Kentucky.gov: - Suicide Prevention 09

Kentucky.gov: - Suicide Prevention 09

Contact Information:

Gwenda Bond, (502) 564-6786, ext. 3325

To help bring awareness to suicide prevention, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS), the Kentucky Suicide Prevention Group (KSPG) and the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (BHDID) are hosting an event at 10 a.m. Aug. 21, at the Frankfort Convention Center, 405 Mero St., Frankfort.

“Times are tough. The economy, job loss, cyberbullying among youth, and post-traumatic stress among military veterans are just some of the issues facing many Kentuckians,” said Jan Ulrich, youth suicide prevention marketing specialist with BHDID. “Extreme stress can affect both physical and mental health, which can increase the risk of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, compulsive behaviors and thoughts of suicide in some individuals.”

Members of the public are encouraged to attend the meeting to hear the inspirational stories of real people who are persevering through grief and loss, and are fighting to make a difference in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond.

Army Major General Mark Graham and wife Carol Graham will serve as keynote speakers at the event. Motivated by the tragic loss of both of their sons, Kevin, a University of Kentucky ROTC cadet who died by suicide, and Jeffrey, an Army lieutenant and UK graduate who died in Iraq, the Grahams will share their personal story of loss and how they are leading the fight to reduce military suicides.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently nominated Major General Graham, a nationally renowned speaker, for Time magazine's 100 most influential people.

The free event will provide information and resources about how to become involved in the fight to prevent suicide. Several statewide initiatives will be announced, including suicide prevention initiatives targeting the military, colleges, middle and high schools and more.

Registration is required. Register by Aug. 7 online at www.kentuckysuicideprevention.org or call Ulrich at (502) 564-4456.

Summary of July 24 Disability Community Meeting with President Obama

NAMI Louisville

Summary of July 24 Disability Community Meeting with President Obama Commemorating 19th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Signing of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

On July 24, President Obama invited a group of 12 representatives of the disability community to meet privately with him, Attorney General Holder, Secretary of Labor Solis, and senior White House officials in advance of an East Room ceremony marking the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and his announcement of the Administration’s decision to sign and seek Senate ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Attending the meeting for the disability community were Polly Arango of Family Voices; Marca Bristo of the US International Council on Disabilities and Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago; Kelly Buckland of the National Council on Independent Living; former Congressman Tony Coelho; Michael Fitzpatrick of the National Alliance on Mental Illness; Marty Ford of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities and The Arc and UCP Disability Policy Collaboration; Andy Imparato of AAPD; Ted Kennedy, Jr. of the AAPD Board and The Marwood Group; Michael May of the Sendero Group, a technology company; Maria Veronica Reina of the Global Partnership for Disability and Development; Jeff Rosen of Snap!VRS, a video relay and technology company; and Bob Williams of the District of Columbia, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Disability and Long-Term Care Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Joining the President at the meeting were Attorney General Eric Holder; Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis; Melody Barnes, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy; Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu; Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy; Paul Miller, Special Assistant to the President for Personnel; Lisa Brown, Staff Secretary to the President; Michael Strautmanis, Chief of Staff to Valerie Jarrett; Jeff Crowley, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy and Senior Advisor on Disability Issues to the Domestic Policy Council; Tina Tchen, Director of the Office of Public Engagement; and Kathy Martinez, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy.

The disability community representatives engaged in a productive dialogue with Attorney General Holder and Secretary Solis before the President arrived, discussing our priorities for civil rights enforcement at both departments, including but not limited to internet accessibility, Olmstead enforcement, reducing the waiting period for ADA complaints to be resolved, using OFCCP to enforce the affirmative action provisions in the Rehabilitation Act, protecting children from the use of aversives and restraints; and implementing a government-wide strategy to improve the representation of people with significant disabilities in the federal workforce. Both Holder and Solis were very interested in continuing the discussion in follow-up meetings with disability community representatives in the weeks to come.

