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March 2023
E-News
401.726.2285
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In This Issue:
- May Is Mental Health Kicks Off April 27 at the RI State House
- MHARI In Action
- The Power of Story
- Mental Health and Your Pelvic Floor: A Fascinating Connection
- Medicaid Renewals to Start Again
- 401Gives is April 1st!
- Now Accepting Scholarship Applications
- Thank you to MIMHM Sponsors
- And more...
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May is Mental Health
Kicks Off April 27 at the State House
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May Is Mental Health Month (MIMHM) kicks off at the State House on April 27 at 2:00. This free annual event celebrates recovery and highlights the importance of our mental health. Join us and hear inspirational stories of hope and recovery from people with lived experience. Senator Miller and Representative Baginski will receive awards for their legislation establishing Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics in Rhode Island. We will also present the Mental Health Hero of the Year award to Megan Clingham, Director of the Office of the Mental Health Advocate, for her dedicated advocacy and compassion for our most vulnerable Rhode Islanders. Barbara Morse of Channel 10 News will also speak.
Every Rhode Islander deserves access to timely, affordable, culturally and linguistically appropriate services. We are calling on our leaders to increase access to care by investing in Rhode Island’s behavioral healthcare system.
All are welcome. Please wear BLUE to show your solidarity with the mental health community, and feel free to bring a sign. There will be a meet-and-greet with legislators after the event. We are asking providers, consumers and family members to share their stories with legislators.
MHARI is compiling a community calendar of events in honor of May Is Mental Health Month. The calendar will be on MHARI's MIMHM webpage in early April through May. If your organization would like to post an event in the calendar, please click here to complete this form by March 20.
If you like what MHARI is doing, please consider supporting our work with a MIMHM sponsorship. Learn more here. Please contact michelle.miller@mhari.org with any questions.
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The General Assembly is in full swing, and bills are moving fast. We are tracking dozens of bills and will testify on many of them.
This year, we are prioritizing the 988 crisis line, certified community behavioral health clinics, Eleanor Slater Hospital, and increasing patients’ access to care.
In Rhode Island, our pool of in-network mental and behavioral health professionals is shrinking. Patients are on wait-lists for all levels of care. One important way to incentivize professionals to enter the field and participate in insurance networks is by offering fair reimbursement rates. MHARI and a coalition of stakeholders drafted House Bill 5657/Senate Bill 579, which requires commercial insurance to raise reimbursement rates for outpatient in-network mental and behavioral health therapy and diagnostics. We thank Representative Teresa Tanzi and Senator Pamela Lauria for sponsoring this bill.
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Watch Laurie Pisciotta testify in the House Committee on Corporations in favor of House Bill 5657 to address disparities in reimbursement rates paid by insurers to mental health outpatient professionals. Click here!
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Did you miss the Advocacy101 Part One workshop we hosted with NAMI RI and RIPIN Family Voices? We recorded it!
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Voters are powerful. Elected officials take your stories to heart when you share them. Change cannot happen without people like YOU. Please consider sharing your story in writing or in person. MHARI is working to build a story-bank with contributions from Rhode Islanders about their own experiences.
Will you share your story? Click here to say yes and to fill out the story-bank form! Or, write an email or letter, or speak in person to your own state representative and senator to let them know if you:
- Are in recovery, thanks to easy access to mental and behavioral health services when you needed them
- Have ever been on a waitlist for services
- Have every waited for hours in an emergency department
- Have ever paid out of pocket for an out-of-network provider
- Have been discharged from a hospital without being offered partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient programs
- Have been prematurely discharged from a hospital
Don't forget to ask them to support important legislation, like the bills outlined above to address disparities in reimbursement rates that limit patient access to mental health: House Bill 5657/Senate Bill 579.
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Mental Health & Your Pelvic Floor: A Fascinating Connection |
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In this video, Laurie talks with Dr. Chelsea Sevigny, DPT about how our mental health affects our pelvic health. She touches on symptoms, how to maintain the health of our pelvic floor, and when to seek help. Dr. Sevigny is a pelvic floor physical therapist in Rhode Island. You can find her at Highbar (formerly Performance Physical Therapy). https://www.highbarhealth.com.
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Medicaid Renewals to Start Again |
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Before the pandemic, people who enrolled in Medicaid had their eligibility reviewed once a year. This is called “Renewal” or “Redetermination”. During the pandemic, to make sure that people did not lose health coverage, no one needed to renew their Medicaid benefits. But now, starting in April 2023, yearly Medicaid renewals will start again in Rhode Island. This process will happen over the next 14 months.
