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HHS Announces American Rescue Plan Funding
The US Department of Health and Human Services Announces $3 Billion in American Rescue Plan Funding for SAMHSA Block Grants to Address Addiction, Mental Health Crisis
HHS Secretary Becerra forms new Behavioral Health Coordinating Council
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is distributing $3 billion in American Rescue Plan funding — the largest aggregate amount of funding to date for its mental health and substance use block grant programs.
Published on: 05/26/2021 | Category: Articles Press Release Mental Health
In Honor of Jay Mahler
Humble. Kind. Compassionate. Spiritual. Gentle. Inspiring. Beloved. All of these words describe consumer-survivor movement leader Jay Mahler, who passed away last Saturday. The following was written by Mary Hogdon, a long-time friend and ally of Jay’s.
Published on: 05/19/2021 | Category: Articles Press Release Mental Health
"...the devil is in the implementation..."
I can’t remember when, where or in relation to what that I first heard this brief admonition, but it is one that I have repeated numerous times over the years to social work students, advocates and others. It is also something that I can easily forget during the excitement and celebration that immediately follow the passage of an important piece of legislation.
Published on: 04/07/2021 | Category: Articles
Beyond the Biology of Mental Illness
In treating it, we should address cultural aspects that shape our suffering.
Published on: 04/06/2021 | Category: Articles
When Talking About Social Determinants, Precision Matters
Public health experts have aptly expressed concern about the health care industry’s characterization of interventions as addressing “the social determinants of health” and have pointed out the limitations of over-medicalizing individuals’ social needs rather than investing in upstream community interventions. Acknowledging this concern and seeking greater internal consistency, the Health Care Transformation Task Force (the Task Force)—a coalition of payers, purchasers, providers, and patients committed to embracing value-based payment models—offers a framework to describe the distinction among social determinants of health, social risk factors, and social needs in a manner that promotes more precise usage of each term by all health care stakeholders. Clear and consistent terminology is an essential first step to determining what role health care providers and payers can and should play in addressing the underlying factors that influence population health. (Others have made similar points, notably Hugh Alderwick and Laura Gottlieb in The Milbank Quarterly.)
Published on: 03/04/2021 | Category: Articles
Back to Better Behavioral Health
Introduction: To best address the daunting challenges that stem from the traumas of COVID -19, racial injustice, poverty and rising overdose and suicide rates, the Biden Administration should look to new leadership at SAMHSA that is uniquely skilled to lead the way in helping our nation to heal by implementing evidence-based policies that advance the principles of recovery, resilience, peer support and trauma informed care.. For example, people with lived experience of mental illness and trauma should be placed in high leadership roles to bring back meaning and morale to an agency that evidenced “considerable turnover and declining morale’ during the Trump Administration, ranking 413 out of 415 agencies.1
Published on: 03/04/2021 | Category: Articles
2021 Women's History Month Resource Toolkit
Every year March is designated Women’s History Month by Presidential proclamation. The month is set aside to honor women’s contributions in American history.
Published on: 03/04/2021 | Category: Articles
Disability Advocates Make Recommendations to HHS-Secretary-Designate Becerra
Our friends at NYAPSRS partnered with the Bazelon Center to create a list of recommendations to HHS Secretary-Designate Becerra on a variety of key disability rights issues.
Published on: 02/08/2021 | Category: Articles
Celebrate Black History Month
PBS has done a great job of posting a variety of documentaries and shorts about the Black experience in American history. Take some time this month to view theses clips!
Published on: 02/08/2021 | Category: Articles
Inequities in Mental Health Services
It’s Time for a Reckoning and Rectification
As the country confronts the coronavirus crisis and the ways it has exposed racism and inequality, it is time for the mental health field to look inwards and reckon with its own shortcomings. Similar to other American institutions and disciplines, racial and socioeconomic inequalities tend to be replicated in the accessibility and appropriateness of treatments offered to vulnerable individuals and families.
Published on: 10/07/2020 | Category: Articles
Lawmaker Pushing Mental Health Reform
It's "More Needed Than Ever"
SACRAMENTO — During the first week of school closures in San Jose, state Sen. Jim Beall’s office received more than a dozen phone calls from distressed parents and caregivers.
Published on: 10/07/2020 | Category: Articles