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

Friday Fax from Albany

TAKE 5 FOR TIMOTHY - 2005 LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDS NEXT WEEK!!: As the Senate and Assembly prepare to close out this year’s legislative session, scheduled to end on June 23rd, there is one last final push under way to see Timothy’s Law become just that this year – a law. Your help is crucial to the success of our effort in this last week and we are asking that you take 5 minutes for Timothy each day between now and the end of next week. In 5 minutes each day, you can call both your Senator and Assemblymember and urge them to negotiate a version of parity legislation that Tom O’Clair would be proud to call Timothy’s Law. We urge you to call early and often, and ask that you spread the word to your friends, families, colleagues and ask that they do the same.

TAKE 5 FOR TIMOTHY!

Please Take 5 Minutes to Call Your Senator and Assemblymember Each Day Between Now and the End of Session Next Week to Urge them to Negotiate a Version of Parity Legislation Tom O’Clair Would be Proud to Call Timothy’s Law

Senate Switchboard 518-455-2800
Assembly Switchboard 518-455-4100
Ask for Your Representative. Don’t know? Go to http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/boe/main.asp.

Tell them:
“Don’t leave Albany without having negotiated
and enacted a version of parity legislation
Tom O’Clair would be proud to call Timothy’s Law!”

MENTAL HEALTH ALTERNATIVES TO SOLITARY CONFINEMENT (MHASC) CALL FOR PASSAGE OF LEGISLATION TO BAN USE OF SPECIAL HOUSING UNITS (SHU) FOR INMATES WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

MHASC Press Release

Advocates Urge Senate to Approve Measure Aimed at "Banning the Box" for Prisoners with Severe Mental Illnesses While Improving Safety and Training of Correctional Officers

NYS Assembly Poised to Pass Measure This Week

Advocates from across New York State came to Albany Tuesday to urge state legislators to promptly pass a measure that would require that the state provide humane alternatives to solitary confinement for all severely distressed inmates with major mental illnesses and to improve safety conditions and ensure adequate mental health training for correctional officers.

"We are here today to urge our state legislators to take prompt action to bring long awaited relief to the terrible suffering of our state's prisoners with severe psychiatric disabilities while, at the same time, creating better safety and security conditions for our correctional officers," said Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.

The advocates are members of the Mental Health Alternatives to Solitary Confinement coalition, who have been pressing for passage of S.2207 (Nozzolio) / A.3926 (Aubry). The sponsors chair each house's Corrections Committee.

Currently, severely mentally ill prisoners who engage in disruptive, non-compliant, aggressive or threatening behaviors are sentenced to months to years in solitary confinement, called "special housing units" (SHUs).

"For far too long, thousands of inmates who are experiencing unrecognized and untreated psychiatric symptoms have been wrongly seen as behavior problems and sent to the SHU, often for minor disciplinary infractions," said Teena Brooks of the Urban Justice Center and an organizer for the Mental Health Alternatives to Solitary Confinement coalition. "And once they're confined to the SHU, there is no limit on how long an individual can remain there."

"Those inmates often suffer from untreated or undertreated acute mental illnesses that make their life in the general prison population impossible and their time spent in solitary confinement unthinkable," said Robert Corliss of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-NYS. "This measure would create many more alternative prison housing and treatment settings that would be far more appropriate, effective and humane remedies."

Time in the SHU ("the box") involves 23 hours a day of dark isolation, leaving distressed prisoners to face their unchecked, untreated terrifying symptoms alone for long periods of time.

"We must act now...act today," said Raymond Ortiz, advocate for the Urban Justice Center and former SHU resident. "Our mentally ill prisoners deserve treatment, not torture! Every day, every month we wait only makes their terrible, unnecessary suffering only greater."

"It is a true nightmare for all of us. Even though we advocate and remain very involved, it is heartbreakingly difficult to alleviate the suffering of our loved ones," said Irene Helale, a family member of a current SHU resident.

''I have trouble putting into words what my experience was with my godson during my visits when he was in SHU,'' said Leah Gitter, a member of a member of RIPPD (Rights of Imprisoned Inmates with Psychiatric Disabilities). ''There is no way to express the misery and suffering produced by confinement in SHU. For the first month I could not control my tears.''

Advocates outlined the magnitude of the unmet need. "Approximately 7,500, or 11 percent, of state inmates suffer from mental illness, and half of those have a serious disorder. Yet, there are only 700 beds in specialized residential programs to serve this population," said Jack Beck of the Correctional Association of New York, which released a report last week on this issue.

