ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. FORMER S.J. WOMAN FACES DEPORTATION
2. CENTER AGREES TO FOUR YEARS OF MONITORING
3. BUDGET STANDS FOR NOW BUT NO BORROWING TO BALANCE AGAIN
4. JUSTICE GAPS FOR MENTALLY ILL CLOSED
5. PROGRAM AIMS TO BOOST FITNESS OF MENTALLY ILL
6. FLU DURING PREGNANCY LINKED TO ADULT SCHIZOPHRENIA
7. NAMI NEW JERSEY ON THE HILL
***************************************************
FORMER S.J. WOMAN FACES DEPORTATION
Rita DiPeppe was in the midst of a psychotic episode and
did not know what she was doing when she shot her husband
in 1992. DiPeppe accepted a plea deal of aggravated manslaughter.
She did not seek to be proven innocent by reason of insanity
because she said she felt she had already put her family
through enough pain. But now a revised anti-terrorism law
could cause the surviving family members more pain. Congress
passed a tougher law on criminal immigrants in 1996 to require
mandatory deportation of noncitizens convicted of serious
felonies. If she had known she could be deported, she would
have tried harder to be acquitted on grounds of insanity,
she said.
The family says a pardon from Gov. James E. McGreevey is
their last, best hope to keep her in the country. "I
can't bear to lose another parent tragically," her
daughter said. "You see this tragedy coming. And you
just want to try and stop it."
Read Alan Guenther’s article:
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m072504e.htm
Contact Governor McGreevey: http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html
***************************************************
CENTER AGREES TO FOUR YEARS OF MONITORING
A South Jersey facility for people with developmental disabilities
that has been under investigation for civil rights abuses
faces four years of federal monitoring under an agreement
state officials announced with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The settlement, which has been under negotiation for a year,
keeps the state Department of Human Services out of court.
Federal investigators found in 2002 that New Lisbon's residents
had been deprived of adequate medical and psychological
care and were left unprotected from abuse.
Remediation includes adding 300 new positions, including
five psychiatrists, bringing the staff to 1,500 and completing
annual psychiatric evaluations for people who are both mentally
ill and retarded.
Read Susan Livio’s report:
http://www.nj.com/statehouse/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1091520910228100.xml
***************************************************
BUDGET STANDS FOR NOW BUT NO BORROWING TO BALANCE AGAIN
Gov. James E. McGreevey’s administration may borrow
to balance the state's new $28 billion budget -- this year
-- but not in the future, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled.
The court said in a 4-1 decision that re-negotiating the
budget would disrupt government. So the justices will allow
borrowing to balance the budget, for only this once. The
New Jersey Constitution says a governor must balance the
budget each year. But this year, when he faced his end-of-June
deadline, McGreevey came up with a spending plan in which
$1.9 billion would be borrowed to close a budget gap.
Read the Gannett report:
http://www.app.com/gsbr/story/0,21421,1012755,00.html
Jersey's credit rating suffers third Wall St. hit
http://www.nj.com/statehouse/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1091088737269160.xml
Jersey ranks fifth-highest in state debt
http://www.nj.com/statehouse/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1090400275176660.xml
***************************************************
JUSTICE GAPS FOR MENTALLY ILL CLOSED
Before the death of a mentally-ill inmate in the Gloucester
County jail last year, Elaine Goodman saw a frightening
gap between the criminal justice system and the mental health
community. "The jails were never intended to be psychiatric
hospitals, and that's what they're ending up being,"
said Goodman, who approached Gloucester County Prosecutor
Sean Dalton last year about creating a committee to work
on mental health issues in the county's justice system.
Last month, the committee put out its first publication,
a 16-page booklet titled "Dealing with Mental Illness
Crisis" -- distributed by the Gloucester County Prosecutor's
Office to teach the county's police officers about the mentally
ill.
Read the Gloucester County Times story:
http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1089101737110150.xml
***************************************************
PROGRAM AIMS TO BOOST FITNESS OF MENTALLY ILL
The physical health of people with severe and persistent
mental illness should receive more attention as a result
of a new program launched yesterday promoting lifestyle
and behavioral changes in this vulnerable population. Pathways
for Wellness is an interactive computer software program
developed by officials from University of Medicine and Dentistry
of New Jersey University Behavioral HealthCare in conjunction
with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company
Read more:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1091520656228100.xml
***************************************************
FLU DURING PREGNANCY LINKED TO ADULT SCHIZOPHRENIA
A new study adds more evidence to a body of research that
suggests the children of some women who get the flu while
pregnant are at higher risk of developing schizophrenia.
In a report Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry,
researchers found the risk of schizophrenia in offspring
was increased threefold when the mothers had flu during
the first half of pregnancy.
Read the USA Today story:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-08-02-flushot-schizophrenia_x.htm
***************************************************
NAMI NEW JERSEY ON THE HILL
Save September 9th for advocacy visits in Washington to
Capital Hill. The NAMI NEW JERSEY Advocacy Network will
be holding a reception for representatives of the New Jersey
Congressional delegation in the Cannon House of Representatives
office building as part of the NAMI National Convention
on that day. Contact Phil Lubitz (732) 940-0991 or plubitz@optonline.net
if you will be attending the reception.
http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Inform_Yourself/Upcoming_Events/Convention/Program/2004_Convention_Program.htm
