Sex education bill headed to Senate floor

This is from the Greensboro News & Record blog.  This bill is on the NASW-NC legislative agenda.

 

The Health Youth Act, H88, which will now require all school districts to offer comprehensive sex education, passed the Senate Mental Health and Youth Services Committee. Supporters of the bill said they were "disappointed" with the new version Wednesday. read more

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Enclosures:

fisher_061009.jpg http://mm.news-record.com/drupal/files/imagecache/zoom_view/Images/fisher_061009.jpg

 

H codes extended! DMH announcement 6-5-09!

For Immediate Distribution
SUBJECT: Extension of Provisionally Licensed Providers Delivering Reimbursable Outpatient Therapy Services Billed Through the Local Management Entity (LME)
The purpose of this communication is to announce that the deadline for provisionally licensed providers delivering outpatient therapy as a reimbursable service under Medicaid and state funds and billed through the LME has been extended to June 30, 2010. Our Divisions will continue to pay for services delivered by provisionally licensed individuals billed through LMEs under codes H0001, H0004, and H0005 until that date.
As outlined in Implementation Update # 32, the LME may chose to provide this service on behalf of the provisionally licensed professional. If the provisionally licensed professional is employed by an agency, the agency must develop a contract directly with the LME to do this billing for them. If the provisionally licensed professional works independently, they should contact their licensure board prior to developing a contract with the LME to ensure compliance with each profession’s Scope of Practice.
In addition to providing outpatient services billed through an LME, there are various other means for provisionally licensed professionals to obtain the clinical experience required by their licensing boards. These include:
• providing outpatient Medicaid services working with a physician using Medicaid’s Incident To policy (see the March 2009 Medicaid Bulletin);
• providing Enhanced MH/DD/SA services as the Qualified Professional (QP) in order to receive family and community based clinical experience; and
• serving as the "Licensed Professional" in the Intensive In-Home service.

House HHS Appropriations Money Report

To see the latest House HHS Appropriations money report go here

HHS Appropriations is already packed with families and consumers, how exciting!

Testing new technology of posting from IPhone!

Postings to Hull House NC

We apologize for any confusion recent postings may have caused. It has been brought to our attention that previous posts were not properly cited. NASW-NC does not post information that is not sourced and will diligently work to correct this error.

Jack Register, Director of Advocacy & Legislation- Hull House NC Editor

Mentally Ill in Jails

New Study Documents High Prevalence of Serious Mental Illnesses Among
Nation's Jail Populations

Council of State Governments Justice Center June 1st 2009

WASHINGTON--A new study released today of more than 20,000 men and women
entering jail offers the most accurate accounting in more than two
decades
of the number of adults with serious mental illnesses in these
facilities.

Using screening instruments to identify individuals entering jails with
the
most serious mental illnesses and the greatest need for comprehensive
and
continuous treatment, a team of researchers from the nonpartisan Council
of
State Governments Justice Center and Policy Research Associates found
that
14.5 percent of males and 31 percent of females -- or
16.9 percent overall -- met that criteria.

These estimates are three to six times higher than the general
population,
and indicate that as many as 2 million bookings of people with serious
mental illnesses may occur each year. The findings, published today in
the
journal Psychiatric Services, underscore the challenges faced by jail
administrators to address the needs of individuals with mental illnesses
in
the face of budget cuts and extremely limited resources.

At a Capitol Hill briefing today, Art Wallenstein, Director of the
Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, said,
"Jails
at the county and municipal level were never intended to replace the
need
for a strong community-based mental health system.
Better alternatives exist and they must be encouraged and supported.
Jail is
not the answer for addressing mental illness in this country."

Judge Steven Leifman, Special Advisor on Criminal Justice and Mental
Health
for the Supreme Court of Florida, said, "Only through systemwide
collaboration and partnerships can we begin to close the revolving door
to
the criminal justice system which, today, results in increased
recidivism,
devastation to our families and communities, wasteful government
spending,
and the shameful warehousing in jails and prisons of some of the most
vulnerable and neglected members of our communities."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is leading a
bipartisan coalition of senators in pressing for full funding of the
Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA). The
law
authorizes federal grants to help state and local governments create or
expand mental health courts; offer treatment and training programs; and
teach law enforcement officers and agents to recognize and react to
situations involving individuals with mental illnesses.

For more information on the study, its authors and its implications,
visit
http://www.justicecenter.csg.org/