Landmark Mental Health Reform Legislation Passes Senate: Headed To The President’s Desk.
Janet Hays from WTUL News and Views was in Washington D.C. Monday Dec. 5th, 2016 for a press conference to highlight mental health reform provisions in the 21st Century CURES Act: A landmark Bill named by Senator Mitch McConnell to be “the most important piece of legislation that Congress will pass this year.” Watch now: 38:46
Dozens of family advocates from across the country traveled to Washington D.C. to witness the momentous and historic Senate vote in support of H.R. 2646 “The Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act” - a bill that was projected to have a 1% chance of passing at the time of it’s introduction 4 years ago. Present to speak at the press conference were: Senator Chris Murphy [D-CT], Senator Lamar Alexander [R-TN], Senator Cornyn [R-TX], Senator Bill Cassidy [R-LA], Representative Tim Murphy [R-PA], Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson [D-TX] and Representative Fred Upton [R- MI]. (Missing - Senator Patty Murray [D-WA] due to travel delays).
Despite the Bill’s overwhelming bipartisan support and having undergone a process that exemplifies how Congress is supposed to work, family advocates agree that much work needs to be done to improve the Bill.
Dj Jaffe - Director of Mental Illness Policy Org - points out that “unless President-elect Trump “drains the swamp” at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)—divisions of the federal Department of Health and Human Services—many of the new law’s useful provisions could be negated or undone by the permanent bureaucracy.” http://www.city-journal.org/html/stop-madness-14886.html
Representative Tim Murphy - original author of “The Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act” - is committed to fulfilling his promise to families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School victims to champion treatment for those with serious mental illness to avert future tragedies. “We didn’t get everything we needed, but we needed everything we got” was a refrain he used repeatedly throughout the week.
Among other provisions, the mental health portion of the bill:
• Creates a new position of Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse; • Establishes new grant programs for early intervention; • Directs states to only fund evidence-based mental health initiatives with a proven track record; • Removes barriers to individuals accessing mental-health care and services; • Promotes jail diversion initiatives and other programs to keep the mentally ill from being incarcerated; • Expands access to mental healthcare providers and beds for patients; • Requires health insurance companies to cover more mental health treatments; • Requires substantial new data collection around mental illness and the criminal justice system.
Wtul News and Views speaks with Organizers of the annual Dream Caravan, a community healing event hosted in New Orleans that focuses on the powerful healing potential of dreams.
“The decision on whether or not he thinks a phase 3 is needed will be on December the 1st, so the OPPRC, a coalition made of stakeholders including people who were formerly incarcerated are holding a vigil form Nov 30 to Dec 1st to rally support form the community to pressure the decision makers to not build a phase 3 facility which would cost about 55 M dollars in FEMA money, and instead renovate the 1438 bed facility which could achieve the same purpose but cost $8-9 M.“
Listen to Janet Hays of Healing Minds NOLA speak to the context for a vigil called by Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) overnight from 30 Nov to 1 Dec at Gravier Park. More information and updates can be found here https://www.facebook.com/events/1775152932758672/
“The government has told them they cannot drill…they have said they have every intention of drilling underneath that water, you know why? They’ve got enough money to pay a fine, they don’t care, there’s no teeth, nobody’s holding them to task, you know? The only thing that’s going to hold them to task is you and me and everybody else, right?”
“It’s a continuation, i’m trying to tell you that it’s not about one thing, it’s about everything! We as the people of the United States are being stepped on by corporations and rich people that think that we don’t matter. They don’t care. They don’t. And the worst thing they are doing is making other poor people think that it’s us, that’s it’s us that we’re doing that to them.”
“The thing about Standing Rock, when I was there, was this hope that goes across everyone that’s there. It’s a belief that runs through everything like that river runs through that land that we will win."
More than 300 people gathered in front of the Army Corps Office on Leake st in support of water protectors in North Dakota and Iowa who have assembled to prevent the Dakota Access Pipeline from transporting fracked crude oil from Bakken fields to Tx and through Louisiana. The Louisiana leg of the Dakota Access Pipeline is know as Bayou Bridge, and a portion already runs from Nederland, Tx to Lake Charles, LA.
The Lake Charles to St James segment is proposed to destroy 600 acres of wetland and cross more than 700 water bodies, including the crawfish producing Atchafalaya Basin, and Bayou Lafourche, drinking water for over 300,000 residents of coastal Louisiana.
Alicia Cooke of 350La, James Hartwell of Gulf Restoration Network, Anne Rolfes of LA Bucket Brigade, and Cherri Foytlin of BOLD Louisiana spoke to the racial injustice of the pipeline route, avoiding federal law for profit, the likelihood of spills and accidents, and the need for a hearing on the Bayou Bridge segment.
The assembly ended with water ceremonies and dances on the Mississippi River, downstream of the current encampment struggles on the Missouri.
“They left the contamination in the soil, and they took the profits to Texas”
audio from a historic hearing in the Louisiana State Legislature on the parish and state litigation against certain oil companies that have violated state coastal law. the lawsuits seek to fund the $50Billion Louisiana Coastal Restoration Plan, currently short $40Billion dollars. Here’s testimony from a resident of Vermillion Parish Mr Richard Broussard, on why he’s working for Vermillion Parish and the state of Louisiana to fix Louisiana’s wetlands.
