Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-Pa.), left, speaks with Richard LaRush in LaRush’s Step Up on Second apartment. (Christian K. Lee / Los Angeles Times)

(8-14-17) I am thrilled the Los Angeles Times used Rep. Tim Murphy’s recent visit to Santa Monica’s Step Up on Second housing project in California as a vehicle to answer questions about mental illness and homelessness.

After having worked tirelessly for nearly five years to shepherd his mental health reform bill through Congress and get it signed into law last year, you might believe the Pennsylvania Republican would move on to other issues. Yet, he continues to focus on serious mental illnesses and addiction. As the only practicing psychologist in Congress, he is in a unique position to understand the importance of supportive housing in helping people recover. His visit was a reassuring testament of how committed he is to fixing our failing mental health care system.

I was especially happy that he toured the Step Up on Second project because the Corporation for Supportive Housing, a national nonprofit that helps communities finance and build affordable housing, is one of its backers. I serve on the CSH board. In fact, it is the only board that I serve on. That’s because CSH has demonstrated that people with mental illnesses and substance abuse, who are facing homelessness, can thrive with the right combination of stable, permanent housing and meaningful case management and treatment services.

Such a holistic approach sustains the dignity of the individual and benefits the entire community, delivering lower costs and improved quality of life.

The Los Angeles Times used Rep. Murphy’s visit to publish a Question and Answer feature that separates facts from fiction when it comes to homelessness.

Mental illness and homelessness are connected. But not how you might think

By Gale Holland   The Los Angeles Times  Contact Reporter

Even as Los Angeles starts a $1.2-billion homeless housing construction program, residents from Temple City to Venice are fighting to keep homeless projects out of their neighborhoods.

But since 1995, chronically homeless mentally ill people — a widely shunned subgroup — have been living in Santa Monica’s Step Up on Second apartments, a block from the tourist-friendly Third Street Promenade and close enough to the beach to feel the salt air.

“Look around. It’s here,” Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-Pa.) said during a recent visit, describing why he sees Step Up’s residential programs as a national model.

Click to continue…

Sheriff Kincaid monitoring inmates in detention center

(8-11-17) I am amazed. In less than two years, Fairfax County, Virginia, has gone from showing little interest in jail diversion to being spotlighted as a national model.

Bravo! That’s a true accomplishment. Still, there is more to do but let’s focus first on the positive.

Nine Fairfax officials have been asked to speak in September at a Data Driven Justice and Behavioral Health Design Institute meeting in Rockville, Maryland, about how the county has successfully implemented its Diversion First program. The meeting is being sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) and the National Association of Counties (NACo). It’s designed to help community leaders from across the nation learn how to create jail diversion programs by inviting those who already have established successful programs to share their knowledge.

Sheriff Stacey Kincaid deserves much of the credit for bringing jail diversion to Fairfax. After the 2015 tragic death of Natasha McKenna in the Fairfax Adult Detention Center, the sheriff traveled to Bexar County, Texas, to learn about its diversion program and returned determined to establish something similar. (Compare her commendable actions to the shameful response by officials at the Hampton Roads Regional jail, where Jamycheal Mitchell literally starved to death. They insisted they hadn’t done anything wrong and kept information from the public.)

In the county’s official press release, posted at the end of this blog, Sheriff Kincaid shares credit.

“A primary reason we have come so far so fast is that we have 180 stakeholders, including law enforcement; mental health providers, advocates and consumers; county government leaders; defense attorneys and prosecutors; and magistrates and judges. We cannot and do not solve problems by operating in silos.”

That’s certainly true, but the main diversion champions in Fairfax have been the sheriff, Board of Supervisor Chair Sharon Bulova, Supervisor John Cook, Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Program Director Laura Yager, and several Community Services Board leaders, such as retired Air Force General Gary Ambrose, Tisha Deeghan, and Daryl Washington.

While I’m ecstatic about what has been accomplished, Fairfax needs to take further steps.

Click to continue…

(8-9-17) It’s important to report stories that document how difficult it is to get meaningful mental health care in our nation. Here’s a recent email exchange sent to me Dr. Gary Mihelish, president of National Alliance on Mental Illness chapter in Helena, Montana and a long time mental health advocate.

            Dear Dr. Mihelish,

My son who has schizophrenia or more likely schizoeffective disorder was released from St. Peter’s hospital and became manic.   He bought a one way ticket to Kona, Hawaii.   He’s been off his medications since he went the first week of March.  

He’s at the point now where he will likely die in Hawaii if I can’t get him back and get him a place to stay.   Helena would be better than Bozeman because we currently have no services.   

He’s been on the waiting list in Bozeman for housing.  I’m not sure where he is at.   

 Do you guys have any contacts or people I can contact?   John has been in the ER in Hawaii but doesn’t meet criteria to stay.   He’s not able to respond or function.   He keeps getting all his stuff stolen and currently only has the clothes and flip flops he’s wearing.   

