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June 22, 2023

Laura Kelemen, LCSW-R (Niagara County), Chair of the NYS Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors, expressed her gratitude to the Governor for including unprecedented funding in support of mental health services in this year's budget.


Amid Urgent Youth Mental Health Crisis, Governor Hochul Releases Findings of Statewide Listening Tour


Governor Kathy Hochul last Thursday, June 15th, released the key findings of a summary report of the Youth Listening Tour, held in counties statewide earlier this spring, outlining both findings and recommendations on how to best address the youth mental health crisis. The Governor released the summary report at the first-ever New York State Summit on Youth Mental Health at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, where she was joined by national mental health experts, youth advocates and providers, parents and caregivers, law enforcement specialists, educators, and over 1,000 attendees to examine the unprecedented mental health challenges many young people face. Read more here.


Related: Youth Summit on Mental Health Marks Monumental Moment


New Evidence on Adolescent Mental Health and Social Media

Mayors: There’s a Mental Health Crisis in Every City


Mental health struggles are getting worse, says Hillary Schieve, the mayor of Reno, Nevada. “People are dying on our streets,” she says, “and they are dying from lots of mental illness-related causes and drug addictions.”


Schieve, who was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors earlier this month, is far from alone in citing a growing mental health crisis in her community. In a new survey by the group, 113 out of 117 mayors in 36 states, or 97%, said the number of people seeking help for issues ranging from substance abuse to depression to loneliness has increased in the last couple of years. A majority of the mayors—88%—also said their cities do not have enough services to meet the growing need. Read more here.

New SAMHSA Resource: TIP 64 - Incorporating Peer Support Into Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services


This TIP supports learning about the key aspects, functions, and uses of Peer Support Services (PSS) in recovery from problematic substance use, which will help providers, supervisors, and administrators in SUD treatment programs better understand and respond to these changes.

LGBTQ+ Youth Lack Kind Communities, Mental Health Support: Study


LGBTQ+ young people want and need kind communities — and most say they don’t have one, according to a new study from Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. The study also found that LGBTQ+ youth were less likely to rate their mental and emotional health highly than their straight and cisgender peers and that they lacked the resources they need to improve their situation. On behalf of the Born This Way Foundation, which was founded by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, to support youth mental health and work with young people to build a kinder and braver world, Benenson Strategy Group conducted 1,001 online interviews with 15-to 24-year-olds across the U.S., including oversamples of LGBTQ+ people and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), from March 24 to April 10. Read more here.

Opioid Settlement Payouts to Localities Made Public for First Time


Thousands of local governments nationwide are receiving settlement money from companies that made, sold, or distributed opioid painkillers, like Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, and Walmart. The companies are shelling out more than $50 billion total in settlements from national lawsuits. But finding out the precise amount each city or county is receiving has been nearly impossible because the firm administering the settlement hasn’t made the information public. Until now.


After more than a month of communications with state attorneys general, private lawyers working on the settlement, and the settlement administrators, KFF Health News has obtained documents showing the exact dollar amounts — down to the cent — that local governments were allocated for 2022 and 2023. Read more here.

New York Farmers Turn to State Agency for Financial, Mental Health Needs


Fair to say for Joe Conrad, the more things change, the more they stay the same. "I'm still farming seven days a week, and I'm still doing what I love to do here on the farm with my kids and grandkids," said Conrad.


We first met Conrad in March of 2022, at a time when he was going through a divorce after more than 40 years of marriage, and suffering great financial stress as the owner of Green Meadows Dairy Farm in Wyoming County — circumstances that brought him to tears.


"We're raised that men don't cry. But by golly. Here's one who does," he said back in 2022. Read more here.


Related: Sen. Gillibrand introduces legislation to create suicide prevention hotline for farmers

Study: In Their Own Voice - Behavioral Health Care Delivery Barriers in Rural New York


Rural areas are disproportionately impacted by mental health and substance use disorders, drug overdose, and suicide. Several environmental and service access barriers are linked to these disparities, yet little is known about facilitators and barriers to care delivery that may impact client outcomes. This study sought to explore these facilitators and barriers from the perspective of service providers. A qualitative focus group study with 206 professionals with a vested interest in behavioral health was conducted in 16 rural counties across New York State between March 2020 and September 2021. Multiple themes related to the delivery of behavioral health services emerged including invested and collaborative provider networks as facilitators and limited workforce capacity, state policy and regulatory issues, and scarce funding as barriers. Findings uncovered new regulatory and policy-related contributors to behavioral health care disparities in rural areas and suggested developing and implementing community-specific, needs-based approaches that leverage community strengths and assets.

