(1-12-21) Long-time peer advocate Harvey Rosenthal answers the four questions that I have been posing to leaders of mental health organizations about their previous accomplishments, priorities and goals going into 2022. Thank you Mr. Rosenthal for responding on behalf of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS).

Question One: What was NYAPRS’s biggest accomplishment during 2021?

We’re most proud of our work in coalition with an extraordinary group of NYS criminal justice advocates to help win a landmark ban on horrific solitary confinement for vulnerable individuals that include people with mental health challenges, youth and seniors and new or pregnant Moms. Also, for the opportunities to be able to help fight off proposed deep funding cuts, help craft new peer crisis stabilization and psychiatric rehabilitation models, preserve self-directed care programs and gain another round of funding for a peer led outreach and support model.

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(1-10-22) Daniel H. Gillison Jr., the CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, today answers the four questions that I have asked major leaders in the mental health community to answer about what their organizations accomplished during 2021, what their priorities are during the coming year, and why they got involved in mental health work. Thank you Mr. Gillison for your response. 

Question One: What was NAMI’s biggest accomplishment during 2021?

As we know all too well, people with mental illness, especially people with serious mental illness, and their families often face unimaginable tragedy and trauma because of our inadequate response to mental health crises. 1 in 5 people experiencing homelessness have a serious mental illness. Since 2015, nearly 1 in 4 fatal police shootings have been of people with mental health conditions, with 1 in 3 of those being people of color.

According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, law enforcement agencies are continuing to spend 10 percent of their budget and one-fifth of staff time responding to people in psychiatric emergencies they are not equipped to handle. And people with mental illness are still overrepresented in our criminal justice system; Black individuals experiencing mental illness in jail are more likely to go into solitary confinement, more likely to become injured while incarcerated, and more likely to stay in jail longer, where mental health conditions are often left untreated.

This is unacceptable.

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(1-7-22) Schroeder Stribling, Mental Health America’s President and CEO was kind enough to answer the same four questions that I posed to Dr. Delphin-Rittmon, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and several other mental health leaders at the start of the new year. I am posting all responses based on when I received them. Thank you President/CEO Stribling, especially for sharing your personal story about your father.

Question One: What was Mental Health America’s biggest accomplishment during 2021?

During 2021, Mental Health America screened 5 million people through our Online Screening Program, providing free, anonymous, clinically-validated assessments to those seeking mental health information and support. In 2021, MHA was able to double the number of people that were screened in 2020. We are proud to have helped 5 million people this year, in the midst of a pandemic, learn more about their mental health and access critical resources.

In addition to supporting each individual person who took a screen, MHA was also able to make a greater impact this year by plotting the results of these screens geographically, and in real-time. By analyzing screening results according to location, MHA was able to generate information about the current mental health needs of the nation at a pace and scale that has not been possible in the past.

Government data on mental health conditions is often delayed by one to two years, making it difficult to respond quickly to high-need areas and significantly weakening prevention efforts. By using geographic analysis to identify communities in need of greater mental health supports, MHA was able to generate findings that enabled state and local policymakers to take immediate action in their communities.

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(1-5-22) Lisa Dailey, Executive Director of The Treatment Advocacy Center, answered the same four questions that I posed to Dr. Delphin-Rittmon, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and other mental health leaders at the start of the new year. Thank you Director Dailey for your responses.

Question One: What was Treatment Advocacy Center’s biggest accomplishment during 2021?

The second year of the pandemic presented a new and unprecedented challenge to our commitment to represent those with the most severe mental illness in every relevant conversation.

In a normal year, we know what this encompasses. In 2021, research began to demonstrate something very concerning: our specific population, and particularly those with schizophrenia, are at a much higher risk of death or severe illness due to COVID than any other population apart from the elderly. It wasn’t a modest effect. The data was absolutely clear that failure to prioritize vaccination for those with SMI in our public health response meant that many of our loved ones with SMI would literally die. We knew it wouldn’t be enough for people to simply be eligible for the vaccine; those most at risk did not know that they were at greater risk.

We were not seeing any efforts to acknowledge and address the unique hurdles to vaccination faced by those with severe mental illness.

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(1-3-22) Dr. Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and head of SAMHSA, was kind enough to answer four questions for me as we enter the New Year, including a question that asked what drew her into the mental health profession. The same four questions were asked to leaders of several national mental health organizations and their responses will be posted in the coming days. Thank you Dr. Delphin-Rittmon for sharing your responses.

Question One: What was SAMHSA biggest accomplishment during 2021?

First, Pete, allow me to say thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts in your blog about the work being done by SAMHSA. As you know, our country has been grappling with a behavioral health epidemic long before the COVID-19 pandemic added to the urgency of Americans’ needs. Consequently, I would say, SAMHSA’s biggest accomplishment has been in our work to scale up our policies, responses and resources to better meet those needs.

Through the Biden-Harris Administration, we have added more than $5.5 billion through our Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Community Mental Health Services block grant programs. Part of the Mental Health Block Grant spending has entailed investing $825 million in 231 Community Mental Health Centers throughout the country. We also awarded 100 grants totaling $250 million to increase access to Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) throughout the nation.

The CCBHC expansion grant program increases access to and improves the quality of community mental and substance use disorder treatment services. CCBHCs provide person- and family-centered integrated services, including 24/7 crisis intervention services for individuals with serious mental illness or substance use disorders, including opioid use disorders; children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances; and individuals with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders.

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(12-28-21) My blog last week, Conservatives’ Criticism Of Housing First Is Wrongheaded. Yes, Hugh Hewitt, That’s You, drew this response, arguing that my “defense of Housing First seems more like a reaction to criticism from Hewitt than a nuanced understanding of Housing First’s inability to address the needs – including appropriate housing and treatment – for the serious mentally ill population.” (Meanwhile, thank you to whoever sent me a Christmas angel anonymous!) 

Dear Pete,

As fellow family members, advocates, and analysts, we were surprised to read your article attacking criticism of Housing First and your characterization of people who are concerned with Housing First.

At the same time, we see your article as an opportunity to bring clarity to an issue often charged with political and ideological divisiveness. Our Coalition, Hope Street Coalition, was created to address alternatives to street suffering and the drivers of homelessness, particularly untreated serious mental illnesses and addiction.

We recognize that the current system most often leaves this population unhoused, creating further harm for this vulnerable population and the community.

Even before the article begins an image depicts a black figure directing a man’s head away from a homeless man lying on the sidewalk, suggesting that those who disagree with Housing First are willfully ignorant and un-compassionate. We argue, however, that the exact opposite is true. We are concerned and even opposed to the unilateral, one-sized-fits-all of Housing First approach because we have not averted our gaze but have examined it squarely – particularly from the perspective of the unhoused seriously mentally ill and addicted.

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