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CLMHD First Vice-Chair, Michael Orth, MSW, Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
On Tuesday, Michael Orth, MSW, Commissioner of the Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) in Westchester County, was honored with OMH's What's Great In Our State Lifetime Achievement Award. This annual event celebrates Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, and promotes children’s mental health with highlights on the great work being done throughout the state of New York. Michael, who serves as CLMHD's First Vice-Chair, was recognized for his decades-long dedication to direct care, advocacy, and the oversight of programs for youth struggling with mental health issues. His passion for assisting children and families in New York State has helped to influence policy, programing, and funding for children's mental health. Congrats, Michael, on this well-deserved honor!
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Attorney General James Secures Over $270 Million Multistate Settlement in Principle with Amneal Pharmaceuticals for Its Role in the Opioid Crisis
New York Attorney General Letitia James last week announced a multistate settlement in principle with opioid manufacturer Amneal Pharmaceuticals (Amneal) for its role in fueling the nationwide epidemic of opioid addictions and overdoses. Amneal produces several generic opioid products and was one of the largest manufacturers of opioids from 2006 to 2019, selling nearly nine billion pills. Attorney General James and a multistate coalition of attorneys general allege that Amneal knowingly failed to monitor and report suspicious orders placed by its customers, as it was required to by federal law. The settlement in principle announced today will provide $92.5 million in cash over 10 years and $180 million worth of naloxone nasal spray, an overdose treatment medication, to participating states and local governments. Read more here.
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How Do You Help Patients Who Show Up In The ER 100 Times A Year?
Larry Moore, of Camden, N.J, defied the odds — he snatched his life back from a spiral of destruction. The question is: how? For more than two years straight, Moore was sick, homeless and close-to-death drunk — on mouthwash, cologne, anything with alcohol, he says. He landed in the hospital 70 times between the fall of 2014 and the summer of 2017. "I lived in the emergency room," the 56-year-old remembers. "They knew my name." Things got so bad, Moore would wait for the ER nurses to turn their backs so he could grab their hand sanitizer and drink it in the hospital bathroom. "That's addiction," he says. Then, in early 2018, something clicked, and turned Moore around. Today, he's more than five-years sober with his own apartment, and he has only needed the ER a handful of times since 2020. He's active in his church and building new relationships with his family. Read more here.
Related: Psych Staffing Linked to Shorter Stays in Pediatric Emergency Observation Unit
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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Critical More Than $1.5 Billion State and Tribal Opioid Response Funding Opportunities
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced the 2024 State Opioid Response (SOR) and Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) Notices of Funding Opportunity, providing up to $1.48 billion to states, territories, and the District of Columbia and $63 million to Tribes to address the overdose crisis in fiscal year 2024. This funding is a critical investment in the President Biden’s Unity Agenda for the nation, and supports evidence-based, holistic practices that address the overdose crisis, including prevention, harm reduction, treatment such as the use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), naloxone and other opioid overdose reversal medications, and recovery supports. Read more here.
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New York State Announces $1 Million Awarded To Connect Transgender Youth with Mental Health Supports
The New York State Office of Mental Health today announced that $1 million was conditionally awarded to three service providers to fund suicide prevention efforts among youth and young adults identifying as transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary and help those questioning or struggling with gender identity. NY Foundling, Gay and Lesbian Youth Services of Western New York, and the Rainbow Access Initiative were each provided awards through the Connecting Youth to Mental Health Supports-TGNCNB initiative, part of the Lorena Borjas Transgender and Non-binary Wellness and Equity Fund, which provides funding to support community-based services for this underserved population and prioritizes trans-led and trans-staffed organizations. Read more here.
Related: Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People
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A Pilot Program in Rural Vermont Hopes to Build a Blueprint for Substance Abuse Recovery
Tucked away on a quiet side street in downtown Bennington, Vermont, is the public library. It’s an imposing brick building, remodeled in the 1930s to mirror a 19th century courthouse with huge arched windows that bathe the interior in natural light, even in the gloom of Vermont’s long winter days. Recently, it’s been troubled by a very 21st century problem. The police arrived first, responding to a 911 call from library staff. A man lay unconscious in a bathroom stall, still and unresponsive. With the cubicle locked, an officer squeezed under the metal door enough to drag the 45-year-old, who by then had turned deathly purple, onto the bathroom floor. It was the second library overdose in six months. Within seconds, an officer had forced naloxone nasal spray, an opioid overdose treatment often known by its brand name Narcan, into the victim’s nose. As his color returned, his eyes shot open. Agitated but revived, he nervously admitted to injecting fentanyl but refused an ambulance to the local hospital. Read more here.
