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No One Knows How Many L.G.B.T.Q. Americans Die by Suicide
Cory Russo, the chief death investigator in Utah, is used to asking strangers questions at the most excruciating moments of their lives. When she shows up at the scene of a suicide, a homicide or another type of unexpected death, her job is to interview the grievers about how the deceased had lived. How old were they? What was their race? Did they have a job? Had they ever been hospitalized for psychiatric issues? How had they been feeling that morning? Over the past couple of years, she has added new questions to the list: What was their sexual orientation? What was their gender identity? Ms. Russo, who works in the Office of the Medical Examiner in Salt Lake City, is one of the relative few death investigators across the country who are routinely collecting such data, even though sexuality or gender identity can be relevant to the circumstances surrounding a person’s death. Read more here.
Related: Where Do LGBTQ+ Youth Have Access to Mental Health Services?
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Oneida County Launches Veteran Suicide Prevention Program
County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. was joined today by partner agencies The Neighborhood Center, Inc. and Utica Center for Development, Inc. to launch Oneida County’s Veteran Suicide Prevention Program.
“Our veterans give everything they have to protect this great nation and its citizens,” Picente said. “It is our responsibility to make sure they are taken care of in return. Oneida County is pleased to partner with The Neighborhood Center and the Utica Center for Development to provide our veterans with this suicide prevention program and ensure that they all receive the help they need.” Read more here.
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Citizen Advocates Opens Behavioral Health Urgent Care Center in Malone
More than 70 guests representing a broad range of community leaders, partner agencies, elected officials, educators and state officials gathered at 125 Finney Blvd. Friday for a ribbon cutting marking the official opening of a new, state-of-the-art behavioral health urgent care (BHUC) center by Citizen Advocates Inc (CAI). The center is consistent with other new facilities recently opened in Ogdensburg and Watertown. In a press release issued last Friday, CAI officials said the new, expanded clinic is a welcoming, home-like environment where children and adults have access to a full range of clinical services and supports in separate, safe and secure settings that promote individual health. The additional space, and separate designated wings for both adults and children, is in direct response to the emerging need for mental health and addiction services throughout northern New York. Read more here.
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Elderly Residents in New York Mental Health Housing Could Get Boost
New York lawmakers are weighing legislation that is meant to strengthen services for elderly people living in mental health housing. A measure approved this week in the state Assembly would create a task force on aging in place for people who are in mental health housing facilities. If granted final approval, the measure would come on top of efforts by New York to create a master plan for aging in the state. The bill, backed by state Sen. Samra Brouk and Assemblymember Eileen Gunther, will head to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk for her consideration. Read more here.
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NYS data: More than 8,300 Extreme Risk Protection Orders Filed Since Buffalo Tops Massacre
Since the May 14, 2022 mass shooting at a Buffalo-area Tops Friendly Markets store that killed ten people and injured three others, New York State counties have increased the use of Extreme Risk Protection Orders. The orders are part of New York's Red Flag Law, which prevents individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing any kind of firearm for a year. According to data from the New York State Unified Court System, 8,327 ERPOs have been filed statewide between May 14, 2022 and June 5, 2023. CNY Central has been tracking this data since the massacre at Tops in Buffalo. Read more here.
Related: New Report Highlights U.S. 2021 Gun-Related Deaths: For Second Straight Year, U.S. Firearm Fatalities Reached Record Highs
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Transcending MET (Money, Ego, Turf): A Whole Person, Whole Government Approach to Addressing SUD Through Aligned Funding Streams and Coordinated Outcomes
A recent infusion of significant federal dollars, opioid litigation proceeds, and other funding sources, such as philanthropy and cannabis tax revenue, as well as innovation and research, has created an opportunity for governments to re-imagine traditional approaches to SUD. With the opportunity to direct local, state, and federal funds, governments can implement a new, cohesive system to promote access to evidence-based, individualized, low-barrier care. This brief proposes guiding principles and concrete recommendations for governments to leverage this momentum and transform government budgets to incentivize investment in a coordinated, targeted, and outcomes-driven approach to SUD. Read more here.
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Recovery From Addiction Is a Journey. There’s No One-and-Done Solution.
The atmosphere inside the Allen House is easygoing as residents circulate freely through the hallways, meet in group sessions, or gather on a large outdoor patio that features a dirt volleyball court with an oversize net. The 60-bed safety-net residential treatment center in Santa Fe Springs, run by Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse, has a dedicated detox room, on-site physicians and nurses, substance abuse counselors, licensed therapists, and other practitioners. It offers group counseling as well as individual and family therapy, and it endorses the use of medications for addiction treatment, such as buprenorphine and naltrexone, which are increasingly considered the gold standard. Read more here.
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School Clinics Bolster Students' Mental Health. So Why Aren't There More?
Her daughter’s anxiety was spiraling out of control and Jaquetta Johnson couldn’t find help. Last fall, as the Delaware fourth grader’s acute anxiety kept her from concentrating in class, a doctor gave Johnson a list of children’s therapists. But all were fully booked, some with wait times of six months to a year. Then Johnson heard about a new health clinic inside a school in her daughter’s school district south of Wilmington. Johnson enrolled her daughter, and soon she was receiving counseling.
“When nobody else would see her,” Johnson said, “she was able to get help at school.”
