Monday, July 14, 2003
The Unsolved Challenge of System Reform: The Condition of the Frontline Human Service Workforce A report by the Casey Foundation (in
Adobe Acrobat format) at the
Open Minds web site - "Frontline social services workers are the heart and soul of our nation’s publicly funded human services system. Conservatively estimated at about 3 million, these workers have a tremendous impact on the life chances of vulnerable children and families. This vital role prompted Casey Foundation staff to conduct an in-depth exploration of job conditions on the frontlines for workers in the following sectors: child welfare, child care, juvenile justice, youth services, and employment and training. Our research led us to define eight key factors that—by general agreement—pose the greatest challenge to this workforce..."
The Family Nexus Project, a Collaboration to Better Educate and Empower A
NAMI "State Spotlight" article - "NAMI Colorado in collaboration with Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health--Colorado Chapter (FFCMHCC), The Mental Health Association of Colorado (MHAC) have obtained funds for a statewide juvenile justice grant which they have entitled Family Nexus. The project began in November of 2002. Funds for this two-year endeavor were made available through the Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The main goal of this project is to better educate and sanction families who have children with mental health and co-occurring problems and are involved, or at risk of being involved, in the juvenile justice system."
Younger children diagnosed with personality disorders Toronto Star story reprinted at the NAMI web site - "Doctors are diagnosing mental illness in children at younger ages than ever, including in those who are barely out of diapers. The diagnoses include diseases once thought to appear almost exclusively in adults and adolescents, such as major depression and bipolar disorder, and have prompted a surge of new research in preschoolers. Treatment is surging, too. The number of very young children who take psychiatric drugs has more than doubled in the past 15 years, a recent study found."
Fallout from Medicaid cuts far-reaching (Georgia) Opinion column in the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "... Both the National Governors Association and the Bush administration are working on proposals to convert Medicaid to a "block grant" program. If either proposal is enacted, the federal government will acquire substantial leeway to sharply curtail spending on Medicaid. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculates that if large-scale cuts in Medicaid are enacted, up to 1.7 million people nationwide will lose Medicaid coverage and become uninsured. Millions more will face significant reductions in benefits. Efforts to cover more low-income children will be stopped in their tracks."
County to digitize mental health records (California) Eureka Times-Standard story - "Conventional paper records for Humboldt County's mental health patients may soon be a thing of the past. This week the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a contract to acquire a digital medical records imaging system for the Department of Health and Human Services-Mental Health Branch. Mental Health Director Lance Morton said Friday he's enthusiastic about getting the new system because it should not only save the county thousands of dollars in clerical staff costs, but also result in better quality diagnosis and treatment of the county's roughly 2,000 patients."
