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

Friday Fax from Albany

MAY 5TH TIMOTHY O’CLAIR’S BIRTHDAY – WE NEED YOUR HELP! May 5th marks what would have been Timothy O’Clair’s 17th birthday. Since Timothy’s suicide four years ago, we have had tremendous success in advancing the legislation named in his memory that would end the discriminatory insurance policies that contributed to his death and continue to place undue hardship on families throughout our state.

As Timothy's birthday approaches, we are working feverishly to organize several regional events, throughout the state, that would serve to memorialize Timothy on his birthday, next week. These events would also help raise public awareness, via the media, of the need to end disparate treatment of individuals with mental health and addiction needs in insurance policies through passage of Timothy’s Law. Tom O'Clair will take part in such an event at the steps of the NYS Capitol in Albany, which we hope will be replicated in communities throughout the state.

Given the short timeframe, we’ve planned these regional events to be easy to organize. We have had Timothy’s Law balloons created and can make them available to any region that would like to hold an event (which must then be filled with helium), on which Timothy’s Law supporters can write ‘Messages to Timothy,’ which will then be released. In addition to supplying the balloons, we can supply Timothy's Law button and we will work to get members of the local press to attend each regional event.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

We need people to help organize this event in each region (find a location, secure a permit if necessary) and get the word out as far and wide as possible. Members of the Timothy’s Law Campaign in Albany are ready to help you coordinate and publicize your local event.

Would you be willing to organize a ‘Messages to Timothy’ event on May 5th in your area? It's really quite easy. If so, please contact Michael Seereiter at mseereiter@mhanys.org or (518) 434-0439 ext. 21.

COMPREHENSIVE GERIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH ACT MAKING PROGRESS: Congratulations and thanks are due to Michael Friedman, Director of the Center for Policy and Advocacy of the MHAs of NYC and Westchester, who is also Chair of the Geriatric Mental Health Alliance, and Kimberly Steinhagen, Project Coordinator of the Geriatric Mental Health Alliance. Through their leadership, The Comprehensive Geriatric Mental Health Act has successfully been introduced in both houses of the NYS Legislature. The Senate’s Senior Assistant to the Majority Leader, Senator Nicholas Spano (R-Westchester), and Assembly Mental Health Committee Chair, Assemblymember Peter Rivera (D-Bronx) have both introduced the Act and the bill has been assigned a number in each house, S.4742 and A.7672, respectively. This represents a significant step forward for The Geriatric Mental Health Alliance of New York, of which MHANYS is a member.

Essentially, the bill would “lay the groundwork for New York State to be able to provide high quality services to meet the current mental health needs of older New Yorkers and to prepare for the coming elder boom. The Act would have five major components.

FROM THE NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION ON QUALITY OF CARE AND ADVOCACY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES’ WEBSITE:
With the Governor’s approval of the 2005-2006 State Budget, the New York State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled (CQC) and the New York State Office of Advocate for Persons with Disabilities (OAPwD) have been merged to form a new agency, the New York State Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities (CQCAPD), effective April 1, 2005.

The new agency, chaired by Gary O’Brien, who formerly chaired the CQC, will continue to carry out the functions formerly assigned to both CQC and OAPwD, with an increased emphasis on outreach and advocacy for individuals with physical disabilities.

As the new agency moves forward in consolidating programs and services, phone numbers, web sites and other contact information for former CQC and OAPwD staff will remain the same, pending further review.
CQCAPD (CQC) – 1-800-624-4143 (voice and TDD) - www.cqc.state.ny.us
CQCAPD (OAPwD) – 1-800-522-4369 (voice and TDD) - www.oapwd.org

FUNDING CUTS CAUSE URBAN JUSTICE CENTER MENTAL HEALTH PROJECT LEGAL CLINIC TO CLOSE: Following is an announcement recently sent out by the Urban Justice Center.

“Due to a series of devastating funding cuts, the Mental Health Project of the Urban Justice Center will close its legal clinic for at least the month of May. At this time, we are not certain whether or when we will be able to re-open the Clinic.

