NEW DATE: 12/14 9PM EST, Conf. call on Psychiatric Parole with Dr. Stephen Seager

RESCHEDULED: Monday, December 14
9PM Eastern Standard Time 

Mental Illness Policy Org invites you to a conference call with Dr. Stephen B Seager, author Behind the Gates of Gomorrah: A Year with the Criminally Insane. 
Call this number (712) 775-7031
Enter this Access Code:715-149 

He will talk about his book and about a psychiatric parole program in California, Forensic Conditional Release (CONREP) that is like an enforceable version of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) for prisoners that should be made available in other states.

 SHARE THIS. IT IS A PUBLIC EVENT

(This call was previously scheduled for 12/7, but a problem at Sprint prevented the moderator, and some  participants for calling in, so it has been rescheduled. Our apologies to those who tried to call in and the original  time and could not participate)

DeBlasio Mental Health White Paper Ignores Serious Mental Illness

The new white paper on mental health issued by the De Blasio administration November 12, 2015, shows it intends to continue the policy of ignoring the most seriously mentally ill and focusing  on all others. For example, the report identifies HS students who feel sad as a priority, but not the homeless psychotic who are eating out of dumpsters. Following are data points and solutions ignored by the White Paper and the administration. Let us know if you need help reporting on this.

• 4% of NYC adults have serious mental illnesses that profoundly affect their functioning. They are not mentioned in the report which only addresses people who need mental health improved. 
• 93,000 city residents who suffer from the most serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder, received no treatment in the past year.  
• NYC adults with serious mental illness are more likely to report not getting needed medical care in the past year than those without SMI (21 percent vs. 11 percent)
• While the number of people incarcerated in NYC jails has gone down since 2010, the percentage of prisoners with mental illness shot up 30 percent from 2010 to 2014. 
• An estimated 4,000 city residents should be in Kendra’s Law but New York City has helped fewer than 1,400 get in. (State figure divided by half)
• Kendra’s Law reduced homelessness, arrests, incarceration, and hospitalization by about 70 percent each in people with serious mental illness. It saves taxpayers 50 percent of the cost of care.  

People with serious mental illness in NYC need to be prioritized, not ignored. (Full recommendations)

• Make access to city hospitals easier for the most seriously ill
• More robustly implement Kendra’s Law
• Provide greater scrutiny of patients involuntarily admitted to hospitals before they are discharged.
• Make greater use of Conditional Discharge from hospital
• Provide greater scrutiny and evaluation of inmates who received mental health services while incarcerated before they are let go from incarceration.
• Support and expand Fountain House

Call Rep. Fred Upton at 202 225 3761 & urge him to pass HR2646

We need everyone to contact Representative Fred Upton, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and urge him to bring a strong "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR2646)" to a vote now.

HR2646 is a bipartisan bill proposed by Representatives Tim Murphy, (R., PA) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D., TX), that forces the mental health industry to stop shunning people who are the most seriously mentally ill. Because the bill focuses on helping the most seriously ill, rather than all others, some in the mental health industry are trying to prevent it from passing.

HR2646:

• Creates an Asst. Secretary for Mental Health to coordinate mental health policy and encourages the use of evidence-based practices that help the seriously ill, rather than politically correct and profitable practices that help all others.
•  Encourages states to use Assisted Outpatient Treatment as a more humane and inexpensive alternative to inpatient commitment and incarceration.
• Helps end federal financial discrimination against psychiatric beds so the most seriously ill who need hospitalization aren’t sent to jail instead.
• Allows parents who provide care, housing, case management for mentally ill children out of love, to get the same information from doctors paid providers receive if it’s needed to protect health, safety, and welfare.
• Stops federally funded P&A lawyers from suing against care for our loved ones

Here's why the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act is important 

Rep. Upton is on our side, but those who get federal funds and don’t serve the seriously ill are putting intense pressure on him to not use federal funds for the seriously mentally ill and not to use federal funds for evidence based practices. They want the funds used to "improve behavioral wellness" rather than help the seriously ill. It's outrageous that federal funds are being used to lobby against better care for the seriously ill!

As chair of the Energy and Commerce committee, Rep. Upton can bring the HR2646 to a vote with the important provisions above intact. He needs to hear from you.

Call Representative Fred Upton at 202 225 3761 and urge him to pass a strong HR2646.  

MAKE THE CALL! SPREAD THIS TO FRIENDS, NAMI GROUPS, ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT THE SERIOUSLY ILL. THANK YOU.