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Governor Hochul Meets With High School Students to Discuss Mental Health and Efforts to Address Harmful Impacts of Social Media
Governor Kathy Hochul last week hosted a roundtable with students from Williamsville East High School in Erie County to discuss the youth mental health crisis and the challenges posed by unhealthy and excessive social media use. The Governor reiterated her commitment to enacting nation-leading legislation addressing online safety and the harmful impacts of social media in the final weeks of the 2024 State Legislative Session. “I've heard from young people across our state about mental health challenges and the harmful impacts of social media,” Governor Hochul said. “Inaction is not an option – we need to act now to combat addictive social media feeds and protect our kids online.” Read more here.
Related: Governor Hochul Meets With Advocates to Highlight Mental Health Resources for Young People and Efforts to Address Harmful Impacts of Social Media
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Genesee County DCS Invited to Participate in the Governor’s Mental Health in Law Enforcement Roundtable
Lynda Battaglia, LCSW-R (Genesee County), participated in a roundtable discussion with the Governor, law enforcement officers, and mental health advocates on Tuesday. Participants addressed the unique mental health challenges faced by first responders and explored ways the state can support programs to combat stigma and the effects of trauma.
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Governor Hochul Announces $30 Million to Expand Inpatient Psychiatric Capacity Statewide
Governor Kathy Hochul last week announced that a total of $30 million in state funding was awarded to nine community-based hospitals to add 109 new inpatient psychiatric beds statewide. Administered by the State Office of Mental Health, these awards can be used to cover design, property acquisition, and construction costs associated with adding new inpatient beds, which is among the priorities included in Governor Hochul's landmark $1 billion plan to strengthen New York’s mental health system. Read more here.
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Americans See Disparities in Mental and Physical Care, Survey Finds
When asked, 75 percent of survey respondents said they felt mental health conditions are identified and treated worse than physical health issues, according to a new survey from West Health and Gallup. The poll surveyed a random sample of 2,266 U.S. adults 18 and older. In addition to perceptions about treatment, the survey also gauged mental health conditions among participants. Of the respondents: 51 percent reported experiencing depression, anxiety or another mental health condition in the previous 12 months. Overall, 15 percent of respondents said they felt mental health conditions are treated “about the same” as physical health conditions, and 5 percent felt they were treated better than physical health conditions. Read more here.
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CLMHD and NYSOMH Partner to Develop Financing Toolkit for New York State's Child and Youth Behavioral Health System
CLMHD and the NYS Office of Mental Health have partnered with the UConn School of Social Work Innovations Institute to develop the “Financing Toolkit for New York State's Child and Youth Behavioral Health System.” This comprehensive toolkit provides advanced strategies to diversify funding and support System of Care initiatives. Key components include engaging valuable stakeholders, identifying prioritized populations, determining specific support needs, overviewing available funding sources, utilizing blending and braiding financial strategies, and implementing and monitoring practices for sustainability. This resource is designed to enhance financial approaches and ensure the long-term success of child and youth behavioral health services in New York State.
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Health Care's Role In Ending Homelessness
Housing—and the lack of access to it—has long been recognized as a critical social determinant of health. The outstanding question for health care leaders is not whether health systems have a role to play but how they can make the most transformative impact in addressing homelessness. In December 2020, nonprofits Community Solutions and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement launched the Healthcare and Homelessness Pilot, a three-year project with financial support from Kaiser Permanente, Providence Health, and Common Spirit. The pilot aimed to identify effective models for cross-sector collaboration between health and homeless response systems and sought to understand: the key partnerships and practices needed to facilitate optimal health and housing outcomes for unhoused individuals; and how these partnerships could operate at a systems level to ensure a community can measurably and equitably reduce homelessness. Read more here.
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Building a Prevention Infrastructure to Address Substance Use: Connecticut’s Approach
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, substance use prevention “seeks to prevent problems before they start [by] preventing exposure to substances (or screening and intervening with early misuse), reducing risk factors, and strengthening protective factors at the individual, relationship, community, and society levels. Prevention also seeks to stop or delay the progression of substance use to a substance use disorder, as well as prevent other harms associated with substance use.” By investing in prevention strategies as a part of a larger, multilayered approach to addressing substance use, states can work to decrease individual/environmental risk factors that lead to substance use and provide individuals with tools to reduce substance-related harms. Connecticut has advanced a comprehensive strategy for substance use prevention at the state and community level, with the state’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) supporting a statewide prevention infrastructure for community-level prevention efforts. Read more here.
