NEW PULSE PUBLICATION: The inaugural issue of the PULSE Quarterly Briefing was published in late June and has already received a great deal of praise ("Brilliant" - Fran Silvestri, Director: International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership; "A triumphant inaugural issue" - Paul Lefkovitz, CEO: Behavioral Pathway Systems; "Very useful..." - Elaine Alfano, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law). The PQB comes bundled with two other services, the "PULSE Bulletin" (40 issues/year) and "Recent Resources" (10 issues /year) and organizational subscriptions include access to a set of Internet-based tools for distributing news and announcements. For details on subscriptions, please see the new PULSE Community Site.

 Tuesday, July 12, 2005

SAMHSA Awards $3.4 Million to Vermont to Treat Persons With Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Disorders SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced a grant award totaling $3.4 million over five years to the state of Vermont to increase the capacity of state treatment systems to provide effective, comprehensive, integrated and evidence-based treatment services to persons with co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders. SAMHSA is awarding the grant to Vermont to stimulate the state to provide accessible, coordinated treatment to persons who have at least one mental disorder as well as an alcohol or drug use disorder. These grants are part of the State Incentive Grant for Treatment of Persons with Co-Occurring Related and Mental Disorders (COSIG) program. Vermont will receive $1,041,267 for the first year." See also SAMHSA Awards $3.48 Million to Maine to Treat Persons With Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Disorders.  
  

Postpartum treatment key for depression University of Toronto press release at EurekAlert - "The key to preventing postpartum depression may be individual support provided after birth by a health professional and tailored to a mother's needs, says a University of Toronto researcher. 'Health professionals want to identify pregnant women who may be at risk for postpartum depression in hopes of initiating preventive strategies,' says U of T nursing professor Cindy-Lee Dennis. 'But in my review of studies from around the world, I found no preventive effect of any strategy initiated before birth, including prenatal classes specifically targeting postpartum depression. It's not because the interventions are theoretically weak, but it's because compliance is low – women are busy and don't attend the classes.' "  
  

Size of brain structure could signal vulnerability to anxiety disorders Massachusetts General Hospital press release at EurekAlert - "The size of a particular structure in the brain may be associated with the ability to recover emotionally from traumatic events. A new study by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) finds that an area called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is thicker in volunteers who appear better able to modify their anxious response to memories of discomfort. The report will appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and has received early online release on the PNAS website."  
  

Child Insurance Program May Face Crunch   Las Vegas Sun story - "A government program that provides health insurance for poor children could run into money problems in several states over the next two years unless Congress acts. Six to 14 states will use up their share of federal money for the State Children's Health Insurance Program during the 2006 budget year, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. By the next year, that number will range from 12 to 20 states. The range occurs because analysts looked at two scenarios. One projected low demand for the program; the second factored in high demand..."  
  

Federal Medicaid Commission Named; Former Tennessee Governor To Lead Panel Item in the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report - "HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday announced 13 voting members and 15 nonvoting members of a federal Medicaid commission that will be charged with recommending short- and long-term reforms to the program... The committee, created as a result of negotiations over the fiscal year 2006 federal budget, will be required to submit two reports. The first, which must be submitted by Sept. 1, will include recommendations on how to reduce Medicaid spending growth by $10 billion over the next five years. The second report, due Dec. 31, 2006, will include recommendations for stabilizing Medicaid over the long term..."  
  

Marin says Prop. 63 funding falls short (California) Marin Independent Journal story - "Mental health treatment programs in Marin will see a payout of $6.91 per resident from a new tax on millionaires - the second lowest per-capita amount in the state. The money, totaling $1.7 million annually, is Marin's less-than-expected pot of gold from its share of revenue from Proposition 63, approved by voters last November. Proposition 63 places a 1 percent tax on incomes over $1 million to expand mental health services in the state."  
  

Program in Maine works to cut jail time for mentally ill Story at Foster's Online - "A program aimed at keeping mentally ill criminals in treatment instead of jail has been deemed a success in Maine's Cumberland County. Now it's being studied by other states considering similar approaches. The Divert Offenders to Treatment program launched three years ago is a collaborative among corrections officials, police departments and mental health professionals. As part of the effort, researchers tracked 10 people with a history of mental illness who'd been in and out of jail. A combination of police sensitivity, early intervention in jail and treatment after release caused the number of repeat arrests to drop sharply..."  
  

Mental health needs viewed from two angles (Kansas) Excellent Lawrence Journal-World story on efforts to address the number of people admitted to Kansas jails "because they hadn’t gotten enough help for their mental illness" and prison "the recent debate regarding whether Lawrence Memorial Hospital should reopen its inpatient mental health unit. But mental health advocates in the community say leaders shouldn’t lose sight of trying to improve the system that still exists in Lawrence."  
  

Cities set to battle proposed mental health facility (California) Daily Bulletin story - "With the state prison system's health operations facing a federal takeover, the cities of Chino and Chino Hills will be taking a different approach in their efforts to block a mental health facility proposed near the California Institution for Men. Officials from both cities traveled to Sacramento two weeks ago to meet with state lawmakers and ask them to oppose plans by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to build a facility in Chino that would house mentally ill prisoners. A federal judge has ordered a takeover of the prison system's health operations, citing poor care and preventable deaths..."  
  

Support so key to mental health (UK) BBC story - "Government proposals to give doctors powers to compel mentally ill patients to undergo treatment in the community have provoked widespread concern. This week ministers will respond to the criticisms. The BBC went to Nottingham to find out what people involved in the mental health care system think..."