PULSE EXECUTIVE EDITION is a free service of the Centre for Community Change International, selecting links to reports, articles, major news stories and Internet resources from CCCI's PULSE news service for leaders of mental health and consumer advocacy organizations. PULSE is researched, edited and designed by Bill Davis.
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
The Cost of Protecting Vulnerable Children III What Factors Affect States’ Fiscal Decisions?
Report from the Urban Institute (in Adobe Acrobat format), available at the Open Minds web site - "This paper presents the findings of the 2001 Urban Institute Child Welfare Survey, which collected SFY 2000 expenditures. In addition to spending by source and by use, changes in spending between SFY 1998 and SFY 2000 and, when possible, between SFY 1996 and SFY 2000 are also presented. This survey was designed to identify changes in child welfare spending following states’ implementation of ASFA and PRWORA (commonly referred to as welfare reform). While the Urban Institute’s 1999 survey captured an early glimpse of the effects of welfare reform on child welfare spending, the 2001 survey sought to examine these effects after states had fully implemented reforms."
Legislators get virtual-reality dose of schizophrenia with simulator (Washington)
Seattle Times story on a virtual reality equipment supplied to legislators by members of NAMI Whatcom County "to see and hear delusions that a person with schizophrenia could experience after a few weeks without medications."SAMHSA Takes First Step Toward Reshaping Addiction Block Grant
January 10 article at Join Together - "For years, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has been talking about pushing states to be more accountable for how they spend federal block-grant funds. In late December, absent much fanfare, SAMHSA finally unveiled its proposal for transforming the addiction and mental-health block grants into more demanding -- yet more flexible -- Performance Partnership grants. The proposal provides a rudimentary start to the kind of system that many in Congress would like to see -- in which states can determine their own needs, but in turn are expected to meet performance goals identified in partnership with the federal goverment."