Advocacy E-News July 16, 2019
July 16, 2019
NEW LAW LIMITS SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN NEW JERSEY
Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a measure into law to restrict the use of isolated confinement after testimony that said the practice is inhumane and psychologically damaging. The new law prohibits isolated confinement unless there is reasonable cause to believe that the inmate or others would be at substantial risk of serious harm. It also prohibits isolated confinement for vulnerable populations including those with a mental illness.
MENTAL HEALTH CLINICS FACE FEDERAL FUNDING LOSS NEXT WEEK
Innovative mental health centers in eight states including New Jersey will lose enhanced federal funding on Sunday for a Medicaid demonstration that enables them to offer a broad array of coordinated services for people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. The two-year, $1 billion certified community behavioral health clinic program (CCBHC), which enjoys bipartisan support, will end unless Congress quickly agrees to at least temporarily extend the funding.
DO SERVICE DOGS HELP TREAT PTSD? THE V.A. STILL DOESN’T KNOW
The V.A. is currently conducting research into the effectiveness of service dogs, but the process has been slow. Research started in 2011 was supposed to wrap up in 2015 but has repeatedly been stalled by problems with the study’s design and execution. Meanwhile, some lawmakers are growing impatient with what they perceive as a lack of initiative.
WHY PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS MAY FACE POORER PHYSICAL HEALTH AND EARLY DEATH
Around the world, people with mental illness die up to 20 years earlier than the general population, and a comprehensive new report suggests that governments and health care providers must do more to stop the deaths.
“The disparities in physical health outcomes for people with mental illness are currently regarded as a human rights scandal,” said Joseph Firth, a research fellow at the University of Manchester and chairman of the Lancet Psychiatry Commission, which published the research.
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