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Gov Budget Proposes More Mental Health Beds; Advocates Say They Need More Staff First
Supporting New Yorkers' mental health has become a big topic of conversation, and getting bi-partisan support at the capitol. The governor's budget proposed upwards of $30 million for more mental health beds; and 150 new adult beds in state operated psychiatric hospitals. Those proposals are the largest expansion of mental health facilities in decades for New York state in decades.
“In general NAMI NYS was happy with the governor's budget, especially with the investments in restoring the beds that were cut during COVID,” said Mary Bartlett, NAMI New York State Board of Directors President. “Unfortunately, even before COVID there were not enough hospital beds for the needs of New Yorkers." Read more here.
Related: New York Sen. Samra Brouk says the mental health budget should focus on workforce
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US Plans to Allow Medicaid for Drug Treatment in Prisons
The federal government is planning to allow states to use Medicaid funds to provide drugs to combat addiction and other medical services for people at state jails and prisons in an effort to help some of those most at risk of dying in the nation’s overdose epidemic.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, announced Tuesday that states would be encouraged to submit proposals for how to use money from the joint federal-state low-income health insurance program for incarcerated people. Those that do would be required to provide mental health and drug treatment and would have the option to add some other services. Read more here.
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HANYS: The Scope of Complex Case Discharge Delays in New York State
Hospitals across the country have reported an alarming rise in patients who become caught in limbo in emergency departments and inpatient units for weeks, months and even years after they are medically ready for discharge. These delays most often occur due to a lack of care options, the inability to pay for post-discharge care and/or administrative gridlock. Complex case discharge delays are devastating for patients, exacerbate bed shortages and result in enormous, unnecessary costs. To learn more about the scope of complex case discharge delays in New York, HANYS conducted a three-month data collection pilot in 2022 with hospitals statewide. The scope of complex case discharge delays in New York state includes a summary of the pilot findings and a framework to focus solutions. Read more here.
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Inside the Medical Examiner’s Office, Where Opioids Fuel Surge in Deaths
In the operations center of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on a recent Wednesday, a large dashboard showed that 39 people had died unexpectedly across the city — at home, or accidentally, or violently — over the last 24 hours. That was more than on Sunday, but fewer than the 45 deaths on Monday, almost always the office’s busiest day of the week. Four years ago, numbers that high would have been a disturbing aberration in the city’s regular pulse of life and death. Today, they are the “new normal,” says Dr. Jason Graham, New York City’s chief medical examiner. Read more here.
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Health Care Policy In 2023: Five Areas To Watch
The 2022 election proved once again that the United States is a divided nation. With a new Congress with very narrow margins of victory, the rule of the day is a divided government. While one could assume that little will be accomplished in the absence of a strong majority, there are a host of health care issues with bipartisan backing. With both parties needing to show wins heading into the 2024 presidential election cycle, what follows are five policy areas in health care that Health Affairs believe should be tackled. Read more here.
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Understanding Racial Trauma, the Mental and Emotional Injury of Racism
When CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta was growing up in a small rural town in Michigan, he wanted to change his name to Steve — hoping that would put an end to the anti-Asian taunts he faced at school from the time he was 6 or 7 years old, he said in a summer episode of his podcast, “Chasing Life.”
“There was nobody that looked like me, that had a name that was like mine, that ate the foods we ate,” Gupta said. “If I changed my name to Steve, it was going to solve all my problems. … I would be just totally assimilated.”
Psychology professor Monnica Williams said she also weighed a big change when she experienced racism as an adult in a past academic position, through a colleague who would block Williams’ students from opportunities and discourage them from working with Williams. Read more here.
Related: A New Podcast on Racism, Mental Health, and the Importance of Tough Conversations
The Life-and-Death Consequences of the Shortage of Black Mental Health Workers
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Over-the-Counter Narcan Will Save Lives, Experts Say. But the Cost Will Affect Access.
A drug used to reverse opioid overdoses could soon be sold over the counter. A committee of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration this week voted unanimously in favor of making Narcan, a nasal-spray version of the generic drug naloxone, available without a prescription. The FDA is weighing the move after fast-tracking an application from Emergent BioSolutions, the maker of Narcan, to let it sell the drug over the counter.
Making Narcan more widely available is an important step in addressing the opioid overdose crisis, public health experts say, but that ultimately the cost of an over-the-counter Narcan product will determine how many people actually benefit from it. Read more here.
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OUD Providers Fail to Find Consensus on Addressing the Digital Divide
There is still no consensus regarding opioid use disorder (OUD) providers’ approach to addressing digital equity issues preventing patients from accessing telehealth. A survey report published in the health policy journal Health Affairs found that 77% of OUD clinicians used one or more strategies to address barriers to video-based telehealth visits. However, solo practitioners were much less likely to use any strategy. Researchers also found that no one strategy was in use by the majority of respondents. Read more here.
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Harvard Business Review: The Hidden Toll of Microstress
A few years ago, we interviewed a pharmaceuticals executive who seemed to have built an ideal life. She was excelling at work, her personal life was rich and full, and she was able to take regular vacations, whose destinations were chosen by virtue of where she and her husband could run marathons together. In our interview, she was happy and her energy was off the charts.
