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Suicide Rates For Young Americans Are Increasing. Here's What States Are Doing About It.
The country saw a 62% increase in suicide rates from 2007 to 2021 among people ages 10 to 24, according to federal data. In the face of a nationwide mental health crisis, agencies at every level are trying to connect more young people with the treatment and resources they need. Youths are facing a range of stressors, said Brandon Johnson, branch chief of suicide prevention at the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services, like bullying, school performance, family strife, negative content on social media and social isolation. And many young people have underlying mental health conditions that go unaddressed because they can’t afford or access treatment or resources to manage their mental health. Read more here.
Related: US suicides held steady in 2023 — at a very high level
Governor Hochul Announces Nearly $90 Million to Support Critical Youth Mental Health Services
What Happens When People are Actively Suicidal? An in-depth Analysis of 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Imminent Risk Data
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Wireless Calls to 988 Get a More Localized Response with Georouting
On Wednesday, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline announced that the process to start routing cellular phone calls to 988 contact centers based on the caller’s approximate location, versus by area code – known as “georouting” – began last week with two major U.S. wireless carriers that combined make up about half of all wireless calls to 988. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the 988 Network Administrator, Vibrant Emotional Health, have been working with all of the major U.S. cell phone carriers for more than a year to improve call routing to 988 so that callers on a cell phone can be connected more locally to centers that are better equipped to provide nearby resources and services. Building on this latest development, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the FCC, which established 988 as the three-digit dialing code for the Lifeline in 2020, will vote on final rules to codify georouting at its Oct. 17 Open Meeting. These new rules, if adopted by a vote from the full commission next month, would require all U.S. wireless carriers to implement georouting. Read more here.
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Fidelis Care and the Centene Foundation Award $1.1 Million to The Jed Foundation to Protect the Mental Health of New York's Youth
Fidelis Care, a leading health insurer providing quality, affordable coverage to New Yorkers, and the Centene Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Centene Corporation, announced today a $1.1 million grant to The Jed Foundation (JED), a national nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults. With this grant, JED will expand its current services, providing at least five youth-serving community-based organizations (CBOs) with consultation or strategic planning services, including expert guidance, educational workshops, and training programs, equipping young people with life skills and connecting them to mental health care when they are in distress. Read more here.
Related: NYC public school nurses to receive suicide prevention training
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Biden-Harris Administration Releases Historic Guidance on Health Coverage Requirements for Children and Youth Enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program
In another demonstration of the Biden-Harris Administration’s unwavering commitment to children’s health, today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released comprehensive guidance to support states in ensuring the 38 million children with Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage – nearly half of the children in this country – receive the full range of health care services they need. Under Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) requirements, eligible children and youth are entitled to a comprehensive array of prevention, diagnostic, and treatment services — including well-child visits, mental health services, dental, vision, and hearing services. The guidance issued today reinforces EPSDT requirements and highlights strategies and best practices for states in implementing these requirements. This guidance is the most comprehensive EPSDT guidance that CMS has released in a decade and is a critical step to ensuring the health of children. Read more here.
Related: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Historic Investment to Integrate Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment into Primary Care
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Foster Youth Often Struggle to Find Stable Housing. One New York City Nonprofit is Helping Meet the Need.
As the average New York City rent soars past $3,000 for a cramped studio, the ranks of homeless youth continue to grow. Last year, a city hall report found a nearly 50% increase in young adults seeking shelter care and drop-in services. Young adults in the foster care system are particularly vulnerable. Without the structure and guidance of family, they struggle to stay in school, find jobs, and secure stable housing. Even when they’re eligible for state and federal entitlement programs, too often there’s no one to guide them to these lifeline benefits.A recently opened affordable housing complex in the heart of Harlem offers a stand-out, gleaming alternative for youth aging out of foster care — providing not only otherwise unaffordable amenities, but a place to call home, alongside on-site social services. Read more here.
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Deep Links Between Alcohol and Cancer Are Described in New Report
Adults under age 50 have been developing breast cancer and colorectal cancer at increasingly higher rates over the last few decades, and alcohol use may be one factor driving the trend, according to a scientific report published on Wednesday. The report, by the American Association for Cancer Research, highlights scientific breakthroughs that have led to new anticancer drugs and improved overall survival. But the authors also described a troubling pattern: Even as cancer death rates have declined, the overall incidence of several cancers has been rising inexplicably, with an especially alarming increase among younger adults in cancers of the gastrointestinal system, like colorectal cancer. Read more here.
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U.S. Will Let More People Take Methadone at Home
The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients to line up at special clinics every morning to sip their daily dose of the liquid medicine while being watched. The rules, built on distrust of people in the grip of opioid addiction, were meant to prevent overdoses and diversion -- the illicit selling or sharing of methadone. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the risk calculation. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus at crowded clinics, emergency rules allowed patients to take methadone unsupervised at home. Research showed the looser practice was safe. Overdose deaths and drug diversion didn't increase. And people stayed in treatment longer. Read more here.
