evolving. With all the discussion of integration, a key question is how an integrated model is defined.
Here are the four models we should be aware of:
Collaboration between separate providers - Providers using this model develop either formal or informal agreements as to how they will operate to provide both physical and behavioral health services. One requirement for this to work is that there's full disclosure of services provided to the client. Within this model, the providers may both use different tracking systems and work with multiple payers for processing claims. A drawback to this model is that it remains more provider-centered as opposed to client-centered
Co-location - Many integration projects begin with a co-location model, where mental health professionals and primary care providers practice at the same site, building or office. This is beneficial as patients do not need to travel to multiple locations for services. With this type of arrangement, there's typically more information sharing among the providers and an opportunity to provide a warm hand-off for the client. Primary care providers have found that patients who receive referrals to mental health providers are less likely to follow-through with a visit when in a separate facility. One drawback is that co-located practitioners may lack the time, operational support, and motivation to work collaboratively to consult about patient care
Consultant model - In the consultant model, a mental health professional is a member of the primary care team at the same work site and follows a schedule that can mimic the primary care model, including brief interventions and consultations. This model emulates the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) model and allows the patient access to a behavioral health professional typically on the same day as a physical provider. Sometimes the interactions with the mental health professional can be shorter and may also result in referrals to deal with some of the more complex issues around behavioral health.
Fully integrated - In this model, the client benefits from a one-stop shop for addressing both physical and mental health needs. All providers are within one group which allows the center to manage from one integrated health record and generate one bill for providing services. In this model, effective case care coordination becomes the norm as the primary care physician and behavioral health practitioner work together to create a treatment plan. As patients work through chronic conditions and other physical ailments, they also have greater access to working with someone to deal with any behavioral problems, resulting in a much more structured and monitored effort.
Thank you to the editors of Open Minds for these descriptions.
In looking ahead to the challenge of making integrated models produce good outcomes and achieve efficiency, definition is key.
-- Bettie Reinhardt, MPH
NAMI California Legislative & Public Policy Consultant
Bettie.reinhardt@namicalifornia.org
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The Making of a Good Teacher
Seventh in a series of columns by Roger Greenbaum
How can we prepare teachers to excel when working with our special needs children?
Are we adequately preparing general education teachers who increasingly are being asked to include students with IEPs in the classroom?
What makes for successful teaching with a student whose disability has to do with mental health?
The nourishment of effective instruction reaches the boy or girl with special needs from three sources: teacher training, teacher support, and teacher performance. Now, entering a period of relative budget calm in California, we must see to it that our special education teacher training and support priorities make sense.
Read the complete column.
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Is Your Group Health Plan in Compliance with the Federal Parity Law?
NAMI is asking for your help to make compliance with the federal parity law a reality.
Although Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was enacted over four years ago, a final rule implementing the law has not yet been issued. In January, President Obama pledged to publish final regulations in the near future. In the interim, individuals and families seeking care for serious mental illness have been unable to access the health care services they need.
Until final parity regulations are issued, it is important that the federal agencies charged with enforcement of parity protections hear from persons with mental illness and family members about their experience in confronting ongoing practices in health insurance and limitations that apply only to mental health benefits that are likely violations of MHPAEA - and will clearly be prohibited in the final rule. Parity violations include plans more strictly managing or denying mental illness treatment services more than other services covered by the plan. More information may be found at: http://parityispersonal.org/.
Your Requested Action: Persons with mental illness and family members are urged to email parity violation stories to both the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. NAMI encourages stories to be reported by both persons with mental illness and families that are still struggling to access non-discriminatory coverage for mental illness treatment services. Be sure to tell your personal story and attach any relevant documents (if available) such as a denial letter, summary of benefits or other materials provided by the health plan.
View the details on reporting stories and where to send comments.
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NAMI President Keris Myrick is Keynote Speaker Southern California Fundraiser
Report by Allison Balter, NAMI Ventura County
NAMI President Keris Myrick was the keynote speaker at a Community Building Breakfast fundraiser in Oxnard on February 27th. This fundraiser for the Turning Point Foundation, a non-profit agency serving clients with serious mental illness through its shelter, supported housing and rehabilitation programs, was supported by NAMI Ventura County. Three hundred people came to listen.
