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August 27, 2021

In This Issue:


What's New:

 Learning Opportunities:
 
Resource Roundup:
including workforce resiliency training and recruitment opportunities, opportunities to promote mental health equity, and more.
including events for September World Suicide Prevention Month, Mental Health America's 2021 Back to School Toolkit, and more.

Explore opportunities on NASMHPD's Job Board

Covid Pushed the UK to Expand its 111 Mental Health Reach


In just two weeks, the Oxford Health NHS Trust Foundation team set up a dedicated helpline to respond to people experiencing mental distress from the Covid pandemic and corresponding restrictions. They quickly scaffolded the line and moved the service to NHS 111, a healthcare helpline in the United Kingdom with an excellent technological platform. The move has helped provide parity for those seeking mental health services. Read the August 17 #CrisisTalk.

988 Will Benefit From Tech Innovations Jump Started by Pandemic


The Covid disaster has sparked and expanded the use of innovative health technologies in behavioral healthcare that states can incorporate and maximize as they build out their crisis systems in anticipation of 988—the three-digit number for mental health, substance use, and suicidal crises that must be live by July 16, 2021. Kristin Neylon, senior project associate at NRI, shares the latest in behavioral health tech. Read the August 24 #CrisisTalk.

State Spotlight: South Carolina's Student ID Card Suicide Prevention Act Requires Lifeline Number on Student ID Cards

On Thursday, July 22, 2021, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster held a ceremonial signing for the Student ID Card Suicide Prevention Act. The legislation, which was ratified in May, requires public schools and public and private institutions of higher learning to add the telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to student ID cards, as well as appropriate telephone and text numbers for other hotlines. 
 
Governor McMaster, SC Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, and SC Senator Katrina Shealy, who introduced and championed the legislation, spoke about the importance of providing resources to South Carolina’s youth in crisis. SCDMH State Director Kenneth Rogers, MD, and Mental Health America-Greenville Executive Director Jennifer Piver also spoke, highlighting the many programs and supports available to those in need in the state of SC, from SCDMH’s Mobile Crisis to the MHA Lifeline call center. Also in attendance were: South Carolina State Representative Annie McDaniel, SCDMH Office of Suicide Prevention Director Jennifer Butler, South Carolina's State Child Advocate Amanda Whittle, and the founders of Teens 4 Hope.
 
The Student ID Card Suicide Prevention Act is the second piece of legislation passed by the South Carolina Legislature dedicated to suicide prevention.

HRSA Announces $19 Million to Expand Telehealth Nationwide and Improve Health in Rural, Other Underserved Communities

On August 18, the Biden-Harris Administration announced key investments that will strengthen telehealth services in rural and underserved communities and expand telehealth innovation and quality nationwide. These investments—totaling over $19 million—are being distributed to 36 award recipients through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Read the press release. Learn about HRSA’s rural programs. Learn more about the Administration's steps to address health care in rural America.

New Tools for Self Direction & Integrated Healthcare


This webinar, New Tools For Self Direction & Integrated Health Care: UIC’s Solutions, discusses UIC Solutions Suite for Health & Recovery, co-directed by Swarbrick and co-developed with Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey. The webinar discusses many of the amazing FREE tools that University of Illinois Chicago has to offer, including: Nutrition and Exercise for Wellness and Recovery, Wellness Activities Manual, Online Diabetes Education Toolkit, Wellness in 8 Dimensions and the Wellness Daily Plan, Promoting Wellness for People in Mental Health Recovery: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning and Conducting a Health Fair, and Physical Wellness for Work. Judith Cook, Professor & Director at the Center on Mental Health Services Research & Policy, discussed the value and importance of these amazing resources. View the recording below.

CMS Issuing New Vaccination Regulations for Nursing Homes

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is developing an emergency regulation requiring staff vaccinations within Medicare and Medicaid-participating nursing homes. This new requirement is a key component of protecting the health and safety of nursing home residents and staff by ensuring that all nursing home staff receive COVID-19 vaccinations. This action is in keeping with CMS’s authority to establish requirements to ensure the health and safety of individuals receiving care from all providers and suppliers participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Read the press release.

