ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. CHRISTIE LOOKS TO PRIVATIZE SOME STATE SERVICES
2. GAPS IN MENTAL-HEALTH SERVICES STRAIN NEW JERSEY HOSPITALS
3. VETERANS AFFAIRS TO EASE CLAIM PROCESS FOR STRESS DISORDER
4. CAP’S FAILURE TO ACCOUNT FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION WILL HURT CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
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CHRISTIE LOOKS TO PRIVATIZE SOME STATE SERVICES
According to a 57-page report on privatization released by the Christie administration New Jersey would close its centralized car inspection lanes and motorists would pay for their own emissions tests. State parks, psychiatric hospitals and even turnpike toll booths could also be run by private operators. Among the recommendations were to privatize the state's four psychiatric hospitals at a savings of $10 million to $22 million.
See the full story:
http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2010/07/09/news/doc4c3772aeaaf93442510634.txt
Read the full report:
http://www.nj.gov/governor/news/reports/pdf/70910_NJ_Privatization_Task_Force_Final_Report_%28May_2010%29.pdf
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GAPS IN MENTAL-HEALTH SERVICES STRAIN NEW JERSEY HOSPITALS
Spiraling down into a mental health or addictions crisis is a traumatizing experience. And the trauma often is intensified, rather than relieved, when the ill individual is left in a New Jersey emergency room for hours, days - or even as long as a week - waiting for access to an appropriate level of care. Throughout New Jersey, emergency rooms are beginning to overflow, with the need most acutely felt among those in psychiatric crisis. This crisis in the ER is evidence of a crisis throughout the system of care, as funding continues to diminish and demand for services increases. Demand is rising at the entrance as a result of increased stressors caused by the economic downtown and long waits for treatment and services in the community. Meanwhile, the exit out of the ER becomes exceedingly more difficult as there are fewer options for the long-term treatment that often is necessary. Throughout the state, hospitals have shut their doors and others have closed their psychiatric units.
Read more:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/commentary/article_c4228e3d-6656-59ba-9a13-7444ef205523.html
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VETERANS AFFAIRS TO EASE CLAIM PROCESS FOR STRESS DISORDER
The government is preparing to issue new rules that will make it substantially easier for veterans who have been found to have post-traumatic stress disorder to receive disability benefits, a change that could affect hundreds of thousands of veterans from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. The regulations from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which will take effect as early as Monday will essentially eliminate a requirement that veterans document specific events like bomb blasts, firefights or mortar attacks that might have caused P.T.S.D., an illness characterized by emotional numbness, irritability and flashbacks. Under the new rule, which applies to veterans of all wars, the department will grant compensation to those with P.T.S.D. if they can simply show that they served in a war zone and in a job consistent with the events that they say caused their conditions. They would not have to prove, for instance, that they came under fire, served in a front-line unit or saw a friend killed.
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/us/08vets.html?hp
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CAP’S FAILURE TO ACCOUNT FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION WILL HURT CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Assemblywomen Mila M. Jasey and Bonnie Watson Coleman on Monday said the failure of the newly approved 2 percent cap on property taxes to account for special education costs will hurt New Jersey children with special needs.
The cap includes four exemptions – capital expenditures and debt service, pension benefits, health benefits and expenses incurred in connection with a state of emergency – but fails to provide one for special education resources.
“Combating property taxes is a top priority, but so is educating all children and protecting our most vulnerable,” Watson Coleman said. “We cannot sit back and watch the education of children with special needs be eroded.
Read more:
http://www.politickernj.com/jasey-watson-coleman-new-cap-s-failure-account-special-education-will-hurt-children-special-needs
