This past year (2009) has been one of unbelievable shifts in our economy, the number of people needing treatment and our support, and in the loss of funding for behavioral health services. While it appears that we may be on the way to an improved economy in America, we know that Ohio tends to rebound slower. This next year it is going to be more important than ever that we educate AND mobilize all Ohioans to understand and support the benefits of treating mental illness and addiction early on vs. paying much, much more to address the consequences. So recharge your energy, and lets come out in force in 2010.

I LOOK FORWARD TO ALL THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH IN 2010.

STAY TUNED.

HAVE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

SURVEY

This is the last week that the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities will be posting our electronic survey as a prelude to the kick off of the Of-1-MIND campaign. The survey is to gather opinions about mental illness and substance abuse.  The results from this brief survey will be used to help guide our Of-1-MIND campaign that will be launched January 26, 2010. Please take a few minutes and take our survey!

http://Survey.of-1-mind.org

OF-1-MIND is an advocacy and educational campaign designed to mobilize Ohioans to articulate and communicate that mental illness and addiction are diseases of the brain, and that Treatment Works and People Recover!

This campaign is designed to create a shift in public opinion to increase local and state support for community based services for mental illness, alcoholism, and drug addiction.

Cheri L. Walter
Chief Executive Officer

This past week the House and Senate finally passed H.B. 318 that will fill the budget hole left by the loss of revenue from slots at Ohio’s 7 racetracks. The good news for Mental Health is that it also included the restoration of $14.7 million to the Department of Mental Health’s hospital and community services line. This is a nice gain for the consumers of the community mental health system going into Christmas week.

This year has been extremely rough on individuals in need of behavioral health services and anything that can be done to help provide more services is a very good thing! Certainly much more needs to be done to improve access to behavioral health services for those in need, but this does help.

I want to take this time to thank everyone who has helped over the past several months in fighting the good fight for some of Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens.

I wish you all the best of the season, and hope for you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

SURVEY

The Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities is conducting an electronic survey as a prelude to the kick off of the Of-1-MIND campaign to gather opinions about mental illness and substance abuse.  The results from the brief survey will be used to help guide the Of-1-MIND campaign that will be launched January 26,  2010. Please take a few minutes and take our survey!

http://Survey.of-1-mind.org

Cheri L. Walter
Chief Executive Officer

Over the next couple of weeks, the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities will be conducting both a  phone and an electronic  survey as a prelude to the kick off of the Of-1-MIND campaign to gather opinions about mental illness and substance abuse.  The results from the brief survey will be used to help guide the Of-1-MIND campaign that will be launched  January 26,  2010. Please take a moment to complete the survey at http://Survey.of-1-mind.org.  Also, please share this survey with your friends and contacts. We would like to get as many people as possible to complete the survey over the next 3 weeks, then the data will be analyzed, and the results will be shared.

The goal of the Of-1-MIND campaign is to – empower individuals and professionals to become active in the fight against stigma, and promote access and funding for alcohol, drug addiction and/or mental health services and supports.

Our plan is to  mobilize Ohioans to become advocates active in the fight to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and addiction. In addition, the campaign will educate Ohio’s citizens, decision makers and local leaders on addiction and mental illness, and the fact that TREATMENT WORKS AND PEOPLE RECOVER.

For additional information the Of-1-MIND website is live at www.of-1-mind.org.  This website will provide more information about the campaign and in the future will have ongoing updates about campaign activities.

Cheri L. Walter
Chief Executive Officer

This past Thursday the Ohio Department of Insurance announced that they have created an informational toolkit to provide consumers and stakeholders with information about the new federal mental health parity law that went into effect in October of 2009. The new law requires parity between benefits for mental health and substance use disorders and benefits for medical and surgical treatments under certain health plans. The Department’s mental health parity informational toolkit is available at www.insurance.ohio.gov in the informational toolkits section. The toolkit contains a comprehensive frequently asked questions section.

Large employers are subject to the new federal law but smaller employers are not. However, they are subject to requirements under the new state mental health parity law.

I hope you have a great week!

Cheri L. Walter
Chief Executive Officer