Keris shared her personal story of recovery with great eloquence and much humor. Her talk made the audience laugh and cry. Keris, a long-time member of NAMI, and the President of the NAMI National Board of Directors, told of her journey from" patienthood" to "personhood". It was a journey from invisible to visible, and from powerlessness to empowerment.
Read the full story at NAMI California.org
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Ending the Silence (ETS) Presenter Trainings!
NAMI California is now accepting applications for our Ending the Silence (ETS) Presenter Trainings!
Are you interested in making a difference in the lives of young people? Do you have a passion for reducing stigma and discrimination toward people with a diagnosable mental health condition through education? If so, join enthusiastic people across the state in participating in the Ending the Silence program!
ETS is a program designed for high school audiences and gives students an opportunity to learn about mental illness through an informative PowerPoint, short videos, and personal testimony. Through the presentation, students learn symptoms, and indicators of mental illness, and are given ideas about how to help themselves or others who may be in need of support.
NAMI California is looking for presenters who are comfortable with self-disclosure, knowledgeable about the various disorders, and young adults with a diagnosable mental health condition who are doing well in their recovery. Since this program will be reaching out to high school students, we are especially interested in getting young people (ages 18-29) involved in this program. Two-hour webinar trainings will be held on April 2, April 30, June 12 and June 27.
If interested, please complete the application and email/fax to Beth Larkins, NAMI California Program Coordinator, 916-567-0163 (phone) or 916-567-1757 (fax).
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In Our Own Voice (IOOV) Presenter Trainings -- Apply Now!
NAMI California is planning several upcoming IOOV Presenter Trainings and is looking for people with a mental health condition to be trained on how to share their personal journey to recovery to a variety of audiences. IOOV is a unique public education program, in which two trained speakers share compelling personal stories about living with mental illness and achieving recovery. IOOV presentations are given to peer groups, students, law enforcement officials, educators, providers, faith community members, politicians, professionals, inmates, civic groups and the general public.
This presenter training offers an opportunity for those who have struggled with mental illness to gain confidence and to share their individual experiences of recovery and transformation. IOOV Presenter Trainings are being offered on the following dates; selected presenters will need to be available to attend 1 two-day session: April 27-28 in San Diego; May 4-5 in Campbell; May 18-19 in Redding; June 22-23 in Ontario.
Please complete the application and submit to NAMI California by April 8th, 2013: NAMI California Programs, 1851 Heritage Lane, Ste. 150, Sacramento, CA 95815.
Email: Nereida.Castillo@namicalifornia.org; or fax 916-567-1757..
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NAMI California Now Taking Workshop Proposals
Teach! Enlighten! Learn!
Have a burning desire to teach a workshop? Want to impart wisdom on a particular topic? Learned something that will help others? Lead or participate in a workshop for the 2013 NAMI California Annual Conference, August 16th & 17th in San Francisco.
Download and submit a Workshop Proposal form today.
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Embracing the Cause
 Amanda Lipp, NAMI California Board Director, served as Keynote Speaker at NAMI Orange County's "Journey to Wellness" fund-raising luncheon on Sunday, February 3, at the Anaheim White House Restaurant In her address, Lipp talked about how she was incorrectly diagnosed with clinical depression, about her struggle through her "turbulent mental health journey," and the help she received from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. View event photos at the Orange County Register.
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NAB Backs New AP Stylebook Rules for Mental Illness
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is encouraging its members to adopt the Associated Press Stylebook changes for covering mental health issues. The changes include using the description of "mentally ill" only when it's relevant to news coverage and backed by an official diagnosis, refraining from the use of "derogatory terms" except when they're part of an essential quote and trying not to use mental health language in a non-health context.
"Do not assume that mental illness is a factor in a violent crime, and verify statements to that effect. A past history of mental illness is not necessarily a reliable indicator," the new style entry says.
The National Association of Broadcasters has strongly endorsed the AP's update to its Stylebook on reporting mental health issues. That change comes as mental health has been much in the news as one issue related to the ongoing conversation about violence. The change has been added to the online stylebook and will be part of the next print edition coming out in the spring.