Her story was great to hear but perhaps not surprising — the interview was part of our research into what makes high performers different from the rest of us. She was, we thought, a case study in having it all. But as it turned out, we didn’t know the full story. This interview also led us to discover something we weren’t looking to find. Something bigger. Read more here.
Related: The Many Mental Benefits of Decluttering
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Just Released: The New Adolescent SBIRT Curriculum
As key members of an adolescent’s healthcare team, practitioners in the fields of nursing, social work, medicine, and interprofessional care have an obligation to help prevent and reduce substance use and identify mental health risks. Asking about substance use and discussing its impact can prevent harmful effects to the adolescent’s developing brain and potential future.
Asking about mental health and identifying risk early can prevent delay of receiving services and supports. Current and future generations of healthcare professionals need to learn the skills to have these essential conversations with youth. In response
to this need, the Adolescent SBIRT Initiative by NORC at the University of Chicago, Kognito, and other partners developed the Adolescent Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Curriculum. Read more here.
Related: New York mental health advocates want half of budgeted $1B for youth services
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March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month – Help us Shine A Light on Problem Gambling!
In honor of Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM), the New York Council on Problem Gambling (NYCPG) is encouraging everyone across New York State – individuals, agencies and communities alike – to come together to shine a light on problem gambling. With gambling opportunities expanding at rapid rates in New York State and beyond, it’s imperative that all factions of the community, in all geographic areas of the state, join forces around the issue of problem gambling. We need to collaborate to raise awareness of problem gambling, prevent any additional problems related to gambling, and get those in need to adequate support services in their own community. Read more here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
Using PSYCKES Quality Indicator Reports
February 23, 10 - 11 am, OMH
What are Peer Support Services Across the Lifespan?
February 23, 12 - 1:15 pm, MCTAC
A Crucial Conversation: Children's Crisis Residential Services
February 23, 1 - 2 pm, Crisis Residential Association
Financing the Future of Integrated Care - Q &A
February 23, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Collaborative Care Management Foundations: A 101 primer on the practices and possibilities
February 23, 1 - 2:30 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Beyond 12-Steps: The Neuroscience of Recovery Coaching
February 23, 3 - 4:30 pm, NAADAC
Harm Reduction Office Hours Series for OASAS Providers: Cannabis and Harm Reduction
February 23, 2 - 3:30 pm, OASAS
One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Providing Tailored Support for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) in the Criminal Justice System
February 24, 12:30 - 2 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Providing Tailored Support for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) in the Criminal Justice System
February 25, 12:30 - 2 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
Bright Futures Let’s Talk: Healthy Mental & Emotional Development Webinar Series
February 27, 12 - 1 pm, HRSA
Leveraging the Untapped Potential of Peer Services in Integrated Care
February 28, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Finding the Way Home: Accessing Housing Resources to Support Individuals with Justice Involvement in Reentry
February 28, 1:30 - 3 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
Community-Driven Crisis Response: A Workbook for Coordinators
February 28, 2 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center and BJA
Introductory/Refresher Virtual YSBIRT Training
February 28, 2 - 5 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Augmenting Behavioral Health Treatment With Telehealth: New Research Findings
March 1, 12 - 1 pm, Manatt Health
Repurposing a Rural Hospital Closure to Revitalize Services and Jobs to a Community
March 1, 1:30 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
MyCHOIS Consumer Access for “My Treatment Data”
March 1, 2 - 3 pm, OMH
Introductory/Refresher Virtual SBIRT Training
March 6, 2 - 5 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Sustaining Statewide Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Programs
March 6, 3 - 4 pm, Center for Health Care Strategies
Consent, Emergency, Quality Flag: PSYCKES Levels of Access
March 7, 1 - 2 pm, OMH
Exploring the Tobacco Endgame - Implications for Behavioral Health
March 7, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Family Ties: Substance Use Disorder from the Family's Perspective
March 8, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Enhancing the Effectiveness of Public Safety-led Overdose Prevention in Black, Indigenous and People of Color Communities
March 8, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
A 6-Part Series on LGBTQ+ Care in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs
March 8 - April 11, 2 - 3 pm, OASAS
Peers: Hiring and Onboarding
March 9, 12 - 1:15 pm, MCTAC
Beyond X-ing the X-Waiver
March 9, 3 - 4:30 pm, FORE
Adding Up the Cost of Health Inequity
March 15, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
PSYCKES for BHCCs and Other Networks
March 16, 2 - 3 pm, OMH
Justice Center Code of Conduct Train-the-Trainer Session
March 22, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, NYS Justice Center
Peer Support Service Models Success in Integrated Care Settings
March 23, 3 - 4 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
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CLMHD CALENDAR
MARCH
Executive Committee Meeting
March 1: 8 - 9 am
Mentoring: "What Every DCS Should Know About Mental Hygiene Law"
March 8: 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Addiction Services & Recovery Committee Meeting
March 9: 11 am - 12 pm
Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
March 9: 1 - 3 pm
Mental Health Committee Meeting
March 9: 3 - 4 pm
LGU Clinic Operators Call
March 14: 10 - 11:30 am
IOCC Meeting - IN-PERSON (Albany)
March 15: 1 - 3:30 pm
Children & Families Committee Meeting
March 21: 11:30 am - 1 pm
Deputy DCS Call
March 28: 10 - 11 am
Save the Date: CLMHD Spring Full Membership Meeting - May 11-12 in Saratoga Springs
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