Miriam Delphin-Rittmon has been nominated for a post at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Posted inGovernment, Health
Coronavirus is increasing substance use – and decreasing treatment availability, providers say
Fewer beds and greater expenses are kneecapping addiction treatment facilities just as the need is about to rise.
Posted inHealth
Reforms to stem Whiting abuses head to the governor
Spurred by urgent demands that horrific abuse at Whiting Forensic never happen again, the state House of Representatives unanimously gave final approval to a series of reforms designed to increase oversight of the facility. The House vote was 148 to 0.
Posted inHealth
Senate passes bill increasing oversight to stem abuse at Whiting
More than a year after the repeated, cruel abuse of a Whiting Forensic patient was captured on videotape, the state Senate approved a bill that would create an independent task force to oversee the maximum security psychiatric facility and would make staff there and other state behavioral health facilities subject to fines or even criminal charges if they fail to report abuse.
Posted inHealth
After abuse scandal, CT lawmakers push to reform Whiting
About a year after cruel, ongoing abuse of a Whiting Forensic patient was revealed, the legislature’s Public Health Committee has reported out three bills aimed at reforming the state’s only maximum-security psychiatric facility by increasing transparency and oversight.
Posted inHealth
After the save: A drug can reverse an overdose. Then what?
The drug naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose. Experts say it’s a vital tool, but in many ways, a short-term one: Naloxone saves lives, but it doesn’t necessarily change them. Now, a pilot program in one emergency room aims to connect people who have been revived after overdoses to longer-term recovery help.
Posted inHealth
Mental health service cuts go along with layoffs
The 68 layoffs announced last week at the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services were accompanied by plans to close programs serving people who are homeless or getting out of psychiatric hospitals or prison, an intensive team that works with people living in the community who have mental health or substance issues, and a behavioral health program for veterans.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Law barring access to CT history should be fixed by [name redacted]
Five years ago it wasn’t against the law in Connecticut to get historical records. Now, after the mental health community’s end run around proper legislative practice, it is time to once again enable our historians and researchers and poets and biographers access to the information they need to explain who we are to each other.
Posted inHealth
For help with opioid addiction, CT offers one number to call
In an effort to better connect people with help for opioid addiction, the state has made available a single phone number residents can call to be connected with a local substance abuse walk-in assessment center.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Prospect of detox, psychiatric bed cuts worries hospital officials
As they try to cut more than $34 million from their budget, officials at the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services say they anticipate reducing the number of treatment beds available – a prospect that worries hospital officials and mental health professionals. “In an era when we’re in this opioid crisis, why would we be reducing capacity when there’s already not enough?” said Terri DiPietro, director of the Center for Behavioral Health at Middlesex Hospital.
Posted inHealth
Mental health agencies take on larger role coordinating all care
The fitness group walked in loops on the path with 51-year-old member Cindy as its unofficial cheerleader, But this is not a typical exercise group. It’s part of a statewide effort to bring together mental and physical health care for thousands of people with serious mental illness, chronic medical conditions and high health care costs. Second of two stories.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
When did having mental illness become a felony?
The governor’s proposed budget, with $25.5 million cuts to the safety net for people with severe mental illness and substance use problems will have a two-fold effect. No money will be saved, and dollars will shift from evidence-based treatment provided to people in their communities, to a variety of expensive and inappropriate alternatives, such as increased inpatient hospitalizations, emergency room visits, incarceration, and nursing home placements.
Posted inHealth
Delphin-Rittmon promoted to lead mental health department
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has named a clinical psychologist with experience working in state and federal mental health agencies to lead the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Malloy budget proposes two harmful ‘hits’ to mental health center
The Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven is a jewel. Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed cuts to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services would undermine the Connecticut Mental Health Center and set back efforts to improve the lives of people with mental illness.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Malloy budget proposes two harmful ‘hits’ to mental health center
The Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven is a jewel. Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed cuts to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services would undermine the Connecticut Mental Health Center and set back efforts to improve the lives of people with mental illness.