Read the rest of the story.
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Another Look at Sandy Hook
Julie Benn, Communications Specialist at NAMI San Diego penned this article immediately after the shootings in Sandy Hook. Her views do not reflect those of any NAMI organization.
As yet another violent massacre occurs in our country-this one involving ch ildren, so it makes it all the harder to take-I pause to think about it, as I have done so ofte n since the news broke on Dec. 14, 2012. During the chaos, ABC had on a senior medical correspondent, who was an M.D., stating that the tragedy and the gunman was "the face of mental illness." I immediately took offense. Really? We knew virtually nothing about the shooter at the time, let alone whether or not he had a diagnosed mental illness. Yet, here was the media, already branding him the face of a disease that affects 57.7 million people in our country alone. That's a lot of "faces" that he is supposedly representing.
It may come out, as the news continues to unfold, that mental illness did a play a role. Right now, we just don't know. As an organization, we are putting out the statistics to fight the stigma that will no doubt be a backlash from this tragedy-that people who have mental illness are much more likely to be the victim of violence rather than the perpetrator; that the overall contribution of mental disorders to the total level of violence in society is exceptionally small; and that it is important that we not make assumptions or speculate as to what the role of mental illness played in this situation at this time.
Read the rest at NAMI California.
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Family Programs News
Above is a photo of our most recent Family to Family teacher graduates!
Our remaining trainings, Northern California:
Family Support Group Facilitator Training - March 23-24, 2013 in Santa Rosa, CA. (Sonoma County)
Family to Family Teacher Training - May 31 - June 2, 2013 in Elk Grove, CA (Sacramento County)
(replaced Citrus Heights location)
Southern CA:
Family to Family Teacher Training and Family Support Group Facilitator Training - April 12-14, 2013 in Ventura, CA. (replaced Pasadena location).
Peer Programs News
We will be scheduling a Peer to Peer training sometime in May or June. We are currently advertising for a new State Peer Programs Coordinator as Lisa Bohne is no longer with NAMI California. In the interim please address Peer Program inquiries to Lynn Cathy at Lynn.Cathy@namicalifornia.org.
-- Lynn Cathy, State Family Programs Coordinator
Lynn.Cathy@namicalifornia.org
916-567-0163 x101
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Working Well Together News
The WWT Technical Assistance Center ensures public mental health agencies are prepared to recruit, hire, train, support, and retain multicultural clients, family members, parents, and caregivers as employees within the public mental health system.
View our quarterly newsletter for Winter 2013:
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Nominations for NAMI National Board of Directors are DUE March 31
Board Nominations are being accepted for candidates for election to the NAMI national board of directors. Five (5) candidates will be elected to serve for the standard three-year term.
For more information about the election process, visit www.nami.org/voting.
As of March 6, the following individuals have been nominated for the NAMI Board:
- Michelle ("Shelly") Redd, nominated by NAMI Missouri
- Elicia M. Goodsoldier, nominated by NAMI Boulder County, Colorado
- Sue Soriano, nominated by NAMI PA - Montgomery County
For information about NAMI Board service, read this Open Letter from the NAMI Board.
Nominees must be NAMI members and members of the NAMI Affiliate or NAMI State Organization making the nomination. Nominations may be made only by NAMI Affiliates and NAMI State Organizations that have submitted their membership and paid dues by the nomination deadline. Each NAMI Affiliate and NAMI State Organization may nominate no more than one candidate.
Nominations must be received by NAMI no later than March 31, 2013 (90 days prior to the NAMI Annual Convention) and addressed to:
NAMI Elections 2013
Attn: Lynn Borton
3803 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100
Arlington, VA 22203
Nominations must include the NAMI Board nomination form (available online at www.nami.org/voting) and letter of nomination prepared on the letterhead of the nominating NAMI Affiliate or NAMI State Organization. Nominations must include evidence of authorization by the board of the NAMI Affiliate or NAMI State Organization to make the nomination and be signed by the chief officer of the NAMI Affiliate or NAMI State Organization. (If the chief officer is the nominee, then another proper officer must sign.) Nominations via e-mail may be submitted to Governance@nami.org if electronically signed.
