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SHELTER + CARE / HOUSING FIRST CAN BE ON A COLLISION COURSE --THIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING IN CALIFORNIA

10/31/2016

Skid Row Housing Trust

The Skid Row Housing Trust provides permanent supportive housing so that people who have experienced homelessness, prolonged extreme poverty, poor health, disabilities, mental illness and/or addiction can lead safe, stable lives in wellness.

But Not Everybody is Happy.

We think Housing First & Harm Reduction are Valuable Concepts, BUT They Are NOT for Everyone & We Know People who Don't Want to be Housed in those Kind of Situations.

AND Like So Much In Care --- We're Really Arguing for Choice & Options.

COORDINATION OF CARE: JAILS, PRISONS, MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS, & YES THE SINGLE ENTRY POINTS

10/31/2016

Val's Take

It has really been my contention for sometime that most people with "mental illness," or traumatic brain injury, or developmental disabilities who find themselves homeless or in the criminal justice system also meet the level of care under Colorado Medicaid's ULTC 100.2 for Medicaid Long Term Care.
   However, the CO Dept. Of Health Care Policy & Financing has changed its targeting for the Mental Health Waiver to limit it to only those needing assistance with activities of daily living. Hmmmm. . . .
   We really need to have a special Stakeholder Group that would look at constructing a Mental Waiver that is more relevant for people with mental illness.
With regard to some of these "invisible disabilities," we sometimes as a society and even as system providers really have "mental blocks" regarding some of these things.
     Further, even as we are trying to move away from using jails & prisons as our treatment centers of last resort, I continue to hear reports of people who are turned away from the Mental Health Centers because of concerns about their behavior and then later arrested.
I don't think I'm the only one in the Mental Health Advocacy Community that thinks the Mental Health Centers are NOT handling this appropriately.
      And for Heaven's Sakes, if you really think somebody is a danger, seek to certify them --- Don't Refuse to treat them.

SO WHAT ABOUT CIVIL COMMITMENT WORD-SMITHING

Even conservative Dr. Torrey with the Treatment Advocacy Center notes that Mental Health Centers around the Country have an unfortunate habit of dumping their most difficult clients on the Criminal Justice System [regardless of what their statutes might say];
What Colorado lacks, along with most of the Country, is Bed Space and Adequate Housing & Intensive Community Services.
Our objection to "word-smithing" the Civil Commitment Statutes (Again) is that it Lulls Us into Believing We're Really Doing Something To A System Whose Greatest, Most Crying Need is Resources

OK -- WE'RE ANGRY -- LET'S MOVE ON & FIX IT

10/31/2016

I don't think living a life pretending one never experiences anger is a very healthy life.
   On the other hand, one doesn't want to wallow in it either. From my perspective, it is really a signal that something needs to be fixed.
   Further, I'm NOT a big fan of holding people "accountable" --- because I think that usually translates into sticking it to "people we don't relate to" or "we're not on the same wavelength with" or "we don't like" or "don't look like us." [That is not to say if your safety is at risk you shouldn't do something.]
The fact is we all make mistakes, and human mistakes are very often more than forgetting to bring a pencil to class.
I don't think anybody could read my posts and not realize I'm angry with, okay furious with the State, for it's behavior. AND if you actually saw me in private with some of my odd movements --- it would really weird you out.
     Having said all that, the point is NOT to wallow in that. It's to MOVE ON.

COLORADO'S MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNITY NEEDS & DESERVES BETTER GOV'T THAN WHAT WE HAVE HAD UNDER THE HICKENLOOPER ADMINISTRATION

10/31/2016

Val's Take

In a lot of ways, Colorado has done better than other States in terms of mental health-- of course -- we're richer, -- we're in the top 10 high income States by some estimates.
But that really shouldn't totally take away from some of the State's accomplishments. AND it doesn't.
The problem is State Officials don't listen to the Mental Health Community AND this has led to some disastrous, really horrific consequences:

Grossly negligent and dangerous under-resourcing of mental health, housing, & yes--- bed-space;
An unwillingness to look @ creative financing such as Social Impact Bonds despite repeated requests;
Playing politics with Crisis Contracts;
Over 2-years of Obnoxious Refusals to Enter Into MI-Olmstead Compliance Discussions;
Refusal of over a year to respond to a question of whether the State had an objection to a Waitlist for Assertive Community Treatment;
Of Course, there are the other documented lapses in integrity noted below in the backlog of competency exams case & the retaliation case against the DOC employee for questioning DOC's account of inmates with MI in AdSeg.

