LA Times Op-Ed: Guns in the U.S.: We're better at killing ...



November 2015 - Links to additional articles, videos, and information from around the nationThe Des Moines Register: Judge: Branstad Can Be Sued For Mental Hospital Closure Democratic legislators and the leader of the state workers’ union have the right to sue Gov. Terry Branstad over his closure of two state mental hospitals, a judge has ruled. Branstad ordered in January that the state mental hospitals at Clarinda and Mount Pleasant be closed by mid-summer. He contends the facilities were outdated and inefficient, but critics say he put patients at risk by moving too quickly to shutter the hospitals before adequate alternatives were in place. (Leys, 9/21)Reuters: 2nd Circuit Urged To Revive Psychiatrists' Case Against Anthem A panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday weighed whether to revive a lawsuit filed by the American Psychiatric Association and individual psychiatrists accusing a healthcare insurer of discriminating against patients with mental health conditions. The APA sued Anthem Health Plans Inc and its affiliates in 2013, claiming its policies were designed to pay less for mental health treatments than more general medical care. For example, Anthem allegedly did not allow psychiatrists to bill for psychotherapy on the same days they provided non-mental-health services. (Pierson, 9/21)The Homeless EmergencyHomelessness has been surging in L.A., up 12% since Mayor Eric Garcetti took office two years ago. On Tuesday, he and seven City Council members said they would declare a "state of emergency" and devote up to $100 million to the problem. But where would the money come from? Plus: See how the problem got so big and where the homeless population is concentrated on our interactive map.The Austin American-Statesman: Judge Blocks Texas From Slashing Medicaid For Disabled Children A Travis County judge said Tuesday he will block the state from cutting $350 million in Medicaid funding scheduled to take effect on Oct. 1. After two days of testimony, state District Judge Tim Sulak said the cuts represented an “imminent and irreparable injury” to children with disabilities. Parents told the judge the cuts would put their children’s therapy providers out of business. (East, 9/22)Kaiser Health News: Stemming The Cycle Of Toxic Stress – For The Kids’ Sake Samantha McVey brought her 4-month-old daughter, Ruby, to The Children’s Clinic for a routine check-up and vaccinations. But within minutes of sitting down with Dr. R.J. Gillespie, McVey was describing her turbulent childhood with a drug-addicted father who spent time in prison. “How do you think that affects your parenting now?” Gillespie asked. "I don’t want my kids to have to go through that," said McVey, 23. (Gorman, 9/23)Roll Call: Patients' Rights Questions Hang Over Mental Health Debate : MHA of Tippecanoe Showcases Photo Exhibit on Mental Illness?New York Times: Head of Mental Health Institute Leaving for Google Life Sciences?CNN: Is Mental Health Parity Law Fulfilling its Promise?Newsweek: America’s Biggest Gun Problem is Suicide?Forbes: Psychiatrist Shortage Worsens Amid 'Mental Health Crisis'?Jails are no place for the mentally ill. I was lucky to get out. By Justin VolpeHousing people with serious mental illness in prison is dangerous, expensive and ineffective.??Read full article??The Associated Press: Cleveland Police To Get Enhanced Training On Mental Health Cleveland officers will receive enhanced training on how to deal with people during mental health crises, a requirement in the city’s agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to reform its trouble police department, officials announced Wednesday. (Gillispie, 9/23)The Associated Press: Cleveland Police To Get Enhanced Training On Mental Health Cleveland officers will receive enhanced training on how to deal with people during mental health crises, a requirement in the city’s agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to reform its trouble police department, officials announced Wednesday. (Gillispie, 9/23)Northeast Ohio Media Group: Cleveland Inks Deal To Improve Police Response To Mental Health Crises More than nine months after a federal investigation found Cleveland police too often use cruel and unnecessary force against people suffering from mental illness, the city has inked a deal to improve the way officers respond to mental health crises. Mayor Frank Jackson announced Wednesday a memorandum of understanding with the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County that aims to improve how police care for people with mental illness. (Blackwell, 9/23)Wyoming Public Radio: When Deciding To Live Means Avoiding Guns When you're managing a mental health issue, home's not always a safe place. I recently talked with a 23-year-old in Oakland, Calif., who says he's worried about an upcoming visit to his aunt's home on the East Coast. He's afraid of what he might do to himself there. "I know that in my aunt's house there are three guns in the basement," says the young man, who asked that NPR not use his name. (Meagley, 9/24)The New York Times: In Unit Stalked By Suicide, Veterans Try to Save One Another The deaths started a few months after the Marines returned from the war in Afghanistan. A corporal put on his dress uniform and shot himself in his driveway. A former sergeant shot himself in front of his girlfriend and mother. An ex-sniper who pushed others to seek help for post-traumatic stress disorder shot himself while alone in his apartment. The problem has grown over time. More men from the battalion killed themselves in 2014 — four — than in any previous year. Veterans of the unit, tightly connected by social media, sometimes learn of the deaths nearly as soon as they happen. In November, a 2/7 veteran of three combat tours posted a photo of his pistol on Snapchat with a note saying, “I miss you all.” Minutes later, he killed himself. (Dave Philipps, 9/19)The American-Statesman: McDermott: Early Mental Health Intervention Crucial For Kids And Teens According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) approximately 50 percent of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by 14; yet the average delay between onset of symptoms and receiving treatment is eight to 10 years. Like all illnesses, if left untreated these disorders can worsen and create obstacles to a child’s development and success. ... we can lighten the load for families in our community affected by mental illness by educating and supporting overwhelmed parents, schools and teens. (Louise McDermott, 9/23)The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Mental Health Advocates Question 72-Hour Involuntary Hold Proposal Several advocates for people with mental illness on Wednesday panned a proposal that would allow treatment facilities to hold people in crisis situations for up to 72 hours as involuntary patients. “This is a deprivation of liberty,” Mike Burgess, a spokesperson with the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, said