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Governor Hochul Kicks Off Statewide Listening Tour on Tackling Smartphone Use in New York Schools
Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday kicked off a statewide listening tour focused on addressing smartphone use in schools. This listening tour will include roundtable discussions with key stakeholders over the coming months. As the Governor has emphasized, stakeholder engagement will play a key role as she develops a statewide policy proposal on smartphones in schools that will be announced later this year. The kickoff roundtable was held at Guilderland High School in the Capital Region and included administrators and teachers from several different schools. Additional roundtables over the coming months will be held across the state with a wide array of educators, parents, students and advocates. Read more here.
Related: New York PTA, lawmakers ready to defend limiting smartphones in schools
Teens feel less emotional support than their parents think they do, new report shows
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County Leadership in Mental Health: How Counties Are Leading the Way to Address Workforce Challenges
Behavioral health conditions affect millions of Americans. With demand for services increasing and a shortage of providers nationwide, it is critical to develop both interim and long-term solutions for enhancing the workforce to respond to the needs of local residents. Counties across the nation are investing in programs and initiatives that both assist with and incentivize the recruitment, training and placement of behavioral health providers that will work within local and under resourced communities. Counties rely on intergovernmental partners to supplement these investments through the enhancement of existing programs and establishment of new programs that promote workforce recruitment and retention. Read the brief here.
Related: ‘Diversity Can’t Be An Afterthought’: How Behavioral Health Providers Should Approach the Clinician Workforce
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NYS DOH Announces Submission of 1115 Waiver Amendment That Will Provide Continuous Eligibility for Medicaid and Child Health Plus to Children Under Age Six
The New York State Department of Health today announced the recent submission of an 1115 Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) waiver amendment to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which, when approved, will allow the State to offer children under age six continuous eligibility in Child Health Plus and Medicaid, effective January 2025. The waiver amendment would make New York the fourth state to offer continuous eligibility for health insurance to children under six, along with Oregon, Washington, and New Mexico. The waiver amendment will revise the state's current MRT 1115 waiver by preventing children in Medicaid and Child Health Plus from losing health insurance coverage due to fluctuations in family income. Read more here.
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Toolkit: Addressing Health Equity and Racial Justice Within Integrated Care Settings
The Center of Excellence for Integrated Health Solutions (CoE-IHS) developed this interactive, online toolkit and list of resources for you and your organization to support you in addressing racial inequities and the associated stigmas that lead to mental health and substance use treatment disparities and ensure you have the tools to support your patients and organizations. You and your team will be able to set your own pace and supplement your knowledge in the identified areas in a variety of formats to suit different learning styles. We recommend that organizational managers/leaders assess the level of group knowledge related to health equity, health inequity, health disparities and social determinants, health literacy, cultural literacy and racial equity and social justice in your organization. Forming a diversity committee focused on training might help this process within your organization. Read more here.
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Now in Its Second Year, 988 Lifeline Continues to Help Millions of People
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has expanded services and continued to answer millions of calls, texts, and chats from people experiencing mental health or substance use crises since its launch on July 16, 2022, the agency heads for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today. HHS has invested nearly $1.5 billion into 988 as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive strategy to address the nation’s mental health and substance use crises. Since 988’s launch in July 2022, counselors answered more than 10 million calls, texts, and chats from people looking for help with suicidal thoughts and mental health and substance use-related crises. Of the 10 million contacts answered in the past two years, 1.7 million were texts – with 988 answering 51% more texts in the past 12 months than the year before. Read more here.
Related: Poll of Public Perspectives on 988 & Crisis Response (2024)
Top Biden mental health official on 988's future
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Mental Health Clinics Help Latinos Bridge Language and Access Barriers
Michelle Mata wasn’t diagnosed with a mental illness until she was 23, after years of suffering. She knew very little about who to ask for help, having grown up in a Latino family in San Antonio that didn’t talk about mental health. At appointments, she was terrified of telling the truth. “I didn’t want to tell (doctors) that because I knew that as soon as I disclosed what I was feeling my freedom was going to be taken away from me and I was going to be put into the hospital,” said Mata, 53, who talked about her mental health to The Associated Press in the hope of helping others. She now works at the San Antonio chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness as she copes 30 years later with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Read more here.
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NYS OPWDD Announces National Accreditation for Direct Support Professionals Employed by Heritage Christian Services
The NYS Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) on Wednesday announced that 81 local direct support professionals employed by Heritage Christian Services will receive credentials through the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) E-Badge Academy. The E-Badge Academy offers Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and Frontline Supervisors the ability to earn national certification through stackable electronic badges. These badges demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and values that these professionals use every day, recognizing the professional development that might otherwise go unacknowledged. Read more here.
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Lifesaving Drugs and Police Projects Mark First Use of Opioid Settlement Cash in California
SACRAMENTO — Sonja Verdugo lost her husband to an opioid overdose last year. She regularly delivers medical supplies to people using drugs who are living — and dying — on the streets of Los Angeles. And she advocates at Los Angeles City Hall for policies to address addiction and homelessness. Yet Verdugo didn’t know that hundreds of millions of dollars annually are flowing to California communities to combat the opioid crisis, a payout that began in 2022 and continues through 2038. The money comes from pharmaceutical companies that made, distributed, or sold prescription opioid painkillers and that agreed to pay about $50 billion nationwide to settle lawsuits over their role in the overdose epidemic. Even though a recent Supreme Court decision upended a settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, many other companies have already begun paying out and will continue doing so for years. California, the most populous state, is in line for more than $4 billion. Read more here.