Division Spotlight: CYF Division Presentation on CCBHCs


NASMHPD’s friends and colleagues from The National Council for Mental Wellbeing and The University of Maryland joined the NASMHPD Children, Youth, and Families Division (CYF) August monthly meeting to discuss Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHCs) and opportunities to participate in Learning Communities and Collaboratives with which NASMHPD is partnering.
 
Samantha Holcombe, Senior Director of Practice Improvement & Consulting with the National Council, provided a CCBHC 101 overview geared toward children’s services, and shared information on a CCBHC Child Services Learning Community.
 
Michelle Zabel, Director of the Institute for Innovation and Implementation at University of Maryland (UMD) and Liz Manley, Clinical Instructor for Health and Behavioral Health Policy at UMD’s Institute for Innovation and Implementation, presented on an upcoming Children’s Mobile Crisis Learning Collaborative on this important and timely issue.
 
View the recording below. Access the presentation slides here.

HRSA Providing $20 Million to Support Native Hawaiian Health Care

The Biden-Harris Administration announced on August 13th that it is providing $20 million to Native Hawaiian health care entities to aid their response to COVID-19. This funding is being distributed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). It provides six Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act (NHHCIA) award recipients resources to strengthen vaccination efforts, respond to and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and enhance health care services and infrastructure in their communities. Read the press release.


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.

ODEP Fact Sheet on Funding Opportunities for Employment

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) recently published this factsheet on new funding opportunities to expand access to Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) for Individuals with Disabilities. Explore the fact sheet to see if there are new funding streams that could benefit your state or agency.

Learning Opportunities

SAMHSA-Sponsored Webinar Recording: Providing Team-Based Services to Youth in Crisis. The Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program at the University of Texas delivers telemedicine services to public school students experiencing a mental health crisis. This webinar showcased how the TCHATT team works collaboratively with the student, family, school and community providers, and explored opportunities – including new federal resources – that other communities can leverage to replicate this model to meet their local needs. View the recording.
Registration Now Live for the National Dialogues on Behavioral Health. The 62nd Annual National Dialogues on Behavioral Health Conference, Behavioral Health in the 21st Century: Fast Forward After the Pandemic, will be held virtually. Sessions will be held each Thursday from 2:00 to 4:30 pm Eastern between September 30 and November 4, 2021. The focus of the conference is on the design of the future behavioral health system for specific populations based on our current knowledge base and the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics include: models and programs for persons with serious mental illness, persons with substance use disorders, children and adolescents, and persons who experience system disparities; new models of crisis services; emergent models of physical/behavioral health integration such as CCBHCs and FQHCs; and challenges faced by behavioral health leadership and advocates. Learn more and register here.
Taking the Call: A National Conference Exploring Innovative Community Responder Models. Join the CSG Justice Center, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the University of Cincinnati for Taking The Call, a two-day national conference exploring innovative community responder models on October 20-21, 2021. Taking the Call will explore how communities across the U.S are serving as laboratories for innovation to ensure that emergency calls receive the appropriate responses that improve community health, lessen the burden on law enforcement, and reduce unnecessary justice system contact. Pre-registration is available here. The conference is free and open to the public; pre-registration is required.
The Crisis Residential Association's Crisis Residential Conference. The 2021 Crisis Residential Conference takes place October 12-14 in Louisville, KY, at the historic Galt House Hotel. This conference brings together thought leaders and passionate advocates of residential alternatives to psychiatric CRA has curated a stellar lineup of speakers and presenters who will cover topics such as return on investment in crisis services, advances in peer respite and peer-delivered services, mobile crisis response approaches, and the intersection of spirituality & mental health crisis. To assure the safety of all our attendees, masks are required in designated conference spaces. Learn more.