during a meeting of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition. It would be better, he said, to expand access to voluntary treatment. (Ranney, 9/24)Health News Florida: Isolation Increases Florida's Rural Suicide Rates Florida's rural counties are seeing suicide rates for youth almost double that of the state's large cities. And experts say isolation, poverty, access to firearms and a lack of mental health resources are to blame. ... the teen suicide rate in Florida's small towns has doubled in the past 20 years. From 2012 through 2014, almost 8,000 youth younger than 21 killed themselves in Florida. Of those, 520 come from rural communities -- a significant number given their populations. Also, experts say the number of teen suicides could be much higher, in part because medical examiners and law enforcement don't have an objective set of criteria to decide whether to label a death as suicide. (Miller and Klingener, 9/24)The Philadelphia Inquirer/Health Day: ERs Often 'Safety Net' Care For People With Schizophrenia: CDC A new report finds that, too often, under-medicated Americans suffering from schizophrenia end up seeking care in the nation's hospital emergency rooms. The report, issued Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that between 2009 and 2011, over 382,000 visits to ERs were recorded for people aged 18 to 64 with schizophrenia. (9/23)The Associated Press: Report: Oklahoma Among Lowest In Funding For Mental Health Oklahoma ranks 46th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in funding for mental health issues, according to a new report. The report, funded by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, says Oklahoma spends $56.22 per capita on mental health - less than every state and D.C. except Kentucky, Idaho, Florida, Arkansas and Georgia. (9/27)Los Angeles Times: His 83-Year-Old Wife Jumped To Her Death From A Kaiser Clinic — Why? [T]he 83-year-old longtime Kaiser patient was distraught: The drugs had proved ineffective for her depression, and her next psychiatric appointment was weeks away, a wait she told her family felt interminable. When she stepped off the roof and fell to her death, her suicide stunned onlookers — but was really directed, her husband believes, at her healthcare provider. "She could have jumped anywhere, but she went right to Kaiser," said [Barbara] Ragan's husband, Denny. "It's like sending a message right to them: 'You couldn't take care of me, so here I am.'" The Oakland-based health maintenance organization has battled accusations for more than two years that its mental health services put patients at risk. Now Ragan's suicide has increased scrutiny of the giant healthcare provider, which last year paid a $4-million fine to resolve allegations by the state Department of Managed Health Care that it inadequately treated mental health patients. (Pfeifer, 9/26)The Chicago Tribune: Legislation Aims To Improve Access To Care For Mentally Ill Children New legislation signed recently by Gov. Bruce Rauner aims to give severely mentally ill children better access to residential treatment and intensive community services. The measure moves the Individual Care Grant program — the main funding source for families struggling to afford treatment — from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which should create more flexibility and efficiency, lawmakers said. (Miller Rubin, 9/28)Los Angeles Times: Ex-Inmates Want L.A. County To Stop Dumping Mentally Ill Inmates On Skid Row A group of former Los Angeles County jail inmates said Monday that a recent legal settlement between the Sheriff's Department and federal authorities will perpetuate the cycle of people with untreated mental illness bouncing back and forth between jail and skid row. The former inmates are seeking changes in the settlement that was reached this year as part of an effort to end abuse of inmates by sheriff's deputies and to improve chronically poor treatment of mentally ill inmates. (Sewell and Change, 9/28)Plan Offers New Hope for Housing the Homeless “The Deadly Consequences when Police Lack Proper Training to Handle Mental Illness Calls”Earlier this year, ABC Nightline came to San Antonio to do a ride-along with the Joe Smarro and Ernie Stevens of the Bexar County Mental Health Unit and to interview Leon Evans about The Restoration Center – more specifically about the collaboration between the various agencies and the impact on Bexar County.?During the visit, Nightline ended up capturing so much great footage with the Mental Health Unit that they had to sacrifice other elements including the interview with Leon Evans. The piece titled “The Deadly Consequences when Police Lack Proper Training to Handle Mental Illness Calls” speaks to San Antonio as an example of a community that has revolutionized policing. Washington Post: Jails Are No Place For The Mentally Ill. I Was Lucky To Get Out. I went to jail in 2007, around the time that Miami-Dade County Judge Steven Leifman succeeded in encouraging more comprehensive coordination between law enforcement and behavioral health treatment centers. After 46 days in jail, the resident psychiatrist identified me as having a mental illness and transferred me to a hospital. Case workers there deemed me eligible for the program, which puts people who aren’t considered a public safety threat into community-based treatment and offers mental health and drug addiction services. Without that program, I’m not sure where I would have ended up. (Justin Volpe, 9/23)The Baltimore Sun: Johns Hopkins Part Of $100M Initiative To Study The Brain Johns Hopkins University will participate in what President Barack Obama called “the next great American project,” creating an institute for neuroscience research aimed at mapping the brain and perhaps finding cures for its many mysterious ailments. The institute is one of three that will be opened as part of a $100 million collaborative effort, funded largely by one of the private investors behind the Obama Administration's BRAIN Initiative, aimed at developing a better understanding of how the human brain works. (McDaniels, 10/1)"Is This the Kind of Country We Want to Be?"?- guest commentary"There has probably never been a worse place and worse time to have a severe mental illness than now in the US," writes Dr. Allen Frances in the Psychiatric Times. "Most countries in the rest of the developed world take much better care of their severely ill. We can do better and, if we are to avoid being ashamed of our country, we must."?READ IT ALL..."Inmate Dies in Jail after Being Strapped to Restraint Chair for Nine Hours"Veronica Yearby wants justice for her son, David – a 27-year-old diagnosed with bipolar disorder who died in a New Jersey jail after he was maced, beaten, hooded, and strapped in a restraint chair for nine hours, according to a civil wrongful death lawsuit filed this week.?READ IT ALL..."A Decade Later, Skid Row Still 'a Human Catastrophe Unfolding'"A group of former jail inmates this week sought changes to a recent settlement they say fails to require adequate services for mentally ill and homeless inmates after their release, and perpetuates the cycle in which people with untreated mental illness bounce back and forth between jail and Skid Row in Los Angeles County.?READ IT ALL...Keep the Light on Mental Health"?