We will continue to operate our general legal services warmline – (646) 602-5672 – and our Medicaid helpline - (646) 602-5675. We will be able to provide brief advice and referral to callers on those lines. In addition, we will continue to provide more comprehensive advocacy and representation on Medicaid issues only.

We are sorry for any inconvenience that this unfortunate, but unavoidable action may cause the members of the community we have served for many years. We are working hard to try to restore the legal services you need and will keep you informed of any developments.”

OMH Commissioner Carpinello Named Chair Of National Suicide Prevention Steering Committee: Following is an NYS OMH press release.

Sharon E. Carpinello, R.N., Ph.D., Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), has been named Chairperson of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Steering Committee. The national hotline - 1-800-273-TALK - was launched earlier this year by the Mental Health Association of New York City (MHA of NYC) and its partners, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), Columbia University and Rutgers University.

The only national suicide prevention and intervention telephone resource funded by the Federal government, the Lifeline is a network of local crisis centers located in communities across the nation that are committed to suicide prevention. It is part of the National Suicide Prevention Initiative, a collaborative effort led by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, that incorporates the best practices and research findings in suicide prevention and intervention with the goal of reducing the incidence of suicide nationwide. Each year over 30,000 Americans take their own lives.

Implementing Governor Pataki's vision for an improved public understanding of mental health and wellness issues, Commissioner Carpinello has become an innovator in suicide prevention. She personally oversaw the development and implementation of SPEAK, OMH's first education and awareness campaign that uses a public mental health model to help people become familiar with the risks for and warning signs of suicide. Launched in May 2004, SPEAK has received wide attention in both the public and private sectors, and has been featured in regional and national publications including Governing Magazine, Mental Health Weekly and Behavioral Healthcare Tomorrow.

"I am truly honored to have been chosen to chair the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Steering Committee," said Commissioner Carpinello. "Under Governor Pataki's leadership, OMH is working hard to raise awareness within New York State about the risks and warning signs for suicide, and I now look forward to expanding that effort and promoting suicide prevention on the national level."

"When we sought a leader for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Steering Committee, we immediately turned to Dr. Carpinello," explains Giselle Stolper, Executive Director of the MHA of NYC. "During her tenure in the State Office of Mental Health, Dr. Carpinello has worked tirelessly both to improve New York's behavioral health services and increase New Yorker's access to these services. Dr. Carpinello understands that if we can encourage those in distress to seek treatment before they reach the crisis point, we can ultimately reduce the suicide rate in New York."

"Dr. Carpinello was a natural selection to represent our association and lead the steering committee of this national network effort," said Robert Glover, Ph.D., Executive Director of NASMHPD. "She has demonstrated her commitment to suicide prevention through her leadership in suicide prevention in New York State, and with the entire membership of NASMHPD."

"SPEAK is a model public education to promote suicide prevention," says Dr. John Draper, National Director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. "SPEAK imparts straight facts about suicide and techniques for prevention, conveys empathy for those who are in pain, and offers resources so people feeling emotional pain have a place to turn. Dr. Carpinello's leadership role on the Lifeline Steering Committee will ensure that we can broadly disseminate the knowledge, insight and expertise that went into the creation of SPEAK for New York State so others nationwide can benefit."

The mission of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Steering Committee is to provide recommendations and advice that support the Lifeline's overall mission and to enhance its capacity to reach and serve persons throughout the United States who are in crisis and potentially could be suicidal.

SECOND ANNUAL WALK FOR MENTAL HEALTH:

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Week of May 14 – May 20, 2005

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.

SAVE THE DATE – MAY 3rd, SPECIAL SCREENING OF MAANGAMIZI

Join the Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS) at the Spectrum 8 Theatres on 290 Delaware Ave. in Albany at 7:00 p.m. on May 3 for the Capital District premiere of Maangamizi. Producer/Director Ron Mulvihill will speak about the film at the reception to follow.

Proceeds from this special screening go to support MHANYS. For more information about this event, or to purchase tickets, call (518) 434-0439 ext. 20. Tickets are $35 for regular admission (includes $25 charitable contribution to MHANYS), $10 students/seniors, and free for mental health consumers.

