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Dr. Robert Roca on How Older Adults Are Faring During the Pandemic
January 26, 2021
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The Philanthropy That Set About to Change Crisis Care in MD
February 2, 2021
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From the onset of the pandemic, Dr. Roca notes there’s been a tension between avoiding contagion and the need to mitigate the toxicity of isolation. His patients frequently share two common concerns: fear of the virus and distress from separation from family and friends. Many Americans, especially older adults, he says, must carefully assess the costs and benefits of their decisions.
Read the January 26 #CrisisTalk.
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Nikki Highsmith Vernick and Glenn E. Schneider of the Horizon Foundation share how the philanthropy set out to change behavioral health crisis care in Maryland amidst spikes of hospital readmissions and psychiatric boarding. GBRICS, the Greater Baltimore Regional Integrated Crisis System Partnership, is a collaborative effort that includes 17 hospitals and 4 counties. Read the February 2 #CrisisTalk.
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Town Hall: Innovative Practices to Support Hospital Staff during COVID-19 Crisis
COVID-19 has changed all of our lives in so many ways. Hospital staff, especially, have been impacted greatly by this crisis. This has brought additional challenges to direct care staff caring for individuals restricted to units as treatment malls, cafeterias and activities have been adjusted to minimize COVID-19 spread. Please join us for a Town Hall meeting to learn about innovative practices for outreach and support used by hospital leadership from around the country. This forum will also provide attendees the opportunity to share with one another creative ways facilities have provided support for staff who are required to be on site during this unprecedented time.
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State Spotlight:
Tennessee Recovery Congregations Toolkit
The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) has developed a toolkit designed to equip, connect, and empower faith-based organizations that wish to serve people who are struggling with addiction. Since 2014, Tennessee's Director of Faith-Based Initiatives, Dr. Monty Burks, has been traveling the state organizing, growing, and inspiring faith communities to come together and fight a common enemy plaguing our country. TDMHSAS has welcomed any community of faith to join the TN statewide network of Certified Recovery Congregations, with 740 achieving this status to date. Developed under Dr. Burk's leadership, this toolkit compiles what TN Faith-Based Initiatives has learned about how to engage and equip faith-based organizations to begin providing vital recovery supports. Download the toolkit. Learn more about TN's Faith-Based Initiatives.
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2021 TTI Awardees Announced
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NASMHPD would like to congratulate the recipients of the forty SAMHSA Transformation Transfer Initiative (TTI) awards for FY 2021.
Topic A: Bed Registries
These awardees will establish and expand comprehensive, crisis psychiatric bed registry programs. Such efforts should track and monitor the availability of psychiatric beds but can also include the tracking of other crisis service supports such as crisis assessment centers, crisis residential programs, respites, mobile crisis teams, and centralized crisis call centers. The Topic A recipient states/territories are: District of Columbia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Washington.
Topic B: Diversion from Jail
These awardees will use SAMHSA’s 2020 Crisis Services Guidelines and Toolkit to develop or expand state or territorial diversion programs.The Topic B recipient states/territories are: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
Topic C: Improving Mental Health Services within Jails
These awardees will expand or develop better services within correctional facilities and enhance their coordination between behind the walls treatment and transitioning back into the community. The Topic C recipient states/territories are: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Palau, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Washington.
Congratulations to all awardees! We look forward to working with you.
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SAMHSA-Sponsored Webinar: Addressing the Adverse Impacts of COVID-19 on Children with Serious Emotional Disorders
Presented by the National Council for Behavioral Health and NASMHPD
March 3, 2021, 1:00 pm Eastern
Since March 2020, children across the country have been isolated at home participating in distance learning. The impacts academically, socially and emotionally have been staggering, particularly for children with pre-existing serious emotional disorders and their families. There has been a reduction in referrals to child protective services, an increase in isolation, depression, anxiety, and a decrease in engagement which can lead to lower academic success. What do all of these things mean in the short-term and the long-term? What can be done to attempt to mitigate some of these adverse effects? Join our Roundtable Discussion as we provide information and answer your questions.
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NIMH Launches the Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET): A National Learning Health Care System
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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.
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Surgeon General Releases Call to Action on National Suicide Prevention Strategy
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On January 19, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the Surgeon General—in collaboration with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance)—released The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Implement the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. The goal of the Call to Action is to broaden the vision of suicide prevention to include environmental, social, and individual factors contributing to suicide.
The Call to Action focuses on strengthening protective factors for preventing suicides and increasing resiliency that include:
- Help other people build life skills and resilience;
- Increase social connectedness and support;
- Identify and support people at risk;
- Support lethal means safety;
- Support access to effective care;
- Seek help, support, and care when experiencing suicidal thoughts; and
- Support individuals who have been affected by a suicide attempt or death.
Read the Call to Action.
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COVID-19, Unemployment, and Behavioral Health Conditions: The Need for Supported Employment
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Robert Drake, Lloyd Sederer, Deborah Becker, Gary Bond
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing behavioral health (mental health and substance use) disorders for many people and created new disorders for others. Unemployment and social distancing have added to stress. Although policy changes have increased health care and unemployment benefits, most people want jobs and self-sufficiency rather than handouts. A robust evidence base shows that supported employment combines vocational and behavioral health supports to enable unemployed people with behavioral health conditions find appropriate, competitive, integrated employment. Many more U.S. citizens will need these services as the pandemic recedes and jobs open up. Government attention to supported employment is necessary now more than ever. Read the full white paper.
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ASPIRE Program Applications Due February 17
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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.
Applications are due on February 24, 2021.
Learn more and apply here.
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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.
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