Advancing Public Policies for People with Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency or Developmental Disabilities
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CLMHD is Hiring: Project Director - Behavioral Health Regional Planning Consortium (RPC)
The Conference is seeking a Project Director to lead and oversee the operations of the Regional Planning Consortium (RPC), a statewide initiative that is closely tied to the behavioral health Medicaid Managed Care Transition in 10 regions of the state. The RPCs are regional boards compromised of multiple behavioral health stakeholders, who collaboratively problem solve around the transition of Medicaid behavioral health services and other new initiatives which impact the behavioral healthcare system in NYS.
The RPC Project Director is responsible for leading the operations and strategy of the RPC project including supervision of remotely-stationed RPC Project Coordinator staff in the 10 RPC regions outside of NYC. The RPC Project Director is expected to liaise between the RPCs and State Government officials. This position is located in Albany, New York and requires significant in-state travel. Read more
here.
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As part of the 2019 New York State What's Great in Our State (WGiOS) celebration on May 7, 2019, the planning committee for the Children's Mental Health Awareness Day event is seeking nominations to honor individuals, communities, schools, and organizations across New York State that are making a difference in the field of children and youth mental health.
Here's your opportunity to recognize those who are doing outstanding work! The 2019 theme is
"Building Bridges for Change: Supporting the Mental Health of Children, Youth and Young Adults." This year, we are establishing the following six categories for this annual recognition:
- Youth/Young Adult
- Family/Caregiver
- Lifetime
- Systems of Care Community
- Organization or Community Group
- School
Click here for a nomination form.
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January 22, 10 - 11 am, OMH
The Art Of Clinical Assessment In Patients With Bipolar Disorder
January 22, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
Introducing the Blueprint for Complex Care: Opportunities to Advance the Field
January 22, 2 - 3 pm, Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc.
January 23, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Behavioral Health
Brief Intervention: Process and Techniques
January 24, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC
Using PSYCKES Quality Indicator Reports
January 29, 3 - 4 pm, OMH
Six Guidelines for Providing Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) to Justice-involved Clients
January 29, 3:30 - 5 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
Arrest to Reentry: Implications for Social Work Practitioners
January 30, 2 - 3:30 pm, CTAC
"We Can't Find Any Psychiatrists!" How Telepsychiatry is Solving the Psychiatric Shortage
January 30, 11 am - 12 pm, National Council for Behavioral Health
Are You Ready? Serving a Criminal Justice-Involved Population in Supportive Housing
January 31, 10 - 11:30 am, Corporation for Supportive Housing
How to Improve Addiction Treatment Systematically Tracking Patient Outcomes
February 5, 1 - 2 pm, RTI International
Online course, then on-site from February 6 - 8, 2019 in Rochester
Using PSYCKES Recipient Search
February 6, 10 - 11 am, OMH
Treatment Plan Collaboration: Understanding & Incorporating Caregiver, Peer Support, & Clinician Perspectives
February 7, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
PSYCKES Access and Implementation
February 7, 3 - 4 pm, OMH
Using PSYCKES for Clinicians
February 13, 10 - 11:30 am, OMH
PSYCKES Train the Trainer
February 20, 10 - 11 am, OMH
Addiction Services 101 - The basics: Recovery Support Services, Medication Assisted Treatment, and Addiction Treatment
February 20, 1:30 - 2:30 pm, Corporation for Supportive Housing
February 27, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC
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Children & Families Committee Meeting
January 15: 11:30 am - 1 pm, GTM
Regional Reps Call
January 16: 8 - 9 am
CLMHD/DOH/OMH/C-SPOA Meeting
January 17: 3 - 4 pm, GTM
Membership Call
January 23: 9 - 10:30 am
Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
January 24: 1 - 3 pm, GTM
CLMHD Mentoring Workshop
February 5: 12 - 5 pm
41 State Street, Suite 505, Albany
Agency Meeting - OASAS
February 6: 10 am - 12 pm
1450 Western Ave., Albany
Agency Meeting - OMH
February 6: 1 - 3 pm
44 Holland Ave., Albany
AOT Coordinators Meeting
February 8: 10 - 11:30 am, GTM
Children & Families Committee Meeting
February 19: 11:30 am - 1 pm, GTM
Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting
February 21: 1 - 2:30 pm, GTM
Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
January 24: 1 - 3 pm, GTM
Contact CLMHD for all Call In and Go To Meeting information, 518.462.9422
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Albany County Jail to Expand Treatment for Opioid-Addicted Inmates
Albany County Jail will begin offering inmates suffering from opioid addiction access to three medication-assisted treatments, becoming the first correctional facility in the state outside of New York City to do so.
The medications - buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone - ease the physical symptoms of opioid withdrawal and reduce a person's chance of overdose dramatically. County officials and partners in the effort hope it will guide more people toward long-term recovery, and reduce their chances of returning to jail for addiction-fueled crimes such as possession or theft.
Deaths from opioid overdose are at epidemic levels nationwide, with at least two-thirds of the 72,000 drug deaths in 2017 attributable to opioids alone.
But chances of fatal overdose are
particularly high among the recently incarcerated, who are forced to discontinue use in jail and assume they can return to the same level once out. Read more
here.
