Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Mental health benefits reinstated for CHIP (Texas)
Story in the Kerrville Daily Times - "Adults are not the only ones who can fall into depression, or fall prey to drugs or alcohol. Children can, too. And when they do, they need to get professional help. But the cost of that help can be prohibitive, especially for working families. Some, however, can turn to the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides help for families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but can’t afford to buy private insurance. Last year, legislators cut a lot of funding to the program, including many of its mental health benefits. As of Feb. 1, however, that funding has been restored..."  
  

County mental health department further in the red (California)
Ukiah Daily Journal story - "After cutting 45 jobs and setting up a special fund to deal with a $1.7 million deficit last year, the Mendocino County Mental Health Department is reporting that it will likely be almost $1 million further in the red this year. Mental Health Director Beth Martinez will ask the county supervisors to allow her to make more cuts in the department right away. Citing problems with a new computer system that was supposed to give mental health employees good information about how much they were spending and how much they were collecting in fees to keep the budget neutral, Martinez said the new system didn't get going until January of this year."  
  

Overseer: End court control of mental health system (Maine)
Portland Press Herald story - "The overseer of the state's mental-health system is recommending that the state's psychiatric facilities no longer be run by the courts. In a decision released Monday, court master Daniel Wathen said state officials are working hard to meet a 1990 court order for improvements at Augusta Mental Health Institute and within the mental-health system. Wathen recommended the state be required to complete a compliance plan by May 7, but did not set a deadline by which the plan had to be implemented."  
  

Mental health research in developing countries
Story in Medical News Today (UK) - "For the first time, editors from leading medical journals are joining the World Health Organization (WHO) in an effort to spur the publication of more mental health research from developing countries. Currently, the overwhelming majority of mental health studies published in leading journals are from the developed world, with just 2% from and about developing countries. In an attempt to reverse this trend, WHO and 42 editors representing mental health and public health journals such as the British Journal of Psychiatry, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, British Medical Journal, the Lancet, and others, have agreed a Joint Statement aimed at reducing the substantial barriers that impede publication of mental health research from low- and middle-income countries." See also, at the World Health Organization web site, the page Mental Health Research in Developing Countries and the joint statement, The Role of Scientific Journals (Adobe Acrobat format).  
  

Detention center evolves into juvenile mental health institution (New Jersey)
Courier-Post story - "Contributing to overcrowding at the Camden County Youth Center is a growing number of juvenile offenders with mental health issues. The facility, already bulging at the seams, is not equipped to handle the additional needs of these juveniles. Yet, if they don't get the treatment as juveniles authorities fear these will be adult inmates still battling the same mental health issues..." See also, at the same site, Legistators share ideas on keeping mentally ill out of jail - "Two local legislators have come up with two very different ideas to help the plight of the mentally ill. Assemblywoman Mary Previte, D-Haddonfield, wants to establish a $1.8 million pilot program to find a way to keep mentally ill people who commit minor offenses out of jail. Treatment programs would require the cooperation and consent of the patient. A proposal by state Sen. Martha Bark, R-Medford, goes farther. Bark's proposal would give courts a way to order patients to take medications. This involuntary commitment of the patient would require patients to take drugs that licensed clinicians deem necessary."