ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. HAGEDORN PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL DESERVES BETTER
2. DIVISION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION SERVICES (DMHAS)
3. UMDNJ OFFERS HELPLINE FOR SOLDIERS
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HAGEDORN PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL DESERVES BETTER
The task force studying the future of Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital seems to have lived up to low expectations, muddying the waters so thoroughly that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will have a rationale to close the institution in 2012, as originally planned.
That’s not to say the task force didn’t send a strong message to Christie. It did. According to the report the task force — which is due to release its final report on the viability of Hagedorn this week — voted 10-3 to keep it open, saying the 310-bed hospital in Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County, is a valuable and efficient part of the state’s psychiatric heath-care program.
Read more:
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/today/index.ssf/2011/02/opinion_hagedorn_deserves_bett.html
See the Task Force report:
http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dmhs/home/HPH_TF_Final_Report_feb_1_2011.pdf
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DIVISION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION SERVICES (DMHAS)
The State of New Jersey’s Fiscal Year 2011 Budget formally merged the Division of Mental Health Services (DMHS) and the Division of Addiction Services (DAS) into the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS). Leadership from the Department of Human Services and the Division of Mental Health Services and the Division of Addiction Services has been working toward formalizing this arrangement with help from various stakeholders. In order to obtain input from constituents a series of consumer and family forums have been scheduled throughout the state.
View the forum schedule:
http://www.naminj.org/events/upcoming/MHACFflyer.pdf
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UMDNJ OFFERS HELPLINE FOR SOLDIERS
At his lowest point last year, feeling distressed and out of sorts, he called the "Vet2Vet" helpline, run by UMDNJ, where he was directed to seek to professional help and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Soldiers on active duty will now have the the chance to get the same type of help. The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which runs the 5-year-old Vet2Vet program with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, is offering a new "Vets4Warriors" helpline to the soldiers of Fort Hood in Texas, the most populous Army base in the nation.
The full story:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/umdnj_offers_vets4warriors_hel.html