We Can't Put Up With This For Another 2 Years -- Even With the State's Acknowledged "Accomplishments."

THE HILL

MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA — WHY THERE IS NO REAL TREATMENT

But I am reluctant to use the terms “mental health system” because there really isn’t one. For decades, resources have been diverted away from inpatient and outpatient services for people with serious mental illness. It is time to reverse that trend.

--------Dr. Rebecca Parker, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians and a practicing emergency physician in Park Ridge, Illinois.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/301781-mental-health-in-america-why-there-is-no-real-treatment

IN THE WORDS OF MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE AMY SMITH, COLORADO'S MENTAL HEALTH POLICY IS DRIVEN BY BLOOD

10/31/2016

Colorado like most states decimated their already ill-funded mental health programs during the recessions of the 2000s.

The Associated Press in the video below estimates that Colorado lost $100 million dollars during that time.

Other than being put on a starvation diet, and then being trotted out to be grateful for whatever scraps the State decides to throw the Mental Health Community's Way while the State obnoxiously is NOT complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act or Olmstead ---

   What really ticked the Community off was that the State violated it's own bidding procedures and yanked the Crisis Contracts away from nationally renowned Crisis Access, LLC, a partnership between Recovery Innovations, ProtoCall Services and Behavioral Health Link.
   http://www.denverpost.com/2013/12/18/bidder-files-suit-over-revoked-colorado-mental-health-contracts/

   Just another day in glorious Colorado, Sky High Suicide Rates, & a Corrupt &/or Inept Gov't when it comes to Mental Health & the Mental Health Community.

“Mental health is a critical issue all over our country and certainly in the state,” Bicha said. “I will never forget the day (when) Gov. Hickenlooper called me in the wake of the Aurora Theater shooting and said, ‘We simply have to do more for folks who are struggling with mental health issues.’”

Bicha said as a result of the shooting, the state invested about $20 million in crisis services, a 24/7 hotline and crisis mobile units across Colorado.

“We put in some $20 million in new investments in crisis services, a new hotline that’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, crisis mobile units available in every corner of Colorado… but we have to find ways we can engage in folks.”

WE DON'T COME HERE TO PRAISE PSYCHOLOGY & PSYCHIATRY -- BUT WE DON'T COME HERE TO BURY THEM EITHER

10/21/2016

Val's Take
For anyone who regularly reads our website, you know that we are pretty critical of the current state of psychology and psychiatry.
   Mainly, we are so critical because we believe so much is riding on highly competent, scientifically grounded, highly compassionate and well resourced mental health professions and professionals.
We are NOT there -- you can't be relying on the DSM and expect to be taken seriously. The National Institute of Mental Health's RDoC (Research Domain Criteria initiative) is going to go a long way to get the mental health professions on sounder footing.
Additionally, mental health professionals have been co-opted by the Criminal Justice System. By "co-copted," we mean that mental health professionals and the still limited existing mental health knowledge base have been employed for the Criminal Justice System's own convoluted statutory purposes, especially when it comes to Competency to Stand Trial and Insanity.
   [We actually are proposing more of that with our proposal to have Medicaid mental health professionals develop community living plans for jail inmates with mental illness -- that can be used by the court system for their decision-making purposes].
   We are going to make some intellectual and moral distinctions here:
There's a difference between coming up with a "Community Living Plan" with all its caveats and the Law relying on mental health professionals for determinations involving our very imperfect, out-dated, all or nothing determinations of "Competency" or "Insanity" in which "Punishment" is still front and center and not necessarily Public Safety or Long Term/Root Cause Re-Dress of the Problems.
   Now, in fairness, many mental health professionals get involved in the Criminal Justice System at the request/begging of defense attorneys.
We believe we have come to a point in which we are presenting ourselves with a "false dichotomy": that is to say, there are other choices beyond choosing between a Highly Punitive Criminal Justice System and a Highly Punitive Criminal Justice System, Slightly Moderated by Mental Health Professionals asked to testify on things they are not always, let's say often, not competent to testify on.
    The "Reality" is if we move away from the incredibly punitive society we currently have -- one takes a lot of the Stress out of the Society.
Well, how would one do that? Well, focusing on:

Building on Strengths, and compensating for weaknesses to help people achieve their goals.

