NYSCLMHD Releases White Paper:  "Completing the Recovery Treatment Continuum: Jail-Based Substance Use Disorder Services"

The Conference is proud to release "Completing the Recovery Treatment Continuum: Jail-Based Substance Use Disorder Services," a new white paper which discusses the vital need to address a gap in the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment continuum by funding treatment and transition services in the jail setting. The paper requests annual state funding of $12.8 million from the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) to LGUs.

The state is taking aggressive steps to address the heroin/opioid epidemic, including the rapid expansion of community-based treatment and support services to create a continuum of care to support the individual and family in their recovery.

LGUs recognize that there remains a gap in the treatment and support continuum: the local jail. CLMHD engaged Policy Research Associates (PRA) and the NYS Sheriffs' Association to quantify the needs and illustrate the reductions in recidivism and public policy benefit to providing SUD treatment and support during incarceration and through re-entry.  Read more here.

Federal Committee Calls for Creating a 'Care Continuum' to Meet Unmet Needs of Patients with Serious Mental Illness

A federal committee tasked with recommending ways the federal government can help provide more mental healthcare says the system is ill-equipped.

The Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee established under the 21st Century Cures Act reported to Congress on Thursday that there aren't enough psychiatric beds and community-based alternatives to hospitalization, and that more first responders need training to deal with the mentally ill and that there should be universal screening for mental illnesses and substance use disorders.

The ISMICC was one of a number of provisions included in the 21st Century Cures Act that focused on improving mental healthcare access, including a requirement that insurers provide the same level of coverage for behavioral healthcare services as they do for physical health.  Congress has asked several times for progress on the law. Last week, some lawmakers lamented the lack of funding available to implement many of the most significant provisions that aimed to fix a broken system.  Read more here.

SAMHSA Releases 2017 Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee Report to Congress

Governor Cuomo Announces 459 Housing Opportunities for New Yorkers with Developmental Disabilities Across the State

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo this week announced the creation of 459 new certified housing opportunities for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities living at home across New York State. The Governor committed $58.9 million in the FY 2017 State Budget for these housing opportunities, which will be primarily geared to meet the needs of those living at home with aging caregivers, or whose caregivers can no longer support their loved ones.

In this first phase of a multi-year strategy, developed by the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, the state is partnering with 53 provider agencies who will develop 83 new homes for 459 individuals across the state. The initiative primarily targets individuals living at home with their families.

Click here to view a list by region of the awarded provider agencies, number of new certified housing opportunities, and number of homes.

Health Affairs Blog: The Blended Accountability Model: Aligning Incentives And Support Structures For Value-Based Programs

As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to drive care from volume-based reimbursement to value-based arrangements, providers are participating in a variety of alternative population health management strategies. Both accountable care organizations (ACOs) and episodic payment models (EPMs) offer providers flexibility in the way they engage clinicians and manage the care of beneficiaries across geographies and disease states. With the recent publication of the ACO and Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative results, discussions have arisen regarding which model appears to be most successful in achieving valued-based results of improved quality and reduced cost. In this post, we would like to suggest a way in which both models can be integrated into one strategic initiative.

Providers have found that using both of these programs in tandem creates greater strategic alignment across networks and drives better outcomes. This post focuses on practical methods to enhance the way these models reinforce each other to produce better care, specifically through a blended accountability model.  Read more here.

PODCAST:  What To Consider When Evaluating or Recommending Technology For Use By Individuals With Mental Illness

CHARLESTON, W.Va.- Police officers in the drug unit here have ended their routine of arresting every drug user who shoplifts and steals weed whackers off porches to pay for their drug habit. Instead, they're referring some of them to treatment, leaving more time to pursue major drug arrests.

The approach seems to be working. In the last three years, more than 170 low-level drug offenders have decided to sign up for addiction treatment instead of being taken into custody, and more than 70 percent of them have turned their lives around.

But in a worsening opioid epidemic, West Virginia's effort to replicate Charleston's Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program has run into a daunting obstacle: wariness among overburdened mental health providers.