June 2015 – Additional Articles, videos, and information from across the nation.

“I Don’t Do Pills”
Lost Minds, a documentary from filmmaker Michael Price, explores the country’s broken mental health system through the eyes of law enforcement, health care professionals and people living with mental illness.

Watch “Lost Minds: KC’s Mental Health Crisis.”

Vermont Hospital Treated Mental Patients As Criminals, Public Records Show

The Washington Post: Maryland Bill Would Require Extra Training For School Counselors
When Lauryn Santiago’s grades started to slip two years ago, her mother, Linda Diaz, suspected something was wrong. Diaz called her daughter’s high school and asked the counselor to meet with Lauryn. But the meeting never happened. A month later, Diaz found her 15-year-old daughter hanging from the banister of their home. Lauryn, a freshman at Laurel High School in Prince George’s County, had taken her own life. (Wiggins, 4/26)

The Charlotte Observer: Hope, Hurdles In Mental Health: North Carolina's Managed Care
Last spring Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions took control of more than $200 million in Medicaid spending for Mecklenburg County residents with mental illnesses, addictions, autism and similar issues. It was a controversial mandate from the state. County officials wanted to keep local control. Clients and their families feared the focus on cost control would erode care. (Helms, 4/27)

The Chicago Sun-Times: 'Devastating' Closure Of Mental Health Centers To Hit 10,000 Patients Next Month
One of the largest providers of mental health services to poor North Siders is closing — just as the state braces for massive mental health care cuts. And Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office is warning that means there will soon be more mentally ill people in jail. (4/24)

Modern Healthcare: Psychiatric Hospitals To Get Modest Medicare Rate Bump
The CMS is proposing that inpatient psychiatric facilities get a 1.6% rate increase from Medicare in fiscal 2016 under a proposed rule issued Friday. The proposed policy means Medicare would spend $80 million more on psychiatric facilities in fiscal 2016 than in fiscal 2015. However, the increase is smaller than the 2.5% raise they received for the current year. (Dickson, 4/24)

The Associated Press: Iowa Law Tries To Ensure Adult Children Can See Sick Parents
A year after the children of radio personality Casey Kasem had to seek court action to see their ailing father, a new law in Iowa aims to ensure that adult children can see their sick parents — granting them visitation rights unless the person's guardian goes to court to stop them. Gov. Terry Branstad signed the bill into law Friday. (Lucey, 4/24)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: The Demands On Caregiver Parents Are Relentless
The entire nation shuddered at the story of Daequan Norman, the 21-year old man with severe cerebral palsy who was abandoned in a West Philadelphia park by his mother. He was wrapped in a blanket with a Bible in this spring's cold, helpless because he cannot move his arms or legs, and cannot speak. His mother has been charged with attempted murder and other offenses. In searching for some meaning in this tragic situation, let's take an unflinching look at the exceptional demands upon parents of children with severe disabilities. (Diane Gallagher, 4/27)

Society’s Bellwether is the Care and Treatment of Children

U.S. to set tougher standards for companies managing Medicaid

Study: Mental Health Effects of Bullying Even Worse Than Effects of Abuse by Adults

Three Common Anxiety Traps and How to Avoid Them

Poll: Iowans Reject Branstad’s Plans for Medicaid and Closing MHI’s

FDA Approves First Generic of Antipsychotic Abilify

New Orleans Times-Picayune: 4 Things To Know About Medicaid Expansion In Louisiana's Budget Crisis
If you've only half paid attention to what's happening in Baton Rouge, you probably already know lawmakers are trying to agree on the best way to patch a $1.6 billion hole in Louisiana's budget. And you may have heard this week that the state's private hospitals are working with House leaders to try to come up with one solution the Louisiana Hospital Association thinks would be mutually beneficial — and that puts Medicaid expansion squarely on the table as key to helping fill that funding gap. ... Here are a few questions and answers that have surfaced in our recent coverage. (Catalanello, 4/28)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Files Suit Accusing Hawaiian Gardens Hospital Of Patient Dumping
The 38-year-old schizophrenic homeless woman — clad only in paper pajamas — showed up in front of the Union Rescue Mission one day in September, allegedly dropped off by a hospital van. She wandered without identification, money or medication through Los Angeles' skid row before someone at another shelter contacted the owner of the van, Gardens Regional Hospital & Medical Center in Hawaiian Gardens, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer. (Holland, 4/28)

The Pioneer Press: Chicago Mental Health Groups Warn Rauner Cuts Could Hurt Mentally Ill
Venessa Fitzsimmons attacked her manager five years ago, losing control. Her boss called the police, who in turn called the Fire Department, who took her to Chicago-Read Mental Health Center after she threatened suicide. Fitzsimmons, who is bipolar and deals with depression, came to Leyden Family Services in January 2009. She credits the Franklin Park social service agency with saving her life. The services Fitzsimmons received could be reduced if Gov. Bruce Rauner has his way. In an effort to reduce a $7.4 billion shortfall in the state budget, Rauner has proposed cuts in the state's human services budget that could impact clients' ability to function or, said Fitzsimmons, just to survive. Among Rauner's proposed cuts is a $129,014 supplemental grant used by Leyden Family Services to employ a psychiatrist. (Lawton, 4/28)

