ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. CRITICS SEE BIAS IN HAGEDORN REPORT
2. NEW JERSEY MUST HELP THE MENTALLY ILL
3. JAILS ARE THE NEW AMERICAN ASYLUMS
4. HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS COUNT N.J. HOMELESS
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CRITICS SEE BIAS IN HAGEDORN REPORT
Closing the Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital was a foregone conclusion last spring but Gov. Christie agreed to form a task force to study whether it was good policy to close the only state-run psychiatric hospital specializing in treating senior citizens.
The official members favored keeping Hagedorn open, 10-3 with four abstentions But many of the recommendations in the report, obtained by The Star-Ledger, strongly lean toward closing the hospital and finding ways to do that by the administration’s original goal of June 2012.
See the full Star Ledger report:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/task_force_report_recommendati.html
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NEW JERSEY MUST HELP THE MENTALLY ILL
We have spent a lot of time recently contemplating two horribly violent incidents. Both tragedies left us thinking about the victims, and the opportunities and moments we lost when they died, but the incidents also left us wondering what we could have done as a society to prevent this from happening.
The Legislature worked hard to create preventative measures that would avoid future occurrences. But the Christie administration has refused to implement it, leaving the safety of innocent New Jerseyans and those with mental illness who refuse treatment at risk.
Read Assembly Speaker Oliver’s opinion piece
http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2011/01/new_jersey_must_help_the_menta.html
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JAILS ARE THE NEW AMERICAN ASYLUMS
When I was working for the prison system, I examined the relationship between incarceration and mental illness What was revealing was the strong correlation between the number of incarcerations and diagnoses of serious mental illness. Among those who had been incarcerated in the city's system only once, I found that just over 10 percent were identified as having a serious mental illness. However, among those who had been incarcerated 16 times, more than 50 percent had been identified as having a serious mental illness.
Read more:
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20110131_Jails_are_the_new_American_asylums.html
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HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS COUNT N.J. HOMELESS
Hundreds of social service workers and volunteers fanned across New Jersey to conduct the fifth annual point-in-time survey, which captures a snapshot of the homeless population statewide. The state’s homeless population has climbed slightly over the past three years as the nation attempts to climb out of a deep recession. This week, social service officials say, that trend is expected to continue. In 2009, HUD awarded New Jersey counties received a total of $13,542,890 in homeless assistance. That was the fourth largest award among U.S. states and territories, surpassing New York, which got $12,642,850 that year.
See the full story:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/volunteers_count_homeless_peop.html
