As you’ve probably seen, the Legislature went into a special session and worked some long hours to pass a FY 2014 budget. While we’re still analyzing everything, here are some key provisions of the budget bill as it was sent to the Governor. Medicaid (AHCCCS) will be restored and expanded. This will be a big [...]
Every day at least 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the U.S. October is set aside to help bring awareness to the issue - across the country domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women aged 15-44. In Arizona last year, 108 individuals lost their lives to domestic violence; so [...]
Now that the Supreme Court has spoken regarding the Affordable Care Act- States have a lot more clarity around the decisions they'll need to make and what they need to do to implement the law. The Governor kicked off a process to review the options and engage Stakeholders for their input this week. Additional meetings are being scheduled in the coming [...]
The Governor signed the budget this week - here's a look at how some of it affects public health: Behavioral Health Services for folks that don’t Qualify for Medicaid The budget that was just signed includes about $39M in new funding for services for folks with a serious mental illness that don’t qualify for Medicaid. [...]
The Personnel Reform bill made some headway this week in the State Legislature. It’s a complicated bill and hasn't been through the full process yet- but I know there’s a lot of interest in it around these parts- so I’ll try to distill the current version down a little bit for our agency. Basically, if [...]
Here's a short story about using the democratic process to get things done. Some of you might remember a protest last December in front of our 150 Building. About 100 folks or so were carrying placards in front of our building asking us to make it easier to have a home-birth in AZ. Many of you probably [...]
OK… everybody knows that we have all sorts of recognition weeks and months for everything from breastfeeding to mental health. Most folks don’t know that March is Purchasing Month. But let’s face it- none of us would be able to accomplish anything in this business without our Procurement team! Our Procurement shop touches every aspect [...]
Dr. Nelson wrote a great blog this week that discusses the behavioral health aspects of the Governor’s 2012 State of the State Address which was followed by the release of her policy agenda called The Four Cornerstones of Reform: Centennial Edition. Please visit Dr. Nelson’s blog for the details of the Governor’s remarks about behavioral [...]
On January 15, 2011, Governor Brewer released her proposed budget for next fiscal year (which begins July 1, 2011). One of the budget items would change AHCCCS (Medicaid) eligibility for adults without children (called childless adults). The ADHS currently provides behavioral health services to approximately 5,200 persons with serious mental illnesses that are childless adults. [...]
The Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council was established by the Governor in September 2009. It’s part of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000. I’m on the Council. Our mission is to represent the interests and needs of persons with developmental disabilities throughout Arizona- especially people that are underserved. We support [...]
