News and Commentary from the Treatment Advocacy Center March 2021 Below is a summary of recent developments and compelling news stories from across the country highlighting America's broken mental health treatment system and how to fix it. Treatment Advocacy Center in the News A Window of Opportunity Acting Executive Director Lisa Dailey was quoted, and our research was cited, in a Bloomberg article about how people with severe mental illness end up in fatal police encounters because of the lack of treatment options. “Before something escalates to become a psychiatric crisis that requires a 911 call, there are almost always a couple of opportunities — a window of opportunity — where something can be handled as a medical issue,” said Dailey. Read more, here. Chronicling Texas’ Bed Shortage The Treatment Advocacy Center assisted the Houston Chronicle to develop its story on the psychiatric bed shortage in Texas. A minimum of 50 in-patient psychiatric beds per 100,000 people is needed to provide minimally adequate treatment for individuals with severe mental illness. Today, there are fewer than eight per 100,000 people in Texas. Read more, here. Sabah Muhammad Steps Into New Role We are excited to announce that Legislative and Policy Counsel Sabah Muhammad is the inaugural DJ Jaffe advocate. Shortly after the death of former board member and friend DJ Jaffe last August, Treatment Advocacy Center announced its intention to create a new advocacy position to honor Jaffe’s legacy as a tireless mental health advocate and champion for families. This new position will allow us to better organize and execute grassroots advocacy in specific communities in need of better outreach and representation in the advocacy world, creating direct lines of communication with local advocates who are working to better the lives of individuals with and affected by severe mental illness. Read more, here. The Year In Review Earlier this month, we released our 2020 annual report, titled “Advocating for Change.” As you can glean from the report, 2020 was an extremely busy and productive time for the Treatment Advocacy Center, as we welcomed aboard our acting executive director, Lisa Dailey, testified before numerous state legislatures and produced major research on severe mental illness. Read and download our annual report, here. RESEARCH WEEKLY: March 2021 Recap DATAPOINT of the month One in four people with serious mental illness also have a substance use disorder At any given moment, an estimated one in four people with a serious mental illness also have a co-occurring substance use disorder. Co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorders are extremely common and make this population particularly vulnerable to negative consequences like more severe mental illness symptoms, increased risk of involvement with the criminal justice system and homelessness, and increased barriers to receiving adequate treatment for both of their illnesses. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2019). National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Tables 8.12A and 8.4A). Find all of this month's research highlights here. To receive Research Weekly directly in your email inbox on a weekly basis, click here. Thank you for all of your continued support of our work. Please donate today. Donate View as Webpage ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Treatment Advocacy Center | 200 N Glebe Rd, Ste 801, Arlington, VA 22203 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Customer Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!