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January 7, 2022

In This Issue:


What's New:  
Don't Miss These Headlines:
 
Learning Opportunities:
 
Resource Roundup: 

Find current funding opportunity announcements

Explore opportunities on NASMHPD's Job Board

988, Shared Accountability, and Equity in Behavioral Health Crisis Services

 
With 988 around the corner, communities must examine how financing and accountability will work under the massive paradigm shift. While preparing for 988 will bolster existing structures, it won’t create system-wide change unless leaders take a polycentric approach, where authority and responsibility among entities overlap. Authors Lisa Jobe-Shields and Katharine Hawkes explore how local, regional, state, and national conversations must be brought to the forefront as a first step in building accountability, equity, and access into the fabric of system development. Read the January 4 #CrisisTalk.

Want to Talk More About Crisis?

Join the 988 Crisis Jam Learning Community!
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) 988 Crisis Jam Learning Community, powered by Crisis Now, takes place each Wednesday at noon eastern on Zoom! Join SAMHSA, the more than 50 national organizations, and all 50 states taking part in these weekly crisis jam sessions. Sign up for weekly reminders and the #CrisisTalk newsletter.
Add the 988 Crisis Jam Learning Community to your calendar
Access the
Zoom link now

State Spotlight: Connecticut’s Mobile Crisis Intervention Services for Children and Adolescents 

What were formally known as Connecticut's Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Services (EMPS) are now the Mobile Crisis Intervention Services (Mobile Crisis). Mobile Crisis is a state-wide, community-based, and family-supportive clinical intervention service for children and adolescents experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Importantly, the state has defined those differences in crisis response for youth and their families versus adults.    

These services are most often provided to youth in schools, homes, and emergency departments, but Mobile Crisis is also able to meet youth in other community settings such as doctor’s offices or public libraries. Connecticut’s Mobile Crisis was designed to connect youth and their families into every level of care, including community-based services, short-term residential, or psychiatric residential treatment. An episode of care is kept open for up to 45 days for the linkage to the next level of care to occur. Moving forward, leadership is exploring options to further enable direct care linkages by allowing Mobile Crisis clinicians to track open beds and services in real-time, directly schedule, and directly admit children and youth to most levels of care. They are also exploring geo-tracking capabilities.  

View this presentation for additional information regarding how and when the Mobile Crisis team is available, statistics of law enforcement involvement, Child Serving Crisis Support and Care System Resources, and 988 planning and implementation considerations. 

HHS Announces Critical Investments to Implement Upcoming 988 Dialing Code for National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
On December 20th, the Department of Health and Human Services, through its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will make critical investments in suicide prevention and crisis care services, announcing $282 million to help transition the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from its current 10-digit number to a three-digit dialing code – 988.
 
In 2020, Congress designated the new 988 dialing code to be operated through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Converting to this easy-to-remember, three-digit number will strengthen and expand the existing Lifeline network, providing the public with easier access to life-saving services. The Lifeline currently helps thousands of people overcome crisis situations every day. The 988 dialing code will be available nationally for call, text or chat beginning in July 2022.
 
Standing up the 988 dialing code is a key part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s focus on ensuring that those in crisis have someone to call, someone to respond, and somewhere to go. The 988 code is a first step toward transforming crisis care in this country, creating a universal entry point to needed crisis services in line with access to other emergency medical services.

With funds from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget and additional funds from the American Rescue Plan, SAMHSA’s $282 million investment will support 988 efforts across the country to shore up, scale up and staff up, including:
  • $177 million to strengthen and expand the existing Lifeline network operations and telephone infrastructure, including centralized chat/text response, backup center capacity, and special services (e.g., a sub-network for Spanish language-speakers).
  • $105 million to build up staffing across states’ local crisis call centers.
Read the press release.

New Medicaid Option Promotes Enhanced Mental Health, Substance Use Crisis Care
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is working with states to promote access to Medicaid services for people with mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) crises. Authorized under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan (ARP), states have a new option for supporting community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals with Medicaid. Mobile crisis intervention services are essential tools to meet people in crisis where they are and rapidly provide critical services to people experiencing mental health or substance use crises by connecting them to a behavioral health specialist 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. This new option will help states integrate these services into their Medicaid programs, a critical component in establishing a sustainable and public health-focused support network. Read more. 