Related: Opioid Deaths Fell in Mid-2023, But Progress Is Uneven and Future Trends are Uncertain
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New Research Identifies Critical Gaps in Mental Health Care for Adults with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
New research finds that adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders have high rates of comorbid mental and substance use disorders and significant social and economic disadvantages, and only 26% received minimally adequate treatment. Meeting the needs of people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders will require innovative interventions and implementation to improve access to and use of evidence-based approaches, the authors argue. The research was published today in Psychiatric Services in Advance. The researchers, led by Natalie Bareis, Ph.D., with Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute, examined national data that were collected from Oct. 2020 to Oct. 2022 on 4,764 adults aged 18 to 65 in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency-sponsored U.S. Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study (MDPS). Using sampling weights, the authors compared sociodemographic characteristics and comorbid behavioral health conditions of individuals with or without schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Read more here.
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Saving Lives Through Screening: Physicians’ Crucial Role in Firearm Suicide Prevention
As mental health care providers, our ability to intervene before a firearm suicide death is often limited to those who seek treatment. However, countless individuals at high risk for firearm suicide remain beyond our reach, with only 26% of those who die by firearm suicide interacting with mental health services in their lifetime. This is especially concerning given that firearms account for over 50% of all suicide deaths and are the most lethal method with an 85-95% fatality rate; this means that when someone attempts suicide with a firearm, they rarely survive. This reality highlights the urgent need to expand suicide prevention efforts beyond mental healthcare and reach those at risk for firearm suicide before a crisis emerges. Physicians’ involvement, in particular, may help effectively reduce the rates of firearm suicide. Read more here.
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Half of Older Adults Say Their Health Care Providers Don’t Ask About Their Mental Health
Older Americans feel that the health care system rarely accounts for the totality of their health care wants and needs, including behavioral health. About half of those age 65 and older (45%) say their doctor asks about their mental health. Even fewer, about 40%, consider their cognitive and brain functioning. “Older adults are stuck in a health care system that is not responsive to their goals and preferences,” Terry Fulmer, president of The John A. Hartford Foundation, said in a news release. “Boomers want health care that maximizes their health and ability to function, and they want their providers to listen to them.” Read more here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
Providing Equitable Care for LGBTQ+ Youth in Rural Communities
September 26, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Addressing the Equity and Fairness of Assessments: How the National Guidelines Can Transform Agencies’ Communication and Use of Post-Conviction Risk and Needs Assessments
September 26, 1 - 2:30 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
Navigating the Behavioral Health AI Journey from Concept to Reality
September 26, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
State Funding for County Behavioral Health Crisis Services: Examples and Opportunities
September 26, 2 - 3 pm, NACo
Bridging the Licensure Gap: How Employers Can Support Clinician Success
September 27, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Court Navigation Programs: Providing Connections and Support Across the Legal and BH Systems
September 27, 1 - 2:30 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
Maternal Intensive Training: Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Primary Care & Ob/Gyn Settings
September 30, 9 am - 5 pm, Syracuse, NY - IN PERSON
Expanding Access to Crisis Care by Breaking Down Social and Technology Barriers
October 1, 12 - 1 pm, Behavioral Health Business
Children’s HCBS Referral Process and Expectations
October 1, 1 - 2 pm, NYSDOH
AI to Support Our Workforce
October 1, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
The Youth Protective Factors Study: Risk, Strengths, and Reoffending
October 2, 2 - 3 pm, CSG Justice Center
Evidence-Based Advocacy for Policy Reform
October 2, 3 - 4:30 pm, NAADAC
Workforce Journeys – Stories of Hope
October 3, 12 - 1 pm, MHANYS
Supporting Children of Incarcerated Parents: School and School-Based Mental Health Collaboration
October 3, 2:30 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center
The Danger of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Stigma Among Marginalized Communities
October 10, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
Rural Telementoring UnConference 2024
October 16, 11 am - 3 pm, RTTC
Boosting Equitable Connected Healthcare Access & Adoption
October 16, 2 - 3 pm, TechTarget
Justice Center Code of Conduct Train-the-Trainer Session
October 16, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs
New York State Trauma-Informed Network & Resource Center Conference
October 23 - 25, Saratoga Springs, NYSTINRC
Liability and Risk Considerations When Adopting AI Technology
October 25, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Transforming Systems: Strategies for Gender-Responsive Reentry and Crisis Response
October 30, 2 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center
Justice Center Code of Conduct Train-the-Trainer Session
November 13, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs
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CLMHD CALENDAR
SAVE THE DATE
CLMHD Executive Committee Meeting
October 2: 8 - 9 am
AOT Coordinators Call
October 4: 10 - 11:30 am
LGU Clinic Operators Call
October 8: 10 - 11:30 am
Addiction Services & Supports (ASR) Committee Meeting
October 10: 11 am - 12 pm
Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting
October 10: 1 - 2:30 pm
Mental Health Committee Meeting
October 10: 3 - 4 pm
CLMHD Office Closed - Columbus Day
October 14
Children & Families Committee Meeting
October 15: 11:30 am - 1 pm
Membership Call
October 16: 9 - 10:30 am
Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
October 19: 1 - 2:30 pm
Fall 2024 Full Membership Meeting
October 23-25, Clayton, NY (Jefferson County)
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