Posts Tagged ‘SAMHSA’

« Older Entries

Sequestration and Our Mission

March 12th, 2013

No doubt the word “ Sequestration” is front and center in your vocabulary these days.  This is just a quick note to forecast how it might impact our mission.  For starters… the main impacts from federal sequestration (i.e. the federal budget reduction for some programs) will be related to the services that we provide and the planning that we do related to our federal cooperative agreements and grants.  The primary agencies that award us funding are within HHS (CMS, HRSA, CDC, SAMHSA) and USDA (WIC).  Not all federal programs are subject to the federal budget reduction that will go into effect shortly. 

For example, the behavioral health services that we provide via Medicaid are largely exempt from the reductions… but most of our cooperative agreements and federal grants are subject to the reductions. We receive a total of about $255M in federal funds that look like they’ll be subject to reductions for the remainder of this federal fiscal year.  WIC is the biggest chunk, at about $161M (or 63% of our total grant funds affected). 

How we manage these reductions will vary depending on how much flexibility the parent federal agency gives us.  As we make these decisions, we’ll consider grant variables…  like how much of the award we’ve spent so far this fiscal year and whether the grant is mainly service dollars or strategic planning etc.  For some programs we may be able to identify under-performing areas of the grant or agreement and focus our adjustments there.  

For example: Karen Sell’s WIC team has done a fair amount of planning already to mitigate the immediate and even mid-term impact…  like changing the food package starting July 1 (adopting less expensive brands) and identifying some current unspent funds.  We won’t need to put WIC applicants on a waiting list for at least a month…  but depending on how things go, we may need to start a list later in the year. 

I’ve asked the executive management team to work with each of the programs that look like they’ll be affected and start the planning process for making the reductions- focusing on identifying ways that we can make reductions that will minimize impacts in the field (like the way WIC will be moving to less expensive food brands).  Anyway…  stay tuned.  Things at the federal level look like they’re still in flux.  The more nimble and creative we are the better off our mission will be.

No comments »

Posted in General

Tags:

SAMHSA Standards

August 29th, 2012

We’re happy to announce that we’re officially adopting four evidence-based practice models endorsed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) including Assertive Community Treatment (ACT); Supported Employment; Permanent Supportive Housing; and Consumer-Operated Services.  We’re adopting these evidence-based best practice models because they resonate with our core commitment to a system of care rooted in hope and an unwavering belief in recovery.  Each of the links above offers additional detail for each model, including (a) building the program, (b) training program staff, and (c) evaluating fidelity to the program. 

These four SAMHSA evidence-based practice models will be incorporated into our future Maricopa County RBHA contract…  and formal monitoring of fidelity will begin in 2014.  We still have a few years left on our contracts in the other regions, but we’ll be encouraging all of our RBHAs and providers that elect to offer the above services and to conduct self-assessments using the fidelity tools in order to establish baseline scores and to drive ongoing improvement in our system of care. 

Our point people for the standards are: 1) Assertive Community Treatment: Don Erickson & Nitika Singh; 2) Supported Employment: Adam Robson; 3) Permanent Supportive Housing: Adam Robson; and 4) Consumer-Operated Services: Kathy Bashor & ChazLongwell.

3 comments »

Posted in Behavioral Health

Tags:

Behavioral Health State Plan Released

December 22nd, 2011

Our Division of Behavioral Health Services recently submitted its combined mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services State Plan for FY 12-13 to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  The Plan that we submitted to SAMHSA doubles as the State Plan that’s required by ARS 36-550.01.  The Plan provides an overview of Arizona’s behavioral health prevention, early identification, treatment, and recovery support systems including how the public behavioral health system is currently organized at the State, County and local levels.  The Plan describes the child and adult service delivery systems highlighting their similarities and differences and how these systems address the needs of diverse racial, ethnic and sexual gender minorities as well as youth who are often underserved. 

The behavioral health continuum of care is presented and discussed  and the Plan explains how we’re moving towards an integrated care model that provides acute services for select populations, including the Health Home initiative for persons with serious mental illness.

1 comment »

Posted in General

Tags:

Let’s Celebrate Wellness this Week!