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County Leadership in Mental Health: How Counties are Leading the Way in Crisis System Transformation
The launch of 988 in July of 2022 started a renewed focus on mental health crisis care, with increased investments and local collaboration nationwide. Counties, states, and other forms of local governments each have different resources, relationships, and regulations that could affect the crisis system. Enhancing this continuum in local communities will require support from all levels of government through resource sharing, implementing best practices, and funding. This brief will explore how counties are building out their crisis continuum as awareness of 988 and demand for services increases.
Related: KFF Examines 988's LGBTQ Service and Finds High Demand and Some Challenges
The 988 Crisis-Line Workforce: Lessons From Missouri
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From Planning to Practice: Insights From a Survey of Crisis Stabilization Centers
Authored by Policy Research Associates, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of the Safety and Justice Challenge initiative, this report, examines the diverse approaches jurisdictions are taking to establish essential crisis stabilization centers. The report draws from a survey of 31 crisis centers across 15 states, providing practical, data-driven insights into their operations, services, staffing, funding, and the critical lessons learned. By sharing these practical details and insights, the resource can guide other jurisdictions in planning, establishing, and operating effective crisis stabilization centers that can better meet the needs of individuals in mental health or substance use crises. The resource contains insights regarding centers’ service capacities, data collection and evaluation metrics, staffing, funding sources, partnerships and collaborations, and critical challenges and lessons learned.
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How Crisis Intervention Training Is Helping Police Respond To Mental Crisis Calls
More than three years after watching her brother die in an encounter with police at her family's California home, Bella Quinto Collins said her brother's last words still haunt her. "Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me," Angelo Quinto, a 30-year-old Navy veteran, pleaded as officers allegedly took turns restraining her brother with their knees on the back of his neck, according to Bella Quinto Collins. Bella said she called the police because Angelo was experiencing a paranoia episode. When the police arrived, she said her brother had calmed down in his mother's arms. "When [police] arrived, they had acknowledged that this was a mental health crisis," Bella Quinto Collins told ABC News of the deadly Dec. 23, 2020, episode that unfolded in Antioch, California. Read more here.
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Psychoactive Drugs Are Having a Moment. The FDA Will Soon Weigh In.
Lori Tipton is among the growing number of people who say that MDMA, also known as ecstasy, saved their lives. Raised in New Orleans by a mother with untreated bipolar disorder who later killed herself and two others, Tipton said she endured layers of trauma that eventually forced her to seek treatment for crippling anxiety and hypervigilance. For 10 years nothing helped, and she began to wonder if she was “unfixable.” Then she answered an ad for a clinical trial for MDMA-assisted therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Tipton said the results were immediate, and she is convinced the drug could help a lot of people. But even as regulators weigh approval of the first MDMA-based treatment, she’s worried that it won’t reach those who need it most. Read more here.
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Amid Mental Health Crisis, New Compact Allows Social Workers to Practice across State Lines
Stefani Goerlich, a social worker with a private practice in Detroit, sees several dozen clients a month, most of them from underserved and minority backgrounds. She speaks to them about sensitive matters such as gender-affirming care, and building trust takes time. Those hard-won relationships often are upended when clients move away from Michigan, because most states bar social workers from providing telehealth services across state lines. Finding another therapist who is a good fit isn’t easy, especially since many areas of the country have a shortage of mental health providers. “It takes them such a long time to find somebody that they feel safe with,” Goerlich said. “To have a spouse get transferred in their job and to lose all of that? Statistically, people are more likely to just stop therapy entirely, because they don’t want to have to go through that again.” Read more here.