MHARI and our allies in the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition have joined with other community advocates and service providers in Rhode Island to advocate with the state for a transparent and robust plan to help ensure that no Rhode Islander that is eligible loses their Medicaid coverage.
Do you have questions?
Click the link(s) to download the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition's
Q & A fact sheet "Understanding Medicaid Renewal." It's in English and Spanish.
There will be more fact sheets and information to come as the state releases more. In the meantime...
What can you do now to make sure you don’t miss your Medicaid renewal?
If you are a Medicaid member, or have family, friends, or clients that are, it’s very important to make sure that DHS has your most up-to-date address so they can send you the renewal materials.
If you have moved in the past couple of years, or changed your phone number or e-mail address, you should call your managed care organization – Neighborhood Health Plan, Tufts, UnitedHealth – and tell them your new contact information. The staff can update your new address in the state system. You can also update your address through your customer portal (click on the “My Profile” link), the HealthyRhode mobile app, or by calling HealthSourceRI at (855) 840-4774.
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401Gives is around the corner... |
401Gives brings people together to make a difference for local nonprofits that deliver vital services to our communities throughout the state. This year April 1st is on the weekend, so mark your calendars to have some fun raising money for MHARI and all those who deserve access to behavioral health service in RI. Bookmark this page to make your donation April 1!
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DIVERSITY EQUITY & INCLUSION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Now Accepting Applications!
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The Mental Health Association of Rhode Island (MHARI) aims to increase the availability of culturally and linguistically competent mental health providers in Rhode Island. We are delighted to accept scholarship applications from graduate-level students from diverse backgrounds studying in behavioral health programs.
Award: $10,000 paid to your college/university
We are accepting applications from:
- People who come from minority racial or ethnic groups (for example: Black, Indigenous, People of Color)
- Speakers of English as a Second Language,
- LGBTQ+ Individuals
- A person with a disability
Eligible Areas of Study: Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychiatry, Ph.D. in Psychology
Deadline to apply for academic year 2023-2024: March 31, 2023
Scholarships are made possible through the generosity of the United Way of Rhode Island and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
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Work With Us
Join the Board
We are seeking new Board Members, particularly individuals who have experience or expertise in: finance and fundraising; organizational development and HR; diversity, equity and inclusion; prevention; and youth/adolescent mental health. Interviews begin in the spring. Board terms begin on July 1, 2023. Send your inquiries and résumés to MHARIboard@mhari.org .
Volunteer
Intern With Us
Internships offer the opportunity to gain experience and a deeper understanding of the barriers to treatment. Earn academic credit while making a positive impact in the mental health community. We always need interns to help with non-clinical research projects, patient surveys,policy, and program development. Sometimes we have grant funding to pay interns. Contact riparity@mhari.org if you are interested.
Share Your Story
Voters’ stories are powerful and can move elected officials to make positive change. Share your story through MHARI's new story bank. Click here for more.
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Upcoming meetings, webinars, special invitations, and events!
Advocacy101 hosted by Horizon Health Partners and United Way. March 16th! Register here.
Behavioral Health & Homelessness Prevention Training Group (BHHP)
BHHP offers trainings to support those working in the field and has a whole calendar of valuable trainings both virtual and in-person. Thanks to RI’s Consolidated Homeless Funds, SAMHSA and BHDDH all trainings are free of charge. Registration is required however. Click here for the calendar and to register. Any training questions or suggestions for future trainings can be directed to housingfirsttraininggroup@gmail.com.
Ongoing trainings for mental health professionals
The Substance Use Mental Health Leadership Council (SUMHLC) offers a number of useful trainings for providers. Click here for a listing of training opportunities available, and check back periodically as new classes are added.
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MHARI extends sincere thanks to the following sponsors for committing to May is Mental Health Month. There's still time to sponsor and stand with MHARI as we advocate for and raise awareness for equity of access to behavioural health for all of Rhode Island. Join us and these sponsors at the State House on April 27, 2023. Sponsor MHARI now!
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The Mission of the
Mental Health Association of RI (MHARI) is to promote and nourish mental health through advocacy, education, and policy development.
Our website is filled with resources to help those living with mental health challenges. Please feel free to visit the site as often as you need. Your shares of relevant pages on your social media could offer just the help that someone needs. Thank You!
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The Mental Health Association of RI (MHARI) is a private, 501(c)3 non-profit organization and is 100% funded by grants and donations.
Won't you consider supporting MHARI today?
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