September 22nd, 2011

Guest blog by:  From the Division of Behavioral Health Services

Let’s Celebrate Wellness this Week!  You are invited to join Arizonans this FRIDAY, September 23  to participate in the Line Dance for Wellness and Recovery which will be held at the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza (next to the Capitol Lawn in Phoenix) and at DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center at Reid Park in Tucson.  The line dance will begin promptly at 10:10 am.  This event is part of a national campaign by SAMHSA – the 10×10 Wellness Campaign — to promote the importance of addressing all parts of a person’s life in hopes of increasing life expectancy for persons with mental and substance use disorders by 10 years in 10 years.  In Phoenix, Interactive displays from 9:30 – 11 am will provide education on the importance of overall health and well-being, professional treatment for those with substance use and mental disorders, and how recovery positively impacts our society as a whole. …attendees are invited to wear something purple (purple is one of the colors of the Recovery Month theme).

No comments »

Posted in General

Tags:

State Comparison of Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health

August 10th, 2011

A new report is out that provides a state-by-state comparison of a wide range of behavioral health issues. Every state has to deal with some significant challenges with mental illness and substance abuse.  For example, among people 12 and older, Alaska’s current illicit drug use rate more than double that in Iowa (13% versus 5%), yet Iowa was among the top 10 states when it came to binge drinking (28%).

 The report was developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and provides valuable insight to state public health authorities and service providers on the scope and type of behavioral health issues affecting their states. The report uses the combined 2008 and 2009 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH ), which is drawn from interviews with more than 100,000 persons from around the country, and provides a state-by-state breakdown along 25 different measures of substance abuse and mental health problems, including illicit drug use, binge drinking, alcohol and illicit drug dependence, tobacco use, serious mental illness, and major depressive episode. Other notable findings include:

  • Fewer people in many states perceived that cigarette use can be risky. Between the combined years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 the perception of great risk from smoking one or more pack of cigarettes a day decreased in 14 states among those aged 12 to 17; in 31 states among those aged 18 to 25 and in 9 states among those 26 and older.
  • Current illicit drug use dropped among adolescents aged 12 to 17 in 17 states between 2002-2003 and 2008-2009; no increases in current illicit drug use occurred in any state in this age group over this time period.
  • While the District of Columbia had the nation’s highest rate of past year alcohol dependence or abuse for those 26 or older (8.1%), it had the lowest rate among persons aged 12 to 17 (3.0%).
  • Utah had the lowest rate of current marijuana use (3.6%) while Alaska had the highest rate (11.5%).
  • Between 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 11 states showed declines in past year cocaine use among persons aged 12 or older (in alphabetical order — Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and Virginia).
  • Rhode Island had the nation’s highest rate of adults aged 18 or older experiencing serious mental illness in the past year (7.2%), while Hawaii and South Dakota shared the lowest rate (3.5%)

No comments »

Posted in General

Tags:

Behavioral Health Consumer Survey Results

July 27th, 2011

Our 2010 Annual Behavioral Health Consumer Survey results are in, and the outcomes are encouraging!  Each year, we conduct 2 surveys based on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program (MHSIP) consumer surveys: They are the Adult Consumer Survey and the Youth Services for Families.

The surveys request feedback from folks regarding General Satisfaction, Access to Services, Service Quality/Appropriateness, Participation in Treatment, Outcomes, Cultural Sensitivity, Improved Functioning, and Social Connectedness. This year’s aggregate results found that:

  1. All adult and youth domains showed improvement from 2009;
  2. Three adult domains (General Satisfaction, Participation in Treatment Planning and Service Quality and Appropriateness) scored over 85%;
  3. Four youth domains (General Satisfaction,  Participation in Treatment Planning, Cultural Sensitivity and Social Connectedness) scored over 85%; and
  4. The youth results were at the highest that they have been since beginning the survey.

Consumer survey results found an 11% increase in Social Connectedness (Adult Survey), and a 7% increase in Services Access over last year. Nothing decreased from 2009 to 2010.  We’ll be working with our contractors to put together initiatives to continue to improving the scores.  Check out the full report!

