Advocacy E-News August 7, 2015
August 7, 2015
NAMI LAUNCHES “HOPE STARTS WITH YOU” TELEVISION CAMPAIGN
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has launched “Hope Starts with You,” a new campaign of public service announcements (PSAs). Unveiled at NAMI’s 36th annual convention the two PSAs featured in the campaign emphasize the difference that individuals can make in helping the 1 in 5 Americans who live with mental illness in any given year.
NJ EXPANDS FUNDING TO HELP KIDS’ MENTAL HEALTH
Pediatricians are often the first healthcare provider in a position to treat children with mental-health disorders, but are frequently unprepared for the task – which is why New Jersey doctors’ groups are praising the expansion of a program that connects pediatricians with psychiatrists and other behavioral-health providers. The state budget includes $2.4 million for the Child Collaborative Mental Health Pilot Program, twice the amount budgeted for the fiscal year that ended in June.
NYC AIMS TO HELP PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS WHO BECOME VIOLENT
Mental health experts will fan out to New York City’s homeless shelters, into the streets and to other places to treat mentally ill people who exhibit violent behavior, as part of an initiative announced on Thursday by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The mayor said the goal of NYC Safe, a $22 million mental health initiative, was to aggressively reach mentally ill people prone to hurting themselves or others.
L.A. AGREES TO OVERHAUL JAILS TO CURB ABUSE OF MENTALLY ILL
After disclosures of routine prisoner abuse by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — where jailers were found to break prisoners’ bones and sexually humiliate them — a settlement was announced Wednesday with the Justice Department in which the county will submit to sweeping reforms of its jail system, with the goals of improving the care of mentally ill inmates and curtailing abuse by deputies.
PERHAPS CONGRESS WILL ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH CARE
In July, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the senior Democrat on the committee, agreed to focus on the disjointed and dysfunctional mental health care system.
Rep. Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican, wants to overhaul the federal system in several ways, including altering antiquated rules that have the perverse effect of denying payment for hospitalization of the most seriously ill people.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, has offered legislation to address, patient privacy provisions in HIPAA. Health care providers refuse to provide any information about severely mentally ill people to those who care most about them, immediate family members.
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