Coverage for low-wage working Texans        

The Texas Hospital Association recently sent an email outlining a major advocacy campaign they were conducting, in partnership with business leaders, medical professionals and other advocacy groups to promote the Texas Way.

The Texas Way is a plan to reduce the number of uninsured in Texas and hospitals' uncompensated care by leveraging available federal funds to provide low-wage working Texans with access to affordable private health insurance. 

The Texas Way incorporates the following key principles:

• Reduce the number of uninsured Texans.
• Improve statewide access to health care services for low-wage working Texans.
• Require personal responsibility.
• Promote responsible utilization of health care services.
• Promote primary care and prevention.
• Provide appropriate and quality, or evidence-based, health care services.
• Ensure state fiscal responsibility and efficient management of the program.

More information is available from www.texasway.com. To sign the Texas Way petition, click here. To add your name to the Texas Way endorsement map, click here.

Order your free DVD copy of this presentation        

Bexar County Judges, Lisa Jarrett, 436th District Court and Laura Parker, 386th District Court, present The Juvenile Justice System in our latest video replay. In this video, Judge Jarrett and Judge Parker provide their perspective on the Bexar County Juvenile Justice System and the specialty courts created to assist juvenile offenders.

This video was recorded during the October 2014 Clarity CGC monthly community event. 

 

Free DVD copies of this 6-part video series are now available. To order your copy, send an email to Mike Hannan, and include your mailing address, telephone number, and if applicable, the organization you represent. 

 

Click here to watch The Juvenile Justice System. 

Applications due by midnight this Friday, January 23, 2015    

The extended deadline for nominations is coming to an end. Please take a moment to nominate the special person who we should consider for our first Kathy Cunningham Mental Health Advocacy award, by midnight, Friday, January 23.

As we announced at Claritycon2014, Clarity CGC created an award in Kathy's memory to recognize her years of service to the kids of our community. It is intended for people on the front lines, advocating for children's mental health.

Please download the flyer below to see the qualifications and submit your nominations. All nominations must be received by midnight, January 23, 2015.

We will announce the recipient of the Kathy Cunningham Mental Health Advocacy Award at Claritycon2015 on Thursday and Friday, June 18 and 19, 2015.

Click here to download the flyer, or contact Ruby Bryan 210.593.2148, for more information or to have her assist you with the process.  

Your input is appreciated and really matters           

Texans for Recovery and Resiliency is a collaboration between the youth and family mental health and addiction recovery community. The results of this survey will help identify the supports and services that Texans need to strengthen their recovery and resiliency from mental health and substance abuse issues.  

 Click here to begin the survey.  Please also forward to others so their voices can be heard. 

Early bird registration to open soon            

Our luncheon and keynote speakers are confirmed and over 20 breakout sessions are nearly in place. Claritycon2015 is shaping up to be another stellar event. Online registration will be open soon. Please watch for more details. In the meantime, please share this event and our headline speakers:   

Thursday keynote speaker Nancy C. Andreasen, MD, PhD, Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry and director of the Psychiatry Iowa Neuroimaging Consortium, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

Dr. Andreasen is a foremost authority on schizophrenia and a recipient of the President's National Medal of Science. Her list of accomplishments includes pioneering the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify brain mechanisms of mental illnesses, insight into brain mechanisms underlying language, emotion and the creative process, and recognition of the association between creativity and bipolar disorder.

Dr. Andreasen has published 15 books, was Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Psychiatry for 13 years and author of the article Secrets of the Creative Brain, recently published in the Atlantic Magazine. 

Thursday luncheon speaker Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds. Senator Deeds and his story of how mental illness affected his family has been profiled on 60 Minutes and in the Washington Post.

Senator Deeds will share his personal story and present his thoughts on mental health advocacy and families contending with mental illness during this powerful presentation.

Friday keynote speaker David Epston MA, CQSW, DLitt. He, along with Michael White, originated what has come to be known as Narrative Therapy and Community Work. 

David is a New Zealand therapist, co-director of the Family Therapy Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, and teaches at the School of Community Development, UNITEC Institute of Technology.   

He is the co-author of Biting the Hand that Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia (2004), Playful Approaches to Serious Problems (1997), Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends (1990), and many other publications. In 2007, the American Family Therapy Academy presented him with the "Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice" award. 

For more information on Claritycon2015 sponsorship opportunities, please contact Kim Bruno or call 210.582.6406.