Monday, December 02, 2002

3 local programs up for Harvard Government Awards (Arizona)
Tucson Citizen story on area semifinalists for the prestigious awards, including the Mental Health Division of Tucson City Court, which has "developed a program to break the destructive cycle of arrest, incarceration and release for mentally ill misdemeanor defendants."  
  

Health Care Reform (Canada)
A timeline at the web site of the Canadian Mental Health Association - Ontario Division on Health Care Reform that includes links to the recently released report by the Romanow Commission (Adobe Acrobat format), as well as a page summarizing highlights of the report related to mental health and mental illness. See also the Commission's web site.  
  

State Budget Outlook Remains Bleak
A November 25 press release from the National Governors Association accompanying associations' biannual report, which concludes that "many states have exhausted budget cuts and drawing down rainy-day funds and that the most difficult decisions still lay ahead." Please see also the full report, The Fiscal Survey of States (Adobe Acrobat format).  
  

Rising Autism Could Put Strain on System
WebMD story - "Diagnoses of autism are increasing at an alarming rate, and the disorder could cause serious strains on social services. Those were the conclusions of researchers, physicians, and patient advocates who attended a meeting of the National Institute of Health's Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee."  
  

Success in the states
A review of "psychology-friendly" legislation passed at the state level during the past year in the December issue of the APA Monitor.  
  

New Vistas in Antidepressant Development
A "Clinical Update" at Medscape - "This article focuses on novel classes of putative antidepressant drugs and other somatic treatments that show promising evidence of antidepressant properties in either preclinical and/or clinical studies. In addition, several paradigms for detecting antidepressant activity will be discussed." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Consumer Supporter News The November-December issue of the NMHA newsletter "informing organizations that support mental health consumers."  
  

Health Insurance Status of Admissions for Substance Abuse Treatment: 1999
The Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS) Report published by SAMHSA, based on information reported through the Treatment Episode Data Set. The report indicates that in 1999, the majority (64 percent) of substance abuse treatment admissions reported no health insurance. The report is also available in Adobe Acrobat format.