Don't Miss These Headlines


SAMHSA Awards $1M Healthy Transitions Grant to Oklahoma
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

How a Hospital and a School District Teamed Up to Help Kids in Emotional Crisis
R. Chatterjee & C. Herman | Kaiser Health News

Parents Report More Negative Pandemic Effects on Kids Who Attend School Virtually vs. In-Person
D. Altman | Kaiser Family Foundation

Interventions Needed for Adolescents with Pandemic-Related Anxieties
J. Gramigna | Healio

APA Statement on Addressing Veteran and Refugee Mental Health in Evacuation from Afghanistan
American Psychiatric Association

Prevalence and Factors Associated With Youth Vaping Cessation Intention and Quit Attempts
H. Dai | Pediatrics

Mental Health is the Next Big Workplace Issue
E. Pandey | Axios W. graves | Associated Press

Mental Health and Substance Use Among Adults with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Resource Roundup

Crisis Service Workbooks from NASMHPD's Center for Innovation in Health Policy and Practice. These crisis services workbooks and resources were developed to help those impacted emotionally by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic tap into their inner strength to get through crisis. These workbooks come in specialized editions for groups such as adults, children (with a parent supplement guide included), older adults, and faith based. These workbooks, that are in the public domain, can be found on our website.
The Ad Council's Rural Resource Toolkit for COVID-19 Vaccine Communications. The COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative is led by the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative to provide access to information about COVID-19 vaccines. The Rural Resource Toolkit contains resources created specifically for rural communities to meet residents where they are, giving equal access to information on COVID-19 vaccinations.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rental Assistance Finder. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated housing challenges for many of the individuals we serve. CFPB's new Rental Assistance Finder allows people to find rental aid based on the state or territory or tribe or tribal lands where they live.
988 Model Legislation is Available. Please find the latest version of 988 Model Legislation here on the NASMHPD website.
SAMHSA Resource: Crisis Services: Meeting Needs, Saving Lives. SAMHSA has published Crisis Services: Meeting Needs, Saving Lives, composed of SAMHSA’s National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit and related papers on crisis services.
NASMHPD's EIP Resource Center. The Early Intervention in Psychosis virtual resource center, made possible by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is designed to provide reliable information for practitioners, policymakers, individuals, families, and communities in order to foster more widespread adoption and utilization of early intervention programming for persons at risk for (or experiencing a first episode of) psychosis. Visit the resource center. These TA resources were developed with support from SAMHSA.
Crisis Service Resources: NASMHPD's 2020 Technical Assistance Coalition Working Papers. NASMHPD's 2020 TAC papers continue the Beyond Beds theme, highlighting different aspects of crisis services: 
Visit the SMI Adviser website for evidence-based education, consultation, and resources on serious mental illness (SMI). Request a free clinician-to-clinician consultation. Access dozens of online courses and earn free continuing education credits. Learn about the My Mental Health Crisis Plan app. See data on serious mental illness in the U.S. Find resources on COVID-19clozapine, and long-acting injectables.

Upcoming Webinar:

Reimagining Crisis Response: 988 and a Crisis Standard of Care
September 2, 2021, 3:00-4:00 pm Eastern
Credit: 1.0 CME
 
Upcoming Virtual Learning Collaboratives:
These are interactive, 12-week courses that offer 12 CME credits.

EPINET is a national learning health care system from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) 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

The MHTTC Network accelerates the adoption and implementation of mental health related evidence-based practices across the nation, develops and disseminates resources, provides free local and regional training and technical assistance, and heightens the awareness, knowledge, and skills of the mental health workforce.

The Network is comprised of 10 Regional Centers, a National American Indian & Alaska Native Center, a National Hispanic & Latino Center, and a Network Coordinating Office. Find your Center and get connected to free products and free training and events. Stay up to date with resources by following @MHTTCNetwork on Facebook and Twitter, or subscribe to the monthly e-Newsletter, Pathways.
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