The Ethel and James Flinn Foundation partnered with Metro Parent to create a year-long series of articles promoting mental health awareness and understanding.

We invite you to read another article: Why Your Family’s Mental Health History Matters in the February issue of Metro Parent by clicking here.

We invite you to read the current article, The Best School Support for Kids with Mental Illness: Best-School-Support-for-Kids-with-Mental-Illness

To follow the series, go to www.metroparent.com. We encourage you to contact us with questions or comments.

The Ethel and James Flinn Foundation is committed to improving the quality, scope and delivery of mental health services in Michigan.

Click here to view the article now and link to the year-long series Ending Stigma ~ Promoting Mental Illness Awareness & Understanding.

The Youth Peer Support Project launched the First Edition of the YPS Newsletter this week.

To view it today click here.

To have the YPS Newsletter delivered directly to your inbox click here to subscribe now!

ACMH is thrilled to share this “Stop the Stigma Video” created by the ACMH Statewide Youth Advisory Council! Push play to view the video today.

Stop the Stigma Flyer

Stop the Stigma Overview

Stop the Stigma Resource Handout

This Toolkit was created by the ACMH Statewide Youth Advisory Committee that started in 2016.  Our committee is a group of youth who have personal experience with mental health challenges.  We work together to raise awareness, fight stigma, educate state leaders and officials about the issues teens face today.  Of these issues, teen suicide is one of the most serious and devastating.  A lack of knowledge, understanding and support for young people who are struggling contributes to this grave problem.

School officials need to understand that students are struggling with issues that they aren’t aware of. Because of the overwhelming amount of stigma around mental health, most students disguise their challenges.  This makes many youth feel alone and helpless.  Did you know that suicide is the second leading cause of death in the United States—starting with children at age 10 all the way up to adults at age 33?  And about 19% of young people contemplate or attempt suicide each year. Four out of five young people that contemplate or attempt suicide exhibit clear warning signs.

These statistics are more than just numbers.  Suicide is happening right now.  The person next to you, or a person that is on the other side of the world could be experiencing suicidal thoughts. In December of 2016, a student in Michigan lost her life to suicide.  As a result of this tragic loss, memorial funds were donated to ACMH in hopes that our organization could help make a difference for teens that are struggling currently.  Our hope is that this Toolkit will be used to help school officials understand what teens may be experiencing. Please: Listen.  Reach out. Act.  You may help save a life.

For more information and resources, please access to our website at www.acmh-mi.org.

*stats from https://caps.umich.edu/content/mental-health-facts and lifespan.org

ACMH is once again a recipient of a grant from the  ETHEL AND JAMES FLINN FOUNDATION which awarded over $2.2 MILLION million dollars in grants this year.

This year’s recipients were announced at the Flinn Foundations September 12, 2017 Board of Trustees meeting and ACMH is so incredibly thankful to be a recipient.

The Foundation awarded 36 grants totaling $2.2 million to mental health organizations to support Evidence-Based Practices and Grantmaking Opportunities programs. Please click here to read more detailed information about all of the  2017 Grant Awards.

The Ethel and James Flinn Foundation is a Detroit based private foundation established in 1976 by Ethel “Peggy” Flinn and her brother, James “Jim” Flinn, Jr. Peggy passed away in 1994. Jim Flinn, Jr., who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his early 20’s, led a remarkable life until his passing away in 2007 at the age of 91. The Foundation is committed to improving the scope, quality and delivery of mental health services in Michigan. Since inception, over $32 million in grants have been awarded. The Foundation’s geographic focus is primarily Southeast Michigan, defined as the counties of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw.

For more information, contact Andrea M. Cole, Executive Director and CEO of the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation at (313) 309-3436 or visit our website at
www.flinnfoundation.org

Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency shared that for the fourth year in a row, Governor Rick Snyder has proclaimed October as Michigan Youth Justice Awareness Month. This year, the Governor’s proclamation coincides with the introduction of bipartisan legislation aimed at keeping 17-year-olds out of the adult criminal justice system, and all youth out of adult correctional facilities.