No comments »

Posted in Behavioral Health

Tags:

Substance Abuse in AZ

July 19th, 2010

Our Division of Behavioral Health Services is the point guard for substance abuse prevention & treatment in Arizona (also referred to as the Single State Authority for Substance Abuse Services at the federal level).  One of those concerns is the abuse of marijuana- which continues to be in high demand and abused in our state.  Marijuana use and abuse is a significant problem in Arizona according to the latest Arizona Statewide Substance Abuse Epidemiology Profile 2009.   There’s been an upward trend in use since 2005, and the prevalence of its use in Arizona was higher than the U.S. average for most age groups.  It continues to be a popular drug for Arizona’s kids – the average age of first marijuana use was only 13 years old.  According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data, there’s been an increased use of marijuana between 2005 and 2009 among Arizona’s high school kids.

We use grant funds from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to conduct many of our substance abuse interventions in Arizona.  We get the Grant funds through an annual application  that details how we’ll spend the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant.  As is the case with all of our programs- we need to target the funds toward our highest priority populations.  You can see the basics in our latest Substance Abuse FAQs.

No comments »

Posted in Behavioral Health, Uncategorized

Tags:

America’s Drug Abusers Going Gray

July 12th, 2010

The proportion of people admitted for drug abuse treatment over 50 nearly doubled between 1992 and 2008.  While alcohol still is the leading cause of admissions in this age group, sharp increases were noted in those needing treatment for heroin, cocaine and marijuana, according to the study published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). You can read more in the The DASIS Report: Older Adults in Substance Abuse Treatment.  You can read more Arizona specific stuff in our Annual Report on Substance Abuse Treatment Programs which is posted along with all of our other Reports Required by State Statute.

3 comments »

Posted in Uncategorized

Tags:

America's Drug Abusers Going Gray

July 12th, 2010

The proportion of people admitted for drug abuse treatment over 50 nearly doubled between 1992 and 2008.  While alcohol still is the leading cause of admissions in this age group, sharp increases were noted in those needing treatment for heroin, cocaine and marijuana, according to the study published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). You can read more in the The DASIS Report: Older Adults in Substance Abuse Treatment.  You can read more Arizona specific stuff in our Annual Report on Substance Abuse Treatment Programs which is posted along with all of our other Reports Required by State Statute.

No comments »

Posted in Uncategorized

Tags:

Vaccines, Homeless Count, Cardiac Care & Tribal Preparedness

January 29th, 2010

Hi…

Leverage

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx is one place that understands leverage.  The foundation announced this morning (in Davos, at the World Economic Summit) that their foundation will commit $10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop and deliver vaccines for the world’s poorest countries http://www.gatesfoundation.org/vaccines/Pages/decade-of-vaccines.aspx.  Vaccine development and delivery is the number-one priority at the Gates Foundation because if the impact that they have on children’s lives.

A model developed by the Institute of International Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that we could prevent the deaths of some 7.6 million children under 5 from 2010-2019. The foundation also estimates that an additional 1.1 million children could be saved with the rapid introduction of a malaria vaccine beginning in 2014, bringing the total number of potential lives saved to 8.7 million.

If additional vaccines are developed and introduced in this decade—such as for tuberculosis—even more lives could be saved. The new funding announced today is in addition to the $4.5 billion that the Gates Foundation has already committed to vaccine research, development and delivery to date across its entire disease portfolio since its inception.

Investments like this are critical for the people in developing nations.  While vaccines for illnesses in developed countries are profitable, preventative treatment and vaccines for diseases that are prevalent in developing nations are not as profitable- putting them at a disadvantage when it comes to research and development.  Investments like this help to turn the tide- and have a remarkable impact.

Counting the Homeless

Thanks to all of you that participated in this year’s “Count the Homeless” event.  Each year, Teams count homeless to secure federal aid including the City of Phoenix, our Behavioral Health team, RBHAs, the PATH Outreach program, ADES, and the MAG Continuum of Care Regional Committee on Homelessness conduct an annual count of homeless men, women, and children sleeping on the streets in Maricopa County.  On Tuesday this week, over 350 volunteers canvassed streets, parks, vehicles, allies, and other gathering places where homeless people camp; to conduct this year’s street count.   The count went around the clock.

Homeless Street Count is a requirement for receiving federal homeless assistance funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). More than $200 million funding has been awarded to Maricopa County, over the past 11 years from these two federal agencies for housing subsidy, outreach, case management and support services for homeless assistance programs.