What do we really need, more than anything, for that [NOT problem-solving courts]:
Highly competent, scientifically grounded, highly compassionate and well resourced mental health professions and professionals

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

NIMH WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR DSM-5 -- THE LATEST IS A HUMILIATING BLOW TO THE APA.

(MAY 2013)

In a humiliating blow to the American Psychiatric Association, Thomas R. Insel, M.D., Director of the NIMH, made clear the agency would no longer fund research projects that rely exclusively on DSM criteria. Henceforth, the NIMH, which had thrown its weight and funding behind earlier editions of the manual, would be “re-orienting its research away from DSM categories.”

"The weakness” of the manual, he explained in a sharply worded statement, “is its lack of validity.” “Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effects/201305/the-nimh-withdraws-support-dsm-5?#_=_

The Boring Truth to the State: Fix it & People will Stop bothering you

10/10/2016

   I have had more than my share of challenges with the State, probably in no small measure because we are coming at the problems faced by people with "mental illness" who are homeless and or incarcerated from very different perspectives.
To add to that there probably are some individual differences in strengths and weaknesses. From my perspective, I'm often struck by the "Rigidity of Mind" of people I really do consider very, very smart -- AND there is NOT One Right Way to Address These Problems -- Whether Substantively or Procedurally or Very Informally.
   On the other hand, I can be pretty intense and that can be an absolute barrier to the open communication I say I desire.
   Quite Frankly, if the State is on the verge of solving a problem/problems -- I think most people including myself are happy to get out the way and let them do it.
   We would like the State to reciprocate and NOT Sabotage our efforts which certainly has happened in the past. That requires a lot of communication which has also been lacking in the past.
  We are hopeful that we can move forward with our meeting with CO Medicaid Director Gretchen Hammer on Oct. 4 and we are also very appreciative to CDHS Clinical Director Patrick Fox, M.D. for his agreement to "meet and discuss" the MI AdSeg Jail Ban Issue with no pre-commitments.

It's always a dialogue

10/1/2016

Val's Take

Communication may be more contentious some times than others, depending on how people feel they have been treated -- AND it's always a dialogue.
Especially in a democracy where there is often a built-in mechanism, however ineffective, for an aggrieved party to seek a "remedy."" AND there is always Freedom of Speech and the Marketplace of Ideas.
   If people think it's important enough, they may very well be back around for "re-dress." At least that is what Cleveland County District Judge Alma Wilson thought when I interviewed her when I was a college student 30 years ago. Judge Wilson went on to become a Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, she has since passed away leaving quite a legacy.
What really resonated with me at the time of my interview was then Judge Wilson's contention that Law was on the forefront of philosophical thought. Well, I had to admit that the Law probably had my Medieval Philosophy Class beat on that.
   I think Judge Wilson was right "The Law" in its broadest sense is on the forefront of philosophical thought -- and it has had to become much more Inter-Disciplinary to be effective.
      In fact, most professions have had to become much more inter-disciplinary to become effective --- and many think they are on the forefront of philosophical thought or something much superior.
   Most of us think what we do matters [or want to be doing work that matters]-- otherwise why do it?
   In fact, where trauma to individuals is concerned in our society -- it matters not only to those individuals, and those who are seeing and/or perceiving it -- but generations to come.
Hardly any pressure, right?
On the other hand, as human beings the one thing we can be counted on to do is to make mistakes -- we are NOT perfect.
     We've got some pretty serious problems that have been going on for a long time, people are trying to solve those problems, those problems are not totally fixed yet, and thousands of people with "mental illness" endure "trauma" on a pretty daily basis in Colorado and most States.
   We think the State is doing Tremendous Substantive Work and getting at some Root Causes. If we thought the State was on the verge of solving ALL this, we would do something else. There are plenty of problems in the world to solve.
Look forward to seeing Folks for the MI Olmstead Meeting Tues. Oct. 4

Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Alma Wilson

Justice Wilson was a pretty small person and those who know me know I'm pretty short, and the fact of the matter is I'm shrinking.