#nonewleases
Ben Quimby from 350 Louisiana on No New Leases talks about the upcoming rally at BOEM, Today at 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard at noon central to 4pm
“I moved to New Orleans to work for St Bernard Project, doing rebuild work… I’ve seen what a big storm of capable of doing…and how long it can take a community to rebuild…climate change is going to lead to weather events of increasing frequency and the extinction of millions of species, and the longer we take to act the worse it’s going to get."
Credits (you can decide what to include): -The panelists introduce themselves in the piece, but they are Ana Diaz (National Guestworkers Alliance), Leticia Casildo (Congress of Day Laborers), & Ricky Coston (Stand with Dignity). -Jacob Horowitz of the National Guestworkers Alliance interpreted -Natalie Yahr recorded and produced the audio -Ted Quant facilitated the panel discussion -A Spanish-only version of this segment aired on “La Hora del Cambio” (Congreso’s radio show, Tuesdays 6-7PM on Jambalaya News Radio).
If folks want to learn more about any of the orgs, they each have a facebook page as well as info at http://www.nowcrj.org
Janet Hays interviews Syrita Steib-Martin about how her personal experience in a federal penitentiary led her to creating her own organization in New Orleans to help returning women and girls obtain medical educations post-incarceration.
Operation Restoration was created to provide a community where impoverished women and girls have access to the basic fundamentals they need to successfully reenter into society after incarceration. Operation Restoration assists women upon release with the monumental task of restoring themselves through the fundamentals needed to transition back into society. Once the fundamental needs are met Operation Restoration focuses on helping women obtain a higher education in order to pursue careers in healthcare. This also addresses the extreme shortage of healthcare workers that is present in Louisiana.
At Operation Restoration they believe that focusing on achieving successful reentry through the advancement of higher education gives women the confidence, faith and wherewithal to endure. Operation Restoration helps in eradicating the individual and structural barriers to higher education, while establishing economic security, long term stability, and civic participation for women who have criminal convictions (including those currently and formerly incarcerated) and their families. The OR guides women seeking to reclaim their lives through higher education in healthcare, while promoting their leadership, self-advocacy, and long term success.
Next week, tune in for Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton, recipient of the UNESCO Peace Education Prize, special rapporteur for UN from 2008-2014 on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories, and author of numerous books.
“We are linked and one breath affects another breath, one drink affects another’s drink” - Dr. Denise Graves
Tuesday the 13th, a crowd, carrying signs, gathered to show solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. Sarah Holtz was on the scene to gather testimonials from native people from New Orleans or passing through, as well as Mardi Gras indians in attendance. [9:55 9.5MB]
“There’s a lot of excitement about the possibility of striking down a lot of these repressive laws…especially in Louisiana…We raise our voices to let our lawmakers know there’s a majority of americans that support access to abortion"
Michelle Erenberg of Lift Louisiana gives us the lowdown on the Sat night concert event, All Access New Orleans, September 10, 2016 at 6:00 PM Sanctuary Cultural Arts Center - 2525 Burgundy St - New Orleans, LA 70117.
On September 10th, Lift Louisiana, the National Council of Jewish Women New Orleans Section, Women With a Vision and Tulane University’s If When How Chapter are hosting a party where the All Access 2016 concert will be streamed live. WWAV’s Policy Director Nia Weeks will be one of the many speakers, along with New Orleans City Councilwoman Latoya Cantrell.
Janet Hays interviews Nicole Forston (Producer), and Laura Pogliano
(mother and mental health advocate), about the new film documentary
Shattered Families: Collapse of our Mental Health System. The lack of a
functional mental healthcare system all too often leaves untreated
seriously mentally ill people incarcerated, homeless and dead. It also
takes a physical and emotional toll on caregivers who have few support
options when a loved one is in mental health crisis.
After
hearing Dr. Stephen Seager interviewed about his book: Behind the Gates
of Gomorrah: A Year with the Criminally Insane - where he documents
atrocities happening at the Napa State Psychiatric Facility where he was
working, Nicole Forston reached out to encourage him to create a visual
representation of the book. What ensued after that first conversation
resulted in something much larger. The film is an excellent historical
summary of how well-intentioned mental health laws, gone awry, have
shattered families.
Laura Pogliano, featured in the film along
with other families, has turned the tragedy that happened to her family
as a result of being unable to access services and care for her
seriously mentally ill son into mental health advocacy. She created
Parents4Care for Serious Mental Illness to assist families when they
find themselves having to drop out of life and short of resources when a
loved-one is spiraling downward. Read more about Laura and her
organization
“…whatever national mental health system once existed, has now totally
collapsed. Where once we offered treatment, patients with untreated
serious mental illness now suffer unspeakable degradation as their
families endure intolerable pain and indignity trying and failing to get
needed medical care for their disastrously sick loved ones.” - Stephen
Seager, MD
Undocumented immigrants facing felony reentry charges and permanent separation from their partners and children in the New Orleans area continue to be prosecuted by US Attorney Kenneth Polite for exposing the unconstitutional nature of their arrests.
William Diaz Castro, Jose Isaias Lara-Serrano, and Yoni Manzanares endured abusive arrests at the hands of local Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Although they bravely exposed the unconstitutional nature of their arrests (now under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security), they continue to be prosecuted by US Attorney Kenneth Polite facing felony reentry charges and permanent separation from their partners and children in the New Orleans area.
WTUL News and Views were on site to capture voices of families and members of the community speak out at a 24 hour vigil about the injustices of deportation and detention.
