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#171 From: NamiLub@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sat Jul 1, 2006 11:10 pm
Subject: File - NamiLub Egroup Guidelines.txt NamiLub@yahoogroups.com
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The NAMI Lubbock Egroup exists to allow members to have intelligent, educational
and spirited discussions on any issues concerning primarily NAMI Lubbock,
especially Support, Education and Advocacy.  The NAMI Lubbock Egroup is open to
only members of NAMI Lubbock who agree to conduct themselves in a professional
and courteous manner.  This group is also governed by the terms of service of
Groups.Yahoo.com as listed on their website at
http://groups.yahoo.com/local/guidelines.html.  While this announcement is not
intended to replace all the terms of service previously referred to, here are a
few of the highlights.
   1. No personal attacks or threats will be tolerated.  You can disagree with
anything or anyone and still be courteous.
   2. Watch your language and choose your words carefully.  We are a family
group.
   3. You need to sign your name to every message.  You are responsible for what
you post to this group.  Your email address appears with your posts so there is
no such thing as an anonymous post here.
   4. Do not write your message in all capitals.  All caps is perceived as
SHOUTING and is harder to read.  Give your Caps Lock key a rest.
   5. Do not cross post messages from other egroups to this one unless they
relate to mental health issues in this area.  This egroup is not designed to
replace or duplicate egroups sponsored by NAMI Texas.  Members of this egroup
are encouraged to also be a member of the NAMI Texas general egroup and should
not cross-post messages from the two groups.  Members do not wish to receive
duplicate messages from the two groups.

Questions may be addressed to David Gibson at drgibson@....

David Gibson
NAMI Lubbock

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#170 From: "Daphna Simpson" <daphna_simpson@...>
Date: Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:02 pm
Subject: (No subject) daphna_simpson@...
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June 20, 2006

Well, I�m beginning to find a life.

For those of you I have talked to (or came to see me!) recently, I am doing
much better. I decided to get out of the house and do something! Getting my
car out of the shop after seven weeks was a big help.

I have been attending Continuing Education classes at the Fort Worth Chapter
of TSCPA training facilities.  It is a great facility (you can see the kiddy
train that runs through the Fort Worth Zoo from the class room).  I have
made some good contacts and last Tuesday (the 13th) I posted my resume on
their website and have got a job offer on Thursday (the 15th) and another
one today!

After the big birthday bash on the first of July I am going to start working
(contract basis like I wanted) for the firm of Simpson & Taylor near
downtown Fort Worth (by Summit Plaza). I�ll be working one or two days a
week in the off season and three days during heavy tax time.  Mr. Simpson is
retired, but keeps an office on the premises.  Mr. Taylor is a dapper little
man who is actually the sole owner. There are three women working there full
time and another position that needs to be filled. Cross your fingers that I
don�t piss everybody off and have to leave to restore harmony.  Surely they
can stand me two days a week if I stay in my room.

The offices are huge so maybe I can reclaim my antiques from my next to last
job in South Arlington and move them to the new place.

Also, last week (the 13th was a busy day), I joined the Mansfield Chamber of
Commerce and was immediately invited to three functions.  Bob came home from
the golf course and said one of his foursome offered me office space when he
gets his new Mortgage office open in Mansfield.  They also invited him back
to play this week.

Maybe we will both get a life and stop driving each other crazy!

For those of you who don�t know, BF turns 90 on June 30th and there is a big
party on Saturday, July 1st in Seymour.  Family will be there at 12 noon and
everyone is invited to come at 2 pm.  There will be cake, punch, ice cream
and a live band at the old Country Club.  EVERYONE is invited.


Love to all,

Daphna

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#169 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:52 pm
Subject: Friday Facts from NAMI National: June 6, 2006 agibson@...
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NAMI National Friday Facts **June 6, 2006**

NAMI�s Annual Convention: Information, Programs, and Election News

1. Getting a Jump Start on Mental Illness Awareness Week
and Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day

2. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit

3. Celebrate NAMI!

4. NAMI 2006 Elections

5. 2006 Elections Deadline

NAMI Education and Program Information

6. NAMI Board Adds Borderline Personality Disorder and Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder to List of �Priority Populations�

7. Consumer and Family Member Scholarships Available for Upcoming
CIT National Conference

8. Line-Up of Friday Conference Call Series with Dr. Ken Duckworth,
NAMI�s Medical Director

9. NAMI � C.A.R.E. Facilitators Needed at Convention

10. In Our Own Voice Grants now Available

Beyond NAMI

11. National Media Opportunity

12. NIMH Outreach Partner Solicitation
Requirements to Apply for or Stay on Medicaid

Deadlines and Dates to Remember

NAMI�s Annual Convention Information, Programs, and Election News

1. Getting a Jump Start on Mental Illness Awareness Week
and Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day

It�s not too early to begin planning events and activities for Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 1-7, and Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day occurring on Thursday, October 5. This year�s theme, Building Community, Taking Action, allows us all to join together in our communities across America to confront injustice, denounce stigma and work together to build on the vision found in NAMI�s landmark �Grading of the States� report.

With the support of Abbott Laboratories, NAMI has prepared a toolkit and accompanying posters, facts sheets on mental illness and bipolar disorder, an activity guide, and other resources to help you plan for MIAW and BDAD 2006.

The toolkits will be mailed to all NAMI State and Local Affiliate organizations by June 19, reaching our grassroots leaders prior to NAMI�s National Convention, June 26 � July 2, in Washington D.C. In addition, the contents of the toolkit and other resources are now available on NAMI�s website, by clicking on www.nami.org/miaw.

On June 26, NAMI�s annual Leadership Institute at Convention will include two technical assistance sessions that will give grassroots leaders excellent information on planning and publicizing MIAW and BDAD: Bringing Mental Illness Awareness Week and Bipolar Disorder Awareness to Your Community; and Working with the Media. Also look for more information in a future issue of Friday Facts on three teleconferences we will offer from the Center for Leadership Development on MIAW and BDAD.

We hope you will participate in all of these events! If you have any questions, please contact miaw@....

2. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit

NAMI�s Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit on June 28 to July 2 as part of NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention. The Summit will bring together multicultural mental health leaders from across the nation to address the lack of access to care and the disparities in treatment faced by multicultural communities. The Summit will feature policy and research briefings, plenary sessions and program tracks to address issues specific to African American, American Indian, Asian American and Latino/Hispanic communities. Nationally recognized consumer and family advocates, researchers, policymakers and providers will work together to offer a vision for change. For more information contact us at MACenter@... or visit www.nami.org/summit.

3. CELEBRATE NAMI!

Do you have a favorite NAMI hat or placard? Got a great Walk team T-shirt? Love your NAMI tie? Wear your NAMI gear and come strut your NAMI stuff at �A Celebration of the NAMI Movement� � NAMI�s annual business meeting at Convention, Saturday June 30 at 10:15 a.m. in the International Ballroom. Join us in honoring our outstanding local and state leaders, welcoming our new national Board members, and celebrating all that NAMI has accomplished in the last year. See you there!

4. NAMI 2006 Elections

Congratulations to our 2006 NAMI National Board candidates! The following NAMI leaders have been nominated for the five slots up for election on the National Board of Directors:

For information about the election, proposed bylaws changes and the Board candidates (including their letters of nomination, photographs, and answers to five questions on the most pressing issues facing NAMI), visit www.nami.org/voting.

5. 2006 Elections Deadline

This is a reminder to all eligible State Organizations and Local Affiliates that the Absentee Ballots and Elections Credential Forms are due to NAMI national by Monday June 26, 2006. Any questions regarding the voting process may be directed to Linda Beamer at (703) 516-7991 or linda@.... Elections Credential Forms may be faxed to Linda Beamer at (703) 524-9094.

Absentee Ballots must be submitted by mail to:

2107 Wilson Blvd.
Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22201

FAXED BALLOTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED

NAMI Education and Program Information

6. NAMI Board Adds Borderline Personality Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to List of �Priority Populations�

After careful review, the NAMI National Board of Directors moved to expand NAMI�s list of �priority populations� to include two additional illnesses � borderline personality disorder and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Board wrote in its Public Policy Platform, these disorders represent �major mental disorders that current scientific data and consensus conclude are identifiable, disabling medical illnesses, with significant biological underpinnings, and requiring treatment.� For more information on these illnesses, visit www.nami.org and look for related sessions at the upcoming Convention.

7. Consumer and Family Member Scholarships Available for Upcoming CIT National Conference

We are pleased to announce that scholarship opportunities are available for consumers and family members to attend the Second Annual Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Convention in Orlando, Florida, on September 25-27, 2006. This national conference is a can�t miss for those who are involved or interested in becoming involved in establishing CIT and other jail diversion initiatives in your communities. CIT is a community partnership; it is with in mind that we would like to assist community stakeholders to attend this national convention. The scholarship includes registration fees and hotel costs at the Rosen Plaza Hotel.

More information about these scholarships and how to apply will be posted on the NAMI website by June 16, 2006. If you have further inquires, please contact Bonnie Sultan, The CIT Technical Center Cooridinator at Bonnies@....

8. Line-Up of Friday Conference Call Series with Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI�s Medical Director

Friday, June 16: Self-Injurious Behavior Among Teens � What is a Parent to Do? Featuring Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI�s Medical Director.

Friday, July 21: Recent Class Action Legal Victories in Children�s Mental Health and How NAMI Leaders Can More Effectively Work with Their State Protection and Advocacy Lawyers. With special guests � Elizabeth Priaulx, Senior Disability Legal Specialist and Elizabeth Greczek, Staff Attorney with the National Disability Rights Network.

All calls are scheduled from 11:00 a.m. � 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access all three toll-free calls, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918. We hope that you can join us for these important topics and a great discussion!

9. NAMI-C.A.R.E. Facilitators Needed at Convention

The NAMI Education, Training and Peer Support Center will continue its tradition of holding NAMI-C.A.R.E. Consumer Support Groups at the Convention. The groups will be offered at the following times: Thursday, June 29 and Friday, June 30 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM, and Saturday, July 1 from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM. If you have completed the NAMI-C.A.R.E facilitator training and would like to volunteer as a facilitator, please contact Marshall Epstein either via email at marshall@..., or by phone at 703-516-7975.

10. In Our Own Voice Grants Now Available

NAMI is pleased to announce three new In Our Own Voice (IOOV) grants now available to state organizations and local affiliates that show a commitment to sustain and expand IOOV in their states. This request for proposals facilitates a selection of six sites. Grant applications are due on or before June 15th.

You can learn more about the Grants, by visiting the NAMI website.

Beyond NAMI

11. National Media Opportunity

A national newspaper is interested in interviewing a family with a child (or children), under the age of 15, about issues encountered with medication, especially children who take multiple medications.

If you are interested in participating, please submit a short summary of your story, including age of the child, city, state and contact information (including daytime phone number) to storybank@... . Due to the volume of submissions received, NAMI cannot reply to all submissions. However, NAMI will review them and maintain confidentiality until further authorization is granted to share names and contact information. Interviews will be set up by the National Office and not shared with reporters unless given verbal permission. Please contact Alexis O'Brien at alexiso@... for further information.

12. NIMH Outreach Partner Solicitation

The Outreach Partnership Program website has posted a notice providing information about the upcoming solicitation for new Partners. On June 5, the NIMH will invite applicants to submit proposals for becoming an NIMH Outreach Partner from the following states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Charitable non-profit organizations with statewide outreach that focus on mental illness or substance abuse disorders are eligible to apply. We encourage existing Partners to submit proposals.

Proposals will be due at NIMH on August 7, 2006.

They have established the following dedicated e-mail account to handle inquiries related to the solicitation: partnerssfpnimh@.... To be as fair as possible, they cannot respond to phone inquiries about the competition. Please forward inquires related to the competition to this e-mail address. All questions and their responses will be posted on the Program's website on July 10, 2006. Outreach Partners will be selected by the end of 2006.

For more information, see the NIMH website.

Deadlines and Dates to Remember

- June 16: Friday Conference Call with Dr. Ken Duckworth. Topic: Self-Injurious Behavior Among Teens � What is a Parent to Do? 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access toll-free call, dial 888-585-6021; access code: 309918

- June 26: Final day for absentee voting and credentials submission

- June 28-July 2, 2006: NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

- June 28-July 22: NAMI�s Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit as part of NAMI's 2006 Convention.

- July 21: Friday Conference Call with Dr. Ken Duckworth. Topic: Recent Class Action Legal Victories in Children�s Mental Health and How NAMI Leaders Can More Effectively Work with Their State Protection and Advocacy Lawyers. 11:00 a.m. � 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access toll-free call, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918.

- September 25-27: Second Annual CIT Conference. For information e-mail bonnies@....

- October 1-7: Mental Illness Awareness Week, Building Communities, Taking Action.

- October 5: Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day

- November 10-12: NAMI�s 2006 Fall Leadership Conference, St. Louis, MO.

NAMI Friday Facts are electronic newsletters provided free of charge as a service to NAMI members, leaders and staff. With more than 1,100 state and local affiliates, NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with severe mental illnesses. Contributions to support our work can be made online at www.nami.org/donate.

You are subscribed with the e-mail address: agibson@.... If you do not wish to receive further Friday Facts, please click here, sign in and uncheck the box next to Friday Facts. Please do not reply to this email (it will go to an unattended mailbox.) If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please send an email to staterelations@....