According to the report, prisoners in the Special Housing Units were observed having "smeared feces on their bodies," "cut their own flesh, "paced around their cells like caged animals," or "rambled incoherently."

The measure has received strong support by the NYS Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association who have hailed the measure's provisions to improve prison safety conditions and boost mental health training. The advocates have also suggested that the state could economically offer the required increase in alternative prison residential settings for severely mentally ill inmates by using space in several upstate prisons currently scheduled for closure.

"This measure brings together an unprecedented alliance between our state's correctional officers and our mental health and prisoner's rights advocates" said Rosenthal. "We have joined together to achieve a "win-win" for New York: better treatment for severely distressed mentally ill prisoners and better working conditions for our correctional officers."

"This measure has broad statewide support from over 100 statewide and local mental health and human rights groups," said Michael Seereiter of the Mental Health Association of New York State. "More groups join us every day to say that the time has come to pass this bill."

The advocates were expecting that the Assembly will approve the measure this week and urged the state Senate to move the bill out to the full Senate for a similar vote over the next few days.

NYS CONFERENCE OF LOCAL MENTAL HYGIENE DIRECTORS SEEK EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Text of advertisement follows.

The NYS Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors, a statewide membership association representing the 57 county mental hygiene departments and NYC, seeks an outstanding leader to manage all aspects of the organization. The experienced professional will guide policy and strategic development in consultation with leadership, conduct lobbying activities, manage membership services, oversee internal operations, direct financial development, supervise staff and carry our all other association activities. The selected candidate will represent public policy interests of County Directors and oversee progressive technical assistance agenda for this Albany-based position. BA required/ (Master’s Degree preferred) plus five years of public policy, legislative or association management experience in the human services field is a prerequisite; understanding of mental hygiene policy is preferred. Please submit cover letter, resume and salary requirement by June 29th to: Nicole Bryant, LMSW, Chair, NYSCLMHD, c/o Essex County Mental Health Department, P.O. Box 8, Elizabethtown, NY 12932. The Conference is an equal opportunity employer.

MHANYS ISSUES MEMO OF SUPPORT FOR DUAL TRACK RESPONSE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT LEGISLATION:

MEMORANDUM OF SUPPORT
June 2005

S.1574A / A.313A

Dual Track Response Demonstration Project

PROVISIONS OF BILL:
These bills would amend social services law in order to establish seven demonstrations in local social service districts to test a dual track child protective approach.

Such demonstrations would allow child protection reports received through the State Central Registry to be assigned, at the district level, to either an investigation track, as is currently the case, or to an assessment track when the severity of the allegations suggests that a less intrusive approach would be appropriate. Reports assigned to the assessment track would be offered service, but various other provisions for current child protective investigations would not be required. These bills also include specific provisions in reports where there is domestic violence. Finally, reports can move from one track to the other where appropriate.

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT:
New York’s child protection system neither adequately protects children nor supports families.

Our current system is needlessly adversarial and as a result it may:

Nearly twenty states are addressing reports of abuse and maltreatment with an alternative response. It is imperative that new laws, like these proposed bills, be enacted so New York can develop a responsive, unified, statewide system of services for children and families, which is customized, family-focused, and utilizes the broader community in its endeavors. Such a reformed system would deliver:

Evaluation of a similar approach in Minnesota revealed:

New York State is rich with innovations and experiments illustrating the very best CPS practice. Accordingly, it is time for New York State to take the critical next steps to address system deficiencies and to demonstrate further system modifications that hold the greatest promise for children and families.

Therefore, MHANYS urges the passage of S.1574A / A.313.A

IN THE NEWS:

Advocates Offer Compromise on Timothy's Law. By Karen DeWitt
New York Public Radio, June 10, 2005

Supporters of Timothy's Law, a bill to mandate mental health care coverage in New York, have changed their legislation to make it more favorable to small businesses.

The intent of Timothy's Law, supporters say, is to require health insurance companies to allow the same amount of care for mental illness as they do for physical illness. The bill, though it has major party sponsors in each house, has languished for years in the legislature. Now, two weeks before the legislative session is to end, backers say they've offered a compromise that they hope will be more palatable to some business groups who complain the law would be too expensive.