CMS Releases Guidance for the Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule
On December 28, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance on the Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule that was published on November 5, 2021. The emergency regulation helps safeguard health care workers and the people they serve from COVID-19 and its variants for all individuals seeking care by imposing requirements regarding vaccinations for eligible staff at health care facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This guidance provides important information on implementation, as well as guidelines to assess and maintain compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination requirements for health care workers at facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Read the announcement.

Justice Department Awards $34 Million to Support Community Crisis Response
On December 23, The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) announced grant awards totaling $34 million to help communities address crises involving homelessness, mental health and substance use disorders, and other public health and public safety emergencies. The grants, made by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and National Institute of Justice (NIJ), will support partnerships between justice system officials, health and mental health professionals and community providers designed to reduce arrests, divert individuals from the justice system and deliver the appropriate treatment and other support services to those in need. Read the announcement.

SAMHSA Seeking a Director of 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Coordination Office
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is seeking a strong leader to serve as Director of the newly created 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Coordination Office, located under the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use. The announcement closes on January 20. View the job posting here. 

New Edition of Signs of Mental Health Released, Newsletter from the Alabama Office of Deaf Services
Signs of Mental Health is the Alabama Office of Deaf Service's quarterly newsletter. It contains information about what ODS is doing, what is happening in the Department of Mental Health in general, and information about important events in the field of mental health and deafness in Alabama and around the world. Read the latest edition.

NASMHPD Annual 2021 Meeting Session Recap:

Technology’s Acceleration in Behavioral Health: COVID, 988, Social Media, Treatment and More

 
The NASMHPD Annual 2021 Meeting Session, Technology’s Acceleration in Behavioral Health: COVID, 988, Social Media, Treatment and More, discussed how technology can help bridge access and workforce gaps and improve the quality of care, pros and cons of telehealth, utilization of artificial intelligence, mental health apps, and more.

Presenters included: Karen Stubbs Church, J.D., Assistant Secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health Office of Behavioral Health; and Stephen Phillippi, J.D., Ph.D., L.C.S.W., C.C.F.C., Associate Professor at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Chair of Behavioral & Community Health at the LSU School of Public Health, Director of the Institute for Public Health and Justice, and Founding Director of the Center for Evidence to Practice, New Orleans, Louisiana.

This session was based on the ninth paper in the 2021 Ready to Respond Series of Ten Technical Assistance Briefs focused on Beyond Beds, Reimagining a Sustainable and Robust Continuum of Psychiatric Care. View the paper here.

View the presentation slides here. The full presentation recording can be viewed below.

Don't Miss These Headlines
For What’s Working in Rural Mental Health Care, Listen to the Innovators
A. Cohen, B. Hepburn & Saul Levin | InsideSources

Trends in Public Stigma of Mental Illness in the US, 1996-2018
B.. Pescosolido et al. | JAMA

As a Logic Song Topped the Charts, Helpline Saw More Calls and Fewer Suicides
M. Bender | STAT

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years — United States, 2015–2019
A. Ivey-Stephenson et al. | CDC

Ketamine for the Treatment of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Comprehensive Systematic Review
Z. Walsh et al. | BJPsych Open

Understanding the Characteristics of Suicide in Young Children
National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH)

Ongoing Disparities in Digital and In-Person Access to Child Psychiatric Services in the United States
R. McBain | Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Learning Opportunities

National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) New Resources and Learning Exchange Series

Register for the series here.
Dates: Jan 11, 2022, 10:30-11:30 am Eastern and Feb 8, 2022, 10:30-11:30 am Eastern

NCSACW is excited to share a new series of technical assistance briefs: How States Serve Infants and their Families Affected by Prenatal Substance Exposure. You can join a Learning Exchange to explore each brief. These interactive sessions feature subject matter experts and professionals that are currently implementing innovative policies and practices that support families affected by prenatal substance exposure.

