Wednesday, March 19, 2003

SAMHSA Announces $7 Million Grant Program for Effective Adolescent Treatment
Item at the National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness on a new SAMHSA funding initiative - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announces the availability of approximately $7 Million in grants for up to 35 awards for effective adolescent alcohol and drug abuse treatment. The grants will increase the provision and effectiveness of alcohol and drug abuse treatment for adolescents by adoption or expansion of a combined program of five sessions of Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MST/CBT-5)."  
  

Medicaid Malpractice States Put Patient Recovery At Risk By Restricting Prescription Drugs
March 11 item from the NAMI web site - "The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) today released a 10-point policy prescription for State Medicaid programs to ensure access to effective medications for people with severe mental illnesses-challenging moves by states to save money by restricting drug benefits."  
  

Inside Outside
60-page Adobe Acrobat report from the National Institute for Mental Health. As noted in the brief, related article at the CommunityCare web site, the report "reveals how rates of compulsory admission are higher for black and minority ethnic groups compared to white people, and that the police are more likely to be involved with these clients. It also shows how patients from minority ethnic groups are more likely to be misdiagnosed, prescribed drugs, and readmitted to hospitals."