June 12th, 2018
By Janine Weisman
A special waiver exempts Vermont from a decades-old restriction prohibiting states from using Medicaid funds to cover services for non-elderly adults with mental health conditions in hospital settings with more than 16 beds. But Vermont’s waiver is set to expire starting in 2021 and phase out completely in 2025. That would leave the state on the hook for the $23 million in federal dollars being used to provide treatment for patients ages 21 to 64 at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital (VPCH) in Berlin and Brattleboro Retreat, said Department of Mental Health (DMH) Commissioner Melissa Bailey. A proposal among an [More]
Tags: mental health system, Mental health, Vermont, Brattleboro Retreat, exemption, Medicaid, hospitals, increase bed capacity
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April 8th, 2018
By John Grohol, Psy.D.
Not a year goes by in America where we don’t suffer through another horrible mass shooting at a school, perpetrated by a young adult or teenager with a gun. Despite the outcry from both sides, however, there are no clear or easy answers on how to reduce or altogether stop school shootings from taking place. We are a nation born of violence, which we then codified into our Constitution. And while it’s perfectly sensible to suggest reasonable limitations on gun purchases, such solutions all but turn a blind eye to the reality of guns in our nation. Today, there are [More]
Tags: psychologists, mental health system, gun violence, mass shooting, school shooting, law enforcement, gun purchases, multi-pronged approach, funding for solutions
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March 7th, 2018
By Janine Weisman
Fixing the mental health system is a key part of a plan Vermont Gov. Phil Scott’s administration introduced to the State Legislature in January to build a 925-bed prison complex in northwest part of the state over 10 years. Fifty forensic beds — 20 reserved for hospital level care and 30 for outpatient or residential level care — are part of the $150 million corrections campus outlined in the Agency of Human Services (AHS) Report on Major Facilities. AHS oversees both the Department of Corrections and the Department of Mental Health. The plan to create the large complex in Franklin [More]
Tags: mental health system, Vermont, State Hospital, VPCH, Legislature, Gov. Phil Scott, Department of Corrections, Department of Mental Health, treatment facilities, Middlesex Therapeutic Community Residence
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February 10th, 2018
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Looking to design a better system, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recently awarded a contract to Keene University’s Center for Behavioral Health Innovation to develop a 10-year mental health plan for the state. To be released in June, the report will offer a roadmap for the state’s mental health services moving forward. “The last plan was issued in 2008. A lot has changed since that time,” said Katja Fox, director of the DHHS Division for Behavioral Health. “The state wants to be able to look at how services can be delivered to address the needs [More]
Tags: NAMI, mental illness, New Hampshire, NH, mental health system, Seacoast Mental Health Center, NH Community Behavioral Health Association, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, 10-year mental health plan
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