ACMH wants to be sure you have access to timely information about current policy issues and advocacy efforts that may be of interest to you, your family or the families you serve.
So we plan to dedicate our current blog space to share ongoing information about a variety of policy and advocacy issues that may affect children and youth with emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges and their families.
The information posted here will come from a variety of sources including national, state and local community partners and advocacy organizations. ACMH has not extensively reviewed all of the information nor do we advocate for you to take a certain position on any issue. We simply want you to have access to information of interest to you and those that may affect your child or family.
Please feel free to contact us if you have questions, have an issue you would like to share or if you would like to know how to get involved and share your voice of experience to help shape policy issues and improve supports and services for children and youth with emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges and their families.
Current Children’s Mental Health Policy Issues & Advocacy Efforts:
3/9/2018 MDHHS identifies the pilot sites for the Section 298 Initiative
The selected pilot sites include:
· Muskegon County Community Mental Health (HealthWest) and West MI Community Mental Health
· Genesee Health System
· Saginaw County Community Mental Health Authority
To read the press release regarding the pilots click here or visit MDHHS’s Section 298 Initiative Page to learn more.
2/1/18 National Policy News- The Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health shared national policy news including highlights of their advocacy work over the past year in their February edition of Federation on The Move – you can visit the FFCMH online to view their newsletter in it’s entirety by clicking here or see their legislative updates below:
FFCMH Legislation and Advocacy:
The Federation actively represents you as part of the Mental Health Liaison Group. The Mental Health Liaison Group (MHLG) is a coalition of almost 70 national organizations representing consumers, parents and family members, advocates, providers, and mental health experts dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness
The Federation through the MHLG expressed support for the Medicaid CARE Act (H.R. 2687). MHLG Letter of Support
The Federation supported the Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act of 2017
Sen Warren’s Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act
Rep Kennedy’s Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act
The Federation kept affiliates up to date on the latest with Mental Health Parity.
MHLG Parity Memo Parity report memo 11 30 17 MHLG
Disparity Analysis click here
Congressional Mental Health Caucus
The mission of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus is to work in a bipartisan manner to raise the visibility for mental health reforms and find solutions to improve mental health care and the delivery of services to those in need. Their latest news section contains the latest stories and links to mental health issues in the news. Click here to learn more.
CHIP Funding
The spending bill that the Senate and House adopted January 22nd, provides six years of federal money for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a bipartisan creation that furnishes coverage to nearly 9 million children and 375,000 pregnant women.
$124 billion in funding through 2023 was part of the approved spending bill. Federal money will pay for 88% of the programs’s expenses in every sate for the first two years.
SAMHSA’s New Approach
On January 11th, Elinore F. McCance-Katz, MD, PhD, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use held a call where she read a statement and answered questions about a new approach to EBPs and the Federation was part of that call. The call focused on the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices and SAMHSA’s new approach to implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs)
Read the Statement here.
Report on the State of America’s Children
The Children’s Defense Fund’s new report, The State of America’s Children® 2017, provides a comprehensive look at the status of America’s children in 11 areas: child population, child poverty, income and wealth inequality, housing and homelessness, child hunger and nutrition, child health, early childhood, education, child welfare, juvenile justice and gun violence. The report’s corresponding state factsheets provide one-page summaries of how children are doing in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and nationwide.
State Fact Sheets
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1/25/18 MDHHS Shares Update About Section 298 Initiative:
The Section 298 Initiative is a statewide effort to improve the coordination of physical health services and behavioral health services in Michigan. This initiative is based upon Section 298 in the Public Act 268 of 2016. The Michigan legislature approved a revised version of Section 298 as part of Public Act 107 of 2017.
Under the revised Section 298, the Michigan Legislature directed MDHHS to implement up to three pilot projects to test the integration of publicly-funded physical and behavioral health services. The department posted a Request for Information (RFI) to select the pilot sites on December 20th, 2017.
As part of the RFI process, MDHHS collected questions from interested applicants and other stakeholders on the content within the RFI. MDHHS has developed responses to each of these questions, and these responses have been posted on the State of Michigan’s procurement website. The department also posted a PDF version of the responses on the project website, which can be accessed through the following link:
www.michigan.gov/stakeholder298
Interested applicants must submit their applications through the website by February 13, 2018. MDHHS will evaluate each informational response that meets all of the minimum mandatory requirements utilizing an evaluation process. MDHHS will use the results of the evaluation process to select up to three pilot projects in compliance with Section 298 of Public Act 107 of 2017. The anticipated notice of the pilot decision is February 28, 2018. The department is aiming to implement the pilots and demonstration model by July 1, 2018.
For more background on the Section 298 Initiative and the RFI for the pilots, visit www.michigan.gov/stakeholder298.