He’s not able to stay with me – so I need to step back and let others care for him -all I can do is be a cheerleader for him.   

Thank you for any suggestions you may have.   

Susan,

Dear Susan,

My first quick thought.  Go to the NAMI website and get the number for NAMI Hawaii.  Then call them and ask them if they have any thoughts.  I will follow up with you later. Gary

Thanks Gary.  Called NAMI Hawaii and found they aren’t functioning well. 

But a kind lady  found my son standing across from the ER in Hawaii since he was discharged because that’s how much he’s not functioning.   He’s really gone downhill.   3.5 months off his medications would cause that.  

 I need to get him back from Hawaii  but he’ll need treatment and meds  first.  And a place to stay after that.  

 Just giving an update.   

 Susan 

Click to continue…

(8-4-17) Books, books and more books. Summer is the time for reading, especially if you are at the beach. Here are several books for you to consider. Feel free to add your own on my Facebook page.

Mental Illness

Everyone is taking about No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America by Ron Powers. He drew a big and well-deserved crowd at NAMI’s national convention when he spoke about his book, which combines the history of mental illness with his own family’s story. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, signifying its quality. 

”Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Powers (Mark Twain: A Life, 2005, etc.) presents two searing sagas: an indictment of mental health care in the United States and the story of his two sons with schizophrenia …. This hybrid narrative, enhanced by the author’s considerable skills as a literary stylist, succeeds on every level.”  

The New York Times Book Review raved:

“Extraordinary and courageous . . . No doubt if everyone were to read this book, the world would change.”

STORIES FROM THE SHADOWS: Reflections of A Street Doctor by Dr. James J. O’Connell remains the best book that I’ve ever read about a kind-hearted street doctor helping the homeless.

“This volume instantly and irrevocably transports you into a fascinating universe of individuals usually invisible to us… often faceless and nameless, lost in plain sight, and forced to live on the fringes of society. But this volume makes unforgettable those who are usually forgotten. The riveting stories presented here capture each life in such moving and vivid detail that you will be forever changed.”

COMMITTED: The Battle Over Involuntary Psychiatric Care by Drs. Dinah Miller and Annette Hanson educates readers about the never-ending argument sparked by Assisted Outpatient Treatment and involuntary care. An important book that puts human faces on the civil rights vs forced care debate.

“In Committed, psychiatrists Dinah Miller and Annette Hanson offer a thought-provoking and engaging account of the controversy surrounding involuntary psychiatric care in the United States. They bring the issue to life with first-hand accounts from patients, clinicians, advocates, and opponents. Looking at practices such as seclusion and restraint, involuntary medication, and involuntary electroconvulsive therapy―all within the context of civil rights―Miller and Hanson illuminate the personal consequences of these controversial practices through voices of people who have been helped by the treatment they had as well as those who have been traumatized by it.”

INSANE CONSEQUENCES: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill by D.J. Jaffe is a thoroughly researched attack on the status quo and those who profit from it while demanding that more attention be paid to serious disorders.

“DJ Jaffe blames the mental health industry and the government for shunning the 10 million adults who are the most seriously mentally ill–mainly those who suffer from schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder–and, instead, working to improve “mental wellness” in 43 million others, many of whom are barely symptomatic.”

Click to continue…

UPDATE: On Friday afternoon (8-4), a spokesperson for Rep. Tim Murphy (R.-Pa.) issued the following statement about Dr. McCance-Katz’s confirmation.

Congressman Murphy looks forward to working with the new Assistant Secretary to fulfill the promises made in the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. Likewise, now more than ever, it’s crucial to work together to turn the tide on our nation’s opioid and addiction crisis, the worst drug crisis in United States history.

(8-3-17) Dr. Elinore F. McCance-Katz was confirmed by a voice vote this afternoon in the U.S. Senate as the Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), who drafted the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act that created the new position, had objected to Dr. McCance-Katz’s nomination when the White House and HHS Sec. Tom Price announced it.

His amended legislation was merged into the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law during the final days of the Obama Administration.

By creating an Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Rep. Murphy said he hoped to give mental health and addiction services a higher prominence in the federal bureaucracy. Murphy, the only practicing psychologist in Congress, began pushing for major federal mental health reforms after the Newtown shootings.  He’d backed a different candidate for the post but could not vote since the new job required Senate approval and not confirmation by House members.

As the first ever assistant secretary, Dr. McCance-Katz will be the Trump administration’s defacto mental health and substance abuse czar, whose duties will include overseeing the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Before being confirmed today, Dr. McCance-Katz was the chief medical officer for the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals in Rhode Island.

In 2013, she worked as SAMHSA’s first chief medical officer but left the federal government for the Rhode Island position after only two years.  In a critical essay published in the Psychiatric Times, Dr. McCance-Katz wrote that SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services, which administers federal mental health programs, ignored serious mental illnesses and evidenced based practices in favor of feel-good recovery programs that were politically popular but did little to help persons diagnosed with debilitating disorders.

Click to continue…