A $7,000 grant from the State Office of Mental Health will allow the Anti-Stigma Coalition to expand their “Join the Conversation” awareness campaign into the county.

The Coalition’s campaign promotes mental health awareness and fights the stigma surrounding mental illness, which can be a barrier preventing people from seeking the help and treatment they need.

The Coalition has already implemented a comprehensive, multi-media campaign in Erie and Niagara Counties, including broadcast, website, social media, digital advertising, email, and grassroots tools to get the message out. The effectiveness of the campaign has been tested with a third-party polling organization that surveys community attitudes and have found the campaign is making a positive difference in people’s views of mental illness and treatment.

The decision was made to expand the campaign into Chautauqua County to reach its 53,000 households. The Coalition will use the grant funds to increase digital and social media, include Chautauqua County resources on the website, produce county specific materials, and conduct outreach and other events in the county.

For more information, visit letstalkstigma.org.

The Community Mental Health Loan Repayment Program will be administered by the New York State Office of Mental Health. It will provide loan repayments of up to $120,000 for psychiatrists and $30,000 for psychiatric nurse practitioners, provided they remain employed by licensed community mental health programs for three years.

Both newly hired psychiatrists or psychiatric nurse practitioners and those existing on staff -including part-time employees -at licensed community mental health programs are eligible to receive repayment awards.

Providers may apply for loan repayment on behalf of their staff, with applications reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis for as long as funding remains available.

Additional information on OMH’s Community Mental Health Loan Repayment Program can be found at https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/rfp/2022/cmhlrp/index.html

Governor Kathy Hochul announced more than $3.3 million in federal funding will be administered through the state Office of Mental Health to help providers better serve children and youth who are dually diagnosed with mental illness and a developmental disability or substance use disorder.

The Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene, The Resource Center, and New Directions Youth and Family Services all will receive funding. The state did not specify amounts being awarded to individual agencies.

Administered by the Office of Mental Health and developed in consultation with the New York State Education Department, the grant funds will be available between July 1 and December 31, 2022.

According to the OMH website, funds are to improve access to mental health resources; support students who have experienced stress, anxiety, and/or trauma; and support the adults surrounding them.

Under the direction of the County Department of Mental Hygiene, the Tapestry system of care will use the funds to expand existing efforts through community and staff training, faculty in-service days, in-school health and wellness events, placement of school-based mental health clinicians and therapeutic resources.

Image from Sen. George Borrello’s Facebook Page

IRVING – A coalition of community leaders, healthcare workers, and elected officials gathered at a press conference and rally Friday in Irving to call on the Board of Directors and administration of TLC/Lakeshore hospital to cease its move towards closure.

The rally was coordinated Sen. George Borrello (R-Irving) and came a week of the state Office of Mental Health (OMH) Project Review Committee stated that the hospital must remain open.

The Committee cited the lack of a transition plan for meeting the region’s mental health and health care needs as the reason for their decision.

Despite the ruling and threats of fines and other regulatory enforcement, hospital administration says they will continue with the closure.

Thomas DiNapoli

ALBANY – New York’s mental health facilities are not ensuring parents and guardians are properly notified of incidents of abuse and neglect, according to an audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

In May 2007, the state legislature enacted “Jonathan’s Law” to expand parents’, spouses’, guardians’, and other qualified persons’ access to records relating to incidents involving family members residing in facilities operated, licensed or certified by the Office of Mental Health (OMH) and other state agencies. The reportable incidents under Jonathan’s Law involve abuse (physical, sexual or psychological) or neglect, as well as incidents that may result in or have the potential to result in harm to the health, safety or welfare of a patient.

During a recent audit covering nearly four years and examining the records of eight facilities (four state-run and four privately operated), the comptrollers office found that OMH did not implement processes to effectively monitor whether the facilities are complying with Jonathan’s Law requirements. While auditors found that facilities have established practices for notifying qualified persons within 24 hours of initial reporting of incidents, 20 percent of the incidents reviewed (42 total, all involving children under the age of 18) lacked support showing that the required notification had been made.

