Youth Mental Health Crisis Facility to Serve Gallia, Jackson, and Meigs Counties

The Gallia-Jackson-Meigs ADAMH Board has partnered with Hopewell Health Centers and the Gallia County Board of Commissioners on the project which will be utilizing a portion of the former Gallipolis Developmental Center grounds. Youth in mental health crisis will have a local option for treatment once the facility becomes operational in a month or so. The facility is basically ready, staff will now be hired and trained. With the opening of a new youth mental health crisis center, treatment will now be closer to home.

Meigs County resident, Robin Harris, Executive Director of the Gallia-Jackson-Meigs ADAMH Board was a driving force behind the project and has worked for years along with others to see this facility become a reality. Seeing the need for rapid crisis intervention, evaluation and stabilization services in the region, the facility should serve as an option instead of youth always visiting a hospital emergency department or traveling long distances for unnecessary psychiatric hospitalization. Through collaboration of many agencies, “We are able to fulfill a dream many of us have had through the years,” Harris said.

Read the full coverage of the ribbon cutting in the Meigs Independent Press. 

Luke Russell to Lead NAMI Ohio

The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio (NAMI Ohio) announced the appointment of Luke Russell as the new executive director. 

Russell, 52, who has served as NAMI Ohio’s deputy director since June 2020, succeeds Terry Russell as head of the largest non-profit agency in Ohio, representing those with mental illness, their family members and caregivers. 

“The mission and priorities of NAMI Ohio have not changed, and I hope and pray the passion and vision of the iconic previous executive director continue through each and every one of us,” Luke Russell said. “I have the responsibility to ensure the “voice” of individuals and families is heard clearly and often.” 

“My goals are to keep our time, effort, energy, resources and focus on the vision and mission,” he said. 

Among Russell’s goals for NAMI Ohio this year is focusing on “person-centered mental health,” an approach that aims to create comprehensive, statewide support services that provides individuals and their families options beyond community-based treatment. NAMI will work with state officials and providers to help bring the program to fruition in the next state budget cycle. Housing for those with mental illness will also be an area of increased focus, with attention to new regional rehabilitation centers and permanent housing through the Ohio Adult Care Facilities Association. 

For more information, visit namiohio.org. 

Percentage of Overdose Deaths Involving Methadone Declined between January 2019 and August 2021

The percentage of methadone-involved overdose deaths relative to all drug overdose deaths declined from January 2019 to August 2021, according to a new study. Access to methadone, a medication to treat opioid use disorder, was expanded at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to allow more patients to take home doses, rather than visit a clinic daily. These data indicate that broader access to treatment was not associated with harms. While drug overdose deaths both with and without methadone increased in the month of March 2020, overdose deaths that did not involve methadone continued to increase in the months after the policy changes, while overdose deaths involving methadone held steady.

Published in JAMA Psychiatry, this study was a collaborative effort led by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

A full summary from NIDA is available here.