October 28th, 2011
“Recovery to Work” discusses the importance of work playing an integral role as part of a person’s recovery. Ohio has implemented a new paradigm, no longer is recovery about getting through treatment and then looking for opportunities in the workplace. Now we start with work as a component of recovery keeping individuals engaged and contributing members of their communities…MORE
Posted in One Pager |
October 26th, 2011
This week I will highlight the levies of the Butler County Mental Health Board and the Washington County Mental Health and Addictions Recovery Board.
BUTLER COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH BOARD
Renewal won’t raise taxes.
The Mental Health Levy (Issue #11 on the November 8th ballot) simply renews an existing levy and only maintains the current funding that helps thousands of people cope with serious mental health issues right here in Butler County. Renewal of the Mental Health Levy will NOT raise taxes.
Help needed more than ever.
We live in difficult times. More people are struggling than ever before. When the Mental Health Levy was first passed in 2006, residents had no idea that a deep recession was around the corner and would impact so many, so fast. For those in need, the funding came at exactly the right time. In 2010- 2011 alone, local mental health services provided help and hope to 9,342 residents. Since 2006, the number of people getting help for mental health issues has increased by 77 percent! Thankfully, the 2006 Mental Health Levy provided the much needed funding to offer meaningful services. Issue #11 on the November 8th ballot renews that levy to continue these important services without raising taxes.
WASHINGTON COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS RECOVERY BOARD
Washington County voters are being asked to pass a one-mill levy that will support their Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Board. If approved, it will mark the first time levy funds have supported the organization and advocates say now is the time.
“We have lost about 75 percent of our funding in the last five years,” said Miriam Keith, Consumer Support Coordinator for the WCMHAR. “So this money [from the levy] would restore life-saving services that we can’t offer any more.”
The money generated by the five-year levy would be used to provide services for residents who are on Medicaid and need other support services, or have no insurance at all and need treatment or support services. This year, WCMHAR could provide only $147,000 of funding for uninsured individuals. That is down more than $1 million from years past.
“We have people coming in every day for basic services and we are having to turn them away,” Keith said. “People want help but they don’t have any place to go. That’s the first time that’s happened in this county. Imagine not getting treatment for heart disease or diabetes,” Keith said. “That’s the kind of situation people are facing and it will get worse if we don’t get some assistance.”
VOTE “YES” ON NOVEMBER 8, 2011
Have a great week!
Cheri L. Walter
Chief Executive Officer
Posted in CEO Minutes |
October 19th, 2011
This week I will highlight the levies of the Tri-County Mental Health and Recovery Board (Darke, Miami, & Shelby Counties) and the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Warren and Clinton Counties.
Please get to the polls and vote YES!!! on November 8.
Tri-County Mental Health and Recovery
Local tax dollars ensure the availability of mental health and recovery services to all residents of Darke, Miami and Shelby Counties through a network of provider agencies. Each year, the Tri-County Mental Health & Recovery Levy helps thousands of tri-county residents by providing essential mental health and recovery services close to home. Last year alone, nearly 11,000 individuals sought help and received services supported by the Mental Health and Recovery Levy. The 0.6 mill renewal levy will be a continuance of the current levy, NOT A NEW TAX and not an increase in millage.
Anyone can be affected by emotional problems, mental illness and substance abuse. No one is immune. All of us suffer from loss and unexpected setbacks at various stages of our lives. Today, more than ever, individuals are seeking help and encouraging loved ones to seek help when problems arise. Supporting the Mental Health & Recovery Renewal Levy will assure the continued availability of vital services for those who need them most.
More information, as well as a 30 second campaign commercial, can be found at www.tricountylevy.org.
MHRS Board of Warren and Clinton Counties Seeks Renewal Levy
The Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Warren and Clinton Counties will seek passage of a renewal levy on November 8th. The renewal levy keeps the exact same millage that is currently in place. Passage of the levy is essential to continue funding local mental health and recovery services for Warren and Clinton County residents.
“Each year thousands of Warren and Clinton County residents suffer from mental illness or substance abuse issues. If it wasn’t for the services funded by Mental Health and Recovery Services of Warren and Clinton Counties, people would suffer and our community would suffer too,” said MHRS Executive Director Brent Lawyer.
