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NYC Has Found a Way to Balance Mental Illness and Criminal Justice, But It’s A Path Closed To Most
In the years before the NYPD arrested Reza Mashayekhi for hurling rocks through embassy windows in Midtown in 2020, he’d been tortured in Iran under suspicion of spying for the CIA, walked across America, and lost his father at a time when he needed him more than ever. He had no money, work, or community when he arrived in New York after a cross-country voyage and more than a year without access to health care critical to his mental stability.
“I threw rocks through the consulate with no reason,” Mashayekhi, 37, told the Daily News. “The paranoia was bothering me.”
Then, he got lucky. Mashayekhi’s lawyers succeeded where many have not, convincing prosecutors to refer his case to a special mental health court in NYC that connects participants with community-based clinical care and supervision, housing, employment, and educational opportunities. Read more here.
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CLMHD is Hiring: Director of Public Policy & Special Projects
The Conference is seeking a Director of Public Policy and Special Projects. The successful candidate will deliver project management, strategic planning, and implementation support for key organizational initiatives as assigned by the CLMHD Executive Director. This position is located in Albany, NY.
The responsibilities of this position are diverse and qualified candidates must have knowledge and experience with NYS behavioral health policy as it relates to the three mental hygiene disabilities and local service delivery, specifically relating to mental health, substance use disorder and intellectual/ developmental disabilities. Strong consideration will be given to candidates with expertise in these systems of care for children and youth. Read more here.
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Governor Hochul Announces $5 Million Partnership to Expand Direct Support Professional Credentialing
Governor Kathy Hochul last week announced that the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities has entered into a $5 million agreement with the State University of New York to expand a program that will enable direct support professionals to secure national certification and college credit toward a certificate, associate or bachelor's degree. Known commonly as a microcredential, this program is designed to provide in-demand and workforce-ready skills and experience to support those already working in the profession and others new to the developmental disabilities field. Read more here.
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Advocates Call on Hochul for More Funding to Address Child Mental Health
Mental health advocates across New York are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to boost funding for child mental health services within the governor’s executive budget. A virtual rally hosted by the Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids last week in support of the cause pushed for committing $500 million of $1 billion in behavioral health funding proposed in the budget to behavioral health services for children and families. The campaign also called for an increase in behavioral support providers, an end to discriminatory practices committed by commercial plans and greater support for mental health in schools. Read more here.
Related: DiNapoli: Thousands of Young Children With Disabilities Not Receiving Early Intervention Services
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New Collaboration Brings Opioid Use Disorder Treatment to Formerly Incarcerated Patients
Nearly one in five people who are incarcerated battle opioid use disorder (OUD), and opioid-related overdose is the leading cause of death for those released from the criminal justice system. A new collaboration aims to change these stats. The collaboration, which was announced last week, is between Bicycle Health, Wellpath and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. San Francisco-based Bicycle Health is a virtual provider of opioid use disorder treatment, while Nashville, Tennessee-based Wellpath is a medical and mental health provider that serves vulnerable patients, including those who are in prisons and jails. Read more here.
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Amid Fentanyl Crisis, First-of-its-Kind Study to Evaluate Expanded Methadone Access
Ever since fentanyl entered the U.S. drug supply, many Americans seeking treatment for opioid addiction have found that only a single medication is effective at easing cravings and withdrawal: methadone. But even though the drug is widely considered to be safe and effective, there’s not much data about how methadone stacks up against its main alternative, buprenorphine. And since methadone treatment is only available at specialized clinics known as opioid treatment programs, or OTPs, it’s even more of a mystery how patients might fare when it’s prescribed in a doctor’s office. Now, amid calls to dramatically expand methadone access, a team of addiction researchers is looking for answers. A new clinical trial, set to launch this year, will attempt to directly compare patients’ ability to remain in treatment when prescribed buprenorphine or methadone in an office setting — the first study of its kind in the fentanyl era. Read more here.
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Telehealth Companies Face Existential Crisis as DEA Seeks to Pull Plug on Virtual Controlled Substance Prescribing
After years of waiting, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Friday rolled out a new proposal to better formalize controlled substance prescriptions via telehealth. However, the proposal is not the long-awaited registration process Congress mandated for addiction treatment. If finalized, DEA’s proposed plan also moves some aspects of telehealth prescribing back to a pre-public health emergency (PHE) state of regulation. Read more here.
Related: DEA Proposal Jeopardizes Digital Providers, Limits Access to Care, Behavioral Health Insiders Warn
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Why Aren’t Doctors Screening Older Americans for Anxiety?
Susan Tilton’s husband, Mike, was actually in good health. But after a friend’s husband developed terminal cancer, she began to worry that Mike would soon die, too.
At night, “I’d lie down and start thinking about it,” recalled Ms. Tilton, 72, who lives in Clayton, Mo. “What would I do? What would I do?” The thought of life without her husband — they’d married at 17 and 18 — left her sleepless and dragging through the next day.
“It was very hard to shut it off,” she said of her worrying. “How could I get along by myself? What would I do with the house?”
Years earlier, Ms. Tilton had been seeing a therapist and taking medication for depression, but she ended therapy when her doctor retired. In late 2021, she consulted Dr. Eric Lenze, who heads the psychiatry department at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, for help with a different health problem, not fully recognizing that her anxiety was itself a diagnosable disorder. Read more here.
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Overview of the Impacts of Long COVID on Behavioral Health
This literature review provides a summary of the behavioral health implications regarding Long COVID. It describes an overview of behavioral health disorders associated with Long COVID, neuropsychiatric causes of the behavioral health disorders, and future research needs.
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To Help Address NYC’s Youth Mental Health Crisis, School Psychologists Want to Practice Outside School
With a pressing need for more youth mental health services, New York’s state legislature is eyeing one way to plug the gap: allowing school psychologists to provide services in private practice without having to go through a lengthy licensing process. Under current rules, school psychologists must obtain a doctorate in order to practice outside of school. But some school psychologists and legislators say that process is overly cumbersome and limits school psychologists’ ability to chip in to address a crisis in youth mental health.
“We need all hands on deck,” said Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, the bill’s lead sponsor. “We’re wasting talent during such a need for mental health services.” Read more here.
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Outreach to 988 Number for Suicide Prevention Increased After July Implementation
A KFF analysis finds that outreach to the new 988 number for the national suicide prevention and crisis hotline increased after its implementation in mid-July, then steadied until December 2022, when it rose again. Text volume increased more than 700 percent compared to the year prior but remains a smaller share of overall outreach. Read more here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
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
DLTSS Training: Unwinding Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Public Health Emergency
March 15, 2 - 3:30 pm, CMS
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
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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