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NYS OASAS Airs 30-Minute Special to Highlight Ongoing Efforts to Address the Impact of Opioids and the Overdose Epidemic on New Yorkers
The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (NYS OASAS) recently aired a new 30-minute special of the podcast "Addiction: The Next Step" on state TV stations during the week of May 12. This special highlights the impact of the opioid crisis in New York and OASAS's efforts to combat it. It features real stories, including that of 19-year-old Paige Gibbons, who died from a fentanyl-laced counterfeit pill, and others who have benefitted from OASAS services. Additionally, it provides information on scholarships for careers in addiction services and insights from OASAS Commissioner Dr. Chinazo Cunningham on the segments and OASAS's work. Click here to view the special.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
The Living Room: Leveraging the Peer Workforce in Crisis Stabilization
May 30, 12:30 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
An Overview of MHANYS and Collaborative Advocacy Opportunities
May 30, 1 - 2 pm, MHANYS
Reducing Crime and Recidivism Through Sheriff-Led Deflection: A Spotlight on Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion in Marion County, Oregon
May 30, 2 - 3 pm, National Sheriffs' Association
Ask the Expert: Embedded Mental Health Clinicians in Probation
May 30, 2 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center
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
Building Hope: A Journey Through Crisis Residential Services
June 3, 1:30 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Final Medicaid Rules, Part Three: Home and Community Based Services
June 4, 1 - 4 pm, Manatt Health
Enhancing Community Participation among Young Adults with Serious Mental Health Conditions from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
June 5, 1 - 2 pm, CIRC Center
Introduction to Hoarding Disorder
June 5, 2 - 3:30 pm, HHRC
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 - 3:15 pm, Temple University
Practical Approaches to Identify, Develop and Support Leaders in the Mental Health Workforce
June 7, 12 - 1 pm, SMI Advisor
4th Annual Ask a Medicaid Managed Care Plan (MMCP): Billing Event
June 11, 10 am - 3 pm, Albany Capital Center
Olmstead Decision and the Importance of Behavioral Health Workforce Innovation Webinar
June 11, 3 - 4:30 pm, SAMHSA
Recovery Ready Workplace Workshop - IN-PERSON in Newark, NY
June 12, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, FOR-NY
COA Accreditation and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs)
June 12, 1 - 2 pm, Social Current
Wellbeing Wednesdays - Patrick J. Kennedy
June 12, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Meeting the Needs: Aging Patients Facing Long-term Homelessness
June 12, 2 - 3:30 pm, Corporation for Supportive Housing
Recovery Ready Workplace Workshop - IN-PERSON in Watertown, NY
June 13, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, FOR-NY
Introduction to Psychedelics for the Treatment of Substance Use Disorder
June 13, 1 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
FentAlert Challenge: Youth Innovators Advancing Fentanyl Overdose Prevention
June 13, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Beyond Video Visits: Using Asynchronous Telehealth to Improve Outcomes for Individuals with SMI
June 14, 3 - 4 pm, SMI Advisor
NYS Department of Financial Services (DFS) Complaint Submission Process Overview
June 13, 3 - 4 pm, NYSDFS
Transitions of Care in Mental Health
June 18, 2 - 3 pm, NACo
Supporting LGBTQ+ Communities with an Intersectional Lens
June 20, 12 - 1 pm, SJLA
Recovery Ready Workplace Workshop - IN-PERSON in Johnstown, NY
June 21, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, FOR-NY
Ask the Expert: Community Response and Its Place in the Crisis Continuum
June 25, 2 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center
Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder in Patients with Liver Disease: Leveraging an Underutilized Tool
June 26, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
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
Addressing Racial Bias in AI for Equitable Substance Use Recovery
June 26, 3 - 4:30 pm, NAADAC
Building a Behavioral Health Continuum of Care: The Role of Rural Leaders and Behavioral Health Directors
June 27, 2 - 3 pm, NACo
Start with Hope: How Providers Can Navigate Culturally Responsive Substance Use Treatment and Care
June 27, 3 - 4:30 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
MOUD in Recovery Housing: An Exemplary Case Study of Implementing Holistic Care in Indiana
July 8, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
The Intentional SUD Clinical Supervisor
July 17, 3 - 4:30 pm, NAADAC
Ask the Expert: Collaborative Approaches to Providing Mental Health and Law Enforcement Services
August 20, 2 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center
Ask the Expert: Family-Centered Reentry Programming
September 25, 2 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center
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CLMHD CALENDAR
JUNE
Executive Committee Meeting
June 5: 8 - 9 am
LSP Support Session #3
June 6: 12 - 2 pm
AOT Coordinators Meeting
June 7: 10 - 11:30 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
LGU Clinic Operators Meeting
June 18: 10 - 11:00 am
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
LSP Support Session #4
June 27: 1 - 2:30 pm
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