October has served as Youth Justice Awareness Month (YJAM) since 2008. During this important time frame, people across the country organize events that raise awareness, strengthen coalitions, build campaigns, and encourage action to keep children out of the adult criminal justice system.

This year, the national YJAM campaign is focusing on the arts and the infinite variety of creative ways artistic expression can inspire action. Sign up now to get involved and see how you can use your own creativity to reform youth justice.

To promote Youth Justice Awareness Month in Michigan, Raise the Age campaign partners will host several youth justice-related events (listed below), and will hand-deliver flyers to the offices of every state legislators. The flyers include facts about youth in Michigan’s adult system, personal stories of former youth who experienced the harmful consequences of being convicted as adults, and a request to support the youth justice reforms bill package.

You can read Governor Snyder’s proclamation by clicking here.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is providing several updates on the Section 298 Initiative today. 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 the department to develop and implement up to three pilots and one demonstration model to test the integration of physical health and behavioral health services.

The department is announcing today that the University of Michigan as the project evaluator for the Section 298 Initiative. The evaluation team will assist the department with developing performance metrics and an evaluation plan and conducting the evaluation of the pilot(s) and demonstration model.

The department is also announcing the next steps for the Section 298 Initiative today. The next phase of the Section 298 Initiative will consist of four components, which are outlined below.

· Developing the pilots

· Developing the demonstration model

· Developing an evaluation plan

· Analyzing the policy recommendations from the final workgroup report

For more information about the project evaluator and next steps for the Section 298 Initiative, please visit the project webpage at www.michigan.gov/stakeholder298. The department will continue to provide updates as the initiative progresses. If you have specific questions about the initiative, please send an email to [email protected].

Best regards,

The Section 298 Team
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

To apply, mail or email a cover letter and resume by September 15 to: Jane Shank, ACMH Executive Director, 6017 W. St. Joe Hwy, Suite 200 Lansing, MI  48917   e-mail to: [email protected].

Family-Partnership Support Coordinator Job Posting 2017 Final

The ACMH Statewide Family/Partnership Support Coordinator (FSC) will provide information and referral, support, encouragement, community linkages and assistance by phone and online to families of children with emotional, behavioral, or mental health disorders; In addition the FSC will support parents and caregivers to fully participate in family-driven practices, treatment and supports by helping families to better understand and manage their child’s mental health challenges, the public and private mental health systems, available treatments, supports and resources, and by assisting families to negotiate, problem solve and navigate community agencies.

The FSC will also provide outreach and help to identify families who have an interest in participating in systems reform and leadership activities; manage social media presence on platforms including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and provide administrative assistance and support for the Executive Director, the Board of Directors, and ACMH data collection.

**Applicants for this position must have experience parenting a child or youth with emotional, behavioral, and/or mental health challenges who has received mental health services. Experience with child serving systems including CMH, DHS, Court, School is preferred.

This position is a full-time office based position in ACMH’s state office in Lansing.

Work hours will be M-F 8:00 a.m. til 4:30 p.m. with a 30 minute lunch.

If you are interested in this position or know someone who would be a good candidate please download the job posting for a complete list of qualifications and job duties today!

Family-Partnership Support Coordinator Job Posting 2017 Final

Parents Partnering for Change, a training of the Parent Leadership in State Government Initiative training, is starting recruiting for their  next two trainings which will be held in:

• Cadillac on May 22nd and 23rd PPC Flyer Cadillac 
• Bad Axe on June 6th and 7th     PPC Flyer Bad Axe

To view the Advocate Group’s  commentary click here to download: Commentary_298_March_’17 The group which includes  the Association for Children’s Mental Health; The Arc Michigan; Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan; Mental Health Association in Michigan; Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council; Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service; National Alliance on Mental Illness – Michigan; United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Detroit; and the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Michigan continues to have concerns about the process going forward and the continued push for Medicaid Health Plans driven pilots.