- guest commentary"Too many of us share in the pain of parents who struggled to help young adult children with mental illness and are now working through grief after their suicides," writes the Staunton News Leader editorial board. "Virginia must enact legislation and keep working to improve a mental health system that is overburdened, too often to the tragic point of failure."?READ IT ALL..."Mentally Ill Man Slain by Minnesota Police Wanted Help, Family Says"After a long struggle with schizophrenia that had led to numerous run-ins with the law, Philip Quinn was suicidal and off his prescribed medication last week when his fiancée called 911. But Quinn’s family says that call for help quickly turned into their worst nightmare when responding officers fatally shot and killed their loved one.?READ IT ALL...Jamycheal Mitchell’s Ghastly Death an artificial brain Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen embarks on a $500 million quest to dissect the mind and code a new one from scratch. Read more??Wellmark to sell policies on Obamacare Exchange in 2017 Today: Groups Call On Congress To Reform Mental Health System A day after a mass shooting in Oregon, 23 mental health groups are calling on Congress to pass legislation aimed at repairing the USA's broken mental health system. The groups delivered a letter to congressional leaders Thursday, just hours before the attack at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. left 10 people dead. The shooting was the latest in a series of mass killings perpetrated by unstable young men, many of whom were mentally ill. (Szabo, 10/2)The Washington Post's Wonkblog: If You Want Mental Health Services To Prevent Violence, Medicaid Expansion Is Critical Oregon’s mass homicide sparked the usual debate about whether guns or mental health is the best focus in preventing atrocities. ... Many conservatives place greater emphasis on the mental health system. In some ways, this rhetoric is misplaced. The fraction of American violence attributable to severe mental illness is quite low, on the order of five percent. We must also avoid reinforcing cruel stereotypes regarding millions of Americans who live with major depression, bipolar disorders, or related conditions. Still, it’s always wise to consider how our mental health systems could treat people more effectively, and more-reliably keep weapons away from dangerous individuals. (Harold Pollack, 10/2)Scholars Discuss the Role of Neuroscience in Youth Criminal Justice - The Harvard CrimsonA panel of legal and medical scholars and practitioners agreed in a panel discussion on Monday night that the American criminal justice system does not give adequate consideration to the cognitive underdevelopment of adolescents. The death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the American student who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, served as a preface for the discussion. A standing-room-only crowd of about 100 people packed the Wasserstein Hall classroom at Harvard Law School for the discussion entitled “From Troubled Teens to Tsarnaev: Promises and Perils of Adolescent Neuroscience and Law.” The event, hosted by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, was the center’s first of the year.?“Our country is going through a profound movement toward the punitive,” said Nancy Gertner, a senior lecturer at the Law School. More here.The Hidden Costs of Incarceration in the Adult system - Nils Franco, Juvenile Justice InternThe Ella Baker Center for Human Rights this month published “Who Pays,” a report investigating the adult criminal justice system’s long-term effects on inmates, families, and society. The Center surveyed more than 700 former inmates and 300 family members in 14 states. This effort produces reliable data on the economic, social, and health-related burdens communities bear from incarceration, which bring “increased poverty, destabilized neighborhoods, and generations of trauma,” according to the report. The findings demonstrate that adult sentences cost more than just the lost years of one individual’s incarceration. The costs of even a minor offense can add up in thousands of dollars of debt, mental health issues, and the specter of a permanent record. While the report surveys the general population of the adult prison system, many of its findings apply especially severely to juveniles. More here.Reuters: Nevada Agrees To Pay San Francisco $400,000 Over Patient Dumping Nevada has agreed to pay the city of San Francisco $400,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming that the state bused patients, many of them poor and mentally ill, from a Las Vegas hospital to the Bay Area without plans for their care, Governor Brian Sandoval's office said on Tuesday. The settlement, which must still be approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Nevada Board of Examiners, includes attorneys' fees and a plan for better management and transfer of patients. (Skinner, 10/6)Los Angeles Times: The Issue Isn't Mental Illness, It's Too-Easy Access To Firearms The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stands as one of the federal government's premier agencies for studying public health and the behaviors that affect it, such as the links between distracted driving (texting) and fatal motor vehicle accidents. So it stands to reason that the CDC would also research the public health issues surrounding gun violence. But it doesn't, under a de facto 20-year ban that the National Rifle Assn. got Congress to impose on taxpayer funding for such research. Yes, the organization that represents gun manufacturers and gun owners continues to convince lawmakers that the CDC should not study the effects of guns on public health. That's despite the fact that gun-related deaths — homicides, suicides and accidental shootings — exceed 30,000 a year, on par with those killed in motor vehicle accidents. (10/6)USA Today: After Roseburg, Face Up To Mental Illness, Addiction Nearly 10 years ago, I crashed my car into a barrier at the U.S. Capitol at 3 in the morning. The very next day, I began the process of trying to have a conversation about what it’s like to suffer from mental illness and addiction. Not everyone was in favor of me being open about all of this. Even my father, Sen. Ted Kennedy, didn’t really get it — at least not when it came to our own family, which shows that even the most committed, informed leaders on health care can still have old-school, unprocessed ideas about diseases of the brain. (Patrick J. Kennedy, 10/6)And a video clip worth your time -Last Week Tonight: Mental Health John Oliver explains how our national system of treating mental health works, or more often than not, how it doesn’t. (10/4)LA Times Op-Ed: The Issue Isn’t Mental Illness, It’s Too Easy Access to Fire Arms Times Op-Ed: Guns in the U.S.: We're better at killing Americans than our enemies areAdd up all the gun fatalities since 1970 (approximate annual average of 30,000, according to the CDC) and you get the staggering figure of 1.35 million dead, which is disturbingly close to the figure of 1.39 million Americans who have died in all wars since the American Revolution. Star Tribune: U Owes Mistreated Psychiatric Subjects An Apology Thanks to a former Fairview Hospital patient with the courage to speak out about his mistreatment, the University of Minnesota is finally ending a controversial research practice. As of last month, the university will no longer test experimental drugs on mentally ill patients who have been involuntarily confined to a locked psychiatric unit under a 72-hour hold. Yet instead of thanking the patient who spoke out, or apologizing for recruiting him under coercive conditions, the university has done its best to discredit him. (Carl Elliott, 10/7)MHA Blog Chiming In: Stigma or Discrimination? Language MattersMHA-CAMH Press Release: First-Ever U.S. Study on Workplace Wellness Finds 80 Percent of People Would Rather Work Alone Because of Unhelpful or Hostile Work Environments MHA-HealthGrove Press Release: 42 CFR Part 2 Updates Would Improve Access to Care Without Compromising Patient PrivacyThe Hill: Senator Sees Momentum for Mental Health ReformWSLS: Mental Health Advocates Flood Capitol Hill Demanding Major Overhaul U.S. News and World Report: White House Claims Medicaid Expansion Would Curb Gun Violence USA Today: Groups Call on Congress to Reform Mental Health SystemWashington Post: How News Coverage of Violent Rampages Stigmatizes People with Mental IllnessUPI: Demi Lovato Advocates for Mental Health on the HillForbes: 60 Minutes: Patrick Kennedy Breaks The Silence On Mental Health And AddictionPR Newswire: FDA Approves New Injectable Schizophrenia DrugThe Washington Post: A Different Kind Of Care Package U.S. health care is in a revolution that is starting to shake up one of the most conservative parts of medicine: its antiquated model for training doctors. Once paid a la carte for the procedures and services they perform, physicians are beginning to be reimbursed for keeping their patients healthy. ... The AMA is worried enough about the problem that it has been giving out millions of dollars to prod new kinds of teaching, in the hope that doctors’ training can adapt as quickly as the system they will soon join. (Johnson, 10/8)The Lansing State Journal: Michigan Mental Health Nurses Say OT Hurts Patient Care The well-being of some 700 patients in state psychiatric hospitals is in the hands of nurses who say they're overworked, overtired and overstressed because of excessively mandated double shifts. Sometimes several days a week, nurses in Michigan's five state-run hospitals end their regular eight-hour shifts only to be ordered to cover staffing shortages by working another eight hours. Against the recommendations of nursing groups and one of the state's own task forces, several current and former nurses at the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services told the State Journal they're worked to the point of exhaustion and ragged nerves, more prone to errors or poor judgment as they deal with unpredictable, sometimes violent patients. (Hinkley, 10/8)Des Moines Register: Medicaid Savings Are Increasingly Suspect Perhaps Gov. Terry Branstad thought he could quietly privatize Iowa’s Medicaid program. Instruct a state agency to hand over administration to managed care companies, issue a few press releases about “modernization,” quickly secure federal approval and hope no one raises a fuss. Except when 4.2 billion public dollars and health care for 560,000 Iowans are on the line, people eventually pay attention to the details. It doesn’t take long to realize privatization makes no sense. (10/8)The Wall Street Journal: Mass Shootings And A Mental-Health Disgrace We all know how this plays out in Congress: a moment of silence on the House floor and a fraternal feeling of melancholy when the flag over the Capitol is lowered to half-staff. But that moment of silence will not heal the hearts of those who lost a loved one, and it will not stop the next tragedy. Here and now we need action; we need real change. That’s why I’ve authored the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. The bill focuses resources and reform where they are most needed: to foster evidence-based care, fix the shortage of psychiatric hospital beds, empower patients and caregivers under HIPAA privacy laws, and help patients get treatment well before their illness spirals into crisis. (Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Penn.)Substance Abuse Cited for Oklahoma’s High Female Prison RateKSL—Sept. 16 | OklahomaWhat Happened When an Illinois County Rehabilitated Mentally Ill Offenders Through TreatmentThinkProgress—Sept. 15 | IllinoisThe Literal Cost of Solitary ConfinementThe New Republic—Sept. 15 | NationalSeattle Police Officers Team with Mental Health Professionals to Help Those in CrisisQ13 FOX—Sept. 15 | WashingtonScott Signs Executive Order Tracking Mental Health ServicesPalm Beach Post—Sept. 15 | FloridaPolice Training Canceled Because of Illinois Budget CrisisABC News—Sept. 29 | IllinoisSentencing Overhaul Proposed in Senate with Bipartisan BackingThe New York Times—Oct. 1 | NationalMental Health Treatment for the Uninsured Has a Heavy PriceAtlanta Journal-Constitution—Sept. 23 | GeorgiaCleveland Police to Get Enhanced Training on Mental HealthABC News—Sept. 23 | OhioLawmakers Look to Culture Change, Not More Laws, to Curb Jail SuicidesHouston Chronicle—Sept. 22 | TexasNIMH and NIJ Collaborate on Justice System StudyNational Institute of Mental Health—Sept. 21 | NationalIt's Time to Raise the Juvenile Justice Age Limit - The Bristol PressJust over 100 years ago, there was no separate court for juveniles anywhere in the world. Adolescents were viewed as smaller versions of adults, were prosecuted under the same laws and often sent to the same prisons. But in 1899, a pioneering group of women - Jane Addams, Lucy Flower and Julia Lathrop - persuaded the state of Illinois to create a separate court to handle juveniles’ cases individually, be more rehabilitative and less punitive and ensure that youthful mistakes wouldn’t haunt youngsters throughout their lives. The family court was a smashing success, spreading to 46 states and 16 countries by 1925 and decidedly reducing recidivism compared with trying children as adults. More here.Two Years in Solitary, Texas Inmate Says - Courthouse News ServiceTexas kept a mentally ill man in solitary confinement for two years without giving him a hearing to appeal the punishment, the man, now free, claims in court.?Nelson Patterson sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, two wardens and a prison captain on Monday in Federal Court.?Patterson says he was in solitary confinement from Nov. 11, 2011 to Nov. 30, 2013 in the W.J. Estelle Unit, a prison in a wooded area north of Huntsville. The prison includes a medical wing where Patterson says he was housed.?During his time in solitary, Patterson says, he lost a lot of weight and suffered bouts of extreme paranoia and anxiety because the segregation aggravated his mental problems.?The 20-page lawsuit does not say why the prison staff put Patterson in solitary, other than that he "suffered from condition(s) which were open and obvious to all persons who interacted with him" and "was incapable of competently representing his own interests before being assigned" to administrative segregation. More here.?Behind the Prison Report "The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls' Story" - Anne-Lise Vray, CFYJ InternForced into child sex trafficking at the age 13, Kyeisha got pulled into?the juvenile justice system while trying to escape her abusive home. Kyeisha, now an 18 year-old juvenile justice advocate, was one of the members of today’s discussion panel on the just-released report?“The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls’ Story”. This powerful document was published by the Georgetown Law Center for Poverty and Equality, in collaboration with the Human Rights Project for Girls and the Ms. Foundation for Women, and highlights how sexual abuse on girls is often a trigger leading them directly to jail. Indeed, the report reveals for example that 93% of Oregon and 81% of California girls in the juvenile justice system have been sexually or physically abused. Overall across the country, 39% of girls who get pulled into the juvenile justice system have been raped or sexually assaulted. More here.?"Great Strides Made in California"?California Governor Jerry Brown this week signed a law that will clarify the criteria under which a person with severe mental illness may be evaluated and treated under a 72-hour psychiatric hold. Prior to the long-sought law changes, some counties required a person to be imminently dangerous, which kept treatment out of reach for too many people. But no more!?READ IT ALL..."'My Son is Living a Subhuman Existence'"?- personally speaking"My son, Eric, is now 48 years old and living a subhuman existence at his grandmother’s house," writes Ruth Fisher. "We have not been able to get him to go to a dentist or a doctor since he began exhibiting symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia 15 years ago. He is on disability and Medicaid, but that doesn’t guarantee that he will ever obtain treatment of any kind. My son deserves so much better."?READ IT ALL..."'We Treat Our Pets Better than We Treat Our Mentally Ill'"Carrie and Charlie Lucas said their son, who has schizoaffective disorder, had been committed to crisis units over a dozen times before he was sent to the state hospital after stealing a car two years ago. Their story is typical of many in Florida, where families affected by severe mental illness are troubled by a mental health system that blocks them from getting help for their sick loved ones.?READ IT ALL...The Associated Press: Feds Threaten To Cut Funding To Psychiatric Hospital 3 Times Federal regulators said conditions at Washington state's largest psychiatric hospital were so dangerous for patients that they threatened to cut millions of dollars in funding three times this year. The state agency that oversees Western State Hospital said Thursday that they are addressing the problems, but they need more money and staff to make the facility safe. (Bellisle, 10/11)The Des Moines Register: Branstad's Mental Hospital Closures Debated In Court Lawyers for Gov. Terry Branstad and his critics argued in court Thursday over whether he broke the law by using his line item veto authority to effectively shutter two state mental hospitals. Branstad in July vetoed a bipartisan compromise plan that would have reversed his closure of the mental institution at Mount Pleasant and would have temporarily kept open a similar facility at Clarinda. (Leys, 10/9)Des Moines Register: Iowa Signs Medicaid Contracts With Private Managers Iowa officials announced Friday that they have signed contracts with four national companies to manage the state’s massive Medicaid program. However, that is not the last step before the companies could take control of the program as planned Jan. 1. ... The contracts were supposed to be signed several weeks ago, but state administrators have said it took a bit longer than expected to work out the details. Critics say the state is moving too quickly to make the change. ... Skeptics fear the switch will lead to cuts in services for the 560,000 poor or disabled Iowans who use the $4.2 billion health care program, which is jointly financed by the state and federal governments. (Leys, 10/9)In West Africa, A Mission to Save Minds stunningly simple idea that is changing solitary confinement The Nature Imagery Project, which transports the soothing elements of nature into supermax prisons to help ease the stress of solitary confinement, has proven surprisingly successful. Read more??The Texas Tribune: Cornyn: Mental Health Legislation Provides New Tools When it comes to loved ones with mental health problems, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn says, families have traditionally faced two troublesome options: do nothing or institutionalize their relatives. And as a result, families don’t have the tools to help provide the treatment needed, Cornyn said Monday in Austin, as he promoted federal legislation that would require mental health checks before denying anyone the ability to purchase firearms. (Silver, 10/12)The Holland Sentinel: Cutbacks In Mental Health Services Hit Western Michigan J.R. Robinson rubbed his hands together. A hollow sadness sits behind his eyes, punctuating a broken expression. "I'm struggling every day," said the 51-year-old Holland resident; a Tennessee accent filling soft, steady words. His appearance at the Holland Drop-In-Center on Sept. 29, was no easy feat. Without scheduled classes two days a week at Community Mental Health of Ottawa County, motivating himself to leave his apartment is a battle. (Biolchini, 10/12)left3175000bp Magazine (Bipolar Disorder)This Month's Article:?Bipolar Depression: Letting the Light InClick Here for Content & Images:? partners-this-month/left21145500esperanza (Depression & Anxiety)This Month's Article:?Finding happiness — Reaching your peak?Click Here for Content & Images:partners-this-month/Time for Action on Mental Health CareRoll Call commentary How Demi Lovato Is Leading the Conversation about Mental IllnessHuffington Post Mental Health Policy ReformNational Journal webcast (2-hour video link)? Mental Health on Campus: Making a Difference One Person at a TimeHuffington Post Janssen Tackles Mental Health Stigma in New Healthy Minds VideosPRNewswire (press release) How to Maximize Mental Health CoverageU.S. News & World Report Obamacare Mandated Better Mental Health-Care Coverage. It Hasn’t Happened.Washington Post *NAMI Parity ReportJohn Oliver on Oregon Shooting: 'Worst Time to Talk About Mental HealthUSA Today?(linked to HBO video) *NAMI cited; logo shownMental Health Bills on Tap in Wake of Mass ShootingMorning Consult Violence & Mental Illness: A Call for ReformSirius XM Radio interview *NAMI Andrew SperlingMass shooting renews debate on mental healthWTOP –FM? *NAMI Ron HonbergMental Illness Not Always a Precursor for ViolenceKGO Radio?(San Francisco) *NAMI Ron HonbergSmart Talk: Mental Illness AwarenessWITF-FM Radio *NAMI Angela Kimball (20 min. interview)Meet Police Officers Trained to Respond to Mental Illness CallsABC News Nightline?Police Encounters With Mentally Ill Are Often Deadly, but They Don’t Have to BeTakepart The Death of Victoria Gray:? How Texas Jails Are Failing the Most VulnerableThinkProgress?1 in 5 U.S. Adults Has This Illness. So Why Are We Not Talking About It?Glamour? Mental Health Awareness Week 2015: #IAmStigmaFreeForbesDorothea Dix Halloween costume removed from stores following complaintsNews & Observer? (North Carolina)A recent series authored by PennLive reporter, Daniel Simmons-Ritchie, takes an in-depth look at the 2006 closure of Pennsylvania’s Harrisburg State Hospital – the state’s oldest public mental health facility.left000The closure came with a promise from state officials to the 7 counties it served: mentally ill people wouldn’t end up on city streets.But where did the people in need of those services go?PennLive has been exploring where these patients have gone and other issues with Pennsylvania’s mental health system in the multi-part investigative series From Patients to Prisoners (a total of 13 stories at this web location)The Kansas City Star: Kansas City To Get A Mental Health Assessment Center When Kansas City police pick up people who appear to be suffering mental health problems, they have two choices — take them to an emergency room or jail. Neither option is ideal. And that’s why an agreement creating a mental health assessment and triage center at 12th Street and Prospect Avenue was heralded Wednesday by city, county and state officials. (Stafford, 10/14)Heartland Health Monitor: New KC Mental Health Center Will Get $20M From Sale Of Missouri Hospitals The sale of two Kansas City-area hospitals will generate $20 million in the next decade to help operate a new mental health crisis center on the city’s East Side, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said Wednesday. Koster made the announcement while standing outside the state office building at the corner of 12th Street and Prospect Avenue that will house the 16-bed Kansas City Area Adult Behavioral Health Assessment and Triage Center. (Sherry, 10/14)Quad-City Times: Branstad Faces Questions About Medicaid Changes Joy Newcom of Forest City told Gov. [Iowa] Terry Branstad on Wednesday his proposed privatization of Medicaid services was too much, too soon and had too many unanswered questions. Newcom, the mother of a 24-year-old son with mental and physical disabilities, expressed her concerns at a town hall meeting Branstad held in Mason City. About 100 people attended, many of whom had questions about the changes in Medicaid. Under the new program, as of Jan. 1, about 600,000 Medicaid recipients in Iowa will go from a state-run program to one operated by four managed care organizations. (Skipper, 10/14)The New York Times: The Chains Of Mental Illness In West Africa Every society struggles to care for people with mental illness. In parts of West Africa, where psychiatry is virtually unknown, the chain is often a last resort for desperate families who cannot control a loved one in the grip of psychosis. Religious retreats, known as prayer camps, set up makeshift psychiatric wards, usually with prayer as the only intervention. Nine camps visited recently in Togo ranged from small family operations to this one, Jesus Is the Solution, by far the largest and most elaborate. (Benedict Carey, 10/11)Des Moines Register: Questions Persist In Child Medicaid Program Ongoing questions about whether Iowa has acted legally in its efforts to privatize management of a health insurance program for children have prompted a state senator to ask Gov. Terry Branstad to remove the plan from what she calls his “managed care mess.” Questions were first posed in August by the chairwoman of hawk-i, citing state law saying her board is responsible for developing the criteria on which any administrative contractor would be selected. (Clayworth, 10/14)"Overcrowding and Undertraining Plague Arkansas Correctional Facilities"?An array of lawsuits alleging inmate abuse and medical negligence have been filed against Arkansas jails and prisons in the past few years. These concerns have been echoed in dozens of conversations with legislators, lawyers, corrections officials, civil rights groups, inmates and their families, and all agree that a lack of space and training exacerbate brutal conditions behind bars, especially for the mentally ill.?READ IT ALL..."'Congress Should Pass Package for Mental Health Care'"?- guest commentary"Yet another shooting, this time in Roseburg, Oregon," writes Dottie Pacharis in the Fort Myers Beach Observer. "As happens with all these shootings, Congress and churches will have their usual moment of silence in memory of the victims and their families, the flag will be lowered to half-staff, the news media will spend a few days discussing mental illness, but nothing gets done to reform and fix our sorry excuse for a mental health care system."?READ IT ALL..."'From Patients to Prisoners' Gives Voice to Mentally Ill in Pennsylvania""From Patients to Prisoners," a recent investigative series authored by PennLive reporter Daniel Simmons-Ritchie, takes an in-depth look at the 2006 closure of Pennsylvania’s Harrisburg State Hospital – the state’s oldest public mental health facility. We commend PennLive for taking Pennsylvania’s inadequate mental health system to task, exploring how it has transformed patients into prisoners and what solutions might exist for those caught up in it.?READ IT ALL..."Momentum Builds to Reduce the Criminalization of Mental Illness"In the wake of another mass shooting that left nine dead in Roseburg, Oregon, Representative Martha McSally (R-AZ) last week introduced the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act, a companion to the Senate bill introduced by John Cornyn (R-TX) in August. “We are encouraged that leaders in the U.S. House and the Senate are championing mental health reform and actively working to keep those with a mental illness out of jails and prisons where they don’t belong,” said Treatment Advocacy Center Executive Director John Snook.?READ IT ALL...The Washington Post: Advocates, Lawmakers See Momentum For Mental-Health Reform In Congress Months of deadly mass shootings are pushing mental-health legislation forward in Congress, with advocates and lawmakers describing a momentum for change that they haven’t seen for nearly a decade. Early this month, by sheer coincidence, leaders of five advocacy groups met with the head of a powerful House committee just hours after a student opened fire at an Oregon community college. As pictures of the campus flashed on the TV screen in his office, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R.-Mich.) promised to make mental-health reform a priority this fall. (Sun, 10/18)The Des Moines Register: Iowa Can't Show The Math Of Medicaid Savings Estimate A state agency says it has no documents or even a list of experts consulted to support its claim that a controversial plan to hire private companies to manage its Medicaid program would save taxpayers $51 million during its first six months. The absence of any public data behind the estimate is significant because the Legislature relied on the projection when it approved the budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1. (Clayworth, 10/16)The Associated Press: Missouri Touts Efforts To Improve Services To Mentally Ill Programs begun in the last two years to improve mental health services in Missouri are making substantial progress but much more work — and more money — are needed, state officials and mental health advocates said. Spurred by the deaths of 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, Gov. Jay Nixon's administration began looking to create or expand programs to help those with mentally illness, substance abuse or other behavioral health issues, said Mark Stringer, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health. (Stafford, 10/17)Connecticut Mirror: Mental Health Funding Tradeoff Draws Criticism, Praise Rather than cut $4.7 million from mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy called for last month, the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services plans to shift the cut elsewhere in its budget and delay the start of new programs. The tradeoff drew both criticism from proponents of one of the delayed programs and praise from those whose funding is being spared. (Levin Becker, 10/19)The New York Times: Talk Therapy Found To Ease Schizophrenia More than two million people in the United States have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and the treatment for most of them mainly involves strong doses of antipsychotic drugs that blunt hallucinations and delusions but can come with unbearable side effects, like severe weight gain or debilitating tremors. Now, results of a landmark government-funded study call that approach into question. (Carey, 10/20)The Washington Post: Study Suggests New Way To Treat People After First Schizophrenia Episode Quickly identifying people who have suffered a first schizophrenic episode and treating them with coordinated, sustained services sharply boosts their chances of leading productive lives, according to a major study being published Tuesday. And the treatment can be provided in a typical community mental health setting, the researchers concluded. (Bernstein, 10/20)Quad City (Iowa) Times: Branstad Administration Won’t Show Its Work On Medicaid Savings Saying it’s how his administration always has projected the state’s annual Medicaid costs, Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday defended a $51 million estimate for Medicaid savings next year, even though the state has produced no documents showing how it arrived at that figure. The state is transitioning to private management of its Medicaid program. Branstad’s administration said the move will save $51 million in the first year, a figure that was calculated into the current state budget. (Murphy, 10/19)Des Moines Register: Skeptical Lawmaker Presses Branstad On Medicaid Savings A key Democratic legislator is pressing Gov. Terry Branstad for details that spell out an estimated $51 million in cost savings for a shift of Iowa's Medicaid health care program from state government oversight to private management. State Sen. Robert Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, chairman of the Iowa Senate Government Oversight Committee, said Monday he is skeptical about Branstad's plans .... Hogg's inquiry follows statements by Iowa Department of Human Services officials last week that they have no documents or even a list of experts consulted to support their estimates that a controversial plan to hire private companies to manage the Medicaid health insurance program will save taxpayers money. (William Petroski, 10/19)The Associated Press: Parents Plead For Higher Pay For Nevada Autism Therapists Parents urged Nevada officials to pay more to therapists who work with children with autism, saying low rates could lead to a shortage of workers. Several people gave tearful testimony Monday at a Division of Health Care Financing and Policy meeting. One woman brought her son and said he would not be able to speak were it not for interventions when he was younger. (Rindels, 10/20)The Associated Press: Report: North Carolina Youth Suicides Double Since 2010 The number of youth suicides in North Carolina increased by more than one-third between 2013 and 2014 and has doubled since the start of the decade, a child safety panel reported Monday in its annual review of child deaths in the state. Forty-six children died by suicide last year, compared to 34 the year before and 23 in 2010, according to data collected by state public health and statistics agencies and released by the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force. (Robertson, 10/19)The Casper Star-Tribune: Lawmakers To Look At Costs For Program That Helps Children, Adults With Disabilities Lawmakers are reviewing expenses of a state program that provides services to intellectually and developmentally disabled children and adults ahead of next year’s legislative session, when they will decide how much money to spend on it. State law requires a review of costs every two to four years for the Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Waivers program. The program pays for services such as respite care for families and aides that help developmentally disabled people shop or work on a particular skill, said Joe Simpson, administrator in the Behavioral Health Division of the Wyoming Health Department. (Hancock, 10/18)Des Moines Register: Hillary Clinton Slams Branstad's Medicaid Privatization Plan Hillary Clinton is wading into the controversy over Gov. Terry Branstad’s decision to hand over management of Iowa’s Medicaid program to private corporations. The Democratic presidential candidate has routinely drawn applause on the campaign trail for denouncing the Republican governor’s earlier decision to close two state mental institutions. On Tuesday, she ripped his plan to hire four national corporations to run the Medicaid program, which provides health coverage for more than 500,000 poor or disabled Iowans. (Leys, 10/20)Huffington Post: 'Game-Changer' Study Says There's A Better Way To Treat Schizophrenia A groundbreaking new study adds to a growing body of evidence that people with schizophrenia can do much better if they get the right treatment at the right time. ... A key focus of early intervention, as the name suggests, is to reach patients shortly after they first experience serious psychotic symptoms, like hearing voices or having delusions about conspiracies. That doesn’t typically happen today. It can take a year or more between the onset of psychosis and treatment. ... In countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, early intervention is becoming the standard of care -- thanks in part to decisions by government officials to pay for services through their national health insurance systems. In the U.S, with its patchwork insurance system and history of underfunding mental health care, early intervention is generally available only through small pilot programs that operate out of academic research centers and reach a fraction of the potential population. (Jonathan Cohn, 10/20)Washington Post: Advocates and Lawmakers See Rare Momentum for Mental Health Reform Miami Herald: The Impact of Workplace Bullying (originally in Chicago Tribune) Washington Post: Why Is It So Hard to Find a Mental Health Professional? NPR: What To Do With California’s Mentally Ill Defendants? (video)The Hill: Feds award grants for new mental health clinicsNew York Times: Talk Therapy Found to Ease SchizophreniaUpworthy: Hayden Panettiere is checking herself into treatment for depression. Here's why it's a big deal.Washington Post: NIH’s mental health chief on why he’s leaving for Google: Technology may hold key to better diagnosisThe Washington Post: Why It’s So Hard To Find A Mental Health Professional The demand for mental health service is growing nationally, and comprehensive mental health legislation is gaining momentum in Congress for the first time in years. But both forces could run up against a counter-force: a shortage of psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and therapists in much of the country. More than half of U.S. counties have no mental health professionals and so "don't have any access whatsoever," according to Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. (Sun, 10/21)NPR: What To Do With California's Mentally Ill Defendants? Mentally ill defendants like Bock, who are declared incompetent to stand trial, are supposed to be transferred to state mental hospitals for treatment within two or three months. But more than 300 of them throughout California are languishing in county jails because there's simply no bed space. (Shafer, 10/21)Huffington Post: Stop The Madness This strategy, which [Autralian researcher Patrick] McGorry and others dubbed “early intervention,” was cutting-edge in the world of mental health. And yet it actually operates on the same logic that doctors have used for decades to reduce the incidence of serious physical illnesses. ... McGorry eventually developed a specific analogy between schizophrenia and cancer. Physicians think of cancer as having distinct stages—from stage 1, when early detection can make a huge difference in survival rates, to stage 4, by which point the cancer has spread and the focus usually shifts to managing the patient’s inevitable decline. In McGorry’s conception, schizophrenia goes through a “prodrome” stage when symptoms gradually emerge, a “first episode” phase that covers, on average, the two years before the first break and finally a “chronic” phase .... By reaching people in the first or second stages, McGorry argued, psychiatrists could prevent the disease from reaching its most destructive form. (Jonathan Cohn, 10/15)The Dallas Morning News: Congress Can Rewrite Mental Illness Stories By Doing This Like this newspaper, [Matt Roberts, president of Mental Health America of Greater Dallas] and his peers know that the foundation of mental health care must be to bring help to — not brand with stigmas — people who suffer from it. Despite recent headlines of mentally ill individuals committing heinous crimes against others, the fact remains that those who live with conditions such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia are far [more] likely to be the victims of crimes than the perpetrators. (10/21)"The Buck Stops with Vermont"?A hospital in rural Vermont that was cited this summer for poor treatment of psychiatric patients is calling on the state to improve its inadequate mental health system and increase the number of public psychiatric beds in order to better serve Vermonters suffering with severe mental illness.?READ IT ALL..."RESEARCH: Making Sense of the Latest Schizophrenia Treatment News"Schizophrenia treatment made headlines this week with the announcement of results from a groundbreaking new approach to treating first-episode psychosis. After two years of treatment, participants in the program called RAISE - “Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode” – were reported to be doing significantly better than non-participants by many measures.?READ IT ALL..."'Invest in Reopening Psychiatric Hospitals'"?- guest commentary"Cost is a legitimate concern in any discussion about expanding [mental health] services, but until there is an investment in treating the most seriously mentally ill, expenses will continue to climb," writes Mary Zdanowicz in the?Cape Cod Times. "All things considered, it just makes sense to invest in reopening hospitals that will provide high-quality, accessible, long-term care options for patients with chronic serious mental illnesses."?READ IT ALL..."Diversion Key to Decreasing Number of Mentally Ill Behind Bars in South Carolina"25 percent of Spartanburg County jail inmates are on medications for mental health conditions, and jail officials are working to keep former inmates with mental illness treated after they're released. But, South Carolina must also focus on criminal diversion efforts to ensure that people with serious mental illness are being diverted away from jail in the first place.?READ IT ALL...Des Moines Register: Iowa DHS: Medicaid Director's Private Email 'Improper' Iowa’s Medicaid director had improper communications with an insurance company worker and former lawmaker during a critical review period that ended with the for-profit company being selected to help privatize the state’s $4.2 billion annual Medicaid program, the state acknowledged in court Monday. Iowa Department of Human Services Director Chuck Palmer insisted in court that those communications with former Rep. Renee Schulte — some via private, non-state emails with Medicaid Director Mikki Stier — had no bearing on Iowa’s selection of four companies that are in line to manage the state’s Medicaid program. (Clayworth, 10/26)Treatment Advocacy Center – Catalyst newsletter on-line , if you want Amazon to donate to National Alliance On Mental Illness of Greater Des Moines, you need to start each shopping session at the URL . You need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. They will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at?smile.?will result in a donation. Choose: National Alliance On Mental Illness Of Greater Des Moines ................
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