ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. CHANGES TO PARTIAL CARE PROPOSED
2. THE TRUTH-O-METER SAYS: ONE IN EVERY FIVE FAMILIES
3. STATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL STAFFS CAN DISCUSS ONGOING SUIT
4. RECONSIDER HAGEDORN
5. RESPONDING TO MENTAL ILLNESS IN YOUR WORKFORCE
**************************************
CHANGES TO PARTIAL CARE PROPOSED
The Department of Human Services is proposing changes to reimbursement rates and staff-to-patient ratios for certain types of psychiatric care. For what it calls “psychiatric adult acute partial hospital and partial hospital services” and “independent clinic services’’ the state wants to change the ratio of staff to clients from 1 to 12 to 1 to 15. In addition, reimbursements under the Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare program would drop for partial care services from $15.40 per hour to $14.55 per hour, and reimbursements for such hospital services would drop from $35 to $33.08.
These partial care services are for people with severe mental illness, are designed to help them avoid hospitalizations and relapses, and instead live in communities and have access to counseling, case management and other services.
See the proposed regulations:
http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/providers/ruleprop/RuleProposals/(F)%20PRN%202011-172%20(DHS-DMAHS%2010_52-4%203).doc
Senator Codey’s statement:
http://www.politickernj.com/50338/codey-statement-mental-health-care-proposal
**************************************
THE TRUTH-O-METER SAYS: ONE IN EVERY FIVE FAMILIES
Gov. Chris Christie’s budget veto pen didn’t just hit big-ticket expenditures. Even small amounts – including $50,000 for a mental health awareness group – was trimmed from the state’s spending plan this summer. And state Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) had plenty to say about it during a speech he gave on the Senate floor in Trenton.
Codey raised more than one issue in his statement, so PolitiFact New Jersey checked Codey’s statistics including the number of people in New Jersey affected by mental illness, explain the budget cut and identify "serious mental illness."
See what PolitiFact found:
http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2011/aug/11/richard-codey/sen-codey-says-1-5-new-jersey-families-has-loved-o/
**************************************
STATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL STAFFS CAN DISCUSS ONGOING SUIT
A federal judge has denied an advocacy group’s motion to put a protective order in place at New Jersey psychiatric hospitals to prevent hospital staff from discussing with patients an ongoing lawsuit brought by the group against the state. The lawsuit argues New Jersey should give patients at psychiatric hospitals access to a judicial hearing before patients are forced to take psychotropic drugs.
Read more:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/motion_to_prevent_state_psychi.html
**************************************
RECONSIDER HAGEDORN
I was appointed to the governor’s State Mental Health Facilities Evaluation Task Force charged with the determining whether Hagedorn should be shuttered. I am an attorney by profession, sister of one who courageously deals with schizophrenia on a daily basis, a family monitor at Hagedorn since 2006 and a member of NAMI Hunterdon. My sister cycled in and out of many hospitals in New Jersey until Hagedorn stabilized her so that she can live well in the community with support. I provide this information so that the reader has a basis upon which to judge this letter.
Read Rosalyn Metzger’s letter to the editor:
http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2011/08/reconsider_hagedorn.html
**************************************
RESPONDING TO MENTAL ILLNESS IN YOUR WORKFORCE
All employment law is designed to protect employers, as well as employees. However, people with disabilities have long felt that employment law left them out in the cold. There are specific steps you can take to create a workplace that responds to mental illness in a compassionate, fair and realistic way. Here in Part 2, let’s also talk about how to respond in a way that adheres to the spirit and word of the law.
Read NAMI Member Carol Kivler’s insightful article:
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2011/responding-to-mental-illness-in-your-workforce-following-the-law/