Pharmacists Prescribing for Tobacco Cessation Medications
Register here.
Date: January 19, 2022, 1:00-2:15 pm Eastern 

This webinar will: Describe the evolving role of pharmacists in prescribing medications for treating tobacco use and dependence; Explain Vermont's process for enacting pharmacy prescriptive authority for NRT; Identify two health systems strategies to gain cross-departmental support for policy and program innovations; and Describe the importance of two communication strategies used in Vermont - internal and external.
Expanding First Response: A Toolkit for Community Responder Programs
Register here.
Date: January 19, 2022, 3:00–4:00 pm Eastern

Join The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center for a Justice Briefing Live event that will explore an array of community responder models tailored to local needs to improve health outcomes and reduce reliance on law enforcement. The event will showcase the CSG Justice Center’s Expanding First Response toolkit—an unprecedented resource serving as a central hub for local communities and states looking to establish or strengthen these programs. 

Applications Open for Two New NCAPPS Learning Collaboratives

NCAPPS is pleased to announce that applications for two new Learning Collaboratives are now open: the Beyond Compliance Leadership Learning Collaborative and the Self-Direction Learning Collaborative.

The Beyond Compliance Leadership Learning Collaborative will introduce participants to the 9 Elements of a Person-Centered System to help them build person-centered practice and knowledge throughout their agencies. Apply for the Beyond Compliance Leadership Learning Collaborative here.  

The Self-Direction Learning Collaborative will address the drivers that promote high-quality self-direction, and participants will develop goals and to strategies to optimize self-direction. Apply for the the Self-Direction Learning Collaborative here. 

Applications for both learning collaboratives are due on January 27.

Older African Americans and Mental Health
Register here.
Date: February 2, 2022, 1:00-3:00 pm Eastern

African American older adults are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and dementia. Assessment of depression, anxiety, and dementia among African American elders is complicated by potential differences in symptom presentation or reporting and a lack of assessment instruments validated for use with ethnically diverse older populations. Disparities in treatment for African Americans elders are exacerbated for several reasons including, failure to access formal treatment, differences in symptomatology response to treatment, lack of available mental health resources, and stigma. This presentation will describe important issues for mental health researchers and service providers to consider when working with older African Americans. It also provides a review of the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of depression, anxiety, and dementia among this population.  

Resource Roundup
U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health. On December 7, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new Surgeon General’s Advisory to highlight the urgent need to address the nation’s youth mental health crisis.
SAMHSA 988 Appropriations Report. This report, as requested in the FY 2021 Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill, emphasizes the potential for 988 to serve as a catalyst for broader behavioral health crisis transformation and details both volume and cost estimates as the nation prepares for full 988 implementation. 
CBITS for American Indian Youth. This manual provides an overview of the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS). It adapts the CBITS program for American Indian youth and outlines individual and group sessions, the caregiver education program, and teacher education program.
Program Overview: Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Sites. The Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Site program is a national resource for law enforcement and behavioral health agencies looking to tailor response models and implementation strategies to their community’s needs. This new brief from the Council of State Governments Justice Center provides a detailed overview of the program.
NASMHPD's Draft 2021 Technical Assistance Coalition Assessment Working Papers. With funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, NASMHPD has produced ten Draft 2021 Technical Assistance Coalition Assessment Working Papers, which are now available on the NAMSHPD website:
  1. Ready to Respond: Mental Health Beyond Crisis and COVID-19
  2. Disaster Behavioral Health through the Lens of COVID-19
  3. Suicide Prevention and 988: Beyond Beds Before, During and After COVID-19
  4. Law Enforcement and Crisis Services: Past Lessons for New Partnerships and the Future of 988
  5. Strategies and Considerations for Providing a More Equitable Crisis Continuum for People of Color in the United States
  6. The Effects of COVID-19 on Children, Youth, and Families
  7. Mental Health System Development in Rural and Remote Areas during COVID-19
  8. Funding Opportunities for Expanding Crisis Stabilization Systems and Services
  9. Technology’s Acceleration in Behavioral Health: COVID, 988, Social Media, Treatment, and More
  10. Using Data to Manage State and Local-Level Mental Health Crisis Services
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.


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.
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-19, clozapine, and long-acting injectables.

Upcoming Webinar:
 
Understanding Correctional Mental Health Services
Date: January 14, 2022, 12:00-1:00 pm Eastern
Credit: 1.0 CME, 1.0 NCPD; 1.0 Psychology CE, 1.0 Social Work CE 

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.
NASMHPD Staff
NASMHPD Board of Directors
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National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
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