To ensure compliance with NAMI's Bylaws, 75 percent of the NAMI Board must be "persons who have or have had mental illness, or parents or other relatives thereof." Candidates will be asked to make a statement to this effect. No more than five (5) members who do not have a lived experience with mental illness themselves or as a relative may serve on the NAMI Board at any time. All current NAMI Board members identify as having lived experience.
Please visit www.nami.org/voting or email governance@nami.org with any questions.
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NAMI California Financial Statements and Supplemental Information
Click below to view the NAMI California 2011-2012 Final Audit, including dual-year and single-year presentations.
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Contact Information |
newsletter@namicalifornia.org or call NAMI California
(916) 567-0163
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Proud Sponsor of NAMI California: 
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NAMI California's Tree of Tribute Fiscal Year 2011-12
 Each year many donors elect to give a gift in celebration of an event, in honor of a special individual or in memory of a loved one.
The Tree of Tribute formalizes this tradition by providing a lasting acknowledgement for individuals who are remembered, individuals who are honored or have an enduring record of a significant celebration. Gifts in Celebration, in Honor or in Memory
Gifts of $500 or more will be eligible for an engraved leaf on the Tree of Tribute or an engraved stone at the base of the tree.
$500 - Bronze leaf $1,000 - Silver leaf $2,000 - Gold leaf $3,000 -- Small stone $5,000 - Large stone
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Major Donors 
NAMI California thanks the following for their very generous contributions of $500 or more.Humanitarian: $5,000-$15,000 Kelly Foundation, Sacramento, CA Janssen Pharma, New Brunswick, NJAstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE Ruth Knudtson, Redlands, CA Phrma, Sacramento, CA Lilly Grant Office, Kalamazoo, MI Patron: $2,500 - $4,999 May S. Farr, Upland. CA Samira V. Moran, Encino, CA Sidney Stern Memorial Trust, Pacific Palisades, CA Teva Biologics & Specialty Products, North Wales, PA Lilly Grant Office, Kalamazoo, MI Benefactor: $1,000 - $2,499 The Knudtson Family Donor Advised Fund, CARalph E. Nelson, Visalia, CA Attias Family Foundation, Los Angeles, CA Frances Tibbits, Pacific Palisades, CA Pfizer Inc., New York, NY David M. Knapp Special Needs Trust, San Diego, CA Dwelle Family Foundation, Visalia, CA Shackleton Adventure Racing, LLC, Carmel, CA Edward Gaston, MD, San Rafael, CA Ngena Asante, Cypress, CA Henry Garner, Yorba Linda, CA NAMIWalks Los Angeles County Shareholder: $750-$999 Orange County's United Way, Irvine, CA Teresa Walker, San Mateo, CA Ralph E. Nelson, Visalia, CA Ronnie Okon, Tarzana, CA Sponsor: $500-$749 Joseph Kotzin,, Los Angeles,CAPatricia Goldring, PhD, Sherman Oaks, CA Kessel, Young, & Logan, Charitable Account, Long Beach, CA NAMI Glendale in honor of Tom & Kay Connus, Glendale, CA Virginia Whitcombe, Palos Verdes Estates, CA Linda K. Pontious, Grass Valley, CA Miriam C. Wille, Ventura, CA Elizabeth Chamberlain, Woodside, CA Michael Aldrich, Glendale, CA Arnold Klein, Malibu, CA George Greenspon, Westlake Village, CA Elizabeth Chamberlain, Woodside, CA Google, Inc., CA Joseph Kotzin, Los Angeles, CA Patricia Goldring, PhD, Sherman Oaks, CA Corning Exchange Club, Corning, CA Linda K. Pontious, Grass Valley, CA NAMI California Annual Conference Donors, 2012 Janssen Pharma, $7,500 Lilly Grant Office, $7,500 Teva Biologics & Specialty Products, $2,500 River City Bank, $2,500 Turning Point Community Programs, $500 _________________________ All donations,large and small,
are greatly appreciated by
NAMI California and help
us achieve our mission
at the state level.
_______________________
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This educational newsletter is supported, in part, by an educational grant from Lilly USA, LLC. For further information concerning Lilly grant funding visit www.lillygrantoffice.com. |
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