For full details about the event, including a brief synopsis of the film, see the Maamgamizi flyer.

SAMARITANS SUICIDE PREVENTION CENTER'S
7th Annual HOPE Candlelight Vigil

Thursday, May 19, 2005, 6:00-9:00 P.M.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping
for that which has been your delight. ~Kahlil Gibran

On May 19th, Samaritans Suicide Prevention Center will hold its 7th annual candlelight vigil on the steps of the NYS Capitol in Albany.

This event not only memorializes the lives that have been tragically lost to suicide (through the faces on the NYS 1998 - 2005 LifeKeeper Memory Quilts), but will also work to save future lives through sharing, courage, and the commitment to the prevention of suicide. In addition, the Vigil serves to recognize those individuals dedicated to the prevention of suicide through the Annual LifeKeeper Memory Award. This year’s LifeKeeper Awards will be presented to NYS Office of Mental Health Commissioner Sharon Carpinello and Associate Director of Clinical Operations for the Albany County Department of Mental Health, Bill Dickson.

For more information, go to http://www.timesunion.com/communities/samaritans/, e-mail sams@fcscapitalregion.org, or call (518) 689-0080.

IN THE NEWS:

Following are 3 news stories, 2 dealing with Timothy’s Law. The first deals with the budget agreement recently reached in Congress. Based on information we are getting from colleagues working on issues related to Medicaid in Washington, New York State could stand to lose more than $1 billion in Medicaid funding, as a result.

Congress Passes Budget With Cuts in Medicaid and in Taxes. By Sheryl Gay Stolberg
The New York Times, April 29, 2005

WASHINGTON, April 28 - The House and Senate broke a lengthy impasse over federal spending Thursday night, narrowly adopting a $2.56 trillion federal budget for 2006 that aims to trim the growth of Medicaid by $10 billion over five years, add $106 billion in tax cuts and clear the way for oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge.

The back-to-back votes - 214 to 211 in the House and 52 to 47 in the Senate - ran mostly along party lines. As the roll was called in the Senate, shortly before midnight, Vice President Dick Cheney sat in the chamber, ready to cast his vote to break a tie, if necessary.

The passage came just hours after House and Senate negotiators reached a budget deal, resolving differences that revolved largely around Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor. The budget resolution instructs lawmakers to freeze spending in most domestic programs, but not for the military and for domestic security.

Congress has failed to adopt a budget for two of the last three years, and Republican leaders hailed the votes as a victory. With the federal deficit at a record level, President Bush and Congressional Republicans - prodded by fiscal conservatives in their party - have promised to rein in government spending. Adopting a budget was a test of their ability to make good on that vow.

At his news conference Thursday night, moments after the House passed the budget but before the Senate voted, Mr. Bush cited the resolution as an example of his ability to get things done on Capitol Hill.

"There's the budget agreement," the president said, "and I'm grateful for that. It shows we are making progress."

Earlier in the evening, Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader, called the spending plan " the best since the historic Balanced Budget Act of 1997."

Shortly before the House began its vote, Mr. DeLay said, "This is the budget the American people voted for when they returned a Republican House, a Republican Senate and a Republican president to the White House last November."

Democrats derided the budget as misguided, saying it would slash spending on programs for the most vulnerable members of society, give lavish tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, force veterans to spend more on health care and deepen the deficit, instead of reducing it, as Republicans contend it will.

The House Democratic leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, called it "a missed opportunity" and "an assault on our values." Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the senior Democrat on the Senate Budget committee, called it "a mistake for the country."

Although the budget resolution is nonbinding, it is important because it provides an economic blueprint that lawmakers can use to pass specific tax and spending legislation later in the year. For instance, the resolution assumes $106 billion in tax cuts over the next five years, and explicitly directs Congress to enact legislation providing for $70 billion of those cuts. The intent, its authors say, is to extend Mr. Bush's tax cuts on capital gains and dividend income.