More information about the levy for the Mental Health and Recovery Services of Warren and Clinton Counties can be found at www.mhrsonline.org
Cheri L. Walter
Chief Executive Officer
Posted in CEO Minutes |
October 11th, 2011
This week I will highlight the levies of the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board and the Paint Valley (Fayette, Highland, Pickaway, Pike and Ross Counties) ADAMH Board.
DELAWARE-MORROW MENTAL HEALTH AND RECOVERY BOARD
This levy is a renewal levy – not an increase. Mental illness and substance abuse issues do not discriminate. They are real for people regardless of how much money they make, family upbringing or the amount of will power possessed.
Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (DMMHRSB) assures the availability of a safety net of mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention services for the residents of Delaware and Morrow counties, and continuously plans, funds, monitors, and evaluates these services.
Currently, DMMHRSB has one 1.0 mill property tax levy, which is set to expire in December 2012. This levy is a Renewal of the existing levy – Not an increase.
For a $100,000 home, the tax remains the same: $30.63 – Ninety-four cents of every dollar is used to provide direct services.
For the official ballot language – click here
To learn more about DMMHRSB – click here
PAINT VALLEY ADAMH BOARD
The Paint Valley Alcohol Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board (ADAMH) has been a part of Fayette, Highland, Pickaway, Pike and Ross counties since 1967. Their mission is to meet the recovery needs of our communities by providing access to quality and integrated services, empowering consumers and supporting innovative and evidence based approaches to treatment and prevention.
Funding for community mental health and substance abuse is supported by federal, state and local sources. State funding dollars have decreased 43% from Ohio Department of Mental Health and 54% funding decrease from Ohio Department of Drug and Alcohol since 2008. It has been through community support of a levy that Paint Valley has been able to maintain some services in their communities.
The Paint Valley ADAMH board of directors was faced with the difficult task of not only asking members of their communities for their continued support, but to ask for a re-evaluation of their nearly 30 year old levy. Paint Valley has had the support of the five-county region for a 1 mill levy for almost 30 years. On November 8, 2011 voters in these communities will be asked to pass a replacement levy. Paint Valley did not increase the levy; however, they are asking that today’s home values be used. This levy is still only 1 mill and there are no additional levies for the Paint Valley board. The levy will cost a home owner $31.50 per year, $2.63 per month, or about 9 cents a day.
Please support your local ADAMH levies and vote YES on November 8th!
Have a great week!
Cheri L. Walter
Chief Executive Officer
Posted in CEO Minutes |
October 10th, 2011
One of the core features of the Affordable Care Act is the creation of an Essential Health Benefits package. This package of benefits will constitute a minimum set of benefits that plans offered through insurance exchanges must cover. The Institute of Medicine was asked by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to recommend a process to help HHS to define the benefits that should be included in the essential health benefits and a process to update the benefits to take into account advances in science, gaps in access, and the impact of any benefit changes on cost. In the report released by the IOM, the panel focused on the following key issues: setting a balance between comprehensiveness and affordability; defining what typical should mean for typical employer and benefits; determining whether state mandates should be automatically included; considering how specific HHS guidance should be when defining the essential health benefits package and whether state to state variation might be allowable; and developing criteria and methods that address calls for use of evidence, protection of patients, innovation, and fair process. To read the IOM report, click here.
Posted in Health Care Reform |
October 4th, 2011
Looking Toward the Future
“Looking Toward the Future” that highlights ODMH, ODADAS and ODRC goals and objectives in improving the behavioral health system in Ohio.
ODMH – Opportunity in Change
Director Tracy Plouck, Ohio Department of Mental Health
With each day that passes, I note more reasons why I love this job. The diversity of people, issues and ideas creates a very dynamic and fast-paced environment. While there is no shortage of challenge, there also is no disputing the fact that this is a fascinating time to be involved in behavioral health care in Ohio.
As we approach the end of September, it is worth noting the broad array of policy & operational change underway. A few examples that I feel are particularly exciting: housing initiatives; opportunities related to peer supports; the establishment of Medicaid health homes for individuals with severe & persistent mental illness; creating a “system of care” that embraces best practices among our department’s six inpatient hospitals; increased investment in re-entry services and supports; regulatory reduction projects intended to decrease providers’ administrative costs; and the development of new community Medicaid services including ACT (Assertive Community Treatment) and IHBT (Intensive Home Based Treatment)…
ODADAS – Change in Addiction Recovery
Director Orman Hall, Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services
A number of state and national factors have converged to drive the biggest change in addiction recovery. Parity for addiction treatment, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sentencing reform, an opiate crisis, and Medicaid elevation all mean dramatic changes in Ohio’s care system for individuals challenged with alcohol and other drug addiction.