Private Medicaid companies in Kansas Lose $170 million

Iowa Ombudsman Raises Question over Medicaid Oversight

Boston Globe: Pilot Program For Postpartum Depression Deserves Approval
For most women, giving birth triggers joyful and overwhelming emotions. But for a significant number of new mothers it also causes strong and persistent feelings of anxiety, sadness, and hopelessness — clear signs of postpartum depression. Yet the maternal disorder often goes undiagnosed, or simply dismissed as “baby blues.” State Representative Ellen Story of Amherst has introduced bill after bill for the past six years to mandate postpartum depression screening in the state. On Tuesday night, the restitution of a $200,000 pilot program to screen for postpartum depression in certain communities amounted to a victory — and represents a step in the right direction in support of maternal mental health. (4/30)

3. Making Information Power: Psychiatrists Unveil A New Resource For Patients

The American Psychiatric Association is releasing a new resource, Understanding Mental Disorders: Your Guide To DSM-5, to give patients and their families a better understanding of what these conditions involve and arm them with tools to advocate for their care. (Lisa Gillespie, 5/1)

On a Brother’s suicide, I wish I had never told him to go to counseling

Grassley: We need to improve juvenile justice in America - The Des Moines Register

Each night, around 60,000 young people's heads hit the pillows in a juvenile detention facility. In communities across America, these youth are in custody for committing offenses that have brought them into the juvenile justice system. More here.

Medicaid Expansion Saving States Money

The New York Times: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Struggles With Suicides Among Its Young
Since December, the Pine Ridge reservation, a vast, windswept land of stunning grasslands and dusty plateaus, has been the scene of an unfolding crisis: nine people between the ages of 12 and 24 have committed suicide here. ... Many more youths on the reservation have tried, but failed, to kill themselves in the past several months: at least 103 attempts by people ages 12 to 24 occurred from December to March, according to the federal Indian Health Service. ... Tribe officials, clergy members and social workers say they cannot remember such a high rate of suicides and attempts in such a short period of time on the reservation, which is already overwhelmed with high rates of unemployment, poverty, domestic abuse and alcohol addiction. (Bosman, 5/1)

An Ounce of Prevention aimed at preparing law enforcement officers to be more mindful in situations involving suspects with mental illness is expanding rapidly, both in Utah and across the country, and with good reason.

An Example of When Rights Go Wrong and suffering with severe mental illness, Jason West, 42, was arrested for threatening to kill firefighters as they struggled to extinguish a large brush fire in Massachusetts last week. "It's happened before," said West’s brother, Dennis. "Unless he gets the proper help, it's going to keep on happening."

The Associated Press: NYC Mayor Proposes Millions In New Mental Health Services
Over 80 schools would get mental health clinics, every police precinct would have a victims' advocate and social workers would arrange psychological care for thousands of families in homeless shelters under Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to invest tens of millions of dollars in mental health, his wife's signature issue. The proposal, which first lady Chirlane McCray unveiled Tuesday, comes as New York seeks to become a national model for cities to address mental health needs and . She's spearheading an effort to draw a full-fledged plan, expected this fall. (Peltz, 5/5)

Meet the Outsider Who Accidentally Solved Chronic Homelessness

Excited Delirium – Cited in Dozens of Deaths in Police Custody. Is it real or a cover for police brutality?

These Days You Have to Rob a Bank to Get Mental Health Treatment

LAPD Chief concerned about fatal shooting of unarmed man in Venice

The Associated Press: Reports Fault Access To Mental Health Care In Massachusetts
Despite increases in the number of Massachusetts residents covered by health insurance, barriers to mental health care remain — including low insurance reimbursement rates and clinicians who increasingly rely on clients paying out of pocket. That's according to a report released Wednesday by the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts. (5/6)

Stateline: Despite Laws, Mental Health Still Getting Short Shrift
Under federal law, insurance plans that cover mental health must offer benefits that are on par with medical and surgical benefits. Twenty-three states also require some level of parity. The federal law, approved in 2008, and most of the state ones bar insurers from charging higher copayments and deductibles for mental health services. Insurers must pay for mental health treatment of the same scope and duration as other covered treatments; they can’t require people to get additional authorizations for mental health services; and they must offer an equally extensive selection of mental health providers and approved drugs. (Ollove, 5/7)

Getting Out of Jail and Back to Work in ‘Second Chance City’Governing—April 29 | New Jersey

State Amends Punishment Policy for Mentally Ill Inmates The Associated Press—April 4 | California

I Spent Seven Years Locked in a Human Warehouse Politico Magazine—April 16 | Washington

