MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
| July 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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Discounted Rooms Are Going Fast for the 2013 Annual NAMI California Conference
The conference is coming up fast and time is running out on securing discounted room rates for the conference, Aug. 16-17 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel in Burlingame, CA.
How To Book Your Reservation at The San Francisco Marriott Hotel
Book Online:
Click here for online reservation page.
Telephone Reservations:
Call hotel reservations at 1-650-692-9100. In order to receive the group rate you must identify your affiliation with NAMI California's Annual Meeting.
Have you registered for the conference?
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NAMI Re-elects Keris Myrick as National Board President
The Board of Directors of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has re-elected Keris Jan Myrick, Ph.D.c of California to a second one-year term as the national organization's Board President.
Myrick is president and CEO of Project Return Peer Support Network in Pasadena and will be a featured speaker at the NAMI California 2013 Annual Conference next month in Burlingame, CA. To read more about her, visit the conference speakers page.
Election of board officers occurred at NAMI's recent national convention in San Antonio, June 27-30, following election of new board members by the organization's grassroots membership.
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Steinberg Letter to Governor: Court-Ordered Inmate Releases Won't Solve Overcrowding
Stating that a Federal Court order to release some 9,000 California prison inmates will not solve the state's prison overcrowding, Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg has written a letter to Governor Jerry Brown urging a strong commitment to reduce recidivism through the expansion of mental health services proposed in the budget bill awaiting the Governor's signature. "There is only one constructive solution to prison over-crowding: keep people from coming back to prison after they are released," writes Steinberg.
The Pro Tem's letter to the Governor is in response to the administration's proposals sent to legislative leaders as part of the court-ordered submission to reduce the state prison population. Steinberg agrees with the Governor that the Three Judge Panel's order is alarming, and the Senate leader points out, "More than 80 percent of our prison population has some need for mental health services. The estimated recidivism rate for parolees with severe mental health disorders is more than 71 percent."
"Failure to deal effectively with criminal offenders who have serious mental health problems has set up a "revolving door" of a flawed, frightening and expensive system that sends repeat offenders back into the prison system over and over again. This revolving door harms more victims, uses up more local law enforcement resources and ultimately, takes up more of our prison capacity," writes Steinberg. "The budget before you offers the beginning of a tangible solution to slam this revolving door shut."
Read more.
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After Special Education: Then What? (Part Two)
11th in a series of columns by Roger Greenbaum
 The challenges to a youth with mental health disability in making the transition to adulthood are the very same as those confronting the "abled" teen: acquiring the skills not only to get one's needs met but also to achieve fulfillment of one's aspirations.
The path is often not a straight road, but more like a clamber over a jungle gym.
The work of "transition" for the special needs student demands that we help him or her to be exposed to the sunlight of helpful resources of many kinds. These include person-centered planning, supported competitive employment, role models, social skills training, support for self-advocacy, and benefits planning.
Read the complete column.
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California's Coordinated Care Initiative 101
In January 2012, Governor Brown announced his Coordinated Care Initiative (CCI) for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities that includes what was called CalDuals. The CCI is authorized in the following eight counties: Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo, and Santa Clara and is effective no sooner than January 1, 2014.
There are three major components of the CCI:
1. Cal MediConnect: A voluntary three-year demonstration program for Medicare and Medi-Cal dual eligible beneficiaries that will coordinate medical, behavioral health, long-term institutional and home- and community-based services through a single health plan.
2. Mandatory Enrollment of Dual Eligbles into Medi-Cal Managed Care: All dual eligible beneficiaries, subject to certain exceptions, will be mandatorily enrolled in a Medi-Cal managed care organization to receive their Medi-Cal benefits. This includes beneficiaries who opt out or are excluded from enrollment in a Cal MediConnect plan.
3. Inclusion of Long Term Services and Supports in Managed Care (MLTSS): Beneficiaries enrolled in a Medi-Cal managed care health plan or a participating Cal MediConnect plan will receive their long-term services and supports through the plan. LTSS includes the following:
- In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) - personal care for people who need help to live safely at home.
- Community Based Adult Services (CBAS) - adult day health care provided at special centers. This service is currently available through the health plans.
- Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP) - provides social and health care coordination services for people 65 and older. Health plans will work with MSSP providers to provide this service.
- Nursing home care - long-term care provided in a facility.
California is now seeking permission from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to make changes to the CCI. Look for details and an update in the August newsletter.