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When Prison and Mental Illness Amount to a Death Sentence
Markus Johnson slumped naked against the wall of his cell, skin flecked with pepper spray, his face a mask of puzzlement, exhaustion and resignation. Four men in black tactical gear pinned him, his face to the concrete, to cuff his hands behind his back. He did not resist. He couldn’t. He was so gravely dehydrated he would be dead by their next shift change. “I didn’t do anything,” Mr. Johnson moaned as they pressed a shield between his shoulders. It was 1:19 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2019, in the Danville Correctional Center, a medium-security prison a few hours south of Chicago. Mr. Johnson, 21 and serving a short sentence for gun possession, was in the throes of a mental collapse that had gone largely untreated, but hardly unwatched. He had entered in good health, with hopes of using the time to gain work skills. But for the previous three weeks, Mr. Johnson, who suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, had refused to eat or take his medication. Most dangerous of all, he had stealthily stopped drinking water, hastening the physical collapse that often accompanies full-scale mental crises. Read more here.
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As 988’s Second Birthday Approaches, All Eyes on Workforce and Training of Crisis Counselors
While Kristen Ellis was in graduate school for counseling, a loved one died by suicide. She was there and saw it happen, and the experience changed her life, leading her to take an early job at a crisis center while she was still in school. “As a family member I didn’t even know what to do,” she said. “It was scary.” She soon found out that the work of a crisis counselor can be both stressful and rewarding. “What an incredible opportunity to be able to support others when they are having the worst day of their life — to be able to hold that hope for them until they can hold it for themselves,” she said. A lot has changed in crisis work over the last few years, especially since July 2022, when the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline transitioned to the three-digit number 988. Read more here.
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How Three Communities Are Advancing Systems-Wide Change to Expand Access to Housing
Communities need systemic solutions to address the rising demand for housing opportunities for people with behavioral health needs leaving incarceration, especially in the face of a nationwide shortage of affordable housing. This requires working collaboratively with state and local agencies, bringing together state housing finance agencies, departments of correction, public defenders, service providers, and many others, as well as people with lived experience in these systems. To support this work, The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and Corporation for Supportive Housing hosted a Community of Practice, where jurisdictions came together as cross-sector teams. Key strategies that arose from these virtual sessions include (1) creating cross-agency governance structures, (2) aligning funding sources, and (3) reducing access barriers. Read more here.
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Here’s What Sociologists Want You to Know About Teen Suicide
Between 2000 and 2015 in an affluent, predominately white community in the US, 19 young people died by suicide through what’s known as suicide clusters. These clusters refer to an unusually high rate of suicide for a community over a short period of time, often at least two deaths and one suicide attempt, or three deaths. Suicide clusters are an extreme example of youth mental health struggles — an issue that’s been getting more attention since the pandemic and one that’s at the center of an increasingly charged national conversation around social media and phones. Anna Mueller, a sociologist at Indiana University Bloomington, and Seth Abrutyn, a sociologist at the University of British Columbia, recently published Life Under Pressure: The Social Roots of Youth Suicide and What to Do About Them, which explores why these clusters happened and how to prevent more. Read more here.
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The “Fix” For The Shortage
Of providing organizations serving consumers with autism, nearly two-thirds (61%) had wait times longer than 4 months. Over 15% reported waits of over one year or that they were no longer accepting new referrals. Of these provider organizations, 83% report that autism evaluations take over 3 hours. For 25%, evaluation completion times require 8 hours. And 44% of these provider organizations do not accept Medicaid while only 65% accept commercial insurance. This landscape creates stress for families seeking autism evaluations and on-going treatment for family members—and delays in treatment. While reliable autism diagnosis is possible as early as 18 months, in the U.S. the average age of diagnosis remains above four years. These analyses point to a few key factors in these delays to treatment—length of the autism evaluation processes, no U.S. standard of care in the diagnosis of autism, documentation requirements, and an ABA workforce shortage. Read more here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
Consumer Perspectives on the Camden Coalition care Management RCT Study Findings