NAMI ~ 2107 Wilson Blvd. ~ Suite 300 ~ Arlington, VA 22201

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#168 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Wed Jun 7, 2006 10:47 pm
Subject: DSHS News agibson@...
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From: NAMITX@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Jackie Shannon
Sent: Wed 6/7/2006 4:02 PM
To: 'NAMI Texas'
Subject: {Spam?} {Disarmed} [NAMITX] FW: DSHS News

DSHS News Clips

State's top health official to step down
Dr. Eduardo Sanchez to resign in October to spend more time with his family.
By Corrie MacLaggan
Austin American-Statesman

Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, the state's chief health official since 2001, announced this week that he is stepping down in October to spend more time with his family.

Since he took the helm, Sanchez has overseen a massive legislation-mandated overhaul that included consolidating the Texas Department of Health with agencies on substance abuse and mental health, forming the Texas Department of State Health Services.

That agency, with 11,500 employees and a $2.4 billion annual budget, oversees public health programs, immunizations, state hospitals, bio- terrorism preparedness and other programs in a state where a quarter of the population is uninsured.

Texas spends about $20 billion on health and human services programs annually, about 30 percent of all state spending. Forty-four states spend more per capita on public health, and 45 spend more per capita on mental health services.

"First and foremost, I want to make clear that this has been a difficult decision to make," Sanchez wrote his department's employees Monday. "However, it's made with my responsibilities to my family as my first priority. I have to give more of my time and of myself to my wife and children."

Sanchez, who is married to Katherine Sanchez, has four children.

Colleagues described Sanchez as a visionary leader who fought the state's childhood obesity problem and helped increase Texas' child immunization rate from 69.5 percent in 2000 to 75.4 percent in 2004.

"I think it's a real loss for Texas, a real loss for the system in transition, not to have him at the helm," said King Davis, executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin.

The state's next commissioner will be charged with continuing to implement changes mandated by the 2003 legislation that revamped the state's health and human services agencies. And with the next session of the Legislature beginning in January, the new chief will need to immediately delve into the state's most pressing public health issues, such as obesity, immunization rates and border health issues.

Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday commended Sanchez's efforts to lead the public health response to Hurricanes Rita and Katrina last year, when nearly 400,000 evacuees sought refuge in Texas.

Sanchez was traveling Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

"Resigning for family reasons is sometimes looked at as suspicious, but in this case, it's true," department spokesman Doug McBride said. The job involves "a lot of travel, a lot of hours away from family."

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, credited Sanchez's sincere testimony to lawmakers with the 2005 passage of an HIV medication program that she said would save the lives of 20,000 Texans.

"Sometimes, as he testified, I sensed that he was in pain. . . . It pained him to talk about the health care needs of the people of Texas," Zaffirini said. "He truly, deeply cared."

Sanchez, a certified family-practice physician, was the health authority and chief medical officer for the Austin-Travis County Health and Human Services Department from 1994-98 and lead physician of the Seton Topfer Community Health Center in Austin from 2000-01.

Diana Resnik, senior vice president for community care at Seton, who has known Sanchez for two decades, said he has a particular passion for the uninsured.

"I'm shocked" he is leaving, she said. "He's made a huge contribution, and he was great in that role."

Sanchez replaced William "Reyn" Archer III, who resigned in 2000 after complaints of racially charged comments about Hispanics and inappropriate comments to an African American employee.

State officials said they will conduct a nationwide search for Sanchez's replacement and hope to be finished by the time Sanchez's resignation becomes effective Oct. 6.

"We'd like to see a clone of Dr. Sanchez," said Dr. Ladon Homer, president of the Texas Medical Association.

Age: 46

Education: M.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical School; master's degree in public health, UT School of Public Health; master's degree in biomedical engineering, Duke University; bachelor's degrees in biomedical engineering and chemistry, Boston University.

Family: wife Katherine; one son, age 14; three daughters, ages 12, 6 and 3

Hometown: Grew up in Corpus Christi.

Notable: Received the 2005 Public Health Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. Sanchez's message to Department of State Health Services employees

Dear Colleagues,

It's with some regret that I find myself letting you know about my formal notice to Gov. Rick Perry that I intend to resign as commissioner of DSHS, effective Oct. 6, 2006.

First and foremost, I want to make clear that this has been a difficult decision to make. However, it's made with my responsibilities to my family as my first priority. I have to give more of my time and of myself to my wife and children.

I am so very grateful to have served as the first commissioner of DSHS. I'm so proud to have worked with all of you, and I will miss the sense of satisfaction that I feel every day because of the work you do that I get to brag about.

You may be asking yourselves why I'm making this announcement four months in advance. My rationale is to openly and transparently focus on transition and on preparing for next year's legislative session.

I am humbled by you, the DSHS employees. I am energized by your public service. I thank you for all that you do.

Regards,

Eduardo

State health chief stepping down
Department dealt with Rita, Katrina and bird flu plans under Sanchez
By Polly Ross Hughes
Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN - Texas Health Commissioner Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, who managed public health services during an era of steep budget cuts, a changing political landscape and ever-expanding duties, is resigning.

Sanchez sent his letter of resignation, effective Oct. 6, to Gov. Rick Perry on Monday and then broke the news "with some regret" to 11,500 health department employees in an e-mail.

"First and foremost, I want to make clear that this has been a difficult decision to make," he told employees.

"However, it's made with my responsibilities to my family as my first priority. I have to give more of my time to my wife and children," said Sanchez, 46, who has four children, ranging in age from 3 to 14.

The commissioner, who served nearly five years, was not available to discuss his decision further, said department spokesman Doug McBride.

During Sanchez's tenure, the health department managed medical relief for evacuees of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, held statewide planning conferences on pandemic bird flu, and crafted anti-terrorism plans.

Meanwhile, it kept up its traditional duties of regulating seafood safety, promoting childhood immunizations, battling childhood obesity and fighting mosquito-borne illnesses such as West Nile virus.

In a major statewide consolidation of health and human services agencies stemming from legislation passed in 2003, the health department also took on responsibilities for mental health, substance abuse and state mental hospitals.

In his letter to Perry, Sanchez said he intends to spend the rest of his tenure helping develop a complete appropriations request for lawmakers and a smooth transition to new leadership.

Perry issued a statement commending Sanchez's service and wishing him well.

"Dr. Sanchez has served the people of Texas with an unwavering commitment to improving public health for all Texans," said Perry, noting his work in diabetes prevention and healthier lifestyles.

House State Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, however, has sharply criticized Sanchez and his staff for not quickly embracing a tobacco prevention product promoted by one of Swinford's constituents.

Health staffers note that Sanchez underwent an unusually tough public grilling April 18 from Swinford on the subject of tobacco prevention spending.

Other officials and lawmakers offered high praise for Sanchez, who took the helm of the health department in 2001. His predecessor, Dr. William "Reyn" Archer III, resigned after repeated complaints that he had made comments offensive to women and racial minorities.

"Dr. Sanchez has provided visionary, enthusiastic and capable leadership over our state's health services programs," said Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins, Sanchez's boss.

House Public Health Committee member Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said he thinks Sanchez had a tough order to fill after lawmakers slashed billions from the budget in 2003.

"I am surprised he's stayed on as long as he has if you talk about providing good health resources under a scenario of declining resources," Coleman said. "For someone who has a master's degree in public health, a physician, surely that has to be trying."

Sanchez leaving post as Texas top health official
Associated Press/Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN - Texas Health Commissioner Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, the state's top health official, is resigning after nearly five years on the job.

Sanchez sent an e-mail to employees of the Texas Department of State Health Services on Monday, telling them he had already informed Gov. Rick Perry of his plans to step down effective Oct. 6.

The agency is responsible for a catalog of programs, including disease prevention and control.

"First and foremost, I want to make clear that this has been a difficult decision to make. However, it's made with my responsibilities to my family as my first priority. I have to give more of my time and of myself to my wife and children," Sanchez wrote.

Perry's office did not immediately return telephone messages seeking comment.

During his tenure, Sanchez juggled managing state health services with legislative budget cuts, a wave of Hurricane Katrina evacuees and developing new response plans to terrorist attacks.

He also took on the long-term goal of battling obesity among Texans.

Sanchez was a family practice doctor with a background in public health when he was appointed to the job in 2001. At the time, he listed improving the rate of immunizations and border health care as two priorities.

Sanchez was appointed to replace William "Reyn" Archer III, who resigned in 2000 after being criticized for comments he made about blacks and Hispanics.

I-Team: health officials confirm two Legionnaire's deaths in S.A.
By Brandy Ralston
KENS 5 San Antonio

The KENS 5 I-Team has learned that officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in San Antonio looking over cases of a rare disease that have surfaced.

KENS 5 has confirmed that 10 cases of Legionnaire's Disease are being looked into, and two of those people have already died.

Legionnaire's, which gets its name from the bacteria Legionella, is a form of pneumonia that first surfaced in 1976 when 221 people contracted the disease while attending an American Legion conference in Philadelphia. Thirty-four people died from that outbreak.

With two deaths in San Antonio, state and local health departments and the CDC are investigating to find the source of bacteria.

"Our last few cases have just been over the last couple of days, so that concerns us a little bit that there might be an exposure somewhere that we're not completely aware of at this point," said Dr. Sandra Guerra-Cantu, with the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Health officials aren't sure where the recent cases came from, but they do know that Legionnaire's is responsible for the two deaths and eight other cases in the city.

"The majority of these individuals have been previously fragile in health or previously not healthy," epidemiologist Roger Sanchez said.

The two individuals that did die of the disease had a history of cancer, which San Antonio Metropolitan Health District officials say made them more susceptible to the disease.

However, Metro Health officials say that there are normally only seven or eight cases in Bexar County each year, and to have 10 cases in the past two months causes concern.

"When we have a cluster as we do with the 10 cases or so, we start becoming worried that there is an ongoing exposure somewhere that we haven't identified, and that's why we're so concerned at this point," Guerra-Cantu said.

CDC officials arrived on Monday to help with the investigation, and while the focus is mainly on two North Side hospitals, health officials are now asking all San Antonio area hospitals to take a close look at their records.

"We've expanded our surveillance network to ask other hospitals if they have been diagnosing any community-acquired pneumonias, or any other pneumonias that have the look of Legionella disease," Sanchez said.

While the health district would not confirm which hospitals are affected, KENS 5 did receive this response from the Baptist Health System late Tuesday. Officials there said, "Several patients have been treated for Legionella in two of our hospitals in recent months. Staff and physicians have developed a heightened awareness and are working closely with public health organizations to deal with this influx."

Legionnaire's is not spread person to person, and it is usually found in a water source, like drinking water or the water used in air conditioning units.

The CDC estimates that anywhere from 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized each year for Legionnaire's, but many never know they have it.

Issues in depth: crisis treatment of mental health a headache for lawmakers
By James A. Bernsen
East Texas Review

The state’s program for crisis mental health services is up for a hefty round of fine-tuning, officials say. Legislators, agency staff and others – citing increasing costs, inefficiencies and complaints from a variety of stakeholders – are looking at ways to make the system work better. The problem isn’t new, and was placed on the list of interim charges for the House Committee on Human Services.

In addition, representatives of the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) testified before the committee this week that quickly identifying people who need mental health treatment in a crisis situation is very difficult, and the state’s system for doing so needs a lot of overhaul.

To that end, DSHS is already using federal grant money for a Mental Health Transformation Project – a task force of policy experts looking at how to overhaul the system, and a Crisis Services Redesign.

Ideally, the mental health crisis system allows health care workers and law enforcement officers who come across people who need mental health treatment to quickly determine that need and match those people up with local mental health professionals. Examples include emergency room doctors treating a suicide victim or police responding to a call where mental health intervention – as opposed to jail time – might be the more appropriate response.
But in a crisis, the system doesn’t function so smoothly. And it’s not just on one end, but on all ends, said Dr. Edwardo Sanchez, the commissioner of DSHS.

“If an individual shows up in an emergency room, the ability to get the history of that person based on what’s happened in our system is – from the perspective of those hospitals – a challenge, to say the least,” he said. Scathing survey
The Department of State Health Services conducted a review of crisis services in February, with surprising results. The survey asked law enforcement and health professionals to rate the state-contracted local agencies’ services. Among law enforcement, only 21 percent of those surveyed thought that local mental health authorities were “competent.” Although 50 percent said that authorities were “sometimes competent,” 24 percent found them to be not competent. Hospital surveys showed the same trend.
Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp (R-Lampasas) said the fact that one quarter of respondents felt that officials were not competent was astounding.

“There’s some pretty ugly statistics in there that don’t make us look real good,” Hupp said during a May 24 hearing on the issue. After hearing testimony about the survey, Hupp said she thinks that even if it was flawed, it should be an eye-opening red flag for the state.

“We’re still in the investigative and transitional stages of it,” she said. “The results of the survey were frankly horrendous. However, I think we need to scrutinize that and determine was it honestly because the providers were incompetent, or is it because of perception, or is it a combination of the two.”

Clearly, the current system leaves a lot to be desired, said Jose Rodriguez, the El Paso County Attorney. His office in particular, has had difficulty getting the El Paso County Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) to accept emergency mental health patients, both from hospitals and police. The MHMR, he said, claims they don’t have the proper facilities, and has adopted a policy of only accepting patients who can pay for their care, effectively diverting indigent patients back to jails, or to emergency rooms – both of which are much more expensive for the state, which is picking up the bill.

