|
|
|
|
|
As of January 20, Tom Coderre has been named the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Read the announcement.
|
|
|
Mom and Teen on Navigating Behavioral Health Crisis Care in MD
January 12, 2021
|
Data Scientists Ask, “What if We Could See the Entire Crisis System?”
January 19, 2021
|
|
|
Reina Chiang and her mother, Kana Enomoto, share their experience navigating the MD crisis care system. Chiang and Enomoto talk about what programs made a difference and the accessibility challenges kids face getting into them. Read the January 12 #CrisisTalk.
|
Data scientists Prof. Martin Connor and Dr. Christopher Ogg are using real-time data to eliminate long wait times, bottlenecks, and service delays in crisis care. The end-game, says Connor, "is to see the entire system."
Read the January 19 #CrisisTalk.
|
|
State Spotlight:
All Texas Access Report
|
|
|
|
The All Texas Access report documents the implementation of Senate Bill 633, 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019 (S.B. 633). This report is the result of ongoing collaboration between the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), local mental health authorities (LMHAs) and local behavioral health authorities (LBHAs). The report explores how access to mental health services could be improved in various rural Texas communities and how increasing regional capacity for mental health services could impact:
- The cost to local governments of providing services to people experiencing a mental health crisis;
- The transportation of people served by an LMHA/LBHA to mental health facilities;
- The incarceration of people with mental illness in county jails; and
- The number of hospital emergency room visits by people with mental illness.
The All Texas Access Report includes a background, All Texas Access data, regional plans, a statewide analysis, legislative recommendations and appendices.
The All Texas Access Background Report provides a general overview of mental health services in Texas. The background is designed to provide context for the rest of the report.
|
|
FCC Seeks Input on Providing Broadband Service and Devices to Low-Income Households by February 16
|
|
|
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking to provide broadband service and devices to low-income households. The program would reimburse participating companies for providing discounted broadband service and connected devices to eligible households during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will also purchase a device (such as a phone, laptop, or tablet) to connect to the Internet. Participating providers will receive reimbursement from the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program for the discounts provided.
Find more information about this request for comment.
Comments are due February 16.
|
|
Division Spotlight:
NASMHPD's Children, Youth & Families Division
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Brian Sims, Louise Johnson, and Diana Cockrell presented on systemic racism and disparities in behavioral health at the NASMHPD 2020 Children, Youth and Families Division Meeting. Watch the recorded presentation above.
|
|
NIMH Launches the Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET): A National Learning Health Care System
|
|
Over the past 10 years, there has been rapid growth nationally in the number of clinical programs focused on support for individuals who are experiencing a first episode of psychosis. A critical addition to this national focus on early psychosis programs is the launch of the Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET) by NIMH. EPINET is a national learning health care system that links early psychosis clinics through standard clinical measures, uniform data collection methods, data sharing agreements, and integration of client-level data across service users and clinics. Clients and their families, clinicians, health care administrators, and scientific experts now have the opportunity to partner within EPINET to improve early psychosis care and conduct large-scale, practice-based research. Learn more about EPINET. Download a shareable flyer about EPINET.
|
|
Webinar Save the Date: Coordinating Care to Reduce Crisis
Jointly Sponsored by Netsmart and NASMHPD
February 24th at 12 noon EST
While the coming 988 hotline line will provide a long-awaited and much needed capability to serve at-risk behavioral health clients, it brings a risk of overwhelming state resources. It is imperative to find ways to reduce the number of individuals who fall back into another crisis situation or better yet to avoid having even the first moment of crisis. Different organizations use terms such as whole-person, integrated care or person-centered care, all which focus on coordinating care among many different providers and between state agencies.
Join NASMHPD and Netsmart as we discuss how states and counties have innovated to break down barriers between agencies and providers to positively impact the crisis continuum. We will have a panel of agency experts who will share how they took a holistic approach to work with multiple organizations to provide a more person-centered, integrated care network that optimized the outcomes for their clients.
|
|
|
Study Finds Higher Rates of Suicidal Behaviors Among Individuals with ASD and Psychiatric Comorbidities
|
|
|
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had higher rates of attempted and completed suicides than individuals without ASD, according to a Danish study. Females with ASD were more than four times as likely to attempt suicide in comparison to males. The presence of psychiatric comorbidities was found to be a major risk factor, with more than 90 percent of individuals with ASD who attempted or completed suicide having a comorbid psychiatric condition. The most common comorbidities included attention deficit-hyperactivity disorders; anxiety, dissociative, stress-related and somatoform disorders; and affective disorders. The researchers wrote, “It is essential to expand support and services for adults with ASD, especially those with psychiatric comorbidity, considering the higher risk of suicide attempt throughout the life span.” The full study was published online January 12 in JAMA Network Open. Read it here.
|
|
President Biden Announces Emergency Legislative COVID-19 Relief Package
|
|
President Biden announced his American Rescue Plan, which would provide funding for vaccinations, direct relief to families, and support struggling communities. Notably, the plan aims to expand access to behavioral health services, saying:
"The pandemic has made access to mental health and substance use disorder services more essential than ever. The president-elect is calling on Congress to appropriate $4 billion to enable the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration to expand access to these vital services."
Read Biden's American Rescue Plan.
|
|
ASPIRE Program Applications Due February 17
|
|
The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is sponsoring a new initiative called Advancing State Policy Integration for Recovery and Employment (ASPIRE). ASPIRE seeks to expand evidence-based employment services and increase competitive integrated employment for people with mental health conditions. The ASPIRE initiative will provide training and support to selected States to develop and implement strategic plans to support and expand evidence-based practices, such as the Individual Placement and Support model of supported employment, or other promising models. ASPIRE is a valuable opportunity for states interested in aligning state policy, program, and funding infrastructures to promote competitive integrated employment.
Learn more and apply here.
Applications are due on February 17, 2021.
ODEP is hosting a webinar on Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. EST to answer questions for states that are interested in applying. Register here.
|
|
|
The team at the IPS Employment Center has defined the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach to supported employment. The center’s activities focus on employment for people with serious mental illnesses. The center offers training, educational materials, and consultation services.
Learn more about training available through the IPS Employment Center.
|
|
SAMHSA-Sponsored Webinar:
Innovation, Collaboration, and Partnership between Crisis Services and 1st Responders in Harris County, Texas
A SAMHSA sponsored webinar presented by the National Council for Behavioral Health, will take place Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 2:30pm Eastern Time called “Innovation, Collaboration, and Partnership between Crisis Services and 1st Responders in Harris County, Texas.”
The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, located in one of the most diverse communities in the United States, Houston, Texas, has a long history of effective and innovative collaboration with first responders. Some of their most recent innovations include the CORE program which is a strategy of responding to mental health crisis calls using a tablet and a HIPAA-approved technology platform to connect a law enforcement first responder with a mental health clinician in the community at the time of the 911 dispatch; a new Respite, Rehab, and Re-Entry facility which provides pre-charge jail diversion in partnership with many collaborators including The Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office; and a 911 Crisis Call Diversion program in partnership with the Houston Fire Department and Houston Police Department. During this webinar we will talk about how The Harris Center was able to coordinate with first responder partners to bring these programs to fruition and the outcomes they are seeing in their community due to these collaborations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