May 9, 12 - 1 pm, Camden Coalition
Beyond Stigma: Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors in Teens
May 9, 12 - 1 pm, The JED Foundation
Rapid Social Care Delivery System Evolution: The Partners In Care Foundation Case Study
May 9, 1 - 2 pm, OPEN MINDS
OMH, OASAS, and NYS Education Department Office of Professions Joint Presentation on Professional Scope of Practice FAQs
May 9, 1:30 - 3 pm, OMH, OASAS, NYSED
Speak Up: Person-Centered Language Drives Equity for Individuals with Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges
May 9, 1:30 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Rehabilitation Through Innovation - Practices Related to Addiction and Recovery that Lead to Hope and Resiliency
May 14, 1 - 3 pm, Opioid Affected Youth Initiative
Final Medicaid Rules, Part One: Access, Enrollee Engagement, and Provider Payment Transparency
May 14, 3 - 4 pm, Manatt Health
2024 System of Care Virtual Summit
May 14 - 16, 12 - 5 pm, NCCTAC
Bridging the Gap: Engaging Community Organizations and Peer Recovery Specialists in Your Work
May 15, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Advancing Equity in Adoption Through Innovative Provider Payments and Data-Driven Policy Changes
May 15, 1 - 2 pm, Social Current
Connecting the Continuum: How Prevention and Harm Reduction Connect
May 15, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC
Innovative Approaches for Improving the Transition from Hospitals to Schools: Supporting Youth During and Following a Suicide-Related Crisis
May 16, 12 - 1 pm, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Workforce Strategies That Drive Financial Sustainability: The New Vista Case Study
May 16, 1 - 2 pm, OPEN MINDS
Identifying Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in a Death Investigation
May 16, 2 - 3 pm, OMH SPCNY
2024 Children, Youth, and Young Adult Mental Health Symposium
May 17, 8 am - 5 pm, SAMHSA
Starting the Conversation About Teen Social Media Use with Help from the Family Media Plan
May 17, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Mental Health Outpatient Treatment and Rehabilitative Services (MHOTRS) Utilization Review (UR) Webinar
May 20, 2 - 3 pm, MCTAC
Call-to-Action for Building the Home-and Community-Based Services Workforce Data Infrastructure
May 21, 1 - 2 pm, National Council on Aging
Workforce Solutions Jam: Accelerating Investment in the Workforce Pipeline
May 21, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Final Medicaid Rules, Part Two: Managed Care Payments, Quality, and Oversight
May 21, 3 - 4 pm, Manatt Health
Unifying Vision, Unifying Mission: The Data-Driven Future Of Behavioral Health
May 21, 3 - 4 pm, OPEN MINDS
Care Coordination For Adult Patients With SMI – From Inpatient To Outpatient
May 22, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
Combating Self-Stigma In Persons With Serious Mental Illness (SMI) With Narrative Enhancement & Cognitive Therapy (NECT)
May 22, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
Peer Recovery Support Series: Taking the First Steps Together — Best Practices for Supporting Peer-Staff and Parents in Recovery
May 23, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
Addressing Substance Use Disorder Among BIPOC Communities
May 29, 1 - 2 pm, COSSUP
Utilizing Trauma-Informed Approaches to Support Transition-Age Youth (TAY) in the Criminal Justice System
May 30, 2 - 3:30 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
Final Medicaid Rules, Part Three: Home and Community Based Services
June 4, 1 - 4 pm, Manatt Health
Discrimination as a Social Determinant of Mental Health Disparities
June 6, 10 am - 5 pm, NIMH
Translating EDI Practice Into Action: Cultural Humility
June 6, 12 - 1 pm, Social Current
Breaking Down Barriers: Fostering Community Inclusion in Rural Communities for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness
June 6, 2 - 3 pm, Temple University
4th Annual Ask a Medicaid Managed Care Plan (MMCP): Billing Event
June 11, 10 am - 3 pm, Albany Capital Center
Meeting the Needs: Aging Patients Facing Long-term Homelessness
June 12, 2 - 3:30 pm, Corporation for Supportive Housing
Introduction to Psychedelics for the Treatment of Substance Use Disorder
June 13, 1 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Transitions of Care in Mental Health
June 18, 2 - 3 pm, NACo
The RED Tool: Identifying and Rectifying Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Treatment Court Programming and Outcomes
June 26, 2:30 - 4 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
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CLMHD CALENDAR
MAY
LGU Clinic Operators Meeting
May 14: 10 - 11:30 am
Membership Call
May 15: 9 - 10:30 am
Children & Families Committee Meeting
May 21: 11:30 am - 1 pm
LSP Support Session
May 23: 1 - 2:30 pm
JUNE
Executive Committee Meeting
June 5: 8 - 9 am
AOT Coordinators Meeting
June 7: 10 - 11:30 am
LGU Clinic Operators Meeting
June 11: 10 - 11:00 am
Membership Call
June 12: 9 - 10:30 am
Addiction Services & Supports (ASR) Committee Meeting
June 13: 11 am - 12 pm
Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting
June 13: 1 - 2:30 pm
Mental Health Committee Meeting
June 13: 3 - 4 pm
Children & Families Committee Meeting
June 18: 11:30 am - 1 pm
CLMHD Office Closed - Juneteenth
June 19
Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
June 20: 1 - 3 pm
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