Nationwide, nearly 2,600 health centers operated out of schools in 2017, the most recent year with available data — more than twice the number that existed two decades earlier. Some 6.3 million students in more than 10,000 schools had access to the centers, according to the School-Based Health Alliance. Read more here.
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Why Pennsylvania’s Behavioral Health Medicaid Carve-Out Could Be a Model for Integrated Care Nationwide
Pennsylvania’s localized approach to Medicaid could be a model for behavioral health and physical health integration nationwide. That’s according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Health Plan and Community Care Behavioral Health Organization, which recently published a policy report in the Journal of Psychiatric Services. Unlike other states, Medicaid behavioral health in Pennsylvania is funded through and managed via counties that contract with behavioral health managed care organizations. These counties also manage social support programs, like housing services. Read more here.
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New CDC Data Paints Clearer Picture of Who Uses Prescription Depression Medication
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released new data showing that 14% of women report having prescription depression medication, a much higher rate than men overall at 7%. The data — from a 2021 survey by National Center for Health Statistics — finds that women aged 18 and older report having a prescription depression medication at higher rates than men among people who identify as white, non-Hispanic as well as Hispanic or Latino. Read more here.
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Summer 2023 NYSAC News Magazine
NYSAC has just released its Summer 2023 edition of NYSAC News, which focuses on Technology in Government. Check out the Conference's article on pages 14-15!
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Resources on Supporting Adults with I/DD and Their Aging Caregivers
Last week, CMS released a set of resources designed to support state Medicaid and partner agencies that play critical roles in designing and delivering supports and services that meet the current and future needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their aging parents and caregivers. An estimated one million households in the U.S. include an adult with I/DD living with and supported by aging caregivers, and this number is growing. As adults with I/DD and their caregivers age and experience life transitions, they may need new or additional supports. Read more here.
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HHS Publishes National Model Standards for Substance Use, Mental Health, and Family Peer Worker Certifications
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), on Tuesday published National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification for substance use, mental health and family peer workers. The national model standards were created to accelerate universal adoption, recognition, and integration of the peer workforce across all elements of the healthcare system. A peer worker is someone who, through their own lived experience of addressing a substance use or mental health issue, works to help others. Read more here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
The Role of CCBHCs in Strengthening Crisis Care
June 8, 10:30 am - 12 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Best Practices for Supporting and Affirming LGBTQI+ Youth: Updates from SAMHSA and the Field
June 8, 1 - 2:30 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Problem Gambling among Service Members and Veterans: Education, Awareness, and Outreach
June 9, 1 - 2:30 pm, SAMHSA
Strengthening the Opioid Use Disorder Workforce: Findings from a Groundbreaking Multi-State Survey of Peer Recovery Coaches
June 12, 3 - 4:30 pm, FORE
Healthy People, Health States: Promising Practices to Address Health Disparities
June 12, 3:30 - 4:45 pm, NASHP
LMSW Scope of Practice: Regulations Refresher
June 12, 6 - 7 pm, NASW-NYS
Emerging Practices in Xylazine Wound Care
June 13, 12 - 1:30 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Pride in Myself
June 13, 1 - 2 pm, Mental Health America
Creating an Integrated Trauma-Informed Workplace
June 13, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Addressing the Complex Needs of Older Adults through Strong Community-Based Organization and Health Plan Partnerships
June 13, 2 - 3 pm, The Better Care Playbook
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Bending the Trajectory
June 13, 3 - 4 pm, NCSACW
Older Adults and Suicide Prevention
June 14, 10 - 11 am, New York City and Upstate NY Poison Centers
DLTSS Training: Outcome-Based Payments in 1915(c) Waiver Programs
June 14, 1:30 - 3 pm, CMS
Building Successful Overdose Prevention and Response Programs in Community Corrections
June 14, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Developing Culture Champions to Promote an Inclusive and Welcoming Organizational Culture
June 14, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Back Office / Revenue Cycle Management Best Practices and Core Competencies CM
June 16, 12 - 1 pm, MTM Services
Integration Optimization: Understanding Equity and What it Means to Provide Responsive Care
June 20, 1 - 2:30 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
CCBHC/FQHC Partnership Series Session 1: CCBHC and FQHC 101: Back to the Basics
June 27, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Criminal Justice Diversion: Reimagining Appropriate Pathways to Care
June 28, 12 - 1 pm, MTM Services
Embracing Recovery-Oriented Harm Reduction in Medication Assisted Treatment
June 28, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC
Emerging Respite Care Strategies in Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Waivers
June 29, 3 - 4 pm, NASHP
Peer Support via Telehealth Platforms
June 29, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC
New York State Summit on Peer Mentor Programs for Military Veterans
July 11 - 12, National Veterans Resource Center, Syracuse
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CLMHD CALENDAR
Addiction Services & Supports (ASR) Committee Meeting
June 8: 11 am - 12 pm
Mental Health Committee Meeting
June 8: 3 - 4 pm
LGU Clinic Operators Call
June 13: 10 - 11:30 am
CLMHD Office Closed - Juneteenth
June 19
Children & Families Committee Meeting
June 20: 11:30 am - 1 pm
Membership Call
June 21: 9 - 10:30 am
Deputy DCS Call
June 27: 10 - 11 am
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