 |
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
||
|
September 6, 2006 MHANYS ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER AND CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 26 - 27, 2006: Conference brochure is attached to this edition of MHANYS Mental Health Update and is also available at www.mhanys.org.
Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc. (MHANYS) Thursday, October 26, 2006 6:00 p.m. MHANYS’ Annual Awards Dinner This annual event is the highlight of the year at the Mental Health Association in New York State as we celebrate the great work of our 31 affiliates across New York State and our colleagues in the community. This year we are also honoring Senator Thomas Morahan and Assemblyman Peter Rivera for their efforts on our behalf, as well as recognizing the career achievements of Michael Friedman, Director of The Center for Policy and Advocacy of The Mental Health Associations of New York City and Westchester. 8:00 p.m. Featured Speaker, Paul E. Jones – “A Humorous Look . . . at a Serious Life” Paul Jones has been entertaining and educating audiences for over 20 years. As a professional stand-up comedian, songwriter and author, Paul easily connects with his audience, sharing his life-changing principles, which are intertwined with real life stories and personal experiences. Paul explores the sobering issues surrounding bipolar disorder, while at the same time, using his gift of humor to make an often times serious topic – educational and entertaining. It is no wonder that so many people have returned again and again to hear Paul speak! Paul is not a normal speaker – this is not a normal presentation – it is like no other in the nation! Creating
Community-Based Mental Health Services for Returning War Veterans
WORKSHOPS II – 10:40 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. The
Office of Inspector General Workplan: Implications forMental Health
Providers LUNCH AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS – 12:15 to 2:00 p.m. Joshua Wolf Shenk, Best Selling Author of Lincoln’s Melancholy Joshua Wolf Shenk, a writer based in New York City, is the author of Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness. Based on seven years of research on Lincoln and the medical, intellectual, and political culture around him, Lincoln’s Melancholy also reflects Shenk’s longstanding interests in mental health, psychology, and spirituality in contemporary life. The book was previewed by Shenk’s July 2005 cover story in Time Magazine and adapted as a cover story in the October 2005 Atlantic Monthly. It’s been named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Lincoln’s Melancholy cuts through long-held misconceptions about an illness that affects so many.” ~ Rosalynn Carter “Lincoln’s Melancholy is an extraordinary story, for the depth of its scholarship and the lure of its style.” ~ Mike Wallace WORKSHOPS III – 2:15 to 3:40 p.m. Why
Work Works: The Impact of Employment on the Recovery Process Effective
Collaborations Between Criminal Justice and Mental Health Systems
Law
Would Expand Mental Health Benefits Across the State.
By Cara Matthews ALBANY — The Senate is expected to approve legislation Sept. 15 that would require insurance coverage for mental illness to be on par with other health problems. The Democrat-led Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate reached an agreement on the controversial topic in the waning hours of the legislative session two months ago, but there was not enough time to vote on it. Leaders agreed to take up the issue the next time they convened. The Senate is meeting next month to act on a judicial nomination. The agenda for other matters hasn't been completed, but the parity bill likely will be on the list, said Mark Hansen, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County. Proponents of the bill say it is long overdue and, if it is passed, will bring New York in line with dozens of other states. The business industry is concerned about the measure's cost, which has not been determined, but financial assistance to small businesses is built into the legislation. "This will be a very significant day, given the fact that efforts to achieve parity legislation go back over 10 years," said Harvey Rosenthal, head of the New York Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. The Assembly has passed Timothy's Law several years in a row, but it has not voted on the compromise agreement. A date to act on the bill had not been set as of yesterday, said Sisa Moyo, a spokeswoman for Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. The Assembly hopes to be back before January, but, if not, members will pass it in January with an immediate effective date, she said. The legislation is named for Timothy O'Clair, a Schenectady boy who took his own life in 2001. The O'Clair family's health insurance for his mental illness had run out, and his parents gave up custody of him so he could get more treatment. Timothy's Law would bar health insurers from providing less coverage for mental illness than other ailments. They could not require higher co-payments for mental-health visits than for other types of health services. UNDER THE PLAN • Every insured person would have a minimum of 20 outpatient visits for mental illness and 30 inpatient days a year. • The state would pick up the extra cost of providing that for businesses with 50 or fewer employees. The estimated cost has varied from tens of millions of dollars to $60 million. • Larger employers would have to provide an additional layer of coverage. There would be unlimited treatment for adults with schizophrenia/psychotic disorders, major depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, delusional disorders, panic disorder, bulimia and anorexia. • That level of coverage would apply to children younger than 18 for those illnesses plus attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, disruptive behavior disorders and pervasive developmental disorders. • Smaller employers could opt into this coverage. The law would take effect in January, although insurers wouldn't be added in until their plans were up for renewal during the year. The legislation would expire after three years. Before then, state agencies would study its cost and effect.