I often wondered if Justice Wilson poofed her hair up to make herself look taller -- because I do. Maybe I just do that.

Anyway I like Justice Wilson's hair and I think it is important to have role models that kinda look like us -- and we are a very diverse group of folks.

Inter-generational Trauma

Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes Trial (1925)

This picture is supposed to symbolize that we can all "dialogue" together. It is also a not so subtle suggestion that we are Clarence Darrow and the State is William Jennings Bryan. -- Hey it's still our website. We can only imagine what kind of picture the State would put up there.

P.S. We don't smoke.

To be really obnoxious about it, many of us have lost loved ones to smoking -- so if you do smoke-- we don't want to lose you, consider clicking the button below for the Colorado Quitline:

Colorado Quitline

The Deep & Persistent problems in Pueblo

10/1/2016

Lee Smolin, American Theoretical Physicist & Professor

It is pretty hard to have institutions for people with Intellectual and/or Mental Health Disabilities in Non-Metropolitan areas and have access to:

Sufficient Number of Adequately Trained and Experienced Staff, and
For the State to Provide Sufficient On-going Support to those Institutions.

   I brought this issue up before on the website (see Pueblo -- Location, Location, Location).
   Prior to that I had brought it up when I was at the Legal Center for People with Disabilities & Older People (now, Disability Law Colorado) in a conversation with CMHIP Administrators.
   Then Superintendent Bill May, who is now in Hawaii, was quite frank in acknowledging that location was a problem in obtaining and retaining staff.
   Recently, people are complaining of essentially "Neiberger" concerns out at CMHIP, staffing, but not only staffing, a lack of real "treatment," and people getting stuck there which at least in some respects is an Olmstead issue.
   Not everyone agrees that the problem is location, and I'm not suggesting it is the only problem or issue.
   AND I do think it is a very significant problem and it makes other problems more difficult to resolve.
For the most part, Ft. Logan doesn't have the magnitude of issues that CMHIP does -- in a lot of ways that is not surprising they are smaller, different populations, Ft. Logan has access to the labor pool of the Denver metro.
We would respectfully suggest that there needs to be some planning to build up Ft. Logan and scale down CMHIP.

CMHIP: Colorado Mental Health Institute @ Pueblo

Val's Blog

SHELTER + CARE / HOUSING FIRST CAN BE ON A COLLISION COURSE --THIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING IN CALIFORNIA

COORDINATION OF CARE: JAILS, PRISONS, MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS, & YES THE SINGLE ENTRY POINTS

SO WHAT ABOUT CIVIL COMMITMENT WORD-SMITHING

OK -- WE'RE ANGRY -- LET'S MOVE ON & FIX IT

COLORADO'S MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNITY NEEDS & DESERVES BETTER GOV'T THAN WHAT WE HAVE HAD UNDER THE HICKENLOOPER ADMINISTRATION

THE HILL

MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA — WHY THERE IS NO REAL TREATMENT

IN THE WORDS OF MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE AMY SMITH, COLORADO'S MENTAL HEALTH POLICY IS DRIVEN BY BLOOD

WE DON'T COME HERE TO PRAISE PSYCHOLOGY & PSYCHIATRY -- BUT WE DON'T COME HERE TO BURY THEM EITHER

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

NIMH WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR DSM-5 -- THE LATEST IS A HUMILIATING BLOW TO THE APA.

(MAY 2013)

The Boring Truth to the State: Fix it & People will Stop bothering you

It's always a dialogue

The Deep & Persistent problems in Pueblo

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Val's Blog

SO WHAT ABOUT CIVIL COMMITMENT WORD-SMITHING

THE HILLMENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA — WHY THERE IS NO REAL TREATMENT

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY ​NIMH WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR DSM-5 -- THE LATEST IS A HUMILIATING BLOW TO THE APA. (MAY 2013)

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THE HILL

MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA — WHY THERE IS NO REAL TREATMENT

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

NIMH WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR DSM-5 -- THE LATEST IS A HUMILIATING BLOW TO THE APA.

(MAY 2013)