Connecticut’s child welfare agency issued an ambitious proposal to redesign the publicly financed children’s behavioral health system, calling the existing system “broken.” Not clear yet: What the recommendations would cost, how the redesign would work, or how several of the plan’s provisions would apply to the 56 percent of Connecticut youth covered by private insurance.
mental health
Posted inHealth
DCF unveils plan for overhaul of children’s mental health care
A new state blueprint for children’s mental health services recommends standardized screening and enhanced school services, better training for all caregivers and the “pooling” of hundreds of millions in public funds to more effectively finance vital programs.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Ten things Tom Foley thinks about health care
The Republican candidate for governor talks assisted suicide, the need for more mental institutions, hospital changes, Obamacare, the cost of Medicaid, and why private sector thinking could help cure the state’s health care woes.
Posted inHealth
Moms of children with mental illness share their pain, tell their stories, push for change
Their informal network helps them to get from each other what they say is almost impossible to find elsewhere, like help figuring out the right services for a teenager at risk of suicide. Now these mothers of children with mental illness are releasing a list of ideas they think will help improve mental health care in the state.
Posted inHealth
Children stuck in crisis: Connecticut’s psychiatric emergency gets worse
The number of children and teens going to emergency rooms in mental health crisis, some waiting days for an inpatient bed, has been growing for years. But people who work at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, parents of kids with psychiatric illnesses and community mental health providers say what happened this spring was beyond anything they’d seen in the past.
Posted inHealth
Post-Newtown mental health task force issues recommendations
The task force established after the Newtown shootings to examine mental health issues among young adults released 47 recommendations Tuesday in what a key legislative leader described as a “blueprint” for future legislative action on behavioral health.
Posted inHealth
Malloy vetos substance abuse treatment bill opposed by insurance industry
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has vetoed a bill opposed by the insurance industry that would have required carriers to report information about the substance abuse treatment they have covered and their networks of mental health and substance abuse treatment providers.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Malloy’s veto preserves ban on glass eel fishing
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday he has vetoed a bill at the heart of an unusual end-of-session deal: A measure that would have lifted the statutory ban on fishing in Connecticut waters for a species now under consideration for endangered status, the glass eel.
Posted inHealth
Bill could encourage ‘warm handoff’ for mental health treatment in CT
A somewhat technical measure could make it significantly easier for people to get mental health care, treatment providers say.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
Legislature adopts new CT budget built on risky assumptions
The General Assembly adopted a $19 billion budget early Sunday that relies on about $200 million in fund sweeps and risky savings and revenues assumptions to stay in balance – including the last-minute discovery of $75 million in “miscellaneous” tax receipts.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: How we got here: Our broken mental health system
Which is the lesser of the two evils: living long term in a psychiatric hospital away from society, or being homeless in the community with lack of support and frequent trips to emergency departments and jails?
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Detect mental health problems early to prevent violence
One in five children and adolescents has some mental health issue, and 70 percent of those individuals do not receive care, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Accessing mental health care still a challenge in CT’s rural areas
In rural populations, the rates of depression exceed those in urban populations, and suicide rates among teenagers and adults are significantly higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
Nonprofits to Malloy: Less $ for rebates, more for CT’s needy
Connecticut’s community service agencies are asking the governor to reduce his proposed tax rebate and instead dedicate about one-third of that money to services for the most vulnerable.
Posted inHealth
Robert E. Davidson, mental health advocate, dies
Robert E. Davidson, a longtime advocate for people with mental illness, died Monday. He testified often at the state Capitol complex, but also tried other methods of teaching lawmakers about the challenges people with mental illness face.