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How Homelessness Can Be Viewed as a Symptom of Mental Illness
With the backdrop of the migrant crisis, shelter turnovers are at their shortest in a decade, only followed by a two-decade record of unhoused individuals sleeping on streets and subways. To ease this stressed system, one promising solution may lie in quickly moving unhoused individuals into permanent supportive housing – connecting them to wraparound services under one roof. Yet, according to front-line experts closest to unhoused adults, persuading individuals to leave the streets into housing poses unexpected challenges that highlight key systemic shortcomings. Instead of forcefully removing people off streets, experts recommend outreach-based approaches that prioritize building relationships that create natural pathways to housing and continuous care. Read more here.
Related: Unstable housing in childhood associated with anxiety in adolescence
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Study: Opioid Use Disorder Patients Were More Likely to Stick with Treatment if Referred Through Telemedicine vs. the Emergency Department
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Telemedicine referrals for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) can be a more effective way than an in-person emergency department visit to get patients to start and stay with medication assisted treatment through an outpatient clinic. Those are the findings from a study University at Buffalo researchers published online in the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment on June 29. It is believed to be the first study comparing telemedicine referrals to treatment for OUD to referrals initiated at the emergency department. Read more here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
Promoting Social Equity for Underrepresented Individuals in the Workforce
July 18, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Understanding the Adolescent Behavioral Health Crisis
July 18, 1 - 2 pm, United Hospital Fund
Equity In Suicide Prevention: A Webinar Series
July 24, 1 - 2 pm, SPRC
Understanding Recent Developments in Health Care Privacy Laws
July 25, 1 - 2 pm, Manatt Health
EMS-Led Deflection Response to Substance Use Disorder in Florida: Coordinated Opioid Recovery (CORE) Program
July 26, 2 - 3 pm, COSSUP
SafeSide Prevention: Workforce education for suicide prevention (Zero Suicide) - ONLINE
July 25, August 1, or August 15 12 - 3:30 pm, UR Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence, HRSA
Improving Quality Of Life, Functioning & Well-being In Individuals Living With Bipolar Disorder
July 25, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
Expanding Equitable Access to Telehealth Across New York State: Policy Recommendations and Practice Innovations
July 25, 1 - 2 pm, NY Health Foundation
Navigating Concerns on Youth Crime, Violence, and Behavioral Health: What Does the Data Say?
July 29, 12 - 1 pm, CSG Justice Center
Voices From the Field: Centering Lived and Living Experience in Overdose Prevention
July 29, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Clinical Community Partnerships to Support Behavioral Health in Service Members, Veterans and their Families
July 30, 1 - 2:30 pm, SAMHSA
Informal and Formal Family Peer Support: The Impact and Evidence
July 30, 1:30 - 3 pm, NASMHPD
Transformative Strategies for Person-centered Care: Bridging Tobacco-related Disparities for Justice-involved Individuals
July 30 3 - 5 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Traveling the Road to OPWDD Eligibility & How Self-Direction Can Give You the Tools for a Fuller Life
August 1, 10 - 11:30 am, Adapt Community Network
Building a Behavioral Health Continuum of Care: The Role of Rural Leaders and Behavioral Health Directors
August 6, 2 - 3 pm, NACo
Prevention to Treatment: Substance Use Disorder Solution Strategies
August 7, 2 - 3 pm, NACo
Transforming Justice Through Collaboration
August 7, 2:30 - 3:30 pm, NACo
Navigating the Suicidal Crisis with your Outpatient Client
August 8, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Understanding Community Trauma: Systemic Challenges in Black and Brown Communities
August 8, 2:30 - 3:30 pm, NASMHPD
Innovative Initiatives to Serve the Needs of Older Adults with Serious Mental Illness
August 12, 12 - 1:30 pm, NASMHPD
Learn the Law About Service and Support Animals
August 13, 10 - 11 am, Disability Rights New York
What Is Harm Reduction for Alcohol?
August 14, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC
Ask the Expert: Collaborative Approaches to Providing Mental Health and Law Enforcement Services
August 20, 2 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center
Barriers to Care: Solutions for Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment Provision in Rural Communities
August 21, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Peer Recovery Support Series: Passionate Professionals; Dispassionate Practice — Ethical Boundaries in Non-Clinical Roles
August 22, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
Understanding Mental Health Disparities Within Rural LGBTQ+ Communities
August 22, 1:30 - 3 pm, NIMH
What Now: Xylazine in the Age of Opioid Use Disorder
August 27, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Three Crucial Factors in Treating Suicide Risk Lessons Learned from the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide
September 12, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Increasing Accessibility of Mental Health Services for Unhoused Populations in Rural and Urban Communities
September 18, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Rural Health Symposium - Binghamton, NY
September 19 - 20, NYS Association for Rural Health
Ask the Expert: Family-Centered Reentry Programming
September 25, 2 - 3:30 pm, CSG Justice Center
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CLMHD CALENDAR
AUGUST
Quarterly LGU Billing Staff Call
August 6: 11 am - 12 pm
Executive Committee Meeting
August 7: 8 - 9 am
Addiction Services & Supports (ASR) Committee Meeting
August 8: 11 am - 12 pm
Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting
August 8: 1 - 2:30 pm
Mental Health Committee Meeting
August 8: 3 - 4 pm
LGU Clinic Operators Meeting
August 13: 10 - 11:00 am
Children & Families Committee Meeting
August 20: 11:30 am - 1 pm
Membership Call
August 21: 9 - 10:30 am
SAVE THE DATE
Fall 2024 Full Membership Meeting
October 23-25, Clayton, NY (Jefferson County)
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