There's an awful lot to keep up with. That's how it can feel when you're raising a child with special health care needs or mental health or substance use challenges. I hope Families as Allies will always feel like a place where we can help each other keep up with things and figure out things together. Families helping families get what they want for their children—that's who we are. Keep me posted on how you think we're doing and any ways we can do better.

This past week, I felt there was a lot to keep up with on the policy level. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court's ruling in Mississippi's longstanding mental health lawsuit. The ruling may make this suit go away depending on how the United States responds. How that would impact Mississippi's mental health system remains to be seen. 

The Mississippi Division of Medicaid also shared how many people lost their Medicaid eligibility during the past month due to changing federal rules about eligibility. Almost 13,000 people lost their Medicaid eligibility in August for 'procedural" reasons. They may have remained eligible, but a paperwork error (such as not returning the mailed-out form) led to disenrollment.

On September 27 from noon to 1:00 p.m. CDT, we will discuss steps we can take to make sure families get the Medicaid information they need, how we can all work together to ensure we make our voices heard in the mental health system (and all the other systems, too) and any other policy issues people want to talk about in our monthly virtual Leadership Coaching and Policy Discussion. I hope you will join us! Please check out our events calendar for more training and support opportunities.

Please check out our events calendar for more training and support opportunities. I especially encourage you to join us at the National Federation of Families conference in November. It’s a great exhibitor and sponsorship opportunity for organizations that work with families!