ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. CONFRONTING THE MENTALLY ILL
2. INMATE CHARGED IN KILLING AT JAIL
3. 'PARTIAL CARE' GETS A CLOSER LOOK
4. FLEXIBLE TREATMENT BEST FOR PATIENTS WITH MENTAL
AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
5. DOD OFFICIAL URGES MENTAL HEALTH CULTURE SHIFT
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CONFRONTING THE MENTALLY ILL
The fatal police shooting in Maplewood of a knife-wielding
man said to be schizophrenic has stoked interest in developing
a guide to less-than-lethal methods to subdue mentally ill
suspects. The Legislature passed a bill in 2006 authorizing
the Attorney General's Office to study the issue, but nothing
has been done. Many metropolitan police forces create special
units because of the number of incidents each day involving
people with psychiatric problems. In New Jersey, made up
primarily of small municipalities, establishing a state
or county specialized psychiatric unit that can parachute
into a crisis might make sense.
Read
the Star Ledger Editorial.
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INMATE CHARGED IN KILLING AT JAIL
The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office charged an inmate,
with first degree murder in the death of his cell mate.
The two men were housed in a special detention unit at the
jail designed for prisoners who are being disciplined, have
mental health issues or are suicidal. Sheriff's Department
spokesman Bill Maer said that the deceased inmate had been
placed on suicide watch in the special detention unit for
observation pending a mental health evaluation, which would
have led to a decision about whether or not to give him
further screening at a hospital. He was in jail for violating
his state parole by failing to report to his parole officers.
Read
the Herald News story.
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'PARTIAL CARE' GETS A CLOSER LOOK
After audit, state says it will revamp oversight of outpatient
programs for mentally ill
Findings from a recently released state audit, demonstrate
how poorly the Department of Human Services has monitored
its outpatient therapy programs for people who leave psychiatric
care, better known as "partial care" and "partial
hospitalization." The mistakes and lack of oversight
cost the state $3.2 million in overbillings from July 2004
to February 2007, according to the audit by the non-partisan
Office of Legislative Services (OLS). Because of the problems,
state officials say they are now revamping oversight of
the $77 million program, which serves about 12,000 mentally
ill patients at 31 hospital-based centers and 113 clinics.
Read the Star Ledger story:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1184560293227380.xml&coll=1
View the Full OLS Audit Report:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislativepub/auditor/54396.pdf
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FLEXIBLE TREATMENT APPROACH BEST FOR PATIENTS WITH MENTAL
AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
Medicaid programs could improve treatment for beneficiaries
with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders by
adopting a “no wrong door” approach to treatment,
allowing Medicaid beneficiaries with co-occurring disorders
to reach adequate care no matter where they enter the health
care system, according to a recent study. Researchers compared
data on Medicaid programs in Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana,
New Jersey and Washington. They found that one in five beneficiaries
treated in hospitals and emergency departments received
no Medicaid-funded behavioral health treatment outside of
these settings. In addition, beneficiaries with co-occurring
disorders were three to six times more likely than those
with a mental health diagnosis alone to be hospitalized
for psychiatric treatment, researchers said.
Read the Congressional Quarterly story:
http://public.cq.com/docs/hb/hbnews110-000002549887.html
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DEPARTMENT of DEFENSE OFFICIAL URGES MENTAL HEALTH CULTURE
SHIFT
The Pentagon’s top health official said Thursday he
wants to see better mental health assessments, stronger
privacy protections and a “buddy system” to change
the military’s stigma against seeking help for anxiety
and depression. The Pentagon and Congress are reviewing
95 recommendations made last month by a task force chaired
by Navy Surgeon General Donald Arthur. Issuing an urgent
warning, the panel found that more than one-third of troops
and veterans currently suffer from problems such as traumatic
brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder and urged
stronger leadership, more money and a fundamental shift
in treatment to focus on prevention and screening. About
38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines report
psychological conditions such as brain injury and PTSD after
returning from deployment. Among members of the National
Guard, the figure is much higher — 49 percent —
with numbers expected to grow because of repeated and extended
deployments.
Read the Navy Times story:
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/07/ap_troopsmentalhealth_070712/
View the Task Force report:
http://www.ha.osd.mil/dhb/mhtf/MHTF-Report-Final.pdf
