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Beth Melcher Leaves the Department of Health and Human Services
Beth Melcher, Assistant Secretary for HHS has resigned her position in state government this week. As all of you no doubt know, Beth provided exemplary leadership in moving our state forward in creating a system that emphasizes recovery and the strengths of the people that we serve. Her career included work in the private service sector, and within the LME structure, as well as work on Evidence Based Practices and as former Executive Director of NAMI NC and head of public policy for NAMI NC. We have lost a great deal of institutional knowledge with Beth's departure. She will be a very, very difficult act to follow. And we have lost an exceptional advocate.
Progress in our Prisons
We have seen some significant and uplifting progress in our prisons, and their treatment of those with serious mental illness, since the establishment of the Prison Advisory Committee, led by NAMI NC and a Coalition of entities who care. We have seen Central Prison make the following changes:
- Secured consultants who have helped with many positive recommendations
- Policy revamping to add more significant programming time (l0 hrs structured, l0 hrs unstructured therapy time per week)
- Policies to ensure there is not overuse of restraints and seclusion
- New hires for more social workers and psychiatrists
- Use of suicide smocks and blankets
- CIT training in corrections took place in November and in January
Many thanks to Jennie Lancaster, retired, for her leadership in making these huge changes possible. And the work continues on to spread these changes eventually beyond Central Prison.
HB 5- Temporary Funding for Group Homes Update
Good news - HB 5 is scheduled for the Senate Base Budget Appropriations Committee meeting this Wednesday at 8:30, room 643 LOB. We need this bill to pass the Senate, it has already passed the house. It will provide a temporary solution to our crisis in group homes created by the loss of medicaid funding for personal care. Please ask your Senators to support moving this bill along. And remind them that we still need a long term solution - this solution will only help until June 30, 2013. Some of the most important Senators to contact include Senator Berger and Senator Brunstetter. For the complete list, see links below.
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