Advocacy E-News July 29, 2015
July 29, 2015
4 COUNTIES COMPLETE STATE’S FIRST CORRECTIONS CIT TRAINING
Twenty corrections officers stepped up this week to receive a graduation certificate for completing New Jersey’s first-ever 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training Program. The National Institute of Corrections sponsored 14 men and six women from Camden, Passaic, Union and Hudson counties for a “very intense and hands on” scenario-based training program. The participants are mainly officers who work in the mental health and intake units. Posing as inmates and officers, professional actors were used in role-playing scenarios.
LEGISLATION TO LIMIT USE OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR MENTAL ILLNESS
Senator Raymond J. Lesniak (LD 20) led a Roundtable Discussion on Solitary Confinement yesterday at Kean University, introducing S1650, his legislation to reform the use of solitary confinement in New Jersey, to more than 50 participants including NAMI New Jersey. The discussion exposed the role that mental health issues play in keeping inmates in solitary confinement. The bill would define vulnerable populations to those under the age of 21 or older than 55; or diagnosed with a mental illness. It notes that isolated confinement creates and exacerbates mental health issues.
NJ COLLEGES MIGHT HAVE TO DISCLOSE INFO ON-CAMPUS SUICIDES
Two new bills cleared the state Senate Higher Education Committee last week, and will now proceed to the full New Jersey Senate for further consideration. The Madison Holleran Suicide Prevention Act (SB 2808) would demand that colleges make “individuals with training and experience in mental health issues” available to students around the clock. The Proper Reporting Act (SB 2809) would require schools to disclose information about the number of attempted and completed suicides on campus. Both bills are sponsored by state Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R). Although the state Senate has not yet scheduled a vote for the bills, O’Toole told HuffPost he anticipates the legislation will pass both chambers of the legislature by the end of the year.
STATE WANTS TO KNOW WHY SOME N.J. MEDICAID PATIENTS COST SO MUCH
Three health care groups, from Newark, Trenton, and Camden, have been selected by the state to study why some Medicaid patients cost so much money to treat, and how to improve their health by preventing disease and avoiding hospital stays. Those who are frequently in hospitals, known as “superusers,” comprise about 1 percent of the inpatient population and about 30 percent of hospital billings.
THE TRUTH ABOUT HAVING A SIBLING WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS
One group intimately affected by mental illness has largely gone unrecognized: the siblings of those living with these conditions. Dubbed “well sibling syndrome” by some, studies and experts agree that individuals who have siblings with mental health issues have unique experiences shaped by this relationship. Here are just a few things everyone should know about what they face, according to the experts.
FIND YOUR LOCAL NAMI
