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I hope you all had a
wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family, friends, and loved ones. Before we head into the holiday season, I
wanted to give you all an update on the latest initiatives in children’s mental
health.
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Webinar with the Department of Education and Other Experts I recently hosted and moderated a panel with Katherine Neas, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education; Harry “Doc” Ervin, Superintendent, San Bernardino City Unified School District; Mai Xi Lee, Social Emotional Learning Director, Sacramento City Unified School District; and Thomas Scarice, Superintendent, Westport Public Schools. We had a robust and informative discussion about the urgent need for education systems across the country to address the immediate mental health needs of students head on, including integrating mental health into curricula and culture, and identifying funding and technical support to move forward. You can see the whole discussion here.
The Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Act
Debra L. Wentz, President and CEO of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies just wrote an op-ed arguing that the New Jersey Congressional delegation should support the passage of the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Act-- and I agree. The bill would create financial stability for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model program that has expanded access to mental health and addiction services to so many people here in New Jersey. Read more here.
Development at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations (SAMHSA)
SAMHSA has convened an expert panel to develop a children’s crisis continuum based on SAMHSA’s framework of “someone to call, someone to respond, and a place to go.” The agency is creating a roadmap document that will guide jurisdictions in putting in place best practices for children’s crisis care. An HHS department subcommittee on children is also working on strategies to increase accessibility to community based behavioral health services to prevent children from entering into the child welfare and juvenile justice systems or psychiatric residential care.
SAMHSA has developed the following resources:
I will be in touch about future webinars, other events and news articles that I think might be of interest to you.
Happy Holidays!
Best, Amy |
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