When the President arrived, he noted that we had a wide-ranging agenda that included employment, education, technology, health care, and civil rights policy, and indicated his interest in using this first meeting as a listening session. We thanked him for the meeting and for his leadership in signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we emphasized the importance of seeing disability policy issues as fundamentally about fairness, civil rights and human rights. We shared some personal discrimination stories and expressed our desire to work with the White House and agencies across the administration on a broad-based strategy to make progress between now and next July 26, which will be the 20th anniversary of the ADA. A significant portion of our time with the President was devoted to health care reform and the need to end the institutional bias in Medicaid, and the President offered to have Nancy-Ann DeParle and Peter Orszag and other members of his health reform team sit down with us in the next few weeks to discuss our ideas, including making the Community Choice Act a state option as part of the final bill that emerges from Congress.

The disability community representatives came away believing that the President, his cabinet representatives, and his senior White House staff are committed to working with our community to achieve the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act. We look forward to following up on all of the issues discussed at the meeting. All in all, we felt that this historic meeting represented a very important step forward for our community and for the country.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Michael J. Fitzpatrick, MSW

Executive Director

NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300

Arlington, VA 2201

mfitzpatrick@nami.org

703-516-7977

Kentucky.gov: - Public Invited to Suggest Community Service Needs at Regional Forums

Kentucky.gov: - Public Invited to Suggest Community Service Needs at Regional Forums

Health and Family Services Cabinet
Public Invited to Suggest Community Service Needs at Regional Forums; Input will help state complete AmeriCorps plans

Press Release Date:	Monday, July 27, 2009
Contact Information:	Media Contact: Anya Armes Weber, (502) 564-6180, ext. 4014; or Vikki Franklin, (502) 564-7042

FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 27, 2009) – The state is asking for feedback from the public on projects relating to its service programs.

The Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service (KCCVS) is seeking statewide input this summer for its State Service Plan and for 2010-11 AmeriCorps grants.

Six regional forums are planned for the public to attend.

A federal mandate requires that KCCVS, part of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, ask for input on community needs to include in its three-year State Service Plan.

AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engages more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment. In Kentucky, AmeriCorps is administered by KCCVS.

KCCVS Executive Director Eileen Cackowski said the regional forums give KCCVS the necessary public contributions to compile the plan.

NAMI | Policy Topics

Double Tragedies: Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty For People with Severe Mental Illness

For the first time, families of murder victims have joined with families of persons with mental illness who have been executed to speak out against the death penalty.

Download the full report below.

Related Files

Double Tragedies (2MB) (PDF File)

Kentucky.gov: - KHELPS Summer Workshop 2009

Kentucky.gov: - KHELPS Summer Workshop 2009

The Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) will conduct a free day-long workshop on July 18 in Lexington to provide basic training for volunteers and medical professionals from across the state who are interested in offering assistance during public health emergencies. The workshop runs from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. at the Lexington Convention Center (430 W. Vine St.).

The workshop will provide an orientation and training for the Kentucky Health Emergency Listing of Professionals for Surge (K HELPS)/Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) program.

“This upcoming workshop will play in integral part in planning response efforts that protect our communities in the event of a large-scale public health emergency,” said William D. Hacker, M.D., commissioner for public health. “We are seeking both medical and non-medical personnel who are interested in helping others make a difference in their local communities.”

The K HELPS program is a state-based system to register medical professionals interested in volunteering to offer assistance during public health emergencies or disasters. It was designed to complement the existing Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) programs, community-based organizations that organize and utilize medical professional volunteers to supplement existing local emergency and public health resources for responding to emergencies. Under the new system, K HELPS and local MRC units will work together. Currently, the MRC program covers all 120 counties in Kentucky, with local health departments sponsoring most units in conjunction with local emergency management agencies. To register as a K HELPS volunteer, visit https://khelps.chfs.ky.gov/VolunteerMobilizer/.

Kentucky.gov: - Attorney General Conway Announces Multi-Million Dollar Settlement with Drug Company

Kentucky.gov: - Attorney General Conway Announces Multi-Million Dollar Settlement with Drug Company

Attorney General Jack Conway today announced a $2 million settlement with Deerfield, Ill., pharmaceutical manufacturer Baxter Healthcare Corporation, a subsidiary of global healthcare company Baxter International, Inc. Baxter is one of the largest manufacturers in the world of intravenous solutions and products used in the delivery of fluids and drugs to patients.

The Kentucky Medicaid program relies on published average wholesale prices (AWPs) to calculate Medicaid drug-reimbursement rates. Baxter published significantly inflated AWPs for its intravenous solutions that bore no relationship to any prices that Baxter actually charged its customers. This created an artificial "spread" between Baxter’s published prices and the real prices. At times this "spread" exceeded 1,300 percent, which caused the Kentucky Medicaid program to pay substantially more for Baxter’s drugs than the actual cost of the drugs.

