Project Access: An Investigation of Access to Quality Mental Health and Addictions Care

• By: Andrew Malekoff, LCSW, CASAC North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center
• January 1st, 2018
• behavioral health care, healthcare affordability, insurance network adequacy, mental health access, public mental health policy, stigma and shame, substance use treatment, treatment barriers
• 1744    0

Did you know that health insurers are mandated by government to offer panels of providers so that families can find easily accessible care for their loved ones—and not only for physical illnesses? This requirement is known as network adequacy, referring to adequate networks of care. However,...

Housing People with Serious Mental Illness in Jails and Prisons: Why Are We Still Criminalizing Mental Illness?

• By: Erin M. Falconer, PhD ODH, Inc.
• October 1st, 2017
• community-based treatment, criminal justice system, deinstitutionalization, homelessness, incarceration, mental health access, serious mental illness, supported housing
• 2669    0

Lack of appropriate access to mental health care for the seriously mentally ill in the U.S. is a critical issue. Such lack of access can lead to significant, adverse living outcomes for individuals living with mental illness, including homelessness and incarceration. It is a disturbing fact that...

Consumer Perspectives on Change: for Better or for Worse

• By: Barbara Charles Emily Services for the UnderServed (S:US)
• April 1st, 2017
• behavioral health services, care coordination, communication barriers, healthcare system reform, Medicaid managed care, mental health access, peer perspectives, service limitations
• 1580    0

We were asked to consider whether changes in the way we receive and respond to behavioral health services has been for better or for worse, now that Medicaid Managed Care is the order of the day. It was a tough conversation because at the beginning, some of us really felt like we hadn’t even...