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NAMI CA Seeks Young People for Innovative IOOV Video
 Do you have a passion for helping others and promoting community awareness? NAMI California has been awarded the exciting opportunity to culturally adapt the In Our Own Voice program (IOOV), a unique public education program in which trained consumer speakers share compelling personal stories about living with mental illness and achieving recovery. We are searching for culturally diverse youth between the ages of 18-30 years old to participate in the production of a new IOOV program video. If you meet this age requirement and are living with a serious mental illness, please contact Veronica J. Delgado (veronica.delgado@nami.org or (916) 567-0163) at NAMI California to request an interest form before July 21, 2013! Video participants will be compensated.
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NAMI California Programs News
Graduates from the June NAMI San Diego support group training share their enthusiasm. here's what two had to say:
"It's a very practical tool to help me [know] how to run a support group and dare to initiate one."
"Please continue this good work, enabling many others to learn facilitating groups"
Programs Update
Support Group Refresher in San Joaquin County: We have 5 spaces available for nearby NAMI support group facilitators who would like to attend a one day free refresher course for Family Support Group in Stockton, July 20, 2013 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Attendees must already be trained NAMI facilitators and current NAMI members. Please contact NAMI San Joaquin Executive Director Debbie Alter at dalter-NAMI@att.net (preferred) or 209-478-7799 if you are interested in attending!
Family Support Group Training:
September 7&8 - Campbell (San Jose), California
Family to Family Teacher Training:
February 28th - March 2nd - Chico, California
State Trainer Family to Family Training:
October 18-20, 2013 - Campbell, California
Additional trainings for the 2013-2014 fiscal year will be announced in the next few weeks.
Visit http://namifamily.blogspot.com for announcements. Peer Programs and Stigma Reduction ProgramsTrainings for the 2013-2014 fiscal year will be announced in the near future.
Send inquiries to:
Family Programs
Lynn.Cathy@namicalifornia.org
IOOV, Peer to Peer and Connection
Stephenie.Gardella@namicalifornia.org
Provider Education Program
Nereida.Castillo@namicalifornia.org
Parents and Teachers as Allies, Ending the Silence, NAMI on Campus
Beth.Larkins@namicalifornia.org
NAMI California Office: 916-567-0163
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Working Well Together News
Greetings and Happy New Fiscal Year (2013/2014)
Summer is a time filled with fresh, bright, dynamic energy. With traditional students, it is a time for outdoor fun or family vacations. With today's technology, summer can still be a time for learning, a time for life-long learning!
Working Well Together (WWT) provides a time for adult learners to be an any-time, self-paced learner. Over the past nineteen months, Connie Burgess of Burgess Associates, LLC, and I, as your Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Coordinator, presented two webinars.
These two webinars are now available for viewing.
- From the June 28, 2012 archives, listen to a Cultural Responsiveness Session, Ah Huh, Uh Uh, available on CD. Please contact Ron Shaw directly (see below) to receive the recording.
Enjoy learning -- at any time and at your own leisure. We wish you the very best of success as you learn cultural workplace knowledge and expand your leadership skills along a career pathway within the Mental Health System.
For technical assistance (education or support) within the workplace environment, call Ron Shaw at: 916.288.5498 or email: ron.shaw@namicalifornia.org.
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CMHDA Congratulates Dr. Karen Baylor on Appointment to State Department of Health Care Services
 On behalf of the California Mental Health Directors Association (CMHDA), I am very pleased to congratulate Dr. Karen Baylor on her appointment as Deputy Director, Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services at the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). As CMHDA's immediate past president and current mental health director for San Luis Obispo County, Dr. Baylor will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to her new position.
We are very pleased that DHCS has selected an individual for this critical position who possesses on-the-ground experience in the community mental health system. Her colleagues at CMHDA look forward to a collaborative and productive business relationship with DHCS as Dr. Baylor assumes her new role. We also want to thank retiring Deputy Director Vanessa Baird for her dedicated leadership in the position over the past year. Ms. Baird proved to be an incredibly fast learner of mental health and substance use disorder issues, and has been a skilled facilitator of stakeholder dialogue as she managed a smooth transition of state-level community mental health administration into DHCS.
-- Jerry Wengerd, LCSW, CMHDA President
Mental Health Director, Riverside County
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NAMI California Financial Statements and Supplemental Information
Click below to view the NAMI California 2011-2012 Final Audit.
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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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