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Supervised Injection Facilities: A Logical Progression in Harm Reduction or a Bridge Too Far?
The scourge of opiate abuse continues to rage unabated. It claimed 42,000 lives in 2016, more than in any previous year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018). That’s 115 human lives per day. Five of our brothers and sisters are lost each hour. One of our parents, spouses, sons or...
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The Evolving Health and Social Service Landscape: Promise for Persons with Co-Occurring Disorders
A year has passed since the United States Congress enacted sweeping legislation to address deficiencies in our national behavioral health service infrastructure. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) and 21st Century Cures Act, both passed by the 114th Congress in 2016, authorized a...
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Supportive Housing Development: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities
Government-funded supportive housing in New York State has a richly textured history that entails an amalgam of competing philosophies, political trends and economic imperatives. A complete survey of this history is beyond the scope of this article, and a comprehensive assessment of the “current...
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Policy and Practice: A Discouraging Disconnect
As soon as I learned the summer edition of Behavioral Health News would address our efforts to meet the needs of vulnerable populations, I experienced a rather sudden and dispiriting thought. In so many ways we have failed to satisfactorily address the needs of our most vulnerable citizens despite...
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Systems Transformation in Progress: Promise and Pitfalls
A couple of months ago I attended a conference in Albany in order to learn of the latest developments in the state’s movement toward a “value based” healthcare delivery system. Monica Oss, Chief Executive Officer of Open Minds, a publication that explores the intricacies of behavioral...
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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...
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The Foundations of a New “Wellness” Workforce
A revolution in the payment and delivery of behavioral health services is poised to transform the healthcare industry and all of its participants. Key stakeholders, including service recipients and their families, medical professionals, social service and community-based organizations, governmental...
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A New Approach to Service Integration and Variation on a Proven Theme
Policy developments within federal, state and local governments are compelling providers to pursue the “Triple Aim” of healthcare reform and to continually reevaluate their systems and services to this end. Notwithstanding the complexities of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Delivery System...
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Identifying Gaps in Employment and Vocational Supports
We must frame our services around the individual, not the individual framing themselves around a program. Perhaps that’s easier said than done. I offer the following insights into this topic and hope to stimulate your thoughts and perspective and perhaps provide a foundation for understanding on...
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Safe, Affordable & Supportive Housing: Will it Remain an Elusive Dream?
Residents of the greater New York metropolitan area and others who are familiar with the regional real estate market understand residential property costs have become prohibitively expensive for renters and owners alike in recent years. In March 2014, the Office of the State Comptroller released a...