1/23/18 Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency shared the following in their January Raise the Age Newsletter: Ingham County Commissioners Adopt Raise the Age Resolution
Visit MiCCD to learn more about what’s new in the Raise the Age Initiative and Juvenile Justice reform in Michigan by clicking here.
The Ingham County Commission adopted a resolution during their final 2017 meeting in December, urging the Michigan Legislature to pass the “Youth in Prison” package. The resolution, which was reported out of the Law & Courts Committee with a unanimous recommendation, included a call for an appropriate state funding mechanism. This resolution, and its successful adoption, was driven by local raise the age partners, Michigan Power To Thrive (MPTT) and the Lansing ACLU. The full resolution can be found here.
The Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee Report to Congress
The Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee released its 2017 Report to Congress on December 15th. This report, The Way Forward: Federal Action for a System That Works for All People Living With SMI and SED and Their Families and Caregivers, shines the spotlight on critical issues and services for Americans with serious mental illnesses (SMI) and serious emotional disturbances (SED), and the importance of concerted efforts by the federal government to address their needs. Visit The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) website to view the announcement and download the report by clicking here.
The ARC Michigan December 2017 Governmental Affairs Update This months’s ARC update contains information about current house and senate bills regarding the definitions regarding the use of seclusion and restraint; pilot programs to integrate Medicaid behavioral health with managed health care plans; Information about Michigan Department of Health & Human Services revised plan for implementing the Section 298 pilots; and information regarding Lt. Governor Brian Calley’s has announcement about a new report from the Special Education Reform Task Force; Michigan’s Medicaid office’s proposed policy bulletin on provider fitness criteria which would have had a serious impact on consumers’ ability to receive peer counselor and support services; and The Medical Services Administration’s proposed policy creating a new Medicaid Provider Manual chapter for Home and Community Based Services and the final bulletin making updates and revisions to the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program.
MDHHS Releases Update on the Section 298 Initiative & White Paper on Section 298 Pilots. Learn more by visiting MDHHS’s project page by clicking here or by downloading the recently released white paper today: MDHHS_White_Paper_on_the_Section_298_Pilots_
Juvenile Justice Policy Issues & Advocacy Efforts:
Michigan Juvenile Justice Collaborative October/November 2017 Newsletter
YJAM Events Promote Awareness Statewide
During October and November, nearly 400 people attended events in Holland, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Flint to learn about Michigan’s dangerous practice of prosecuting youth as adults. Now, the Raise the Age campaign is calling on its participants to take action.
Read more here
It’s More Than Time to Raise the Age in Michigan
In a new op-ed by Public Policy Associates, Inc. president, Paul Elam and Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency’s executive director, Mary King, presents the question, why hasn’t Michigan raised the age yet? Read more here
Washtenaw County Commissioners Adopt Raise the Age Resolution
Teens from The Michigan Juvenile Justice Youth Advisory Board (YAB) appeared before the Washtenaw County Commissioners on November 15, 2017 to promote a resolution urging the Michigan Legislature to pass the Youth in Prison package. The resolution was adopted unanimously (two commissioners were absent), and included a call for an appropriate state funding mechanism.
Read the full resolution here.
R-Street Institute Covers Raise the Age
In a new policy short, Christina Delgado, the Justice Policy Manager from R-Street, a Washington D.C. think tank, and Sara Wycoff McCauley, President of Strategic Policy Consultants, look at Michigan’s ongoing debate over efforts to “raise the age” for adult criminal prosecution, weighing the proposed policy against the impact current practices have on parental rights, public safety goals and the employability of youth. Read more here
Ypsilanti Teen to Speak at Federal Hearing on ‘School-to-Prison’ Pipeline
An Ypsilanti teen will speak at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hearing regarding federal laws protecting students of color with disabilities from discriminatory school discipline policies. DaQuann Harrison, 18, a 2017 graduate of Ypsilanti Community Schools, was invited to join the Dignity in Schools campaign to speak during public comment at the Civil Rights Commission hearing on Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C.
Read more here
Michigan Court Debates Over Teen Prison Civil Rights
The question of whether the state can be held liable for teens raped in Michigan prisons may turn on a constitutional question: Do prisoners forfeit their civil rights in Michigan when they enter prison?
Read more here
Human Impact Partners Reveal Health Impacts of Raising the Age in Michigan
Human Impact Partners, a national public health agency out of California, just released a new report “Raise the Age: Protecting Kids and Enhancing Public Safety in Michigan” to help support juvenile justice reformers in Michigan! This report is bringing a public health perspective into Michigan’s campaign to pass Raise the Age legislation in Michigan. Read more here
Kids Count Report Shows Number of Kids Affected by Parental Incarceration
Close to 6 million kids in America have experienced losing a parent to prison or jail at some point in their lives – and this number is growing. Nationwide, this population has increased by 636,000 children since 2011-2012. Read more here