Minnesota students reported healthier behaviors around commercial tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and sexual activity in 2022, while at the same time experiencing an unprecedented amount of long-term mental health, behavioral or emotional problems, according to the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey.

More than 135,000 students completed the survey with nearly all doing so in-person at school between January and June 2022. This group of students reported greater struggles with mental health, such as depression and anxiety, than at any other time in the history of the survey, which began in 1989 and occurs every three years. The 2022 survey saw the continuation of an upward trend, with 29% of students reporting long-term mental health problems compared to 23% in 2019 and 18% in 2016. Long-term means problems lasting six months or more.

Students in 11th grade who said they were identified as female at birth saw an increase in mental health issues in 2022, with nearly half, or 45%, of them reporting long-term mental health, behavioral or emotional problems. That was up from 35% in 2019, 27% in 2016 and 16% in 2013. Students in 11th grade who said they were identified as male at birth, also saw an increase, but reported fewer issues overall, with 20% of male 11th-grade students reporting long-term mental health, behavioral or emotional problems. That was up from 18% in 2019, 13% in 2016 and 9% in 2013.

Another alarming trend was reports of serious suicidal thoughts. Reports of 11th graders having seriously considered suicide at some point in their life jumped to 28% in 2022, compared to 24% in 2019 and 23% in 2013. The numbers are even more troubling for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer (LGBQ+) and transgender students. LGBQ+ students were about three times more likely than heterosexual students to report seriously considering suicide and four times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual students. Transgender students in the 11th grade are most likely to attempt suicide and are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide than their cis-gender 11th grade peers.

From MDH Press Release

A new report from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) found that during 2016-2021 there were 177 fatalities that occurred during law enforcement service calls and encounters in Minnesota, where 45% were due to interpersonal use of force, 31% were suicides, 22% were accidents and the remaining had a cause that could not be determined.

To focus on possible upstream prevention efforts, MDH pulled together data from different sources that track these fatalities. The MDH report is a starting point that includes suicides and accidents, as well as use of force deaths, to gain a greater understanding about what is involved during encounters and service calls that result in a civilian or officer death.

"This collection of data serves as another part of the community conversation that we should all be engaged in so that we can explore how to prevent, reduce and address fatal interactions. It’s key to understand that these cases are not a single point in time that begins or ends when law enforcement gets involved,” said Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington. “We know from our own Working Group to examine Police-Involved Deadly Force Encounters that law enforcement professionals are called to address a wide range of societal issues, including persons in drug-induced crisis, people living with mental illness, or other disabilities. Anything that helps us to examine what can be done to resolve these incidents safely even before law enforcement becomes involved, is a step in the right direction.”

The combined dataset identified 177 use-of-force deaths, suicides, accidental deaths, and other deaths in Minnesota during the study period. Of these deaths, 79 (45%) were classified as deaths due interpersonal use of force, 54 (31%) were classified as suicides, 39 (22%) were classified as accidents, and 5 (3%) were classified as “could not be determined.”

The analysis also found racial disparities. Though most encounters, 109, involved white Minnesotans, Black civilians were about 4.5 times as likely as white civilians to be involved in a fatal encounter and American Indians were 5.7 times as likely.

From MDH Press Release

There has been a lot of discussions about the possible merger. A recent editorial by key legislators revealed their concerns with a merger. NAMI Minnesota has some concerns due to the impact of the merger between Health East and Fairview which resulted in the closure of St Joe's hospital - and over 100 psychiatric beds.

The MN Attorney General, Keith Ellison, is seeking public input. From the website:

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office will use the information the public submits to evaluate the transaction under existing laws, as well as to determine opportunities for changes or improvement to public policy, regulation, or state or federal law. Comments or information that members of the public submit as part of this civil investigation will generally be treated as “protected nonpublic data” under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.

First, individuals can complete this Community Input Form. Members of the public are encouraged to contact the Attorney General’s Office about the proposed merger through the Community Input Form or by phone at (651) 296-3353 (Metro area) or (800) 657-3787 (Greater Minnesota).

Second, as part of the review of the transaction, the Attorney General will host a series of community meetings to directly gather feedback. All the community meetings below are open to the press and the public. They will also be livestreamed on Attorney General Ellison’s Facebook Page.

SAINT PAUL  

DATE: Tuesday, January 10 

TIME: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM 

WHERE: Department of Revenue, Room 2000, 600 Robert St N, St Paul, MN 55101 

BEMIDJI  

DATE: Tuesday, January 17 

TIME: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM 

WHERE: Bemidji State University, Hobson Memorial Union Ballroom, 1500 Birchmont Dr. NE, Bemidji, MN 5660 

WORTHINGTON 

DATE: Wednesday, January 25 

TIME: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM 

WHERE: Worthington High School cafeteria, 1211 Clary St., Worthington, MN 56187 

GRAND RAPIDS 

DATE: Tuesday, January 31 

TIME: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM 

WHERE: Ives Studio at the Reif Performing Arts Center, 720 NW Conifer Dr., Grand Rapids, MN 55744 

 

Drug overdose deaths are at a record high. The upcoming Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Shared Solutions Summit is a collaborative effort where participants will begin work on a three-to-five year strategic action plan to improve Minnesota's SUD system.