The budget resolution also directs lawmakers to come up with $2.4 billion in energy revenues - a provision that Congress can use to pass legislation opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

"It's high time," said one leading advocate of drilling, Senator Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican and chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who has led the fight in Congress to open the refuge, gave the thumbs-up sign and said, "Love it!"

But in the House, the drilling provision drew objections from some Republicans who voted against the budget because they opposed opening the Arctic refuge to oil exploration, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said. Mr. Hastert seemed unruffled when asked about the closeness of the vote. "But we won," he said.

In the Senate, three Republicans - Senators George V. Voinovich and Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island - joined with 43 Democrats and one independent to oppose the plan. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, was absent.

This year is the first time since 1997 that Congress has used the budget to trim the explosive growth of so-called entitlement programs, particularly Medicaid. It directs lawmakers to reduce the growth of entitlements - including farm subsidies and a federal pensions guarantee as well as Medicaid - by a total of $35 billion over the next five years.

Mr. Bush originally proposed a $51 billion reduction. The architects of the Congressional budget say the $35 million is significant nonetheless.

"This is a major step," Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire and chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said of the entitlement trims.

Mr. Gregg and his House counterpart, Representative Jim Nussle of Iowa, say the budget will fulfill Mr. Bush's goal of cutting the federal deficit in half over five years, bringing the figure down to $210 billion in 2010.

Democrats dismiss that contention as flawed, saying the budget ignores shortfalls in Medicare, the health insurance plan for the elderly, as well as the cost of the war in Iraq.

"We now face record budget deficits, and we face them for as far as the eye can see," Senator Conrad said, pointing to charts that resembled a flood of red ink.

Democrats also said the budget would be devastating to poor people who depend on programs like Medicaid.

"We're attacking the most vulnerable in our society," Senator Jon Corzine, Democrat of New Jersey, said.

Some moderate Republicans, led by Senator Gordon H. Smith of Oregon, agreed, and the resulting dispute over Medicaid threatened to derail the entire budget process. When the budget passed the Senate last month, Mr. Smith led a successful effort to eliminate any spending reductions on Medicaid and instead create a bipartisan commission to study the future of the program.

Mr. Smith's proposal passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote. But the House budget recommended steep cuts in the growth of Medicaid, setting off a dispute between the two chambers. That prompted weeks of intense negotiations On Thursday, Mr. Smith said that he had agreed to the demands of the Republican Senate leadership for $10 billion less in Medicaid spending growth and that White House officials had agreed to create a bipartisan commission that would probably finish its work in 18 months."

Timothy's Law would provide vital coverage. Letter to the Editor
The Leader-Herald (Gloversville), April 28, 2005

It is truly disturbing that suicide is nearly twice as prevalent as homicide in the United States. In New York state, suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. We need our elected officials to be aware of this situation and to take action on it.

Take, for example, Timothy O'Clair, who took his own life because his parents couldn't get him the services he needed to treat his depression. Timothy's parents had exhausted the coverage limits for mental health treatment under their private insurance policy. Our family was in a very similar situation, but we were more fortunate - our child survived.

Timothy's Law has been proposed to establish parity for mental health coverage - private insurance benefits for mental health would be equal to benefits for physical health.

I urge the New York State Senate to work to better the lives of New Yorkers. Now is the time to bring Timothy's Law to a vote. Now is the time to pass Timothy's Law.

SANDRA J. MERCALDI
Northville

2005 Legislative Issues.
The Crain’s Insider, April 22, 2005

Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver has identified “dealing with the cost of power” as a major post-budget issue for the 2005 session, along with reforms to procurement-lobbying practicies, public authorities and the state budget process. He also prioritized resolution of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit requiring more school aid for New York City. Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno focussed on more social issues, citing the need for legislation to crack down on dangerous driving, and “Timothy’s Law,” which would require mental health parity under health insurance policies. Bruno also spoke of the need to extend “Kendra’s Law” requiring the mentally ill to follow prescribed medication treatments, and the proposed conversion of the HIP Health Plan to a for-profit company, which could net the state at least $1 billion.

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