ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. HIGHER EDUCATION ANTI-BULLYING BILL IS PRESENTED
2. MENTAL HEALTH VISITS RISE AS PARENT DEPLOYS
3. N.J. COP2COP LAW ENFORCEMENT SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM
4. STIGMA HAUNTS MENTALLY ILL LATINOS
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HIGHER EDUCATION ANTI-BULLYING BILL IS PRESENTED
Colleges and universities across the nation would be required to have anti-harassment policies and recognize cyber-bullying as a threat to students under federal legislation introduced today in memory of a Rutgers University student who committed suicide.
The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate by Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th Dist.) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). In addition to requiring all colleges that receive federal aid to amend their harassment policies, the new law would provide funding to help schools start anti-bullying programs on campus.
View the full story:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/higher_education_anti-bullying.html#incart_hbx
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MENTAL HEALTH VISITS RISE AS PARENT DEPLOYS
Young children in military families are about 10 percent more likely to see a doctor for a mental difficulty when a parent is deployed than when the parent is home, researchers are reporting in the most comprehensive study to date of such families’ use of health insurance during wartime. Visits for mental health concerns, like anxiety and acting out at school, were the only kind to increase during deployment; complaints for all physical problems declined, the study found.
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/us/08child.html
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N.J. COP2COP LAW ENFORCEMENT SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM
The volunteers at Cop2Cop, a counseling service for law enforcement, were preparing for a celebration ceremony Wednesday morning, straightening their ties and finalizing the choreography for the event, when the phone rang. Somewhere an armed officer was on the brink of suicide and had called their hotline. The volunteers quickly responded, running through the grim checklist of suicide prevention. By the time they showed up, they had averted a suicide for the 176th time since the organization was formed.
See the story:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/cops2cops-hotline-celebrates-10th-anniversary.html
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STIGMA HAUNTS MENTALLY ILL LATINOS
Although the rates of mental illness among Latinos and whites in the U.S. are roughly equivalent, whites are far more likely to receive mental-health treatment According to a 2001 Surgeon General's report, only about 20 percent of Latinos with a psychological disorder consult a general health-care provider about their symptoms, and just 10 percent contact a mental-health specialist.
Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that stigma -- and what's known as self-stigma -- is a major factor standing in the way of mental-health care for Latinos.
See more:
http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6686:nonprofit-sues-nj-town-for-civil-rights-abuses&catid=155:nonprofit-newswire&Itemid=986
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