LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
MEETING SCHEDULE
2011 – 2012
Click Here to download the schedule:  HHS LOC meeting schedule [39.8 KiB]

From the News and Observer 9.20.11

Wake County’s Board of Commissioners agreed Monday to establish a standalone mental health authority to oversee care for Medicaid clients with developmental disabilities, mental illness and substance abuse problems.

Although it was unanimous, the decision to comply with a state mandate came with misgivings and a few conditions.

Beginning in 2006, the state began requiring counties to take over the responsibility of dispensing mental-health care paid for by Medicaid dollars.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/20/1502851/wake-oks-agency-for-mental-health.html?story_link=email_msg#ixzz1Z14TsS46

Crucial Conversation – Building a 21st Century System for Serving People with Mental Illness

“No more excuses: Building a lawful, 21st Century system for serving people with mental illness.”

Federal law has long commanded the states to deinstitutionalize persons with mental illness; it’s illegal to use federal money to gather up such individuals and lock them away in big hospitals as was the favored practice during the last century. Unfortunately, building a vibrant, modern and lawful alternative to the old model is challenging. Every individual and family is different and solutions need to be person-centered.

These challenges are made even tougher when state leaders refuse to tackle the situation head-on and, instead, rely upon quick fixes and half measures. Sadly, this is the longstanding situation in North Carolina, where more than 8,000 individuals are inappropriately housed in large adult care facilities originally designed for senior citizens.

Recently, federal officials announced that they were investigating North Carolina’s treatment of these individuals to see if public dollars have been spent in violation of the law. Clearly, something must be done (and soon) to address this situation.

So, what should be done? When should we start? How much will it cost?

Come and hear about the answers to these and other related questions from one of the nation’s most experienced experts in the field, Joshua Norris.

Norris has served as the Director of Legal Advocacy for The Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO) — a nonprofit that has been in the midst of many of the same battles that now confront North Carolina surrounding services to persons with mental illness — since 2004. As legal director for Georgia’s protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities and mental illness, he supervises GAO’s legal and legislative advocacy and provides direct support to its Investigations Team and the seven separate programs operated by the GAO.

Norris will be joined by one of the nation’s best respected and most experienced advocates for person with disabilities, the Executive Director of Disability Rights North Carolina, Vicki Smith.

Don’t miss this chance to hear from a recognized national expert on this urgent problem.

Click here to register for this event. ^[2]

When: Thursday, September 29 – Box lunches will be available at 11:45 a.m. and the program will start at noon.

Where: Marbles Kids Museum, 201 E. Hargett St. in downtown Raleigh.

Click here for directions and information about convenient parking options.

Cost: $10 – includes a box lunch.
Space is limited – pre-registration required.

Questions?? Contact Rob Schofield at 919-861-2065 or rob@ncpolicywatch.com

For StarNewsOnline 9.19.11

In order to comply with changing state Medicaid requirements, two regional mental health agencies – including the one serving Southeastern North Carolina – have announced their decision to merge, effective July 1.

The announcement is the latest step in a long application process for Wilmington-based Southeastern Center for Mental Health, Developmental Disability and Substance Abuse Services, or SEC, and the Jacksonville-based Onslow Carteret Behvaior Healthcare Services, or OCBHS. Boards for the two organizations voted to merge at a Sept. 14 meeting, but discussions about the agreement have gone on for months.

The formation of a single regional mental health-care entity is necessary due to a change in state rules that requires a population of at least 500,000 to administer mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse care.

Additionally, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is aiming to implement Medicaid waiver sites across the state. The move would change the funding structure for those services by merging state, federal and Medicaid money, and allowing agencies to manage that money directly.

For more on this story, click HERE.

From the Insider 9.15.11

Rep. Jim Crawford has been named a House Appropriations Committee co-chair, becoming just the second Democrat in the House to hold a committee chairmanship. House Speaker Thom Tillis announced the appointment of Crawford, D-Granville, and that of Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, as new co-chairs of the House budget-writing committee. Rep. Jeff Barnhart, R-Cabarrus, who had been a committee co-chair, is resigning at the end of the month. The appointments mean that committee will now have five co-chairs. Tillis called Crawford “one of the key leaders” who allowed for a budget deal. He was one of five Democrats who voted with Republicans on the budget and helped to override Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto. House Minority Leader Joe Hackney serves as a co-chair of the House Ethics Committee, a committee which has traditionally had bipartisan leadership.(THE INSIDER, 9/15/11).