BROOME: Broome County Jail Inaugural Garden Program in Full Swing


CAYUGA: Healing Cayuga: Daytime Mobile Crisis Team Is Ready To Respond


CORTLAND: County Legislature Considers Compliance Officer for Mental Health Department


ESSEX: BRIEF reflects on year of outreach


JEFFERSON: Fentanyl, xylazine named ‘twin threats’ to Jefferson County residents


LONG ISLAND: Here's How Many LI Adults Have Been Diagnosed With Depression: CDC


MONROE: Greece Athena High pilots mental health support platform


NYC: Ashwin Vasan, New York City’s Doctor, on Trying to Fix a ‘Broken Mental Health System’


NYC: NYC's supervised release program swelled after bail reform. Now it may be overwhelmed.


NYC: NYC Health + Hospitals Community Mural Project Launches Community Paint Parties


ONEIDA: The Neighborhood Center health clinic in Utica wins federal grant


ONEIDA: Governor Hochul Announces Start of Construction on $28 Million Affordable and Supportive Housing Development in Utica


OSWEGO: Governor Hochul Announces Completion of $19 Million Affordable and Supportive Housing Development in Oswego County


OSWEGO: Oswego Health Invests In Career Pathway Program By Offering Financial Assistance To Employees Interested In Pursuing Healthcare Degrees


ROCKLAND/SULLIVAN: Astor Services expands reach, mental and behavioral health services


SCHENECTADY: Schenectady’s pilot ‘Outreach Hub’ aims to transform policing, lower crime rates


STEUBEN: Steuben County overdose numbers released for May


WESTCHESTER: New Teen Empowerment Program At Camp Morty Is Not Business As Usual


WESTCHESTER: County Executive George Latimer and Department of Community Mental Health Give Update on Project Alliance

Xylazine, or ‘Tranq,’ is Making Opioid Overdoses Harder to Reverse


For years, public health guidance about opioid overdoses has been relatively simple: Administer 

naloxone, then call 911. But the days of simply spraying naloxone into an overdose victim’s nose, then watching that person resume breathing and wake up within minutes, are over. The culprit is xylazine, the powerful sedative rapidly spreading throughout the U.S. illicit opioid supply. Xylazine, commonly known as “tranq,” is not an opioid, meaning that its effects can’t be reversed with naloxone, an overdose medication that specifically targets the brain’s opioid receptors. Read more here.


Related: Drug Abuse Warning Network: Findings from Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits, 2022

After 33 years, Eugene moves CAHOOTS from police to fire department. Here's what it means


Gavin Newsom Unveils Multibillion-Dollar Plan to Fund Housing For Mentally Ill


The relationship between rurality, travel time to care and death by suicide


HHS Issues Advisory on Mental Health Symptoms and Conditions Related to Long COVID


National panel dismisses calls for broader suicide risk screening


Nebraska: ‘Homegrown’ program addresses need for rural mental health professionals

UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS


Rural Telehealth & M-Health for Immigrants & Migrants

June 22, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing


CCBHC/FQHC Partnership Series Session 1: CCBHC and FQHC 101: Back to the Basics

June 27, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing


Mapping the Crisis System of Care: Alternatives to Emergency Departments

June 27, 2:30 - 4 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing


When Recovery is Work: Promoting Wellness in Peer Support Roles

June 27, 3 - 4:30 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center


Criminal Justice Diversion: Reimagining Appropriate Pathways to Care

June 28, 12 - 1 pm, MTM Services


Meadowlark: Building a Team-based Approach to Perinatal Care

June 28, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing


Strengthening the Future of Mental Health Care in New York State

June 28, 3 - 4 pm, NY Health Foundation


CCBH updates and partnership with 988

June 28, 3 - 4 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing


Embracing Recovery-Oriented Harm Reduction in Medication Assisted Treatment

June 28, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC


Emerging Respite Care Strategies in Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Waivers

June 29, 3 - 4 pm, NASHP


Peer Support via Telehealth Platforms

June 29, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC


New York State Summit on Peer Mentor Programs for Military Veterans

July 11 - 12, National Veterans Resource Center, Syracuse

CLMHD CALENDAR


JUNE


Deputy DCS Call

June 27: 10 - 11 am


JULY


CLMHD Office Closed - Independence Day

July 3 & 4


CLMHD Executive Committee Meeting

July 5: 8 - 9 am


LGU Clinic Operators Call

July 11: 10 - 11:30 am


Addiction Services & Supports (ASR) Committee Meeting

July 13: 11 am - 12 pm


Mental Health Committee Meeting

July 13: 3 - 4 pm


IOCC Meeting - Albany, In-Person

July 18: 1 - 3 pm


Membership Call

July 19: 9 - 10:30 am


Deputy DCS Call

July 25: 10 - 11 am


Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting

July 27: 1 - 2:30 pm

CLICK HERE for Links to State Guidance and Updates on COVID-19


NYS Coronavirus Vaccination Information

The Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors advances public policies and awareness for people with mental illness, chemical dependency and developmental disabilities. We are a statewide membership organization that consists of the Commissioner/ Director of each of the state's 57 county mental hygiene departments and the mental hygiene department of the City of New York.

Affiliated with the NYS Association of Counties (NYSAC)
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