The new version would exempt businesses with 50 employers or fewer from having to provide the mental health care coverage. Employers with 50 or more workers would be required to provide mental health benefits equal to physical health benefits. Paige McDonald, one of the coalition's founders, says the change offers less coverage to some New Yorkers, but may be the only way to see the law passed anytime soon.

"We' re all 100% behind this improved version of Timothy's Law ," McDonald said.

The bill would also require state government to set aside $1 million dollars to create a fund to provide safety net mental health coverage. Shelly Nortz, with the Coalition for the Homeless, says the money would be available if any of the one million or so New Yorkers employed by a small business develop a serious mental illness. Nortz says the fund could help stop what she calls the "cycle of psychiatric crisis" , when a person is discharged from a hospital without any coverage for continuing treatment.

After the first year, the pool would be funded by a half a cent surcharge on monthly insurance premiums.

The leader of a small business group, Mark Alesse, says his group has not changed its opposition to Timothy's Law, but is very encouraged by the compromise offered by the mental health advocates.

"We very much appreciate the fact that they've moved considerably away from their original position, which we think would have increased the cost of insurance dramatically ," he said.

Alesse says his group, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, will be examining the bill and hopes to have a position on it before the session ends.

Supporters of the new version of Timothy's Law say they've submitted it to the sponsors of the measure in the Assembly and Senate, but haven't heard back from them yet.

Tom O'Clair is the father of Timothy O'Clair, who committed suicide at the age of 12 after a long mental illness. O'Clair, who has been fighting for years for the law, says he'll continue his efforts for mental health care parity.

"It's a discrimination ," O'Clair said.

Timothy’s Law proponents make last push to get law passed. By Paul Esmond
Legislative Gazette, June 13, 2005

With less than ten days left until the Legislature adjourns Timothy’s Law supporters acknowledged that the prospects of passing their mental health insurance parity bill was an uphill battle.

Last week, supporters of Timothy’s Law announced at a press conference that they had drawn up a new bill to address the concerns of business owners who worry that a mandate requiring them to include mental health coverage in their insurance benefits package would be financially burdensome.

“The opposition has long since revolved around the belief that passing Timothy’s Law would affect small businesses,” said Paige MacDonald, a chairwoman of the Timothy’s Law Campaign.

Shelly Nortz, deputy director of the coalition for the homeless, said that after listening to the business community’s concerns, the campaign was satisfied that a new version of the bill would create enough flexibility for small businesses – those with 50 or fewer employees.

The version before the Legislature, sponsored by Sen. Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton, and Assemblyman Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, requires that all businesses offering health insurance must include mental health coverage for employees.

The new version, which has yet to find a sponsor, would mandate only businesses with health insurance plans employing more than 50 workers provide mental health coverage.

Advocates for the new bill said they had been circulating it to business groups for feedback and hoped to find legislative sponsorship.

Libous said he was familiar with the new bill, but suspected small businesses would still be unhappy with it despite the fact that it removed the across-the-board mandate. He declined to say what parts of the new bill business groups might oppose.

Three calls to the Business Council of New York, a longtime critic of the law, named for Timothy O’Clair, a 12-year-old boy who committed suicide after his family struggled to get him the mental health coverage, were not answered.

The new version would also establish a safety net for workers who exhaust their health insurance benefits, which would include coverage for 40 inpatient mental health visits.

Jeff Seereiter, public policy director for the Mental Health Association of New York, said a $1 million dollar catastrophe pool established by the bill with money from the General Fund, would help pay for coverage for people facing hard times from out-of-pocket mental health expenses.

“It’s going to try to take care of the little people,” Seereiter said in a phone interview. “If a family or individual is facing foreclosure, they would have access to that catastrophic pool.”

Nortz said the General Fun appropriation would only be a one-time occurrence. The pool would be replenished with a surcharge on health insurance premiums.

At the press conference Tom O’Clair, Timothy’s father, premiered a commercial he said would help spread information to the public of the mental health crisis for the underinsured.

The 30-second piece, O’Clair said, had been sent to various television stations across the state. He said Capital Region stations WRGB-6 and WTEN-10 had indicated they would air the commercial as an in-kind service.

O’Clair said he and other Timothy’s Law Campaign advocates would keep at the Legislature to pass a version of the bill, even if they don’t succeed before both houses adjourn June 23.

“We’re coming back at them with both barrels next year,” O’Clair said.

“There are too many people dying not to have it.”