Despite what many thought was a good year for mental health priorities following the passing of a number of bills by New York state lawmakers, mental health and disability rights advocates are up in arms over Gov. George E. Pataki's veto this month of three key bills important to the mental health community. Pataki vetoed a number of legislative priorities for advocates, including the special housing unit (SHU) legislation, A3926/S2207 that would have banned the use of solitary confinement for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities. The legislation, A2895/S3653, would have created a waiting list for people with mental health needs seeking housing. The third legislation, A9593/S8261, would improve the quality and availability of mental health services in diverse populations throughout New York state. All three bills, long-time priorities among advocates, were heavily supported by the state legislature. The SHU bill, for example, already supported by the Assembly and passed unanimously on the last day of the legislative session by the Senate earlier this summer, would expand mental health training to correctional officers and establish an oversight body (see MHW, June 26). In his veto statement earlier this month, Pataki said that while he shares the bill sponsors’ commitment to ensuring that all inmates with serious mental illness receive necessary mental health services in clinically appropriate environments, “. . . the state has significantly expanded its prison mental health programs to identify and treat such individuals.” In his veto statement regarding the SHU legislation, Pataki stated that the state Office of Mental Health (OMH) had concerns that the bill would include many inmates who do not suffer from a serious mental illness, including some who are not even mentally ill. “According to OMH, the bill would provide for the removal of inmates from SHUs based upon exclusionary criteria referenced solely by a list of specified diagnoses or symptoms without any accompanying determination of the severity and duration of the illness or the degree of functional impairment,” Pataki said in the statement. Overall, the vetoing of all three bills important to the mental health community showed “a failure of leadership by the administration,” Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS), told MHW. The legislation presented an opportunity for the administration to come back and indicate whatever changes could be made in the bill, or amend it in some way, said Rosenthal who noted that the SHU bill received overwhelming support from state lawmakers and from a broad coalition of mental health, legal and prison rights’ groups. At least 13 newspapers in the state wrote editorials urging support for the bill, said Rosenthal. “This clearly is a very popular public issue,” he said. Rosenthal added, “The administration missed a critical opportunity to make New York a national leader in addressing the mental health crisis in our prisons.” Advocates expressed concern about the confinement of prisoners with psychiatric disabilities in the SHUs, often referred to as “the box.” “It is very frustrating," Robert Corliss, associate director, criminal justice of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)-NYS, told MHW. “Putting someone with a serious mental illness in a Special Housing Unit is like pinning a person who is wounded and letting him bleed to death.” Corliss added, “This veto allows the suffering to continue. But this barbaric practice will be stopped, one way or another. It will be worked out either through legislation or repeated litigation.” LEGISLATIVE
SUPPORT Martinez added, “These were a lot of very important bills, not just for individuals and families in the mental health system, but for all New Yorkers.” Martinez said Rivera intends to ask New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to consider a legislative override of the governor’s veto. While lawmakers think New York’s next governor “will reverse the bad policy decisions the Pataki administration had made over the last 12 years, they’d like to see action now,” said Martinez. “These bills are too important,” he noted. “We want to override [these vetoes] before the next governor takes over in January.” Pataki announced last year that he would not seek a fourth term as governor of New York State. Martinez also expressed disappointment over the vetoing of the Centers for Excellence bill. The legislation would have required a collaborative approach among the New York state Office of Mental Health, academia, providers, communities and other public and private sector parties in order to disseminate best practices in the delivery of culturally competent mental health services to underserved populations. The bill creates training opportunities for medical and clinical staff to deal with New York state’s growing diversity, said Martinez. “There’s an explosion of ethnic minorities [in the state]. The mental health system should be creating a mechanism to deal with that diversity.” Ramirez added, the bill “was an investment in the future of the mental health system.” COMMUNITY