Each year the point-in-time count provides valuable data on the number of people experiencing homelessness.  Last year, per MAG, 2,918 people were counted on the streets, representing an overall increase of 20 percent more homeless than the previous year.  The number of homeless families increased by 300% (as a result of the economic and housing crisis) and the number of youth on their own increased by nearly 250%. The information gathered from the street count helps set priorities for addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness.

Volunteer participation is critical to conducting a successful street count.  Once again employees from ADHS/DBHS volunteered to complete this year’s Homeless Street Count.   I sincerely thank them for helping to make a difference in the lives of people who have no place to sleep at night in Arizona.  Thanks to the ADHS volunteers including Paige Finley, Brenda Robbins, Linda Cram, Idalia Brown, John Gallagher, Sylvia Dodge, Amy Sather, Adam Robson, Dave Bonney, Jessica Moore, and Dr. Tim Flood, this year’s event was a success.

Tribal Preparedness Strategic Plan

After much hard work by Michael Allison the Arizona Tribal Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinators developed and finalized their Strategic Plan for 2010-2013.This plan has been posted on our ADHS Native American web site. The direct link is http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/tribal/TribalPreparedness.htm. As far as we know this is the first such statewide plan developed by tribal nations and most likely will serve as a model for other tribes throughout the nation.

Nursing Home Ratings

You might have seen a news report this week that stated that stated that 20% of nursing homes rated consistently poor in quality according to data released Thursday by Medicare.  The ratings are derived from inspections, complaint investigations and other data collected mostly in 2008 and 2009.  Information about the program is posted at Nursing Home Compare and it allows you to Compare the quality of the nursing Homes you’re considering using CMS’s Five-Star Quality Ratings, health inspection results, nursing home staff data, quality measures, and fire safety inspection results.  For another frame of reference, you can check our licensing website where you can conduct a Facility Search to find how local places have done on their latest survey.

Cardiac Care Centers

About two years ago we invented the concept of developing Cardiac Care Centers in Arizona.  By following simple protocols like lowering a patient’s body temperature when they are being treated, hospitals can become part of our voluntary consortium.  We are proud to welcome Carondelet St. Joseph’s Hospital, Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital and Tucson Heart Hospital to the Arizona Cardiac Center Consortium.  There are now 30 Arizona hospitals recognized and operational:

You can see the full List of Arizona Cardiac Receiving Centers on our http://www.azshare.gov/Info4CAC.htm website.

We have entered a new era of providing complete cardiac arrest care in Arizona and your efforts are saving more lives than ever before.  Our website is continuously updated and we encourage everyone to visit www.azshare.gov for more information on the Arizona Cardiac Center Consortium.

Annual Reports Galore

Did you know that various state statutes require us to produce several annual reports on various topics every year?  The topics and reports include:

Annual Report of the Incidence and Reported Causes of Stillbirths

Tobacco Education & Prevention Program Biennial Evaluation Report

Designation of Arizona Medically Underserved Areas

Division of Behavioral Health Services & Arizona State Hospital Annual Report

Arizona Child Fatality Review Team Annual Report

Smoke-Free Arizona Annual Report

Annual Report on Substance Abuse Treatment Programs

Of course, there are several more reports that we put together, but these are the ones that are required by statute.  We just completed our new annual report page, which is posted at: http://azdhs.gov/diro/reports.

Department Blog

I’m learning all kinds of new things in this job, like what a “blog” is.  It is kinda like my weekly updates but it’s a chronological accumulation of the updates, plus I can add things through the week.  Blogs also let people comment on the stuff too.

OK, since blogs are good, and people like them, we started one for the department.  It’s called the Director’s Blog and it’s posted on our home page on the link that says Visit the Director’s Blog. The actual URL is at: http://directorsblog.health.azdhs.gov/.  We don’t have my updates from the past year posted there, but as the weeks go by we will keep adding them to the blog.

Thank you for your professionalism and work ethic over the past year.  We’re a darn good team- and our accomplishments and successes over the past year are a testament to your hard work, creativity, focus, professionalism, positive attitude, and your commitment to the folks of Arizona.

Thanks…

will

No comments »

Posted in General, Preparedness

Tags: