Advocacy E-News April 2, 2018
April 2, 2018
MURPHY BUDGET IGNORES MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS
Governor Murphy’s proposed New Jersey budget while short on details appears to at the best tread water on mental health spending. Spending for most state funded programs stay at last year’s level but fewer consumers are to be served and up to $20 million may be diverted to other uses.
Watch NAMI NJ’s Phil Lubitz characterize the State’s spending plan as “inexplicable” on NJTV.
OUTRAGE AFTER 4TH HUDSON COUNTY JAIL SUICIDE IN LESS THAN ONE YEAR
Less than 48 hours after telling police he wanted to jump off a bridge during a West New York arrest, a 26-year-old man was found hanging in his jail cell on Sunday morning.
The man, whose name is being withheld pending the notification of his family, previously indicated to medical personnel at the Hudson County jail that he had suicidal thoughts, officials said. The jail death — the sixth since June, four of which have been classified as suicides — is not sitting well with county officials who have signaled its contract with an outside medical provider could soon be terminated.
PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS APPLAUDS PASSAGE OF SCHOOL SAFETY MEASURES AND MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
As students from across the country prepare to march on Saturday, the Problem Solvers Caucus today announced that they are continuing to work together to find bipartisan consensus on meaningful legislation to reduce gun violence in our communities. The caucus reached agreement on commonsense measures to improve school safety and fund mental illness research, which successfully passed the House of Representatives and Senate in the omnibus funding agreement.
TOP-QUALITY NURSING HOMES HARDER TO ACCESS WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Even people with common and often treatable mental health problems like depression and anxiety may have a harder time than patients without these diagnoses getting admitted to a high-quality nursing home, a U.S. study suggests. The odds of admission to top nursing homes were longer with more severe mental health issues like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and personality disorders. The results add to evidence of widespread disparities in who can access top quality nursing homes, said Stephen Crystal, a researcher at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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