The summit will include speakers and interactive breakout sessions focusing on key themes that were identified during listening sessions last fall:

• A Coordinated, Holistic, Integrated Continuum of Care

• Prevention and Education

• Cultural Engagement and Responsiveness

• Funding and Workforce

• Law, Policy and the Criminal Justice System

Registration is now open for the summit, which will take place at the Elmer L. Andersen Human Services Building in St. Paul on Jan. 10-11. A virtual option will be offered for those who cannot attend in person. The event is free.

To register, or to find resources about the substance use disorder crisis in Minnesota, visit the SUD Shared Solutions Summit webpage at mn.gov/dhs/sud-summit.

The SUD Shared Solutions Summit is a collaborative effort between the Minnesota Association of Resources for Recovery and Chemical Health, Project Turnabout, Niyyah Recovery Initiative, the American Indian Chemical Dependence Advisory Council, Alluma, Minneapolis College, the Association of Minnesota Counties, the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Department of Health.

ASL interpreters and CART services will be provided for the summit.

A recent segment on MPR detailed the workforce shortages in SUD treatment programs.

Once the public health emergency ends, people will have to renew their health insurance. If you've moved recently, make sure you can get important information about your health insurance. Keep your address updated to avoid missing mail about your Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare.

You can visit mn.gov/dhs/mycontactinfo at any time to learn how to update your address. If you have questions call one of these:

• Your county or tribal agency. The County and Tribal Information Directory is available at https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-5207-ENG.

• DHS Health Care Consumer Support at 651-297-3862 or 800-657-3672

The Minnesota Department of Human Services is conducting a survey on crisis teams. They want to hear from both individuals/families who have had contact with crisis teams and from professionals. Your feedback will help shape our crisis teams in the future. Note that this is mainly focused on the state funded crisis teams, not co-responder or city focused crisis teams. Thanks in advance for taking the time to complete this short survey.

For individuals and families:

For professionals (mental health professionals, police, teachers, etc.)

Governor Walz announced two new commissioners last week.

Willie Jett II was named commissioner of education. He is an instructor in the Education Administration Licensure program in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota. He has taught and led in urban, suburban, and greater Minnesota school districts for over three decades. Jett understands the challenges and strengths of all communities, and his career is characterized by a commitment to raising student achievement and closing opportunity gaps. He is committed to preparing our future citizens, growing Minnesota’s workforce, and supporting professional educators. Jett earned his B.S. from University of Illinois at Chicago and M.A. from University of Pittsburgh. NAMI's executive director had an opportunity to talk briefly with him about the importance of student mental health.

Brooke Cunningham as named commissioner of health. She is the assistant commissioner of the Health Equity Bureau at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). She identifies strategies to advance health equity and oversees the Center for Health Equity, the Office of American Indian Health, the COVID-19 Health Equity Team, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office. Previously, as an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota Medical School, Cunningham’s teaching and scholarship broadly focused on race and medicine, including the use of race in medical decision-making, physicians’ preparation to address patients’ experiences of racism as part of routine clinical care, and provider and organizational factors associated with the uptake and integration of health equity into health care delivery. She provides primary care at the Community-University Health Care Clinic. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Cunningham majored in history and African-American studies at the University of Virginia; received her doctorates in medicine and sociology from the University of Pennsylvania; trained in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center; and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Medica Research Institute (AcademyHealth).

The Fiscal 2023 spending package passed by Congress includes many important provisions and funding to continue to build our mental health system. Here are the key items:

The legislation also reauthorizes key Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) programs through 2027.

For FY 23, Congress made key investments in several important mental health programs, including:

Read a more detailed report here. Thanks to those who contacted their congress people on these issues. When NAMI Minnesota's executive director lobbied the delegation in November she found strong support for these provisions.

An analysis of 2022 KFF Women’s Health Survey (WHS) data finds that although large shares of women report needing mental health services over the past two years, a significant percentage did not access services they felt they needed. Fifty percent of women ages 18-64 say they needed mental health services in the past two years (including 64% of women ages 18-25), but only half of these women obtained an appointment, which may suggest unmet mental health care needs. 

Among those who felt they needed care, one in ten (10%) tried to get care but were unable to make an appointment for mental health services. Another 40% did not try to get mental health services even though they say they needed them. 

 

Research has documented the challenges some consumers with health insurance face when finding in-network care. In fact, two in ten privately insured women with a mental health appointment in the past two years say their provider did not accept their insurance. 

The country also faces a workforce shortage of behavioral health professionals in addition to other affordability challenges with health care infrastructure that impede accessibility. Among the one in six women who say they needed and sought mental health care services but were unable to get an appointment (16%), one-third say the main reasons they were unable to get an appointment were that they could not find a provider that was accepting new patients (33%) or that they could not afford the cost of mental health services (33%).

Conducted periodically since 2001, the 2022 KFF Women’s Health Survey (WHS) includes a nationally representative sample of 5,145 women and 1,225 men ages 18-64 conducted primarily online from May 10, 2022, to June 7, 2022. Our analyses present the state of health services access and utilization among women and men by income, race and ethnicity, insurance status, and other demographic characteristics.

We will be holding three legislative trainings in January so you can learn some of the history of the mental health system and effective ways to be engaged this session, share your story, and contact your legislator. Sign up below to attend in person or virtually:

Virtual 

Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month at 6 PM. To be added to the email list, email us at policycoordinator@namimn.org