In this brief article I’ll address the integration of addiction treatment with physical health care, the opiate epidemic, and our work aimed at diverting criminal offenders from jail and prison and reducing recidivism post-release. Ohio’s challenges are not unique, but our approaches may be.
Addiction care has historically been an elective course or one short class in a medical school curriculum. As we’ve been jumping up and down and waving our arms to get attention, health care in general has slowly realized that patients need care from a holistic perspective to get well.
ODRC – Journey of Tranformation and Change
Director Gary Mohr, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction is on a journey of transformation and change; and in response to the many challenges facing the criminal justice system, correctional practitioners are embarking on a road of necessary and essential reform. It is undoubtedly an exciting time to be a part of the criminal justice system in Ohio.
In the recent past, Ohio has faced steadily increasing inmate populations. These increases are not without consequence. Growing populations result in an increase in the number of violent incidents that put our staff and other offenders at risk. The state of our prisons and jails made it clear that there was an urgent need for sentencing reform, and this past summer Ohio took an impressive step in the right direction with the passage of Amended Substitute Bill 86 (effective September 30, 2011)…more
Posted in Newsletter |
October 4th, 2011
“Justice Reinvestment in Ohio: Getting Smart on Crime” focuses on prison over population caused by the rise of individuals convicted of property and drug offenses, who receive short-term offenses and are subsequently released with no supervision….more
Posted in One Pager |
October 4th, 2011
This week I am highlighting the levies the Butler County CMH and the Four County (Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Williams) ADAMH Board.
BUTLER COUNTY
The Butler County Levy is a renewal of a 1 mill, five year property tax levy first passed in 2006. The levy brings in approximately $7.8 million annually and in SFY 2011 represents 26% of the Board revenue. In SFY 2013, if passed, it will represent approximately 56% of the Board’s projected revenue. As a renewal it is not an additional tax and many homeowners will see no change in the amount of tax they will be paying for mental health services over the next five years. Thus, the levy slogan, “Renewal raises hope, not taxes”. Since the levy passed in 2006 the number of Butler County residents receiving help has increase by 77% or from 5,271 served to 9,342 served. Renewing the levy will allow the Board to continue providing the high quality services it is now providing. The Board is proud to have for mer Bengal Jim Breech serve again as honorary chairperson for their levy. Additional information is available on the Board’s levy website, www.bcmhb.org/levy.
FOUR COUNTY
Last year, more children and adults without health care or with limited financial resources sought mental health services from Four County ADAMHs Board funded agencies than ever before. In fact, clients seeking mental health services increased nearly 10 percent (418 additional clients) as stresses caused by the economy (foreclosures, unemployment and related family pressures) mounted. Overall, 5,324 children and adults were served by Four County ADAMHs Board funded agencies last year.
Increasingly, the ADAMHs Board has been forced to rely on revenue from the local property taxes to provide these needed services, as state funding for mental health services has been cut by nearly $1.8 million over the last 3 years. Two, seven-tenths of one mill property taxes now account for 40 percent of the ADAMHs Board’s annual revenue. One of the taxes was first approved in 1982 and the other in 1989. Each must be approved by voters every five years to continue to be collected.
Approximately 75 percent of the $9.5 million spent by the ADAMHs Board last year went toward mental health services, counseling, medications, case management, hospitalization, housing and employment training. About 18 percent was spent on alcohol and other drug addiction treatment. Two percent was spent on services to agencies funded by the ADAMHs Board and 5.5 percent was spent on administrative costs.
On November 8, voters will be asked to renew the seventh-tenths of one mill levy that was first approved in 1982. As a renewal, it will not increase taxes. The mental health services renewal for the ADAMHs Board continuation of a tax that has been collected for almost 30 years. It represents 20 percent of the ADAMHs Board’s total revenue. Especially in these times, it is needed by and services more people than ever before.
Vote on November 8, 2011. Every vote counts!
Cheri L. Walter
Chief Executive Officer
Posted in CEO Minutes |
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