Archive for the ‘Public Policy’ Category

NYS Office of Mental Health Announces “1,700 Too Many” Statewide Suicide Prevention Plan

The New York State Office of Mental Health today announced the release of an extensive, multifaceted plan for suicide prevention, aimed at reducing New York State’s suicide rate. To guide suicide prevention statewide, 1,700 Too Many: New York State’s Suicide Prevention Plan will empower...

The Presidential Election: Time for Behavioral Health Advocates to Speak Out

The next President of the United States can act to improve or to harm the American mental health system. Behavioral health advocates should speak out now to provide the political pressure that will be needed to improve rather than to harm the system. Preserve The Affordable Care Act Perhaps the...

The NYSPA Report: DSRIP Made Easy

New York State’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program is a five-year plan to disburse a total of $8 billion in federal funding in order to comprehensively transform the way that Medicaid services are provided and paid for, with the aim of reducing avoidable hospitalizations by...

Becoming a Millennial Nonprofit

Health and human services nonprofits across the country are in the midst of a developmental crisis. Taking a page from Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development our sector is in the “industry vs. inferiority” stage battling with the question “Can my organization make it in the world of...

NYSPA Report: Raise the Age of Jurisdiction

An important part of the mission of the New York State Psychiatric Association is its work to assure the incorporation of good, up to date science into public policy as well as its work to protect vulnerable populations. NYSPA’s advocacy for raising the age of criminal responsibility in New York...

Congressional Mental Health Policy Reform: Hope or Hype?

Since the tragic killings in Newtown, CT in 2013, most politicians have mistakenly maintained that mass murder is largely a consequence of a “broken” mental health system. In Washington, and elsewhere, elected officials have been promising to “fix” the system, and to their credit they have...

A New Face on Familiar Trends

Last year I attended a conference at which Dr. Michael Hogan, the former Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, delivered a keynote address on emerging issues and trends within health care reform. He distilled a seemingly inchoate mass of movements, mandates and initiatives...

BHN Summer 2016 Issue

"The Challenges and Opportunities of System Reform”   Articles in This...

NYC Mayor and First Lady Release Mental Health Roadmap

Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray have released ThriveNYC: A Mental Health Roadmap for All. ThriveNYC is a plan of action to guide the city toward a more effective and holistic system that outlines 54 initiatives, 23 of them new, to support the mental well-being of New Yorkers....

The NYSPA Report: Momentum Building for Comprehensive Mental Health Reform in Congress

More than three years after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School sparked a national conversation on issues related to mental illness and the prevention of violence to self and others, Congress is currently closer than any point in recent history to act on bipartisan, bicameral...