Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Boughtin named new executive director for AdvoCare of Tennessee
Nashville Business Journal story - "Magellan Behavioral Health has tapped Ann Boughtin as executive director of its Nashville subsidiary, which manages mental health and substance abuse services for the TennCare Partners program. Boughtin, executive director Tennessee Behavioral Health from 1996 to 1998, assumes her position at AdvoCare of Tennessee full time in late September. She replaces Chuck Klusener, who left the company last month."  
  

KidsPeace Anticipates $450K Grant (Maine)
Story in the Ellsworth American - "Directors of Ellsworth’s KidsPeace anxiously anticipate the approval of a federal, 12-month $450,000 grant toward providing day treatment options for children and families with substance abuse problems. The grant, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, was written to address substance abuse issues across both Hancock and Washington counties."  
  

Mental health tests planned for police (UK)
BBC story - "Police in England and Wales are considering regular checks on the mental health of officers performing stressful duties, BBC News has learned. A Home Office working party is looking at the possibility of periodic interviews or questionnaires to see if officers are coping with the mental strain of their work or losing sleep because of stress. Officers who routinely carry guns, work undercover or investigate paedophiles are among those who, it is thought, would benefit from regular medicals."  
  

Rising number of assaults on mental health staff baffling (New Zealand)
Story at Stuff - "Mental health management are baffled by a doubling of assaults on staff at Hillmorton Hospital in Christchurch. Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) statistics show there were 338 patient assaults on staff in the year ended June 30, compared to 166 in the previous year. The biggest increase was in the hospital's 10-bed intellectual disability service, where assaults rose 338 per cent from 49 to 207."  
  

Consultant recommends more mental health staff at jail in Stafford (Virginia)
Daily Press story - "The Rappahannock Regional Jail needs to improve screening prisoners for suicidal tendencies and needs more staff to handle inmates' mental health needs, a consultant has determined. The jail hired consultant Lindsay Hayes from the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, a branch of the U.S. Justice Department, to study its practices after three inmates hanged themselves in recent months. Hayes' biggest criticism in a report released this week centered on the 840-inmate jail's paucity of mental health staff and the backlog that has resulted." See also the full report, published at Fredericksburg.com.