Auditors also found facilities do not always provide all records to parents and guardians when requested or are not providing them within 21 days of a request or the conclusion of the investigation, as required. Only 33 percent of the records reviewed were provided within the required time frame.

OMH manages the operation of 24 state psychiatric centers and the oversight of more than 650 providers that operate private facilities.

Jonathan’s Law is named for the late Jonathan Carey. In February 2007, Carey, a 13-year-old non-verbal autistic and developmentally disabled boy, died while in the care of a state facility. His parents had attempted multiple times to obtain information concerning several unexplained injuries, unauthorized changes in treatment and suspected abuse and neglect with little success. As a result, an effort was made to improve state law so that family members would be better notified of injuries and abuses involving patients.

Additional findings in the audit include:

• OMH does not use the New York State Incident Management and Reporting System (NIMRS) to capture information related to Jonathan’s Law compliance and cannot readily determine whether facility officials are meeting the law’s requirements.
• Each facility provided different information – with some offering more detail than others – to qualified persons when fulfilling records requests. As a result, qualified persons may not be receiving all pertinent information on incidents affecting the well-being of their family members.

DiNapoli recommended OMH incorporate the reporting of actions taken to comply with Jonathan’s Law into NIMRS to allow the office to more readily track efforts to meet requirements. Also, OMH should provide updated guidance to facilities on their responsibilities related to Jonathan’s Law requirements including clear and consistent implementation procedures and require their prompt implementation.

“Vulnerable patients are at greater risk when their parents and family members are kept in the dark,” said DiNapoli in a recent media release. “Jonathan’s Law can only help prevent tragedies if abuse and mistreatment in mental health facilities is properly reported and actions are taken. State officials must do more to ensure facilities are meeting requirements.”

OMH officials disagreed with the audit findings. The office’s response is included in the final report, which can be found online at: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093019/sga-2019-18s22.pdf.

During the course of their work, auditors also sought information from the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs (Center), but, due to legal restrictions, they were unable to examine unsubstantiated records. A bill was introduced in the last legislative session and passed the Senate that would allow OSC access to these records.

Established by the Governor in November 2017, the Task Force serves to increase awareness of and access to supportive services with a special focus on high-risk groups including veterans, Latina adolescents, and members of the LGBTQ community.

Recommendations from the report include strengthening public health prevention efforts, integrating suicide prevention in healthcare, timely sharing of data for surveillance and planning, and infusing cultural competence throughout suicide prevention activities.

• READ THE FULL REPORT

“It is critical that every New Yorker has access to the resources and mental health services they need to lead stable, healthy lives,” Governor Cuomo said. “As we continue to bolster prevention efforts in communities across the state, especially among high-risk groups, these recommendations will help increase awareness and strengthen the safety net to protect anyone who needs help.”

At the Governor‘s direction, the Task Force examined current programs, services, and statewide suicide prevention policies in order to identify gaps in resources and strengthen coordination between State and local partners. The group was co-chaired by Christopher Tavella, Ph.D, Executive Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, and Peter Wyman, Ph.D, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and includes leaders from state agencies, local governments, not-for-profit groups, and other recognized experts in suicide prevention. The Task Force focused on vulnerable populations at greater risk for suicide, with special sub-committees created to examine how to better serve these groups.

The Task Force’s recommendations fall into four main categories and goals:

• Strengthening public health prevention efforts: Forging stronger partnerships with local communities, providing resources and expertise to assess local needs, and implementing research-informed prevention programs. Several recommendations are designed to jump-start State and community actions to expand the number of communities with prevention expertise to implement comprehensive public health prevention using best practices.
• Integrating suicide prevention in healthcare: Helping healthcare providers adopt a systematic approach to suicide prevention, which includes helping them to promote access to services, more effectively identify those at risk and utilize the most effective treatments.
• Timely sharing of data for surveillance and planning: Gathering and tracking data on regional trends in suicide rates and related behaviors is critically important to implement a high-quality public health prevention approach. By improving the availability of data, gaps in services can be addressed and local planning and prevention efforts can be enhanced.
• Infusing cultural competence throughout suicide prevention activities: Considering a community’s unique cultural and societal factors to develop effective programs and resources needed to create a suicide-free New York. Competence to address the needs of New York State’s diverse population is required across the full range of suicide prevention activities. In addition to tailoring services to address differences in race, gender, sexuality, and nationality, cultural competence includes the capacity for State agencies to differentiate programming needs of more rural and urban communities; competence within local coalitions to engage representatives of their diverse communities; recognition of the methods needed to reach each generation; and selection and tailoring of programming to suit the needs of each group at elevated risk for suicide.

In 2017, the Governor signed legislation requiring that the unique needs of all demographic groups and populations, including a special focus on Latina adolescents, veterans and the LGBTQ community, be taken into consideration when developing suicide prevention plans, programs and services.

Since the report was finalized, several recommendations have already been implemented in New York State, including

• Passing the Gender Expression NonDiscrimination Act,
• Increasing access to data to help support suicide prevention at the local level,
• Increasing collaboration at events designed for individuals transitioning from active military to veteran status, as this has been identified as a time of high risk, and
• Helping communities conduct in-depth reviews of local suicide deaths in order to more effectively target prevention efforts.

Additional Suicide Prevention Efforts in New York State

In addition to the Task Force’s work, OMH and the agency’s Suicide Prevention Office (SPO) are working to enhance programs and outreach methods to better servehigh-risk groups, including African American youth and rural New Yorkers, as well as Latina adolescents, veterans and members of the LGBTQ community.

The SPO works with and provides funding to suicide prevention coalitions and local governments across the state to bring resources and programs to inner city and rural schools and communities to help raise awareness and reach these at-risk groups.

In September, the SPO will host and sponsor its fourth annual New York State Suicide Prevention Conference, at which keynote speakers and 30 breakout sessions will focus on strengthening suicide prevention through state and local partnerships and targeting these diverse, at-risk groups.

OMH is also hosting a two-day symposium in June on “Strategies for Behavioral Health Equity: Leaving No One Behind.” The conference will bring together researchers, policy decision makers, mental health clinicians and front-line workers to discuss how to best bring mental health services to marginalized and vulnerable populations to create mental health equity for all New Yorkers.

If you know someone who has some of the risk factors above, a first step would be to find out whether the person has a “safety net” — a caseworker or a school psychologist, for example. Many times, there are professionals who are already involved with the person. If not, then it is a matter of finding the right professionals and getting them involved. Your local National Alliance on Mental Illness can help. Call 1-800-950-3228 for your affiliate’s phone number and address.

The Establishment and Project Review Committee for the state Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) reviewed and approved the application for UPMC Chautauqua Services Inc. to become the active parent and cooperator of WCA.

Prior to acting on the agreement, the Jamestown Post-Journal reports that there was a public hearing and representatives from three unions were on hand to speak against the merger, questioning UPMC about its insurance agreements and access to health care. The controller of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania also spoke against the merger, criticizing UPMC for exploiting loopholes and manipulating the health care system to drive out competition.

Despite the concerns, the board moved forward with approving the agreement with one member explaining that no alternative options have been suggested by those who oppose the merger.

“We are very excited and appreciative of the state’s approval to move forward,” said WCA president/CEO Betsy Wright.  “This is a great day for WCA and UPMC and more importantly, the citizens that we are so privileged to serve in southern Chautauqua County.  We are one more step closer to the integration of the two health systems.  We continue to work through the final regulatory process which is contingent upon approvals from the New York State Office of Mental Health and New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.”

According to WCA Hospital, the next regulatory steps include approvals from the New York State Office of Mental Health and Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.

In December, WCA and UPMC officials announced the signing of an affiliation to integrate agreement. Once finalized, WCA Hospital will be the first New York state hospital to integrate with UPMC.

Once an agreement has been finalized, the new title for the health care facility will be UPMC Chautauqua at WCA.