HOUSING Pataki cited the state’s commitment to provide community-based supportive housing for persons with serious and persistent mental illness and the state’s increase in the number of community beds for that population. “I encourage the sponsors and supporters of the bill to work with OMH and other interested parties to identify improvements to the current process of identifying statewide housing needs for persons with mental illness,” he stated. “We’re both angered and disappointed by the governor’s veto message in the House wait bill,” Glenn Liebman, chief executive of the Mental Health Association in New York State, told MHW. “The legislation would create a planful process for housing in New York state for people with mental illness.” The bill would also create immediate partnerships between governmental agencies, counties, housing providers and the advocacy community, he noted. “We were hoping if they were able to identify a housing need in an area, we could all work together to develop housing capacity for that need,” he said. Liebman added, “It would have created that planning process necessary to fulfill the needs of individuals with psychiatric disabilities.” The bill was almost no cost to taxpayers, he added. “Many people with psychiatric disabilities end up homeless, in emergency rooms, they stay in psychiatric facilities, and many end up incarcerated, unfortunately,” said Liebman. “Stable housing would certainly have been a humane response and an effective response.” Liebman said that moving forward, advocates hope to get the state legislature to override the governor’s veto. Next year with a new administration in place in Albany, Liebman said he hopes the new administration “will support the measures if we don’t get an override this year.” All advocacy groups are currently in discussions with lawmakers concerning a possible override or to resubmit revised bills “at a minimum,” said NYAPRS’ Rosenthal. “Improving cultural competence, improving safety in prisons, and creating an appropriate planning process to help people live in the most integrated setting, are all critical priorities which should be on the front burner,” he said. Veto
of Prison Mental Health Bill Big Mistake. Editorial New York Gov. George Pataki's veto of a bill to enhance mental health programs in state prisons was a mistake. Maybe the next governor can rectify it. The bill, passed 133-6 by the state Assembly and unanimously by the Senate, would have amended existing correction law to keep more mentally ill inmates out of solitary confinement and improve mental health training for correction officers. An estimated 800 mentally ill inmates - some with severe disorders like schizophrenia - are among those confined 23 hours a day in Special Housing Units in New York prisons. Prisoners end up in special housing by violating prison rules, and critics point out the desolate conditions of solitary confinement only exacerbate the inmates' problems. This bill not only had the support of prison reform groups and mental health advocates but also the New York State Correctional Officer and Police Benevolent Association. Prisons are inherently dangerous places and correction officers have a difficult job to do under the best of circumstances. In his veto, Pataki mentioned the cost savings of avoiding the establishment of treatment programs and annual training for correctional staff the bill required. But treating mentally ill rule breakers the same as other convicts just doesn't make sense. Inmates who endure isolation are more likely to injure themselves and lash out at others when they get the chance. As we learn more about mental illness and the many ways it can be effectively treated, it becomes clear that solitary confinement is not the answer. We hope advocates for change will continue to make themselves heard. Perhaps this bill can get pushed through the state Legislature next year when a different governor will be holding the veto pen. |
||||
 |
||||
