Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc.
(Publication Archives)

Friday Fax from Albany

MHANYS’ 2005 Legislative Conference: MHANYS will be holding its 2005 Legislative Conference on March 7, 2005 at 9:00 AM in room 711-A of the Legislative Office Building in Albany. This annual event is important because it provides participants with the opportunity to become involved with the legislative process, get to know policy makers, and meet with their representatives.

This year, participants will be provided with information on issues such as Timothy’s Law, the need for additional housing options, the need to properly plan for the future of New York’s mental health system, protecting access to Medicaid, and reform of the way in which individuals with mental illness are treated in jails and prisons. All participants will be provided with a copy of MHANYS’ 2005 Legislative Briefing Book, which will detail the components of this year’s agenda thoroughly.

Tom O’Clair will share his thoughts with us regarding the legislation named in memory of his 12 year-old son, Timothy, who completed suicide nearly 4 years ago due to insurance discrimination. We also expect to be joined by leaders in mental health policy from the Senate, Assembly, Governor’s office, and the Office of Mental Health who will share with us their perspective on the issues of importance to MHANYS.

The schedule for the meeting is from 9-12. The first hour will be dedicated to discussion of MHANYS’ Legislative Agenda. From 10-12, we will be hearing from the legislature’s and executive’s top mental health leaders.

From 12 o’clock through the rest of the day, we urge you to set up meetings with your local legislators. If you are unaware of your local Assembly member or Senator, please contact our office and we will provide you with the information.

We hope everyone will consider joining us on March 7th for what is sure to be a successful and enjoyable Legislative Conference.

SHU Bill Introduced: This week, as he did last year, Assemblymember Jeff Aubry, the Assembly’s Correction Committee Chair, has reintroduced the legislation that would eliminate the use of solitary confinement in jails and prisons for inmates living with mental health needs - A.8849A.

Working with many other organizations that create the Mental Health Alternatives to Solitary Confinement (MHASC), we are working with the New York State Correctional Officers and Policy Benevolent Association to get this bill introduced in the Senate by Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee Chair, Senator Michael Nozzolio.

Mental Health Alternatives to Solitary Confinement

MHASC Legislative Day

March 14th, 2005
Albany, NY

REGISTER FOR A SEAT ON THE BUS TODAY!
Call Sean at (212) 780-1400, ext. 793

On March 14th, the Mental Health Alternatives to Solitary Confinement coalition will be hosting a Legislative Day/Rally in Albany, NY. Please join us to end the placement of psychiatrically disabled prisoners into solitary confinement or SHU. On March 14th, you will have the opportunity to:

• Attend a Press Conference
• Participate in a “BOOT THE SHU” Rally
• Meet with Elected Officials
• Change Law

BOOT THE SHU!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Second Annual Walk for Mental Health

Week of May 14 – May 20, 2005

In November of 2004, several advocates from across the state walked 122 miles in support of Timothy's Law. The walk went from Warwick, NY to Albany, NY and culminated in a rally of more than than 600 individuals gathered for Mental Health Parity.

This year, two advocates involved in the Walk for Timothy’s Law in Memory of Robin Jane Desrats, Ann Berardinelli of Families with Bi-Polar Children, and Ali Zimmerman, an employee of Independent Living, Inc., are planning an annual Walk for Mental Heath during May is Mental Health Month.

During the week of May 1st through the 20th, they will be getting walkers from each county to participate in a relay-type walk from the four corners of the state, converging on Albany on the 20th.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Ann or Alexandra - e-mail the Walk Committee at mentalhealth_walkers@yahoo.com, or call Ann at (845) 566-0810 or Ali at (845) 703-1042 and they will connect you with the agency coordinating the walk in your region.

Kendra’s Law Hearings: Assembly Mental Health Committee Chair Peter Rivera will be holding 3 public hearings on Kendra's Law in the coming months. The first them is expected to take place beginning in March, probably in New York City, with the other hearings likely to take place in Albany and Western New York. As the schedule becomes available, we’ll be sure to share it with you.

Assembly Introduces Legislation to Create Mental Health Housing Waiting List (from NYAPRS): Assembly Mental Health Committee Chair Peter Rivera has re-introduced legislation requiring the maintenance of an OMH housing waiting list. The bill number is A.2895 and includes Assembly members Grannis, Ortiz, Lavelle, Weisenberg, Gottfried, Lifton, Destito as co-sponsors and Assembly members Cahill, Cohen A, Diaz L, Diaz R, Gordon, McEneny, Nolan, Rivera J, Jacobs and Green as additional sponsors. The bill was approved by the Committee this week.

Assembly Subcommittees: As part of the Assembly’s efforts to address the cries for reform coming from throughout the state, each of the committees in that house will create subcommittees to concentrate on certain topics or populations. In the Assembly’s Committee on Mental Health, it appears as though there will be three subcommittees – one to focus on the needs of children, one to focus on the issues surrounding the involvement of individuals with mental health needs in the criminal justice system, and one to concentrate on the issue of creating parity in insurance coverage (Timothy’s Law). Again, as more details become available, we’ll be sure to share them.

In the News:

Mental health agencies, courts unveil programs. By Jim O'Hara
Syracuse Post Standard, February 10, 2005

Efforts seek to help divert mentally troubled individuals from local court systems.

Local court and mental health officials Wednesday announced two new programs to address the problems of dealing with people with mental health issues in the court system.

One program will place Syracuse University graduate students in one section of Family Court to act as liaisons between the parties and agencies providing mental health services. The other involves setting up a procedure to divert people charged with minor crimes out of the courts and into treatment programs.

The proposals, in response to efforts by NAMI-PROMISE (Parents and Relatives of the Mentally Ill Supporting Each Other), grew out of a yearlong series of meetings by the Partnership for Mental Health Alternatives under the prodding of Family Court Judge Robert Rossi.

Rossi said the new collaboration with SU began this week in his courtroom and will continue for at least the next three months to see if it can be expanded to the rest of the Family Court sections.

Anne Gosling, director of clinical training at SU's Goldberg Couple and Family Therapy Center, said three graduate students will be spending time once a week in Rossi's court to evaluate cases to see if mental health issues are involved and to offer referrals to service providers in the community as needed.

"That's one of the biggest hurdles. People don't know whom to call for help," Rossi said.

The criminal court diversion program will take longer to put into place as authorities need to find money, a coordinator responsible for evaluating defendants' mental health issues and a place for that evaluation process to take place, said Onondaga County Assistant District Attorney Paul Berry. But Berry said the framework for a diversion program has been created to try to weed out the criminal cases that are best handled by addressing the underlying mental health issues.

"You have to fix the problem to stop the crimes," he said.

Jail is the appropriate penalty for some who commit crimes, but the system is finally coming to realize that many involved have mental health issues that can and should be handled differently, he said.

While officials had looked at the possibility of creating a separate court to handle mental health-related cases, Berry said the partnership has concluded the issues could be handled within the existing court framework by diverting mental health cases much like drug cases are diverted to a substance abuse treatment court.

The plan is for a mental health issue to be identified early in a criminal case, either by an arresting police officer, a family member, a defendant or a lawyer, Berry said. Cases then would be referred to a central screening place for the defendant to be evaluated and a treatment plan drawn up, he said.

A defense lawyer would present the treatment plan to the prosecutor handling the case, and the prosecutor, if satisfied a mental health issue is the underlying problem, could arrange to handle the case without the need for a criminal prosecution, Berry said.

Until next time, we remain,
Working to ensure available and accessible
mental health services for all New Yorkers