Branstad Agrees to Plan that would keep MHI’s open

The New England Journal of Medicine: The Affordable Care Act at 5 Years

JAMA Psychiatry: Depression And Suicide Among Physician Trainees
In the first 2 months of the 2014-2015 academic year, 2 New York City medical interns died in apparent suicides. In response, an intern from Yale School of Medicine wrote an op–ed in the New York Times highlighting the link between medical training and isolation, depression, and suicide among trainees. Physician suicide is a common occurrence. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 300 to 400 physicians commit suicide each year, approximately 1 physician per day. Medical training involves numerous risk factors for mental illness, such as role transition, decreased sleep, relocation resulting in fewer available support systems, and feelings of isolation. A substantial body of evidence has demonstrated that trainees in particular are at high risk for depression and suicidal thinking, but many training programs have not been able to identify and provide treatment for these residents and fellows in a systematic way. (Matthew L. Goldman, Ravi N. Shah and Carol A. Bernstein, 5/7)

Lawsuit Leads to New Limits on Solitary Confinement in Juvenile Prisons in Illinois - The New YorkTimes

A settlement to a federal lawsuit will sharply limit the practice of solitary confinement in juvenile correctional facilities run by the state of Illinois, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois announced on Monday. The settlement, which resolved a lawsuit filed by the A.C.L.U. of Illinois against the state, requires that the juvenile inmates spend at least eight hours a day outside their cells, said Adam Schwartz, a lawyer for the A.C.L.U. of Illinois. The new policy also requires that the inmates in isolation continue to receive education and mental health services. More here.

12 Key Issues Left in the State Legislature

Police in this City Vow to Stop Arresting Drug Addicts

Raleigh News & Observer: The Myth Of The Medicaid Monster
Refusing to expand Medicaid may look reflexively anti-Obama and hardhearted, but Republicans say it’s a matter of fiscal responsibility. They say that Medicaid’s annual costs are prone to unpredictable surges and that its overall rate of increase means it will soon crowd out the state’s ability to meet its other obligations. But the Medicaid monster is a myth. A new analysis by the nonprofit Medicaid management organization Community Care of North Carolina found the health care program to be a steady expense. It’s expensive, yes, but it does a lot to improve the health of a vulnerable population and may well head off more expensive medical costs that would inflate premiums for everyone. (Ned Barnett, 5/9)

The Register’s Editorial: MHI Closings Mishandled Multiple Ways

The Chicago Sun Times: Top Four Criminal Justice Leaders Agree Mental Health Care Change In The Cards
Cook County’s top four criminal justice leaders agreed Wednesday that big changes should be made to the criminal justice system to stop violent crimes and to also reduce recidivism by providing mental health and support services. As Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle criticized the jail’s population of low-level offenders, citing an inmate who had stolen six bars of soap, Chief Judge Timothy Evans pointed out those offenders don’t always have a nonviolent criminal history. He has the job of protecting the public from those people, he told a packed crowd at the City Club of Chicago luncheon. (Sfondeles, 5/7)

WBUR: Colleges Work To Prevent Suicide And Fight Stigma Around Mental Health On Campus
As another academic year winds down, many colleges are reviewing how they raise awareness of mental health issues on campus, and what additional steps they can take to try to prevent suicide among students. More than 1,000 college students die by suicide every year. Suicide is listed as the nation’s second-leading cause of death for people of college age, though people not enrolled in school take their own lives at a higher rate than those attending college. And research has found about 7 percent of undergraduate and graduate students seriously consider suicide. (Becker and Jolicoeur, 5/11)

The Washington Post: Human Rights Watch Details Abuse Of Mentally Disabled Prisoners
In jails and prisons throughout the United States, correctional staff have sprayed mentally disabled prisoners with painful chemicals, shocked them with electric stun weapons, and strapped them for days in restraining chairs and beds, according to a report that will be released Tuesday. In its 127-page investigation of mostly state and local prisons, Human Rights Watch details incidents in which prison workers have used unnecessary and excessive force against prisoners with mental disabilities. (Horwitz, 5/12)

After Cluster of Suicides, MIT Works to Relieve Student Pressure, Raise Awareness

The Biggest Barrier to Preventing Suicide: Not Talking About It

‘She Was Able to Put on a Happy Face’: Big Personality Masked Pain That Led to Suicide

The Science of Suicide: Researchers Work to Determine Who’s Most at Risk

Wishing They Asked Tough Questions: Reflecting on a Father’s Suicide

No Excuse for L.A.’s Surging Homeless Population

How LA County Can Reduce Homelessness

The Des Moines Register: Wellmark Spurns Obamacare Exchange, But Two Competitors Don't
Moderate-income Iowans who want to use Affordable Care Act subsidies to purchase health insurance still won't be able to choose policies from Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield next year. But they should be offered policies from at least two competitors. UnitedHealthcare, the nation's largest health-insurer, confirmed Monday evening that it plans to start selling policies to Iowans this fall on the online public marketplace, known as HealthCare.gov. Coventry Health Care, which this year is most Iowans' sole choice on the system, said it will continue marketing plans on the public marketplace. The online system, also known as an exchange, is the only place where Americans can buy policies that qualify for the Obamacare subsidies. (Leys, 5/11)