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NYS Assemblyman From NYC Visits Dutchess Stabilization Center
A New York state assemblyman from Queens was in Dutchess County Wednesday to learn more about a center that provides professional help for residents dealing with mental health, substance use and other issues. It's the only such facility of its kind in the state and one that lawmakers say should be replicated.
Dutchess County Stabilization Center Director Beth Alter led the tour, showing lawmakers the room where staffers answer calls from its Help Line. Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro hosted Democratic state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi for the tour of the 24/7 walk-in facility.
"We think that Dutchess County has a model that can be replicated effectively in other parts of the state wherein we're really getting the core value of every human being, that we're focusing on their mental health, their physical, their social needs, and trying to get them to the long-term support necessary so they can live a more independent life," says Molinaro. "And that, for us, has not only been making a great difference here in Dutchess but we believe is a good model statewide." Read more
here.
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FDA Moves to Fast-Track OTC Naloxone for Opioid Overdose
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced "unprecedented" steps to support companies in developing over-the-counter (OTC) naloxone to help reduce opioid overdose deaths.
"With the number of overdose deaths involving prescription and illicit opioids more than doubling over the last 7 years to nearly 48,000 in 2017, it's critical that we continue to address this tragedy from all fronts," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD,
said in a statement.
This includes new ways to increase availability of naloxone, which typically can counter the overdose effects within minutes when administered quickly, said Gottlieb. Read more
here.
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OMH and OASAS Announce Awards to Help New Yorkers Access Insurance Coverage for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders
The Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) and the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) have approved awards for five community-based organizations to help educate the public on a new State resource to help individuals and providers access lifesaving substance use disorder and mental health treatment.
Grants were awarded through the Community Health Access to Addiction and Mental Healthcare Project (CHAMP) network, a new Ombudsman program established to educate individuals, families, and health care providers on their legal rights related to insurance coverage for behavioral health services, help people to access behavioral health treatment and services, and investigate and resolve complaints regarding health insurance denials of behavioral health services. Read more
here.
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Apply for NHSC's SUD Workforce Loan Repayment Program by February 21st and get up to $75,000!
The NHSC seeks addiction professionals who want to serve the nation's underserved rural, urban, and tribal communities. The SUD Workforce LPR offers eligible clinicians up to $75,000 in student loan repayment in exchange for a three-year commitment to provide SUD treatment services at
NHSC-approved sites.
Approved sites are located across the U.S., in both urban and rural areas. Visit the
Health Workforce Connector to see if your current employer is already approved which then makes you eligible to apply for loan repayment.
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Brief: Characteristics of the Rural Behavioral Health Workforce - A Survey of Medicaid/Medicare Reimbursed Providers
The Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center (BHWRC) conducted a
study to better understand the characteristics of the behavioral health workforce in rural areas, the services offered by rural provider organizations, and the barriers these organizations face to providing services.
35 rural of 454 behavioral health provider organizations in the study population completed an online survey, with responses primarily from support staff, behavioral health specialists, case managers, and mental health counselors. These organizations showed signs of not fully integrating behavioral health and primary care services.
Policy recommendations include funding more integrated care sites, empowering physician assistants and nurse practitioners to work to their full education/ training, and developing rural America's telehealth infrastructure.
Rural areas cover 97% of the United States and contain 19% of the population. Almost 60% of the 5,035 mental health provider shortage areas (HPSAs) designated by HRSA are in rural or partially rural areas. Rural residents are a vulnerable population due to their limited access to behavioral health and higher rates of depression, substance use disorder, and suicide than urban counterparts. This study aims to better characterize the workforce in rural areas, the services they are providing, the organizations they practice within, and the barriers these organizations face in providing care. Read more here.
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Health Plan Relationship Building Skills Key To VBR Success
As executive teams of specialty provider organizations look ahead to 2019, it appears that the shift to performance-based reimbursement will continue. The most recent change has been the new CMS rules that will move accountable care organizations (ACOs) to full-risk reimbursement contracts. This is going to generate new and different relationships between health plans and provider organizations. As a result, the OPEN MINDS senior team views value-based reimbursement (VBR) strategy as a key sustainability issue for provider organizations in 2019.
If that is the case, the strategic question for executive teams is: How do you seize the opportunities and avoid market challenges in this landscape? OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, Deb Adler's overarching advice for provider organization executive teams struggling with this question is focused on enhancing their skills with building relationships (and new programming) for health plans.
What is involved in that relationship building? Read more
here.
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Meth's Resurgence Spotlights Lack Of Meds To Combat The Addiction
In 2016, news reports warned the public of an opioid epidemic gripping the nation.
But Madeline Vaughn, then a lead clinical intake coordinator at the Houston-based addiction treatment organization Council on Recovery, sensed something different was going on with the patients she checked in from the street.
Their behavior, marked by twitchy suspicion, a poor memory and the feeling that someone was following them, signaled that the people coming through the center's doors were increasingly hooked on a different drug: methamphetamine.
"When you're in the boots on the ground," Vaughn said, "what you see may surprise you, because it's not in the headlines."
In the time since, it's become increasingly clear that, even as the opioid epidemic continues, the toll of methamphetamine use, also known as meth or crystal meth, is on the rise, too.
But unlike the opioid epidemic - for which medications exist to help combat addiction - medical providers have few such tools to help methamphetamine users survive and recover. Read more
here.
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