Pass Timothy’s Law now. Letter to the Editor
Legislative Gazette, June 13, 2005

In the coming weeks the Legislature is going to be finishing up their session. I am writing in support of Timothy’s Law. The great majority of the senators are indicating their support for this vitally important bill that impacts directly on the lives of some 458,000 children within New York and 20 percent of the adult population with mental illnesses. The stigma of mental illness is in itself a barrier. Discrimination by Health Insurance companies adds a significant problem when individuals and families seek necessary treatment and are refused coverage.

Timothy O’Clair a 12 year-old youth took his own life at age 12. A significant aspect of Timothy’s passing was the failure to obtain necessary treatment because his limited mental health coverage under his families private health insurance left his parents having to pick up the entire tab for both his doctors visits and longer-termed hospitalizations.

It is vitally important Timothy’s Law be release to the Senate floor and passed into law. I personally ask as a parent of two children with mental disorders that Senator Bruno and the Senate majority leadership take this necessary action and pass Timothy’s Law. I have been very lucky that my two sons receive appropriate care and treatment. However, I want to make sure that their lifelong challenges are not made into lifelong barriers to live a quality life, which every citizen of this great state is entitled to.

Pass Timothy’s Law now! It is time to stop the discrimination and stigma of mental illness by preventing insurance companies from saying no to necessary treatment.

Thomas R. Siblo-Landsman
Kingston, New York

Mental illness needs insurance. Editorial
Poughkeepsie Journal, June 12, 2005

A compromise plan on mental health insurance should be thoroughly reviewed by the Legislature before it adjourns for summer break. New Yorkers deserve no less.

Mental illness is a disease with huge fiscal and emotional impacts. Providing adequate treatment is not only morally responsible but it is also fiscally beneficial

Unlike 36 other states, New York does not require insurance carriers to provide mental health coverage. Deep differences have divided Assembly and Senate versions of a bill to require insurance carriers to treat mental illness in the same way it treats physical illnesses. The Assembly has resoundly supported the effort for the past two years, while the Senate continues to have concerns about its effect on the business community, particularly small companies.

The compromise plan unveiled last week allows companies with fewer than 50 employees to opt into the plan, rather than require mandatory participation. That is a fair approach that would at least allow the majority of insured New Yorkers to receive the coverage they need when it comes to mental illness.

Currently, most insurance plans limit mental health coverage to a maximum stay, and set number of doctor visits, regardless of the diagnoses. That's not how any illness should be treated. Imagine limiting the number of chemotherapy treatments for a cancer patient.

These limits leave patients and their families struggling to afford needed care. The Assembly bill, Timothy's Law, is named for Timothy O'Clair of Schenectady, who hanged himself just shy of his 13th birthday. Since he was 8 years old, his family had been dealing with his mental illness. Insurance limitations made consistent care impossible and attempts to pay privately simply couldn't continue.

Finally, like 3,500 other families in New York, the O'Clairs signed their child over to the state so he could receive comprehensive medical care under Medicaid. Progress was made, and after months in an inpatient facility, he came home. But the disease again took over. The anger and rage returned. And one night, after a fight about taking his medications, he went to his room and the troubled child found permanent refuge by hanging himself from the clothes bar in his closet. His mother discovered him, dead, a few hours later.

The family insists if medical coverage had been available, their son would have been helped instead of committing suicide.

A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers says parity, having insurance coverage that treats mental illness the same as a physical illness, will cost an additional 1.6 percent, or $15 a year per person. Insurance industry experts says it could increase premiums 3.5 percent although states with parity, have discovered no discernible impact on businesses.

If a society is judged on how it cares for its most vulnerable citizens, New York has lots of room for improvements, starting with the medical coverage it provides for the mentally ill. The Legislature needs to address this disparity.

Backers of mental health law offer cost compromise.
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. Supporters of a bill to mandate mental health care coverage in New York, have changed their legislation to make it more favorable to small businesses.

If passed, Timothy's Law would require health insurance companies to pay for the same amount of care for mental illness as they do for physical illness.

Despite majority party support in both houses of the Legislature, the bill has languished for years.

Supports say they've now offered a compromise to assuage the fears of business groups who contend the law would be too expensive.

The new version would exempt businesses with 50 employers or fewer from having to provide the mental health coverage. Employers with 50 or more workers would be required to provide mental health benefits equal to physical health benefits.

The bill would also require state government to set aside one (m) million dollars to create a fund to provide safety net mental health coverage.