"Taxpayers are footing the bill for these inflated drug prices, and my office is seeking to recover the money the Medicaid program lost as a result of this deception and overpayment," said General Conway. "All of this could have been easily avoided if Baxter and the other defendants would have done what the law requires - report truthful prices."

Second Annual Celebrate Recovery! Conference on Friday, July 24

Seven Counties Services Inc.

Seven Counties’ will host its Second

Annual Celebrate Recovery! Conference on Friday, July 24 at the Hyatt Regency, Louisville. The conference will bring providers, consumers and family members together to celebrate the role each plays in creating a recovery environment for adults with severe mental illness throughout Louisville and surrounding counties.

Fair Housing Information Sheet # 1: Early Termination Of A Lease

Fair Housing Information Sheet # 1: Early Termination Of A Lease

Kognito releases study on suicide prevention program

Each year over 1,350 college students commit suicide

and, according to the American College Health Association,

almost 10% of all students say they have seriously considered

suicide during the past year. Academic institutions

have been actively seeking ways to engage their faculty

and staff in identifying at-risk students and referring them

to their counseling centers, a crucial task considering that

close to 80% of students who commit suicide are never

seen by a counselor.

In May-June of 2009, Kognito engaged 42 universities

around the U.S. in a survey study to analyze the impact of

At-Risk, its recently launched gatekeeper training product.

This report summarizes the results of the study.

Make comments on the Housing Choice Program

From HUD:

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

The June 22^nd Federal Register noted that the 2009 Appropriations Act provided funding for 4,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers for non-elderly disabled families. Some 1,000 of these vouchers, it adds, will go to non-elderly families transitioning out of nursing homes and other institutions into the community.” To help “better design the distribution” of these vouchers, HUD would like to hear your comments about “threshold factors used to distribute” the vouchers, “whether HUD should establish a more performance-based method” for distribution and how “State institutional transition programs” can “work effectively” with housing authorities receiving these vouchers. Comments due to HUD’s Office of Housing Choice Voucher Management & Operations by July 13th. For more, contact Phyllis.A.Smelkinson@hud.gov

(NAMI Louisville note: These Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly known as Section 8 vouchers) for "disabled families" include families dealing with mental illness.)

Kentucky.gov: - Grant Aids Families of Children with Special Health Care Needs

Kentucky.gov: - Grant Aids Families of Children with Special Health Care Needs

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 30, 2009) – A federal grant of almost $100,000 will help Kentucky children with special needs and their families get the medical care and support they require.

The Kentucky Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs (CCSHCN) has received a $95,700 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration to establish Family-to-Family Health Information Centers in 12 of its locations across the state.

The centers will be located in CCSHCN offices that provide direct medical and other clinical services. Hazard, Lexington, Louisville, Owensboro and Paducah will be the first five sites, followed by Ashland, Barbourville, Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Morehead, Prestonsburg and Somerset.

Part of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, CCSHCN serves youth ages 21 and younger who have special health care needs.

Family-to-Family Health Information Centers are well received by families because they are typically staffed and run by parents of children with special health care needs themselves. Parents who have navigated the system are available to assist others.

CCSHCN Executive Director Rebecca Cecil said Commission staff and clients are excited about the one-year grant, which could be extended for two more years.

“The health care process becomes more complicated when a child has special needs, and having families mentor other families through this program is the most effective way to ensure that the child gets the services needed,” Cecil said.

Kentucky’s health information centers will be managed by two co-directors -- both parents of children with special needs who have expertise in navigating both public and private health care systems.

The co-directors will recruit and train family mentors, with the assistance of the CCSHCN Parent Advisory Council and CCSHCN clinical staff. The family mentors will help families understand their children’s health issues, provide technical support, offer a multitude of resources and tap into a network of other families and professionals for support and information.

National Minority Mental Health Month

NAMI | Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Month

In 2008 the US House of Representatives proclaimed July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. This provides NAMI state and affiliates with a wonderful opportunity to reach out to diverse communities. Learn more about Bebe here. Click here to learn more about the 2008 resolution.