Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Mental Illness and Justice
A four part series in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, highlighted at the NAMI web site - "In the latter 20th century, the deinstitutionalization movement swept most of the mentally ill out of large institutions and into the community, where they were supposed to receive care that was less restrictive, more humane and more effective. While this has worked for some, others became 'frequent fliers' — law enforcement slang for those people trapped in a vicious circle of mental wards, homelessness or cheap boarding houses — and jail. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel's four-part series examines the scope of the problem faced by the criminal justice and mental health systems and proposes ways to stop the turning of this costly and harmful revolving door." NAMI notes that "This is not the first time the paper has succeeded in accurate coverage of mental health issues. In 2003, the Sun-Sentinel won a NAMI Media Award for Newspaper Feature Reporting."  
  

Protest Over Audit Spurs Insurer To Define Standards
Article in the February Psychiatric Times - "Professional organizations from the New York State area protested an audit of clinical records by a managed care company, claiming unspecified standards had led to demands for large repayments. While the company stated it ended the audit only until standards could be defined, the organizations touted the power of presenting a unified front."  
  

Taking Spin Out of Report That Made Bad Into Good Health
February 22 New York Times feature - "The Bush administration says it improperly altered a report documenting large racial and ethnic disparities in health care, but it will soon publish the full, unexpurgated document. 'There was a mistake made,' Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, told Congress last week. 'It's going to be rectified.' Advertisement Mr. Thompson said that "some individuals took it upon themselves" to make the report sound more positive than was justified by the data. The reversal comes in response to concerns of Democrats and the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee. They are pushing separate bills to improve care for members of minorities." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free]. See also realted postings that appeared here on January 28 and January 14.  
  

Bush to Revisit Changes in Medicaid Rules
New York Times story - "After strenuous protests from governors of both parties, the Bush administration said Sunday that it would reconsider tough new rules on the financing of Medicaid that could limit the states' ability to provide health care for millions of poor people. Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, conveyed the administration's decision to governors here for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. Though formal sessions of the association focused on issues that cut across party lines, like Medicaid, education and highway construction, presidential politics dominated many conversations among governors..." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Ashland County seeks improved services for children in custody (Ohio)
Mansfield News-Journal story - "Mental health and children services officials hope to help more children without sending them out of the community. Nearly a dozen board members and representatives of local mental health and social service agencies were on hand Monday as Mental Health and Recovery Services Director Steve Stone and Gary Hannan, director of Job and Family Services, outlined the effort for Ashland County Commissioners. Stone said his agency began reviewing ways to more effectively serve children after estimating it will pay more than $250,000 to providers outside the county for mental health and alcohol and drug services by the end of the fiscal year. He said the figure is up from $207,000 spent in fiscal 2003 and is a 1,000-percent increase over the last five years. To address the trend, Stone said staff reviewed services to children in placement, did a cost analysis and developed recommendations."  
  

Johanns unsure of position on removing closing dates for regional health centers (Nebraska)
AP story in The Independent - "Gov. Mike Johanns hasn't made up his mind whether to support removing the proposed closure dates of the Hastings and Norfolk mental health regional centers from his reform plan. Bill sponsor Sen. Jim Jensen of Omaha said he will propose removing the closure dates when the bill (LB1083) is heard Wednesday by the Health Committee. Jensen crafted the mental health reform plan with Johanns. It calls for closing the two centers by the end of 2005 as part of a move toward more community-based care. ...But Johanns said he likely won't decide whether to support removal of the dates until just before he testifies at the hearing Wednesday afternoon. The governor said he wants to meet with consumers and providers that morning to discuss it....  
  

Court restructuring suggested by report (Tennessee)
Story in The Tennessean - "Tennessee's court system is costly, inefficient and needs a more uniform structure, a report released yesterday by the state comptroller's office said. ... It was critical of the lack of drug courts and mental health courts throughout the state. The majority of criminal cases in Tennessee involve nonviolent drug and alcohol cases, the report found. Yet the study cited research that shows that drug courts are an effective way to deal with these kinds of offenders."  
  

Carteret panel reviews mental health options (North Carolina)
Daily News story - "A recently appointed Carteret County task force is well under way in its efforts to review options for managing county mental health services. The five-person panel led by County Commissioner Jack Dawsey is gathering information on various area agencies, known as local management entities, that can administer such services. The task force expects to complete its study by March and report back to the Board of Commissioners with its findings about each potential provider."  
  

Effectiveness of mental health court being studied
Herald-Sun (North Carolina) story - "Because mental health courts across the nation are so new, not too many studies have been conducted to determine whether they are an effective way of dealing with the mentally ill who commit crimes. There are only, so far, a few simple statistics relating to the effectiveness of the Orange County Community Resource Court. But an N.C. State University graduate student is conducting research on the court. Marlee Gurrera, a graduate student in sociology, began her study in 2002 and is seeking to determine if the court is effective in reducing the number of times a defendant is arrested, if it saves taxpayer money, if it provides quality treatment for the defendants and whether defendants are helped in finding housing and jobs."