In cases originating in hospitals, Rodriguez said, patients denied care at MHMR facilities often return to emergency rooms. Once they’ve overstayed their welcome there, he said, many of them end up in homeless shelters, as there is no other place to take them.

Local MHMR officials say meeting the state’s goals is difficult. Some cited the provisions of HB 2292 (the health and human services reform bill of 2003) as making the effort tougher. Others, like Joe Lovelace of the Hill Country MHMR, said that spending overall is simply down.

“Spending has not kept pace with inflation,” he said. The answer, he said, is to invest more money on programs like disease management – which lowers costs by developing long-term strategies for treating illness – and by spending money to more quickly identify mental health cases in crisis situations.

Denise Brady, director of public policy for the Mental Health Association of Texas, offered up a report drafted by an independent group her association contracted with on the issue.

“They found it very, very hard to prove that any particular individual ended up in one place because something did or didn’t happen to them,” Brady said. “But, if you look at the data, and you see how our funding has gone down when you look at our population has gone up. When you see the trends...it’s pretty impossible to not draw the conclusions yourself that the lack of the mental health system funding is causing all these other crises in emergency rooms and in our jails and in our prisons.”

Shifting the burden

Properly diagnosing people with mental health problems has been a problem for years. DSHS studies show that a large percentage of the prison population has some form of mental illness. Many are incarcerated for non-violent crimes, which would make them ideal candidates for outpatient mental health treatment.

While the key problem in the past has been properly screening and identifying these patients, that is exacerbated by overcrowding, such as in the case of El Paso. Nonetheless, DSHS is looking at innovative solutions to the problem to see if they hold potential models to the state.

One program is the Bexar County Jail Diversion Program, in which the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and San Antonio Police Department have teamed up to address the problem. With an estimated 14 percent of the jail population believed to have some form of mental illness, properly identifying them the benefits of the system are believed to be greater than the costs.

The program includes interventions at several steps in the criminal justice process. There is a mobile outreach team, a crisis intervention team of officers specifically trained to deal with mentally ill persons, pre-trial services and a mental health docket to pre-screen people with severe mental illness who can then be released directly to mental health agencies for long-term commitment as a part of probation.

So far, the program has successfully diverted 1,732 patients from prison. Although the costs depend on what outcomes (particularly sentence lengths) the patients would have incurred, estimates are that the program has saved anywhere from $3.8 million to $5 million.

Flawed as the system is, Lovelace said, Texas is actually better off than most other states. In a recent study that rated mental health care systems across the country and gave the nation as a whole a “D” grade, Texas got a “C.”

Distributed by www.lonestarreport.org

County devises plan to fund indigent health care
By Beth Gallaspy
Beaumont Enterprise

BEAUMONT - Jefferson County hospitals could have a shot at more federal dollars for providing health care for the poor under a new system the county plans to implement.

Rather than paying hospitals directly for providing care to indigent Jefferson County residents, the county plans to start putting the money into an account to be used as matching funds for federal health-care dollars.

The arrangement with Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas, Christus Hospitals and The Medical Center of Southeast Texas was approved Monday by Jefferson County Commissioners Court.

The county pays the hospitals about $1.2 million a year now for indigent health care, Commissioner Bo Alfred said. The county pays a discounted rate, which doesn't represent actual cost of caring for the patient.

The new arrangement will not reduce the county's cost, but could reduce hospital losses for providing care for people who cannot pay, Alfred said.

In the health care arena, the state loses out on millions of federal dollars every year by failing to provide adequate matching funds. If approved by state and federal officials, the local account could be used as state matching funds would be.

The new approach would start with the new fiscal year in October, County Judge Carl Griffith said.

County officials also are considering a new method for working with the mentally ill.

A mental health unit within the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department is being considered. Deputies would be trained to work with the mentally ill and work to put those in need of mental health services in an appropriate facility instead of in jail. The idea was discussed in a Monday workshop.

"There's so many areas this makes a lot of sense," Griffith said.

Sheriff Mitch Woods and officials at Spindletop MHMR have been asked to bring a formal proposal to Commissioners Court to be considered as part of the county budget process this summer.

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#167 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Sat Jun 3, 2006 7:13 pm
Subject: Interesting MSN articles..... agibson@...
Send Email

Hopefully this think will work. The main article (if you want to call it that) is brief but full of very valuable information.

http://health.msn.com/centers/bipolar/default.aspx?GT1=8251

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

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#166 From: NamiLub@yahoogroups.com
Date: Fri Jun 2, 2006 9:15 am
Subject: File - NamiLub Egroup Guidelines.txt NamiLub@yahoogroups.com
Send Email

The NAMI Lubbock Egroup exists to allow members to have intelligent, educational
and spirited discussions on any issues concerning primarily NAMI Lubbock,
especially Support, Education and Advocacy.  The NAMI Lubbock Egroup is open to
only members of NAMI Lubbock who agree to conduct themselves in a professional
and courteous manner.  This group is also governed by the terms of service of
Groups.Yahoo.com as listed on their website at
http://groups.yahoo.com/local/guidelines.html.  While this announcement is not
intended to replace all the terms of service previously referred to, here are a
few of the highlights.
   1. No personal attacks or threats will be tolerated.  You can disagree with
anything or anyone and still be courteous.
   2. Watch your language and choose your words carefully.  We are a family
group.
   3. You need to sign your name to every message.  You are responsible for what
you post to this group.  Your email address appears with your posts so there is
no such thing as an anonymous post here.
   4. Do not write your message in all capitals.  All caps is perceived as
SHOUTING and is harder to read.  Give your Caps Lock key a rest.
   5. Do not cross post messages from other egroups to this one unless they
relate to mental health issues in this area.  This egroup is not designed to
replace or duplicate egroups sponsored by NAMI Texas.  Members of this egroup
are encouraged to also be a member of the NAMI Texas general egroup and should
not cross-post messages from the two groups.  Members do not wish to receive
duplicate messages from the two groups.

Questions may be addressed to David Gibson at drgibson@....

David Gibson
NAMI Lubbock

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#165 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Sat May 27, 2006 12:23 am
Subject: Friday Facts from NAMI National: May 26, 2006 agibson@...
Send Email

NAMI National Friday Facts **May 26, 2006**

NAMI’s Annual Convention: Information, Programs, and Election News

1. There’s Still Time to Register for NAMI’s Annual Convention!

2. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit

3. Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees.

4. NAMI 2006 Elections

NAMI Education and Program Information

5. Line-Up of Friday Conference Call Series
with Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI’s Medical Director

6. NAMI – C.A.R.E. Facilitators Needed at Convention

7. In Our Own Voice Grants now Available

Beyond NAMI

8. LIVE Webcast – Ask the Experts: Mental Health Care

9. Consumers and Family Members: New Citizen Documentation

10. Lobotomy Documentary: Stories Wanted

11. NIMH Outreach Partner Solicitation
Requirements to Apply for or Stay on Medicaid

Deadlines and Dates to Remember

NAMI’s Annual Convention Information, Programs, and Election News

1. There’s Still Time to Register for NAMI’s Annual Convention!

Due to an unavoidable production delay, the spring issue of the Advocate will not arrive in time to allow members to utilize the special Convention registration and voting information contained in the issue.

Additional details on registration, the convention program, hotel and Washington, D.C., travel information can be found on the NAMI Web site by clicking here.

The special, spring 2006 edition of the Advocate also contains information on the election of this year's candidates for the NAMI Board of Directors and the text of two changes proposed for the NAMI bylaws.

To read an electronic version of the spring Advocate and to find out more about NAMI's Convention and elections visit the NAMI Web site.

2. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit

NAMI’s Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit on June 28 to July 2 as part of NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention. The Summit will bring together multicultural mental health leaders from across the nation to address the lack of access to care and the disparities in treatment faced by multicultural communities. The Summit will feature policy and research briefings, plenary sessions and program tracks to address issues specific to African American, American Indian, Asian American and Latino/Hispanic communities. Nationally recognized consumer and family advocates, researchers, policymakers and providers will work together to offer a vision for change. For more information contact us at MACenter@... or visit www.nami.org/summit.

3. Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees

We have arranged discounts on two airlines, UNITED AIRLINES and AMERICAN AIRLINES, for attendees for the NAMI National Convention in Washington, DC, June 26-July 2, 2006.

We have arranged the following discount on UNITED AIRLINES:

Book your ticket at least 30 days in advance and receive 7% off the lowest fare. Simply call the United Airlines Meeting Desk at 1-800-521-4041 and refer to Meeting ID Number 538TO. Either you or your travel agent can make this reservation. (To book the United discount fares you must call the Meeting Desk. These special fares are not available on-line.)

We have also arranged the following discount on AMERICAN AIRLINES:

To make your reservations on American, please call American Airlines Meeting Services at 1-800-433-1790 and provide the discount code A5666BG. If you prefer to make your arrangements on-line, you may review fare and schedule information and make reservations using the 5 percent discount at American Airlines web site.

4. NAMI 2006 Elections

Congratulations to our 2006 NAMI National Board candidates! The following NAMI leaders have been nominated for the five slots up for election on the National Board of Directors:

NAMI Education and Program Information

5. Line-Up of Friday Conference Call Series with Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI’s Medical Director

Friday, June 16: Self-Injurious Behavior Among Teens – What is a Parent to Do? Featuring Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI’s Medical Director.

Friday, July 21: Recent Class Action Legal Victories in Children’s Mental Health and How NAMI Leaders Can More Effectively Work with Their State Protection and Advocacy Lawyers. With special guests – Elizabeth Priaulx, Senior Disability Legal Specialist and Elizabeth Greczek, Staff Attorney with the National Disability Rights Network.

All calls are scheduled from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access all three toll-free calls, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918. We hope that you can join us for these important topics and a great discussion!

6. NAMI-C.A.R.E. Facilitators Needed at Convention

7. In Our Own Voice now Available

Beyond NAMI

8. LIVE Webcast – Ask the Experts: Mental Health Care

On Thursday, June 1 a panel of experts will answer questions about the financing and delivery of mental health care in the U.S. during a live webcast of “Ask the Experts,” a kaisernetwork.org program. Send questions in advance to ask@....

WHAT: This live webcast will discuss the financing and delivery of mental health care in the U.S.

WHO: The panel of experts:

Mike Fitzpatrick, MSW, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness
Richard G. Frank, Ph.D., Margaret T. Morris professor of Health Economics, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School
A. Kathryn Power, M.Ed., director, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

The discussion will be moderated by kaisernetwork.org Managing Editor Jill Braden Balderas.

WHEN: Thursday, June 1 at 2 p.m. ET
** Add this program to your Outlook Calendar by clicking here.

WHERE: Watch the live webcast on MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "cme.kff.org" claiming to be kaisernetwork.org.

HOW: The panel of experts will take your phone calls and emails. Send questions in advance to ask@... or call 1-888-524-7378 during the live broadcast.

Please note: The toll-free phone number will function only during the live program and is for submitting questions only. The program is accessible via webcast on the Internet and not via teleconference. If you have never viewed a webcast before, please test your media player in advance of the live webcast by clicking here.

9. Consumers and Family Members: New Citizen Documentation Requirements to Apply for or Stay on Medicaid

According to the newly enacted Deficit Reduction Act, as of July 1st, 2006, anyone applying for or being recertified as Medicaid eligible will be required to prove United States citizenship. To date, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have not provided any guidance to states on this. Since the deadline, however, is less than two months away, we wanted to make advocates aware of the provisions and urge you to begin talking with your state officials about how they plan to implement this requirement. For further information about this requirement and specific recommendations from NAMI and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, check the NAMI website. If you have questions, please contact Mary Giliberti at maryg@....

10. Lobotomy Documentary: Stories Wanted

A PBS-TV documentary is being made for the American Experience series about Walter Freeman, the man who once promoted lobotomy as a treatment for mental illness. Historians and authors have written about when and where lobotomies were done, but the producer wants to talk with people who actually experienced the procedure, or their family members, who can discuss the effect on their lives. If you are interested in sharing your story, please contact the filmmaker directly at KateCWalker@... or 718-832-5279.

11. NIMH Outreach Partner Solicitation

The Outreach Partnership Program website has posted an advance notice providing information about the upcoming solicitation for new Partners. On June 5, the NIMH will invite applicants to submit proposals for becoming an NIMH Outreach Partner from the following states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Charitable non-profit organizations with statewide outreach that focus on mental illness or substance abuse disorders are eligible to apply. We encourage existing Partners to submit proposals.

Proposals will be due at NIMH on August 7, 2006.

For more information, see the NIMH web site.

Deadlines and Dates to Remember

- May 30: Convention pre-registration ends.

- May 31: F2F Hall of Fame Nominations due to Lynne@....

- June 16: Friday Conference Call with Dr. Ken Duckworth. Topic: Self-Injurious Behavior Among Teens – What is a Parent to Do? 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. To access toll-free call, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918.

- June 26: Final day for Absentee voting and credentials submission

- June 28-July 2, 2006: NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

- June 28-July 22: NAMI’s Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit as part of NAMI's 2006 Convention.

- July 21: Friday Conference Call with Dr. Ken Duckworth. Topic: Recent Class Action Legal Victories in Children’s Mental Health and How NAMI Leaders Can More Effectively Work with Their State Protection and Advocacy Lawyers. 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access toll-free call, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918.

- September 25-27: Second Annual CIT Conference. For information e-mail bonnies@....

- October 1-7: Mental Illness Awareness Week, Building Communities, Taking Action.

- October 5: Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day

- November 10-12: NAMI’s 2006 Fall Leadership Conference, St. Louis, MO.

You are subscribed with the e-mail address: chrissymalson@.... If you do not wish to receive further Friday Facts, please click here, sign in and uncheck the box next to Friday Facts. Please do not reply to this email (it will go to an unattended mailbox.) If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please send an email to staterelations@....

NAMI ~ 2107 Wilson Blvd. ~ Suite 300 ~ Arlington, VA 22201

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#164 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Sat May 27, 2006 12:04 am
Subject: FW: {Disarmed} [NAMITX] House Passes Veterans Spending Bill agibson@...
Send Email

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

From: NAMITX@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Chrissy Malson
Sent: Fri 5/26/2006 5:30 PM
To: NAMITX
Subject: {Disarmed} [NAMITX] House Passes Veterans Spending Bill

Note: forwarded message attached.

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House Passes Veterans Spending Bill -- $400 Million Added for VA Mental Illness Treatment Services, $25 Million Added to Address Mental Health Needs of Soldiers Returning From Iraq and Afghanistan

May 26, 2006

In a demonstration of the growing concern of mental illness treatment services for veterans and current service members, the House this past week passed a $136 billion bill that includes record increases for both veterans with mental illness and soldiers returning from active duty that have experienced a growing range of mental health disorders. The bill, known as the Military Quality of Life and Veterans Appropriations bill (HR 5385), includes FY 2007 funding for the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) and health care programs in the Department of Defense (DoD). The bill cleared the House on May 19 by a unanimous 395-0 vote.

The Senate is expected to take up the measure later this summer. As in the House, there is strong support in the Senate for additional investments to increase the capacity of both the VA and DoD to meet the mental illness treatment needs of veterans and active duty personnel.

NAMI is especially grateful for the leadership of Representatives James Walsh (R-NY) and Chet Edwards (D-TX), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Military Quality of Life and Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee that drafted this important legislation. Their efforts are a major step forward in putting increased resources into the important treatment and support needs of veterans living with mental illness and early intervention needs for soldiers at risk of psychiatric disorders.

FY 2007 Funding for the VA

HR 5385 includes a total allocation of $25.412 billion for FY 2007 for VA medical services. This is nearly $2.64 billion above current FY 2006 levels, but $100 million below the President's request. However, when supplemental funds that were previously added for FY 2006 are taken into account, the total appropriated in House bill is $2.865 billion above current levels.

In allocating resources for the VA medical care system (and measuring resources against anticipated demands) the House bill uses the Independent Budget (IB) as a baseline. This IB – which was endorsed by the NAMI Veterans Council – draws on outside experts and Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) to assess what the agency will need to meet both medical and mental illness treatment needs of all eligible veterans. To enhance this baseline assessment, the House bill adds an additional $400 million to be used exclusively for mental health services. Within the total allocation, the House bill directs that no less than $2.8 billion is to be directed to mental illness treatment.

This is the second year in a row that the House Appropriations Committee has gone the extra step of requiring a minimum allocation for mental illness treatment services in the VA. It is a further reflection of the strong bipartisan support in Congress for addressing the treatment needs of veterans living with mental illness, both from the aging Vietnam era veteran population, and anticipated demand among veterans of recent conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan.

For medical research in the VA, HR 5385 appropriates $412 million for FY 2007. This is the same amount allocated for the current fiscal year, and $13 million more than was requested by the President.

DoD Medical Care

HR 5385 includes a total allocation of $21.02 billion for health care programs in the Department of Defense. This is $684.6 million above the total appropriated for the current fiscal year. More importantly, the House bill directs DoD to allocate no less than $25 million for an initiative to more effectively integrate mental health screening and counseling into daily activities that DoD undertakes, both for active duty soldiers, and troops returning from overseas duty. A legislative report accompanying HR 5385, specifically notes:

Mental Health. --The Committee is very concerned about the mental health and wellness of troops returning from conflicts overseas. The full impact of the emotional toll that combat takes from our troops may not be fully realized for years into the future. The Committee believes that mental health and wellness need to be integrated into all aspects of military training, combat and support and that care cannot stop when the soldier returns home from the battlefield. The Department of Defense should be commended for the work it is doing and the improvements that have been made in the mental health area, but more needs to be done. The primary reason for soldiers failing to seek treatment for mental health issues is the stigma associated with seeking help. The Committee feels that the military needs to begin to integrate mandatory mental health services and counseling into the daily activities of soldiers and has included a $25,000,000 increase in funds for this purpose. By making these programs a mandatory part of a soldier's tour of duty, the stigma associated with seeking care is eliminated. The Committee directs the Department of Defense to use the increased funds to initiate programs that make mental health screening and counseling a mandatory part of the operating procedures of soldiers in battle. The Department of Defense should report to the Committee on the use of these funds and an assessment of future funding requirements for this initiative by December 15, 2006. Further, the Committee directs the Department to continue to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs to study mental health issues, particularly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The Committee has included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a disease available for study under the Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Fund in the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation section of this appropriation and encourages increased research in this area.

H.Rpt. 109-464, p. 40

This language serves as a clear demonstration of the strong support in Congress for ensuring that the DoD undertakes screening and early intervention services for active duty and returning troops at risk of PTSD, depression and other disorders. NAMI applauds Chairman Walsh and Ranking Member Edwards on these important initiatives.

NAMI E-News Alerts are electronic newsletters provided free of charge as a public service. With more than 1,100 state and local affiliates, NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with severe mental illnesses. Contributions to support our work can be made online.

If you do not wish to receive further E-News Alerts, please click here, sign in and uncheck the box next to Enews. Please do not reply to this email (it will go to an unattended mailbox.) If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please send an email to mariekeb@....

NAMI ~ 2107 Wilson Blvd. ~ Suite 300 ~ Arlington, VA 22201

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#163 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Sat May 20, 2006 2:49 am
Subject: RE: Awards Dinner Reservations agibson@...
Send Email

Davis,

Doesn't cost a thing; just need to RSVP which you have done.

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

From: J. Davis Armistead,O.D. [mailto:jdacca2@...]
Sent: Fri 5/19/2006 7:25 PM
To: Andy Gibson
Subject: Re: Awards Dinner Reservations

Cora & I are planning to come if at all possible......depends on her that
day....I told David to be sure and put us down ..... I haven't paid any one
yet....how much is it & I will try getting it to David.......J.Davis

--- Andy Gibson <agibson@...> wrote:

> I've had a couple of you contact me and ask if they could reserve a spot for
> the dinner via e-mail. The answer to this question is yes!
>
> I went ahead and put a link on the News page in order for ya'll to e-mail
> your RSVP's in. Or you can just e-mail the office directly at
> namilubbock@... with RSVP in the subject line. Please remember to give
> us your name, contact number, and number of individuals in your party.
>
> Look forward to seeing you all there!
>
> Andy Gibson
> Consumer Network Director
> NAMI Lubbock
> (806) 783-9268
> (806) 773-7368
> http://namilubbock.nami.org
>
>   Everyone,
>
>   As most of you already know (or are fixing to know via newsletter or
> invitation) NAMI Lubbock will be holding their 1st Annual Lubbock Legends
> Awards Dinner on Tuesday, May 23rd at Oakwood Baptist Church located on 60th
> and Ave U. This years dinner will be sponsored by Bristol Meyers Squibb
> Pharmaceutical Company and NAMI Lubbock. The meal, which will be catered by
> Ambrosia Catering, will be served at no cost to the guests. However, RSVP's
> are required. To reserve your spot, contact the NAMI Lubbock office at (806)
> 783-9268 to give us your name, the number in your party, and a contact number
> in case we need to reach you.
>
>   This year's dinner will be different from those of the past. The usually
> May dinner is like a monthly meeting except we might go out of our way to get
> a really good speaker or someone from our state office. Although, Brian
> Shannon, who is the founding president of NAMI Lubbock, is scheduled to
> deliver a keynote speech and will also be recognizing our recent class
> "graduates," we're also going to be honoring three of the very special
> people. This year marks the inaugural year of The Lubbock Legends Awards.
> Beginning in 2006, the NAMI Lubbock Board of Directors, with the help of the
> affiliate membership, plans to recognize individuals in the Lubbock area who
> have had a positive influence on the affiliate, have been instrumental
> through their trade on how mental illness is perceived by the local
> population, or simply just talks the talk and walks the walk of recovery from
> serious mental illness.
>
>   This year, NAMI Lubbock wishes to recognize the following individuals:
>     a.. Christal Bennett of Fox 34 will be the recipient of the Lubbock
> Legends Award for Excellence in Journalism. She was chosen to be a recipient
> of this honor as a result of her compassionate reporting on NAMI Lubbock and
> the Miami shooting that occurred last December.
>     b.. Jim Gamble, Ed.D., LPC will be the recipient of the Lubbock Legends
> Award for Professional of the Year. He was chosen for his continued support
> of NAMI Lubbock and for working tirelessly with people with serious mental
> illness as well as those that love them and care for them.
>     c.. Marcy Mayberry will be the recipient of the Lubbock Legends Award for
> Member of the Year. Marcy has no problem telling anybody of her struggles
> with depression and how finding NAMI last Summer following a hospitalization
> was instrumental in her path to recovery. The last 12 months for Marcy have
> literally been nothing less than a Cinderella story.
>   So we hope you all will come out to the dinner and meet some new friends,
> say hello to some old ones, and maybe even do some networking with the blend
> of individuals that will be in attendance who work in the mental health
> field. This dinner looks to be the best one yet!
>
>   Contact us with any further questions.
>
>   Andy Gibson
>   Consumer Network Director
>   NAMI Lubbock
>   (806) 783-9268
>   (806) 773-7368
>   http://namilubbock.nami.org
>
>
>
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>
>     a.. Visit your group "NamiLub" on the web.
>
>     b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>     c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
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>
>
>
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>

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#162 From: "NAMI Lubbock" <namilubbock@...>
Date: Fri May 19, 2006 5:31 pm
Subject: This Sunday: Mike Wallace Speaks About His Depression on 60 Minutes namilubbock@...
Send Email

NAMI, The Nation's Voice on Mental Illness

NEWS ALERT: 60 Minutes on Sunday, May 21

On Sunday, May 21, 2006, CBS correspondent Mike Wallace will make his last scheduled appearance on the news television show 60 Minutes, broadcast on CBS television stations at 7:00 ET/PT (Check local listings).

The show will highlight many parts of Wallace's career, but particularly poignant will be a frank discussion with his colleague Morley Safer about his struggle with depression -- including for the very first time, his attempted suicide.

Wallace has devoted himself to ending the stigma of mental illness and encouraging people to get help when they need it. This broadcast will continue to advance that public education. NAMI thanks him.

For more information, please visit the CBS Web site

You are receiving this email because you have requested to receive periodic updates from NAMI. If you do not wish to receive further updates, please , sign in and uncheck the box next to "I would like to receive general email updates from NAMI." Please do not reply to this email (it will go to an unattended mailbox). If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please send an email to webmaster@... .

NAMI ~ 2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300 ~ Arlington, VA 22201 ~ MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "www.informz.net" claiming to be www.nami.org

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#161 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Thu May 18, 2006 1:19 am
Subject: Awards Dinner Reservations agibson@...
Send Email

I've had a couple of you contact me and ask if they could reserve a spot for the dinner via e-mail. The answer to this question is yes!

I went ahead and put a link on the News page in order for ya'll to e-mail your RSVP's in. Or you can just e-mail the office directly at namilubbock@... with RSVP in the subject line. Please remember to give us your name, contact number, and number of individuals in your party.

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Andy Gibson
Consumer Network Director
NAMI Lubbock
(806) 783-9268
(806) 773-7368
http://namilubbock.nami.org

Everyone,

As most of you already know (or are fixing to know via newsletter or invitation) NAMI Lubbock will be holding their 1st Annual Lubbock Legends Awards Dinner on Tuesday, May 23rd at Oakwood Baptist Church located on 60th and Ave U. This years dinner will be sponsored by Bristol Meyers Squibb Pharmaceutical Company and NAMI Lubbock. The meal, which will be catered by Ambrosia Catering, will be served at no cost to the guests. However, RSVP's are required. To reserve your spot, contact the NAMI Lubbock office at (806) 783-9268 to give us your name, the number in your party, and a contact number in case we need to reach you.

This year's dinner will be different from those of the past. The usually May dinner is like a monthly meeting except we might go out of our way to get a really good speaker or someone from our state office. Although, Brian Shannon, who is the founding president of NAMI Lubbock, is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech and will also be recognizing our recent class "graduates," we're also going to be honoring three of the very special people. This year marks the inaugural year of The Lubbock Legends Awards. Beginning in 2006, the NAMI Lubbock Board of Directors, with the help of the affiliate membership, plans to recognize individuals in the Lubbock area who have had a positive influence on the affiliate, have been instrumental through their trade on how mental illness is perceived by the local population, or simply just talks the talk and walks the walk of recovery from serious mental illness.

This year, NAMI Lubbock wishes to recognize the following individuals:

Christal Bennett of Fox 34 will be the recipient of the Lubbock Legends Award for Excellence in Journalism. She was chosen to be a recipient of this honor as a result of her compassionate reporting on NAMI Lubbock and the Miami shooting that occurred last December.
Jim Gamble, Ed.D., LPC will be the recipient of the Lubbock Legends Award for Professional of the Year. He was chosen for his continued support of NAMI Lubbock and for working tirelessly with people with serious mental illness as well as those that love them and care for them.
Marcy Mayberry will be the recipient of the Lubbock Legends Award for Member of the Year. Marcy has no problem telling anybody of her struggles with depression and how finding NAMI last Summer following a hospitalization was instrumental in her path to recovery. The last 12 months for Marcy have literally been nothing less than a Cinderella story.

So we hope you all will come out to the dinner and meet some new friends, say hello to some old ones, and maybe even do some networking with the blend of individuals that will be in attendance who work in the mental health field. This dinner looks to be the best one yet!

Contact us with any further questions.

Andy Gibson
Consumer Network Director
NAMI Lubbock
(806) 783-9268
(806) 773-7368
http://namilubbock.nami.org

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#160 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Wed May 17, 2006 7:55 pm
Subject: Lubbock Legends Awards Dinner Recipients agibson@...
Send Email

Everyone,

As most of you already know (or are fixing to know via newsletter or invitation) NAMI Lubbock will be holding their 1st Annual Lubbock Legends Awards Dinner on Tuesday, May 23rd at Oakwood Baptist Church located on 60th and Ave U. This years dinner will be sponsored by Bristol Meyers Squibb Pharmaceutical Company and NAMI Lubbock. The meal, which will be catered by Ambrosia Catering, will be served at no cost to the guests. However, RSVP's are required. To reserve your spot, contact the NAMI Lubbock office at (806) 783-9268 to give us your name, the number in your party, and a contact number in case we need to reach you.

This year's dinner will be different from those of the past. The usually May dinner is like a monthly meeting except we might go out of our way to get a really good speaker or someone from our state office. Although, Brian Shannon, who is the founding president of NAMI Lubbock, is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech and will also be recognizing our recent class "graduates," we're also going to be honoring three of the very special people. This year marks the inaugural year of The Lubbock Legends Awards. Beginning in 2006, the NAMI Lubbock Board of Directors, with the help of the affiliate membership, plans to recognize individuals in the Lubbock area who have had a positive influence on the affiliate, have been instrumental through their trade on how mental illness is perceived by the local population, or simply just talks the talk and walks the walk of recovery from serious mental illness.

This year, NAMI Lubbock wishes to recognize the following individuals:

Christal Bennett of Fox 34 will be the recipient of the Lubbock Legends Award for Excellence in Journalism. She was chosen to be a recipient of this honor as a result of her compassionate reporting on NAMI Lubbock and the Miami shooting that occurred last December.
Jim Gamble, Ed.D., LPC will be the recipient of the Lubbock Legends Award for Professional of the Year. He was chosen for his continued support of NAMI Lubbock and for working tirelessly with people with serious mental illness as well as those that love them and care for them.
Marcy Mayberry will be the recipient of the Lubbock Legends Award for Member of the Year. Marcy has no problem telling anybody of her struggles with depression and how finding NAMI last Summer following a hospitalization was instrumental in her path to recovery. The last 12 months for Marcy have literally been nothing less than a Cinderella story.

So we hope you all will come out to the dinner and meet some new friends, say hello to some old ones, and maybe even do some networking with the blend of individuals that will be in attendance who work in the mental health field. This dinner looks to be the best one yet!

Andy Gibson
Consumer Network Director
NAMI Lubbock
(806) 783-9268
(806) 773-7368
http://namilubbock.nami.org

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#159 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Tue May 16, 2006 11:18 pm
Subject: NAMI Lubbock featured on Radio Tomorrow agibson@...
Send Email

Hey all you early risers, tune in tomorrow, May 16th as NAMI Lubbock will be featured on Fox Talks AM 950 morning radio show. The interview will be sometime during the 7 am hour.

Andy Gibson
Consumer Network Director
NAMI Lubbock
(806) 783-9268
(806) 773-7368
http://namilubbock.nami.org

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#158 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Mon May 15, 2006 6:35 pm
Subject: Friday Facts from NAMI National: May 12, 2006 agibson@...
Send Email

NAMI National Friday Facts **May 12, 2006**

NAMI's Annual Convention: Information, Programs, and Election News
      1. There's Still Time to Register for NAMI's Annual Convention!
      2. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit
     3. Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees
      4. NAMI 2006 Elections

NAMI Education and Program Information
      5. Line-Up of Friday Conference Call Series with Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI's Medical Director

Beyond NAMI
      6. Lobotomy Documentary: Stories Wanted
      7. Free Teleconference Training from SAMHSA – Transition to Adulthood: Strategies for Overcoming Stigma and Achieving Positive Outcomes for Young Adults

Deadlines and Dates to Remember

NAMI's Annual Convention Information, Programs, and Election News

1. There's Still Time to Register for NAMI's Annual Convention!

If you've already registered to attend NAMI's Convention, we look forward to seeing you in our nation's capital this June. If you wish to attend the NAMI Annual Convention taking place in Washington, D.C. June 28 - July 2, 2006 and haven't registered yet, there is still time! Simply visit the NAMI Web site to download a paper registration form or register online by clicking here. It's easy, fast, and secure.

To receive the special room rates at the participating hotels, you must reserve your room by May 27. Rooms are filling up quickly - don't miss out on these special rates. Convention pre-registration ends May 30.

Additional details on registration, the convention program, hotel and Washington, D.C., travel information can be found on the NAMI Web site by clicking here.

2. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit

NAMI's Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit on June 28 to July 2 as part of NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention. The Summit will bring together multicultural mental health leaders from across the nation to address the lack of access to care and the disparities in treatment faced by multicultural communities. The Summit will feature policy and research briefings, plenary sessions and program tracks to address issues specific to African American, American Indian, Asian American and Latino/Hispanic communities. Nationally recognized consumer and family advocates, researchers, policymakers and providers will work together to offer a vision for change. For more information contact us at MACenter@... or visit www.nami.org/summit.

3. Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees

We have arranged discounts on two airlines, UNITED AIRLINES and AMERICAN AIRLINES, for attendees for the NAMI National Convention in Washington, DC, June 26-July 2, 2006.

We have arranged the following discount on UNITED AIRLINES: Book your ticket at least 30 days in advance and receive 7% off the lowest fare. Simply call the United Airlines Meeting Desk at 1-800-521-4041 and refer to Meeting ID Number 538TO. Either you or your travel agent can make this reservation. (To book the United discount fares you must call the Meeting Desk. These special fares are not available on-line.)

We have also arranged the following discount on AMERICAN AIRLINES:

4. NAMI 2006 Elections

Congratulations to our 2006 NAMI National Board candidates! The following NAMI leaders have been nominated for the five slots up for election on the National Board of Directors:

NAMI Education and Program Information

5. Line-Up of Friday Conference Call Series with Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI's Medical Director

Friday, May 19, 2006: The Deficit Reduction Act and Demonstration Project that Allows 10 States to Apply for a Medicaid Waiver to Increase Home and Community Based Children's Mental Health Services. With special guest, Mary Giliberti, one of our NAMI national Medicaid experts.

Friday, June 16: Self-Injurious Behavior Among Teens – What is a Parent to Do? Featuring Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI's Medical Director.

Friday, July 21: Recent Class Action Legal Victories in Children's Mental Health and How NAMI Leaders Can More Effectively Work with Their State Protection and Advocacy Lawyers. With special guests – Elizabeth Priaulx, Senior Disability Legal Specialist and Elizabeth Greczek, Staff Attorney with the National Disability Rights Network.

All three calls are scheduled from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access all three toll-free calls, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918. We hope that you can join us for these important topics and a great discussion!

Beyond NAMI

6. Lobotomy Documentary: Stories Wanted

7. Free Teleconference Training from SAMHSA – Transition to Adulthood: Strategies for Overcoming Stigma and Achieving Positive Outcomes for Young Adults

The SAMHSA Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma Associated With Mental Illness invites you to participate in a free teleconference training titled, "Transition to Adulthood: Strategies for Overcoming Stigma and Achieving Positive Outcomes for Young Adults."
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2006
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM (Eastern Time)

The staff of the SAMHSA ADS Center will discuss the diverse skills and supports required to help young people overcome stigma and succeed on the job. In addition to reviewing the effects that stigma and stigma-reduction programs have on transition-age youth, speakers will examine research and strategies for effectively working with young adults, families, and employers. The training also will feature one young person's first-person account of overcoming stigma in the workplace and accessing effective services.

To participate in this training teleconference, please complete the online registration form located at http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/regpage.cfm. For additional teleconference information, please refer to the training section of the SAMHSA ADS Center web site or contact a technical assistance representative by e-mail at stopstigma@... or by telephone at 1-800-540-0320. Please note: Registration for this teleconference will close at 5:00 p.m., Eastern time, on Wednesday, May 24, 2006.

Deadlines and Dates to Remember

- May 19: Friday Conference Call with Dr. Ken Duckworth. Topic: The Deficit Reduction Act and Demonstration Project, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access toll-free call, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918.

- May 25: The SAMHSA Resource Center free teleconference training, "Transition to Adulthood: Strategies for Overcoming Stigma and Achieving Positive Outcomes for Young Adults."

- May 30: Convention pre-registration ends.

- May 31: F2F Hall of Fame Nominations due to Lynne@....

- June 16: Friday Conference Call with Dr. Ken Duckworth. Topic: Self-Injurious Behavior Among Teens – What is a Parent to Do? 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access toll-free call, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918.

- June 28-July 2, 2006: NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

- June 28-July 22: NAMI's Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit as part of NAMI's 2006 Convention.

- July 21: Friday, July 21: Friday Conference Call with Dr. Ken Duckworth. Topic: Recent Class Action Legal Victories in Children's Mental Health and How NAMI Leaders Can More Effectively Work with Their State Protection and Advocacy Lawyers. 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To access toll-free call, dial 888-858-6021; access code: 309918.

- September 25-27: Second Annual CIT Conference. For information e-mail bonnies@....

- October 1-7: Mental Illness Awareness Week, Building Communities, Taking Action.

- October 5: Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day

- November 10-12: NAMI’s 2006 Fall Leadership Conference, St. Louis, MO.

NAMI Friday Facts is an electronic newsletter provided free of charge as a service for our members. With more than 1,100 state and local affiliates, NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with severe mental illnesses. Contributions to support our work can be made online at www.nami.org/donate.

To manage your subscription to Friday Facts (including new subscriptions and list removals), please visit www.nami.org/subscribe, sign in and mark your preferences. Please do not reply to this email (it will go to an unattended mailbox.) If you have any questions, concerns, or comments please send an email to staterelations@....

NAMI ~ 2107 Wilson Blvd. ~ Suite 300 ~ Arlington, VA 22201

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#157 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Tue May 9, 2006 8:44 pm
Subject: DSHS Commissioner's Report agibson@...
Send Email

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

DSHS Commissioner's Report to the DSHS Council

April 2006

Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission received a four year $18.6 million

federal grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This grant is

part of a national demonstration project with the objective of determining whether access

to health insurance benefits (including behavioral health benefits) will enable working

adults with behavioral health conditions who do not yet meet federal disability criteria to

continue to work and to avoid future dependence on publicly funded programs. DSHS is

administering the grant project under an interagency agreement with HHSC and is

partnering with the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD). HCHD is certifying $7.5

million in local match and will operate the project at the local level. In addition, DSHS is

contracting with an independent evaluator to assess the project's performance. The project

is currently in the planning phase working with the independent evaluator and HCHD to

develop operational and evaluation protocols. Operations are scheduled to begin in the

fall. For more information, contact Dena Stoner, Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Services Division, at 512/206-4851, or e-mail dena.stoner@....

Legislative Budget Board authorizes use of $13.4 million for state hospitals

On February 16, 2006, the Legislative Budget Board authorized the HHSC Executive

Commissioner to expend $13.4 million to expand the capacity of state mental health

hospitals, allowing DSHS to move funds from fiscal year 2007 to address immediate

needs relating to the capacity of the hospital system. During the past year, the state's

mental health hospital system has consistently operated at levels exceeding capacity,

which compromises the effectiveness and efficiency of treatment and the safety of

patients and hospital staff. Ninety-six forensic beds have been added to the state hospital

system, adding 24 beds to Austin State Hospital, San Antonio State Hospital, Terrell

State Hospital and North Texas State Hospital - Wichita Falls Campus. By March 8,

2006, these beds were full. The total number of forensic beds in the system is now 738.

An additional 103 beds have been approved for civil commitments. DSHS is currently

working on staffing to support the changes. For more information, contact Kenny

Dudley, State Hospital Director, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Division,

at 512/206-4616, or e-mail kenny.dudley@...

Provider of Last Resort

House Bill 2292 modified the way that local mental health and mental retardation

authorities ensure the delivery of mental health and mental retardation services by

requiring them to be the providers of last resort. The local authority must make every

reasonable attempt to solicit the development of an available and appropriate provider

base that is sufficient to meet the needs of consumers in its service area before it can

provide services itself.

During the first half of 2004, the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental

Retardation required local mental health and mental retardation authorities to conduct

preliminary inventories of available providers in their areas through a Request for

Information process and develop local plans on how to address needs through a

combination of outsourcing and direct care. Due to concerns about the applicability of

certain provisions of HB 2292, Executive Order RP-45 was issued on June 17, 2005.

Therein, Governor Perry directed the HHSC Executive Commissioner to request an

Attorney General’s opinion regarding the provider of last resort requirement as it applied

to the provision of mental health services.

On March 16, 2006, the Attorney General issued an opinion (Opinion GA-0416). That

opinion held that the provisions in HB 2292 that require the local mental health and

mental retardation authority to be the provider of services only as a provider of last resort

also applied to the provision of mental health services. In response to this opinion, DSHS

is continuing the implementation of HB 2292 and will work closely with the MHMR

authorities and interested stakeholders to ensure that the intent of the legislation is

achieved for the benefit of all recipients of mental health services. For more information,

contact Joe Vesowate, Assistant Commissioner, Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Services Division, at (512) 206-5797, or e-mail joe.vesowate@....

Texas Mental Health Transformation Initiative

Mental Health Transformation is still in an early phase of development. The Governor’s

Transformation Work Group had its third meeting on March 9th. The central topic of the

meeting was how each agency was addressing the mental health needs of veterans,

especially those returning from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Kathryn Kotrla, MD,

presented on the Veteran’s Administration activities to engage in transformation at the

federal and state levels. Each representative also described their agency’s activities in

support of veterans. The consumer representatives emphasized the importance this work

has on consumers and family members. The next meeting is scheduled for May 19, 2006.

Additional information about the grant is available at

http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mhtransformation.shtm. For more information, contact Dave

Wanser, Deputy Commissioner for Behavioral and Community Health Services, at (512)

458-7375, or e-mail dave.wanser@....

Substance Use School Survey

DSHS conducted its statewide school survey of substance use among students in grades

4-6 and grades 7-12. The survey measures a wide range of self-reported licit and illicit

substance use. The survey assists DSHS in identifying areas of need and provides

information for the planning process. Major findings include:

• Tobacco, alcohol, and a number of illicit drugs show extensive decreases in 2004,

authorities ensure the delivery of mental health and mental retardation services by

requiring them to be the providers of last resort. The local authority must make every

reasonable attempt to solicit the development of an available and appropriate provider

base that is sufficient to meet the needs of consumers in its service area before it can

provide services itself.

During the first half of 2004, the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental

Retardation required local mental health and mental retardation authorities to conduct

preliminary inventories of available providers in their areas through a Request for

Information process and develop local plans on how to address needs through a

combination of outsourcing and direct care. Due to concerns about the applicability of

certain provisions of HB 2292, Executive Order RP-45 was issued on June 17, 2005.

Therein, Governor Perry directed the HHSC Executive Commissioner to request an

Attorney General’s opinion regarding the provider of last resort requirement as it applied

to the provision of mental health services.

On March 16, 2006, the Attorney General issued an opinion (Opinion GA-0416). That

opinion held that the provisions in HB 2292 that require the local mental health and

mental retardation authority to be the provider of services only as a provider of last resort

also applied to the provision of mental health services. In response to this opinion, DSHS

is continuing the implementation of HB 2292 and will work closely with the MHMR

authorities and interested stakeholders to ensure that the intent of the legislation is

achieved for the benefit of all recipients of mental health services. For more information,

contact Joe Vesowate, Assistant Commissioner, Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Services Division, at (512) 206-5797, or e-mail joe.vesowate@....

Texas Mental Health Transformation Initiative

Mental Health Transformation is still in an early phase of development. The Governor’s

Transformation Work Group had its third meeting on March 9th. The central topic of the

meeting was how each agency was addressing the mental health needs of veterans,

especially those returning from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Kathryn Kotrla, MD,

presented on the Veteran’s Administration activities to engage in transformation at the

federal and state levels. Each representative also described their agency’s activities in

support of veterans. The consumer representatives emphasized the importance this work

has on consumers and family members. The next meeting is scheduled for May 19, 2006.

Additional information about the grant is available at

http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mhtransformation.shtm. For more information, contact Dave

Wanser, Deputy Commissioner for Behavioral and Community Health Services, at (512)

458-7375, or e-mail dave.wanser@....

Substance Use School Survey

DSHS conducted its statewide school survey of substance use among students in grades

4-6 and grades 7-12. The survey measures a wide range of self-reported licit and illicit

substance use. The survey assists DSHS in identifying areas of need and provides

information for the planning process. Major findings include:

• Tobacco, alcohol, and a number of illicit drugs show extensive decreases in 2004,

while use of inhalants increased among younger grades.

• Alcohol continues to be the most widely used substance, with 68% of grades 7-12

students reporting lifetime use and 33% past-month use.

• About 24% of high school seniors said they had driven a car after drinking

alcohol.

• 40% of grades 7-12 students have smoked marijuana at some point in their lives,

making it the most commonly used illegal drug among students.

• Students whose parents disapprove of teen alcohol use are 62% less likely to have

reported drinking in the past month.

• About 8.3% of grades 7-12 students reported using codeine cough syrup to get

high at some point and 3.3% did so in the past month.

Additional information regarding this study can be found at:

http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/sa/RecentResearchStudies.shtm. or by contacting Liang Y.

Liu, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Division, at 512/206-5953, or e-mail

liang.liu@....

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#156 From: "Erin Graham" <erin.lee.graham@...>
Date: Sat May 6, 2006 9:01 pm
Subject: Friday Facts from NAMI National: May 5, 2006 erin.lee.graham@...
Send Email

NAMI National Friday Facts **May 5, 2006**

NAMI's Annual Convention: Information, Programs, and Election News
      1.   There's Still Time to Register for NAMI's Annual Convention!
      2.   Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit
      3.   NAMI Leadership Institute at Convention
      4.   Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees
      5.   NAMI 2006 Elections

Grant and Funding Opportunities
      6.   Justice Department Seeks Applications for Criminal Justice/Mental Health Grants!

NAMI Education and Program Information
      7.   NAMI Child and Adolescent Action Center Seeks Information on Suicide Programs
      8.   2007 NAMIWalks Applications Now Available
      9.   Mental Illness Awareness Week October 1�7, 2006: Building Community, Taking Action
      10. Second Annual CIT Conference Call for Presentations!
      11. Seeking Nominations for the Family-to-Family Hall of Fame

Multicultural Outreach
      12. Avanzamos!

Beyond NAMI
      13. Heroes in the Fight Recognition Program

Deadlines and Dates to Remember

***********************************************************

NAMI's Annual Convention Information, Programs, and Election News

1. There's Still Time to Register for NAMI's Annual Convention!

Due to an unavoidable production delay, the spring issue of the Advocate will not arrive in time to allow members to utilize the special Convention registration and voting information contained in the issue.

To receive the special room rates at the participating hotels, you must reserve your room by May 27. Rooms are filling up quickly - don't miss out on these special rates. Convention pre-registration ends May 30.

Additional details on registration, the convention program, hotel and Washington, D.C., travel information can be found on the NAMI Web site by clicking here.

2. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit

NAMI's Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit on June 28 to July 2 as part of NAMI's Annual Convention. The Summit will bring together multicultural mental health leaders from across the nation to address the lack of access to care and the disparities in treatment faced by multicultural communities. The Summit will feature policy and research briefings, plenary sessions and program tracks to address issues specific to African American, American Indian, Asian American and Latino/Hispanic communities. Nationally recognized consumer and family advocates, researchers, policymakers and providers will work together to offer a vision for change. For more information contact us at MACenter@... or visit www.nami.org/summit.

3. NAMI Leadership Institute at Convention

The NAMI Leadership Institute offers leadership and organizational development opportunities to assist NAMI state organizations and local affiliates meet the NAMI mission. The Leadership Institute builds the capacity or our organization by enhancing the ability of our leaders to manage, govern, teach and advocate. This year's Convention Leadership Institute consists of three groups of workshops on Wednesday afternoon, June 28. A detailed program for the Leadership Institute is available at the Leadership Institute Information table.

4. Airline Discounts Available for NAMI Convention Attendees

We have arranged discounts on two airlines, UNITED AIRLINES and AMERICAN AIRLINES, for attendees for the NAMI National Convention in Washington, DC, June 26-July 2, 2006.

We have also arranged the following discount on AMERICAN AIRLINES:

a) 5% discount off Coach fares.
b) After the ticket is purchased, but at least 48 hours prior to outbound flight departure date, the name may be changed for a service fee. (This is a great new benefit that AA is offering to our meeting attendees.)

To make your reservations on American, please call American Airlines Meeting Services at 1-800-433-1790 and provide the discount code A5666BG. If you prefer to make your arrangements on-line, you may review fare and schedule information and make reservations using the 5 percent discount at American Airlines web site: www.AA.com.

5. NAMI 2006 Elections

Congratulations to our 2006 NAMI National Board candidates! The following NAMI leaders have been nominated for the five slots up for election on the National Board of Directors:

Don Muller (nominated by NAMI Utah)
Dave Lushbaugh (nominated by NAMI Georgia)
Anand Pandya (nominated by NAMI New York State)
Fred Frese (nominated by NAMI Summit County, Ohio)
Eileen Silber (nominated by NAMI North Carolina)
Nancy Carter (nominated by NAMI California)
Suzanne Clifford (nominated by NAMI Indiana)
Marty Raaymakers (nominated by NAMI Michigan)

For information about the election, proposed bylaws changes and the Board candidates (including their letters of nomination, photographs, and answers to five questions on the most pressing issues facing NAMI), visit www.nami.org/voting.

Grant and Funding Opportunities

6. Justice Department Seeks Applications for Criminal Justice/Mental Health Grants!

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has put out an announcement requesting applications for grants authorized by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004. These grants, which are available to state, local and tribal governments, may be used for a variety of purposes, including pre- and post-booking jail diversion, transitional and reentry services, enhanced treatment and services for offenders with mental illnesses, and training of criminal justice and mental health personnel. Proposed projects must be jointly managed by a mental health and criminal justice agency and must demonstrate collaboration among a variety of key stakeholders, including consumers and family members. Three types of grants will be provided � planning grants, planning and implementation grants, and implementation and expansion grants. The deadline for applying for these grants is June 2, 2006. For more information, go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/06MIOsol.pdf. Or, contact Robert Hendricks, BJA policy advisor, at 202-305-1909 or robert.hendricks@....

NAMI Education and Program Information

7. NAMI Child and Adolescent Action Center Seeks Information on Suicide Programs

NAMI remains deeply concerned with the rate of youth and young adult suicide (3^rd leading cause of death in 15-24 year olds, with 90% having a diagnosable mental illness). NAMI is looking at existing suicide prevention programs and initiatives at the state and local levels to determine where there might be gaps and opportunities for NAMI to make a contribution to help address this crisis.

We would greatly appreciate if you would please email Darcy Gruttadaro (darcy@...) with the following information (and would appreciate you sharing this request with your networks):

- Identify the suicide prevention programs and initiatives in your community and state that target adolescents and young adults (title and brief description of the program).
- Who is leading the program/initiatives (advocates, state or local officials, schools, others)?
- What age group is the program/initiative targeting (adolescents, young adults, students in certain grade levels)?
- How long has the program/initiative been in existence and what is the anticipated duration?
- Is there a web site that we can visit to learn more about the program/initiative?

Thank you for responding to this request and for all that you do for children and families.

8. 2007 NAMIWalks Applications Now Available

NAMI affiliates interested in participating in the NAMIWalks Program for the first time may request an application and information Monday, May 1. If you are interested in holding a walk fund raising event in either the spring or fall of 2007, please contact wkarmol@... for NAMIWalks 2007 materials.

9. Mental Illness Awareness Week October 1�7, 2006

Mental Illness Awareness Week for 2006 is October 1-7, with the theme Building Community, Taking Action. Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day is on October 5. Watch Friday Facts for more information on materials, telephone conferences and workshops at Convention that will make your activities and programs for both events a success. NAMI plans on having technical assistance materials and order forms for brochures, posters, and stickers to all affiliates by the end of May.

10. Second Annual CIT Conference Call for Presentations!

We are pleased to announce a Call for Presentations for The Second Annual CIT Conference! The Second Annual CIT Conference will be held this year in Orlando, Florida. For more detailed information, contact Michele Saunders at Michele.fpic@... or Bonnie Sultan at Bonnies@.... Mark your calendars for September 25, 26, 27! Information on the program, registration and accommodation will be released in the near future at the following website: http://cit.fmhi.usf.edu.

This national conference is designed to highlight effective community collaborations that are responding to the needs of those with mental illnesses including co-occurring substance use disorders. General sessions and workshops will address the development, implementation, advancement, and effectiveness of Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT). Other innovative programs for the diversion of individuals with a mental illness from the criminal justice system will be included. The Conference will be hosted by the Florida CIT Coalition, the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, Orange County (Florida) Sheriff's Office, Florida Partners in Crisis, Florida judges, and the National and State Alliance on Mental Illness.

11. Seeking Nominations for the Family-to-Family Hall of Fame

In celebration of the 4^th annual F2F Hall of Fame, it's time to nominate your Family-to-Family teachers who have taught 10 or more F2F classes. Nominees will be recognized at the NAMI convention in Washington, D.C. during the NAMI Education, Training, and Peer Support Center reception on Friday, June 30, with a special certificate and have their names included in the national F2F Hall of Fame. We are also seeking nominations for F2F trainers who have trained 10 or more teacher training sessions. Nominations must be sent to Lynne@... no later than May 31. Have any of the 10+ teachers reached 20 or more classes? If so, let us know about them.

Multicultural Outreach

12. Avanzamos!

Subscribe to Avanzamos!, NAMI's new Spanish language newsletter. This quarterly magazine features news from NAMI states and affiliates, research and policy updates specific to Latino issues, educational resources, personals stories and more. Also makes a great outreach tool to your local Latino community. The first issue has been very well received; over 4000 copies have been distributed nationwide. Order up to 10 hardcopies for free at www.nami.org/store (a shipping and handling fee will be charged for orders greater than 10 copies), or sign up for the electronic version at www.nami.org/subscribe.

Deadlines and Dates to Remember

- May 30: Convention pre-registration ends.

- May 31: F2F Hall of Fame Nominations due to Lynne@....

- June 28-July 2, 2006: NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

- June 28-July 22: NAMI's Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit as part of NAMI's 2006 Convention.

- September 25-27: Second Annual CIT Conference. For information e-mail bonnies@....

- October 1-7: Mental Illness Awareness Week: Building Communities, Taking Action.

- October 5: Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day

- November 10-12: NAMI's 2006 Fall Leadership Conference, St. Louis, MO.

NAMI ~ 2107 Wilson Blvd. ~ Suite 300 ~ Arlington, VA 22201

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#155 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Wed May 3, 2006 7:15 pm
Subject: Video: They're mad to live there agibson@...
Send Email

I don't know whether to laugh at this or to be angry about it. Regardless, it makes me want to go out and purchase my own abandoned psychiatric facility and renovate it. (Not really).

Andy Gibson
Consumer Network Director
NAMI Lubbock
(806) 783-9268
(806) 773-7368
http://namilubbock.nami.org

* Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified.

This is not only creepy, it kinda pisses me off.

Erin

Click the following to access the sent link:

Video: They're mad to live there*


Get your EMAIL THIS Browser Button and use it to email information from any Web site.

*This article can also be accessed if you copy and paste the entire address below into your web browser.
http://www.cnn.com/video/partners/clickability/index.html?url=/video/offbeat/2006/05/02/chernoff.haunted.condos.affl

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#154 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Tue May 2, 2006 10:03 pm
Subject: Church Addresses Psychology from a Christian View agibson@...
Send Email

The sermon was given to LakeRidge United Methodist Church on 4/30/06. To watch the video of the sermon, click here. The video is just over 25 minutes, but it's definitely worth the time. And sorry to all those who may be receiving this more than once. I just want to make sure all my contacts are covered.

Let me know what ya'll think. I will say now that I was hoping that the message would have touched more on SMI, such as some Biblical scholars believe that Elijah was severely depressed, David may have had bi-polar disorder and King Herod probably had schizophrenia. Of course the term, "mental illness" was not around during those times, but if one were to look at some of the documentation about their lives and analyze their behaviors, serious questions can be brought up about their mental state.

Just my 2 cents.

Andy Gibson
Consumer Network Director
NAMI Lubbock
(806) 783-9268
(806) 773-7368
http://namilubbock.nami.org

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#153 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Tue May 2, 2006 5:04 pm
Subject: FW: art for newsletter agibson@...
Send Email

Everyone heads up.

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

Hello West Texans,

I am looking for artwork from consumers---paintings, drawings, sculpture, mixed media—for our newsletter. Right now I have 4 paintings but I would more artwork from the different parts of the state.

I would GREATLY appreciate it if any of you could send me pictures of artwork by consumers. A photo would be the best for us to use—for printing purposes. If you have something you can send electronically, it will need to be at a very high resolution. If you have questions about electronic images, email Margie Gardner—she is our layout/art person (she is copied on this email).

Also, if there are consumers willing to share their poetry, send that along to me. Poetry is easier to come by…it is the artwork that has presented a challenge for me.

Along with pictures or poetry, I will need the person’s name and which affiliate they belong to. If anyone is willing to write a brief—2-3 sentence—bio and include a picture of themselves, we would love to include that too.

I hope that ya’ll can help me out. I will need it as soon as you can send it!

Thanks.

Diana Kern

NAMI Texas

Special Events Coordinator

Consumer Advocate

512-693-2000

dkern@...

www.namitexas.org

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#152 From: NamiLub@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon May 1, 2006 7:07 pm
Subject: File - NamiLub Egroup Guidelines.txt NamiLub@yahoogroups.com
Send Email

The NAMI Lubbock Egroup exists to allow members to have intelligent, educational
and spirited discussions on any issues concerning primarily NAMI Lubbock,
especially Support, Education and Advocacy.  The NAMI Lubbock Egroup is open to
only members of NAMI Lubbock who agree to conduct themselves in a professional
and courteous manner.  This group is also governed by the terms of service of
Groups.Yahoo.com as listed on their website at
http://groups.yahoo.com/local/guidelines.html.  While this announcement is not
intended to replace all the terms of service previously referred to, here are a
few of the highlights.
   1. No personal attacks or threats will be tolerated.  You can disagree with
anything or anyone and still be courteous.
   2. Watch your language and choose your words carefully.  We are a family
group.
   3. You need to sign your name to every message.  You are responsible for what
you post to this group.  Your email address appears with your posts so there is
no such thing as an anonymous post here.
   4. Do not write your message in all capitals.  All caps is perceived as
SHOUTING and is harder to read.  Give your Caps Lock key a rest.
   5. Do not cross post messages from other egroups to this one unless they
relate to mental health issues in this area.  This egroup is not designed to
replace or duplicate egroups sponsored by NAMI Texas.  Members of this egroup
are encouraged to also be a member of the NAMI Texas general egroup and should
not cross-post messages from the two groups.  Members do not wish to receive
duplicate messages from the two groups.

Questions may be addressed to David Gibson at drgibson@....

David Gibson
NAMI Lubbock

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#151 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Mon May 1, 2006 5:44 pm
Subject: Friday Facts from NAMI National: April 28, 2006 agibson@...
Send Email

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

From: NAMITX@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Jackie Shannon
Sent: Mon 5/1/2006 9:31 AM
To: 'NAMI Texas'
Subject: {Disarmed} [NAMITX] FW: Friday Facts from NAMI National: April 28, 2006

NAMI National Friday Facts **April 28, 2006**

1.   Justice Department Seeks Applications for Criminal Justice/Mental Health Grants!
2.   NAMI Child and Adolescent Action Center Seeks Information on Suicide Programs
3.   2007 NAMIWalks Applications Now Available
4.   Mental Illness Awareness Week October 1–7, 2006
5.   Heroes in the Fight Recognition Program
6.   NAMI State Policy Conference Call Scheduled to Address Impact of Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) on Medicaid Policy
7.   NAMI 2006 Elections
8. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit
9.   Second Annual CIT Conference Call for Presentations!
10. Avanzamos!
11. Seeking Nominations for the Family-to-Family Hall of Fame
12. Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees
13. NAMI Legal Center in Need of Mental Health Attorneys
14. Deadlines and Dates to Remember

1. Justice Department Seeks Applications for Criminal Justice/Mental Health Grants!

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has put out an announcement requesting applications for grants authorized by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004. These grants, which are available to state, local and tribal governments, may be used for a variety of purposes, including pre and post-booking jail diversion, transitional and reentry services, enhanced treatment and services for offenders with mental illnesses, and training of criminal justice and mental health personnel. Proposed projects must be jointly managed by a mental health and criminal justice agency and must demonstrate collaboration among a variety of key stakeholders, including consumers and family members. Three types of grants will be provided – planning grants, planning and implementation grants, and implementation and expansion grants. The deadline for applying for these grants is June 2, 2006. For more information, go to
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/06MIOsol.pdf or, contact Robert Hendricks, BJA policy advisor, at 202-305-1909 or robert.hendricks@....

2. NAMI Child and Adolescent Center Seeks Information on Suicide Programs

NAMI remains deeply concerned with the rate of youth and young adult suicide (3^rd leading cause of death in 15-24 year olds, with 90% having a diagnosable mental illness). NAMI is looking at existing suicide prevention programs and initiatives at the state and local levels to determine where there might be gaps and opportunities for NAMI to make a contribution to help address this crisis.

We would greatly appreciate if you would please email Darcy Gruttadaro (darcy@...) with the following information (and would appreciate you sharing this request with your networks):

3. 2007 NAMIWalks Applications Now Available

NAMI affiliates interested in participating in the NAMIWalks Program for the first time may request an application and information Monday, May 1. If you are interested in holding a walk fund raising event in either the spring or fall of 2007, please contact Jonathan@... for NAMIWalks 2007 materials.

4. Mental Illness Awareness Week October 1–7, 2006

Mental Illness Awareness Week for 2006 is October 1-7, with Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day on October 5. Watch Friday Facts for more information on materials, telephone conferences and workshops at Convention that will make your activities and programs for both events a success. NAMI plans on having technical assistance materials and order forms for brochures, posters, and stickers to all affiliates by the end of May.

5. Heroes in the Fight Recognition Program

The Heroes in the Fight^SM recognition program celebrates dignity, courage, hope, and recovery in the treatment of people with severe and persistent mental illness within specific local or state communities.

Designed to recognize a wide range of health care and other professionals who provide exemplary care and suppport for consumers and their families, Heroes in the Fight^SM was established by Eli Lilly and Company. The NAMI National Regional Leadership Consultant team is collaborating with Eli Lilly and Company on this project.

Twenty-four programs are targeted for 2006 with select local or statewide advocacy organizations across NAMI, NMHA or nonprofit mental health advocacy coalitions. Eli Lilly and Company is responsible for the program design, materials and costs but is not involved in the nomination and selection process or the event planning. A third party program administrator, VMS Medical, provides each advocacy partner with a full range of planning and logistics and event planning support.

An independent selection committee created by each advocacy partner will review nominations and select seven recipients across categories spanning health care professionals, community supporters and media. In addition, each advocacy partner will choose a separate nonprofit mental health organization to receive a $500 donation from Eli Lilly and Company in each award recipient’s name (seven awards). These donations will be used to improve education or help advance care for persons with severe and persistent mental illness in their community.

Advocacy partner applications will be accepted from Monday, April17 through Friday, May 5. Partner selections will be made on a rolling basis based upon pre-defined partnership criteria defined in the application form. For more information and an application form, contact Cari with VMS Medical at (317) 805-6645 x241 (email cari.nicholson@...) or contact your NAMI Regional Leadership Consultant: Region 1 and Region 4 – Liz Smith lsmith@...; Region 2 – Teri Brister tbrister@...; Region 3 – Karen Ford Manza kmanza@....

6. NAMI State Policy Conference Call Scheduled to Address Impact of Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) on Medicaid Policy

On Friday, May 5, NAMI leaders are invited to participate in a conference call to discuss the impact of the Deficit Reduction Act on State Medicaid Programs. Under the DRA, state Medicaid programs can make significant changes without seeking a waiver from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The DRA enables broader use of copays and imposes new documentation requirements for gaining or maintaining eligibility for Medicaid benefits. New waiver initiatives will also be addressed in the conference call, which is hosted by NAMI staff members Mary Giliberti and Steven Buck. Please RSVP for the call by emailing Steven at sbuck@....

Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Call-in Number: 1 - 888-858-6021 (Toll Free), Access Code: 309918#

7. NAMI 2006 Elections

Congratulations to our 2006 NAMI National Board candidates! The following NAMI leaders have been nominated for the five slots up for election on the National Board of Directors:

Don Muller (nominated by NAMI Utah)
Dave Lushbaugh (nominated by NAMI Georgia)
Anand Pandya (nominated by NAMI New York State)
Fred Frese (nominated by NAMI Summit County, Ohio)
Eileen Silber (nominated by NAMI North Carolina)
Nancy Carter (nominated by NAMI California)
Suzanne Clifford (nominated by NAMI Indiana)
Marty Raaymakers (nominated by NAMI Michigan)

For information about the election, proposed bylaws changes and the Board candidates (including their letters of nomination, photographs, and answers to five questions on the most pressing issues facing NAMI), visit www.nami.org/voting and watch for your special election edition of the Advocate, coming in May.

8. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit

9. Second Annual CIT Conference Call for Presentations!

We are pleased to announce a Call for Presentations for The Second Annual CIT Conference! The Second Annual CIT Conference will be held this year in Orlando, Florida. For more detailed information, contact MicheleSaunders at Michele.fpic@... or Bonnie Sultan at Bonnies@.... Mark your calendars for September 25, 26, 27! Information on the program, registration and accommodations will be released in the near future at the following website: http://cit.fmhi.usf.edu.

This national conference is designed to highlight effective community collaborations that are responding to the needs of those with mental illnesses including co-occurring substance use disorders. General sessions and workshops will address the development, implementation, advancement, and effectiveness of Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT). Other innovative programs for the diversion of individuals with a mental illness from the criminal justice system will be included. The Conference will be hosted by the Florida CIT Coalition, the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, Orange County (Florida) Sheriff's Office, Florida Partners in Crisis, Florida judges, and the National and State Alliance on Mental Illness.

10. Avanzamos!

11. Seeking Nominations for the Family-to-Family Hall of Fame

In celebration of the 4^th annual F2F Hall of Fame, it's time to nominate your Family-to-Family teachers who have taught 10 or more F2F classes. Nominees will be recognized at the NAMI convention in Washington, D.C. during the NAMI Education, Training, and Peer Support Center reception on Friday, June 30, with a special certificate and have their names included in the national F2F Hall of Fame. We are also seeking nominations for F2F trainers who have trained 10 or more teacher training sessions. Nominations must be sent to Lynne@... no later than May 31. Have any of the 10+ teachers reached 20 or more classes? If so, let us know about them.

12. Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees

We have arranged discounts on two airlines, UNITED AIRLINES and AMERICAN AIRLINES, for attendees for the NAMI National Convention in Washington, D.D., June 26-July 2, 2006.

We have also arranged the following discount on AMERICAN AIRLINES:
a) 5% discount off Coach fares.
b) After the ticket is purchased, but at least 48 hours prior to outbound flight departure date, the name may be changed for a service fee. (This is a great new benefit that AA is offering to our meeting attendees.)

13. NAMI Legal Center in Need of Mental Health Attorneys

The Legal Center is presently in need of more Mental Health Attorneys in Criminal Defense practice. Nearly one third of callers to the Legal Center request such support for family members in Jail and Prison to present facts on serious mental illness in the Criminal Justice system. Although we have nearly 100 Mental Health Courts at present, there continues to be a critical need for more Attorneys in this discipline, both for fee and pro bono. Please send nominations for such legal support to stuart@.... Thank you.

Disclaimer - NAMI Legal Center

NAMI does not warrant or guarantee results of referrals from the Legal Center. However, we use the Disability Directory of the American Bar Association, the Directory of the American Council of Trust and Estate Attorneys, the Directory of the Planned Lifetime Assistance Network, the Directory of Legal Aid and Defender Offices, and our own Directory of mental Health Attorneys. We make our best effort to find legal support for inquiries to the NAMI Legal Center.

14. Deadlines and Dates to Remember

- May 5 - NAMI State policy conference call to address impact of Deficit Reduction Act, Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time; Call-in Number: 1 - 888-858-6021 (Toll Free), Access Code: 309918#.

- May 5: Multicultural Strategic Summit scholarship applications due.

- May 5 - Heroes in the Fight Program applications due.

- May 31: F2F Hall of Fame Nominations due to Lynne@....

- June 28-July 2, 2006: NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

- June 28-July 22: NAMI's Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit as part of NAMI's 2006 Convention.

- September 25-27: Second Annual CIT Conference

- November 10-12: NAMI’s 2006 Fall Leadership Conference, St. Louis, MO.

NAMI ~ 2107 Wilson Blvd. ~ Suite 300 ~ Arlington, VA 22201

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#150 From: "Daphna Simpson" <daphna_simpson@...>
Date: Thu Apr 27, 2006 1:25 pm
Subject: how is this, It was on wicrosoft works.l daphna_simpson@...
Send Email

Just a note to catch up with the Simpson family.

I moved to Mansfield last November (2005) to begin a new job in Arlington
and set up what was left of my accounting practice.

Tim moved in with me on December 31, the day the lease was up on the house
he had been sharing with his brother Jonathan.

Bob moved in March, after selling our home in Lubbock and went to work for
Coldwell Banker of Arlington, in their new Mansfield office.

My  job in Arlington turned out to be a complete fiasco, but I retained 90%
of my old clients.  So I left the job the second week of March and returned
to being completely self-employed.  I supplemented my practice by  doing
contract work for a great CPA firm in North Arlington during  the remaining
tax season.

Tim has been progressing , sometimes slowly, but with few setbacks.  The
maturity we were hoping for has finally arrived.  No matter how much (or how
little) help we are able to give him, he now realizes that recovery is up to
him.

He started doing research on firemen and their training & requirements.
Then he put himself on a rigid training schedule.  Last Saturday, he got up
early, drove to Austin , and took the  Texas Candidate Physical Ability
Test.  At 145lbs, he passed it the first try!

After 48 hours of  no sleep (first anticipation and then jubilation) he spun
into mania and voluntarily brought himself down with Zyprexa (and slept 20
hours straight).  I was worried that he would be disoriented for days, but
he is back up and functioning  well.

Though things are far from good/normal (whatever that is) ,  they are better
than we dared hope this time last year.  Bob brags that this is the best Tim
has been in 15 years!





Daphna

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#149 From: "David R. Gibson" <drgibsonlub@...>
Date: Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:20 am
Subject: (No subject) drgibsonlub
Offline
Send Email

Here's the agenda for the board meeting this week.

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#148 From: "David R. Gibson" <drgibsonlub@...>
Date: Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:14 am
Subject: Re: [NAMITX] Financial ties in the field of psychiatry drgibsonlub
Offline
Send Email

Erin,
This does not surprise me or bother me.  The key sentence of this article is
this:

"Sharfstein added yesterday that the presence of experts with ties to companies
on the manual's expert panels is understandable, given that many of the top
experts in the field are involved in drug research."

This is the way it is with probably all the medical specialities.  The leaders
in the field are doing things with certain companies.  Each expert has to decide
what is more important, the company or his own reputation.

David

---- Erin Graham <erin.lee.graham@...> wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about this?  Frankly, it's a scary thought.
>
> Erin Graham
> Consumer Education Coordinator
> NAMI Lubbock
> (806) 783-9268
> http://namilubbock.nami.org
> Financial ties in the field of psychiatry
> Experts defining mental disorders are linked to drug firms
> By Shankar Vedantam
>
> Updated: 9:00 a.m. ET April 20, 2006
>
> WASHINGTON - Every psychiatric expert involved in writing the standard
diagnostic criteria for disorders such as depression and schizophrenia has had
financial ties to drug companies that sell medications for those illnesses, a
new analysis has found.
>
> Of the 170 experts in all who contributed to the manual that defines disorders
from personality problems to drug addiction, more than half had such ties,
including 100 percent of the experts who served on work groups on mood disorders
and psychotic disorders. The analysis did not reveal the extent of their
relationships with industry or whether those ties preceded or followed their
work on the manual.
>
> "I don't think the public is aware of how egregious the financial ties are in
the field of psychiatry," said Lisa Cosgrove, a clinical psychologist at the
University of Massachusetts in Boston, who is publishing her analysis today in
the peer-reviewed journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
>
> The analysis comes at a time of growing debate over the rising use of
medication as the primary or sole treatment for many psychiatric disorders, a
trend driven in part by definitions of mental disorders in the psychiatric
manual.
>
> 'Political' process
> Cosgrove said she began her research after discovering that five of six panel
members studying whether certain premenstrual problems are a psychiatric
disorder had ties to Eli Lilly & Co., which was seeking to market its drug
Prozac to treat those symptoms. The process of defining such disorders is far
from scientific, Cosgrove added: "You would be dismayed at how political the
process can be."
>
> The American Psychiatric Association, which publishes the guidelines in its
bible of disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), said it is
planning to require disclosure of the financial ties of experts who write the
next edition of the manual -- due around 2011. The manual carries vast influence
over the practice of psychiatry in the United States and around the world.
>
> Darrel Regier, director of the association's division of research, said that
concerns over disclosure are a relatively recent phenomenon, which may be why
the last edition, published in 1994, did not note them. Regier and John Kane, an
expert on schizophrenia who worked on the last edition, agreed with the need for
transparency but said financial ties with industry should not undermine public
confidence in the conclusions of its experts. Kane has been a consultant to drug
companies including Abbott Laboratories, Eli Lilly, Janssen and Pfizer Inc.
>
> "It shouldn't be assumed there is a true conflict of interest," said Kane, who
said his panel's conclusions were driven only by science. "To me, a conflict of
interest implies that someone's judgment is going to be influenced by this
relationship, and that is not necessarily the case. . . ."
>
> Social, cultural factors ignored?
> The DSM defines disorders in terms of constellations of symptoms. While
neuroscience and genetics are revealing biological aspects to many disorders,
there has been unease that psychiatry is ignoring social, psychological and
cultural factors in its pursuit of biological explanations and treatments.
>
> "As a profession, we have allowed the biopsychosocial model to become the
bio-bio-bio model," Steven Sharfstein, president of the American Psychiatric
Association, said in an essay last year to his colleagues. He later added, "If
we are seen as mere pill pushers and employees of the pharmaceutical industry,
our credibility as a profession is compromised."
>
> He stressed that the association has strict guidelines to police the role of
the pharmaceutical industry but said the profession as a whole needs to do a
better job monitoring ethical conflicts.
>
> Sharfstein added yesterday that the presence of experts with ties to companies
on the manual's expert panels is understandable, given that many of the top
experts in the field are involved in drug research.
>
> "I am not surprised that the key people who participate have these kinds of
relationships," he said. "They are the major researchers in the field, and are
very much on the cutting edge, and will have some kind of relationship -- but
there should be full disclosure."
>
> Critical of analysis
> At least one psychiatrist who worked on the current manual criticized the
analysis. Nancy Andreasen of the University of Iowa, who headed the
schizophrenia team, called the new analysis "very flawed" because it did not
distinguish researchers who had ties to industry while serving on the panel from
those who formed such ties afterward.
>
> Two out of five researchers on her team had had substantial ties to industry,
she said. Andreasen said she would have to check her tax statements to know
whether she received money from companies at the time she worked on the panel,
but said, "What I do know is that I do almost nothing with drug companies. . . .
My area of research is neuroimaging, not psychopharmacology."
>
> The analysis could not determine the extent or timing of the financial ties
because it relied on disclosures in journal publications and other venues that
do not mention many details, said Sheldon Krimsky, a science policy specialist
at Tufts University who also was an author of the new study. Whether the
researchers received money before, during or after their service on the panel
did not remove the ethical concern, he said.
>
> Krimsky, the author of the book "Science in the Private Interest," added that
although more transparency is welcome, the psychiatric association should staff
its panels with disinterested experts.
>
> "When someone is establishing a clinical guideline for the bible of
psychiatric diagnosis, I would argue they should have no affiliation with the
drug companies in those areas where the companies could benefit from those
decisions," he said.
>
> © 2006 The Washington Post Company

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#147 From: "Daphna Simpson" <daphna_simpson@...>
Date: Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:12 pm
Subject: and now the update daphna_simpson@...
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Daphna Simpson

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#146 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:01 am
Subject: This Week in NAMI Lubbock..... agibson@...
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Just wanted to remind everyone of our monthly meeting tomorrow night at 7 pm. Dr. John Cobb (the new psychiatrist in Lubbock I am now seeing) will be speaking on Mood Disorders.

Also, Thursday (4/27) will be the quarterly board meeting. Some of the topics up for discussion by the board currently are:

NAMIWalks - past funding and future participation;
Mental Health Awareness Month;
The Annual NAMI Lubbock Dinner;
Nominees for the Lubbock Legacy Awards;
The NAMI Lubbock office;
By-laws;
upcoming trainings and conventions;
and a whole lot more!

For more information about any of these things, check out our website at http://namilubbock.nami.org. If you have a topic you would like to put something on the board agenda, go to the website, and click onto the Meetings page. At the bottom of the page is a link to e-mail all questions, concerns, etc. you would like brought forth before the NAMI Lubbock BOD.

And remember, the meetings are open to the public. Membership is encouraged to attend!

Call the NAMI Line or e-mail with further questions.

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

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#145 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:44 am
Subject: DSHS Hearing in Lubbock tomorrow..... agibson@...
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Howdy,

Just wanted everyone to know about the below information. I'm hoping to be there at from 3 pm until about 6 pm although it ends at 7 pm. For more info, click on the meeting agenda link.

Apr. 25, 2006 - 3:00 p.m.	(meeting agenda)
Public Hearing: Draft 2007-2011 Coordinated Strategic Plan Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Academic Classroom Building, Room 150 3601 4th Street Parking Information: on campus, adjacent to building, Lots D1 and D2 Lubbock, Tx Contact: Laura Jordan, (512) 424-6946
Back to the Public Meetings Search Page

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

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#144 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Sat Apr 22, 2006 10:47 pm
Subject: Friday Facts from NAMI National: April 21, 2006 agibson@...
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NAMI National Friday Facts **April 21, 2006**

1. Heroes in the Fight Program Honors Community Heroes
2. NAMI State Policy Conference Call Scheduled to Address Impact of Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) on Medicaid Policy
3. NAMI 2006 Elections
4. Free Teleconference on Self-Disclosure Offered by SAMHSA
5. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit
6. Justice Department Announcement On Criminal Justice/Mental Health Grant Funds Expected Shortly
7. Second Annual CIT Conference Call for Presentations!
8. Multicultural Mental Health Research Conference Call Postponed
9. Avanzamos!
10. Seeking Nominations for the Family-to-Family Hall of Fame
11. Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees
12. NAMI Legal Denter in Need of Mental Health Attorneys
13. Deadlines and Dates to Remember

1. Heroes in the Fight Program Honors Community Heroes

Designed to recognize a wide range of health care and other professionals who provide exemplary care and support for consumers and their families, Heroes in the Fight^SM was established by Eli Lilly and Company. The NAMI National Regional Leadership Consultant team is collaborating with Eli Lilly and Company on this project. Here's a quote from one NAMI Affiliate involved in the December pilot:

"These are dark times for people with mental illness and their families. Huge budget cuts caused severe rationing of mental health care and thousands have lost their Medicaid coverage. Tough times challenge everyone and bring out the heroic spirit in some. We were thrilled to join with our colleagues to call attention to truly heroic individuals and treatment teams. This program gave us inspiration and new energy to continue the fight." Cynthia Keele – President, NAMI Missouri

An independent selection committee created by each advocacy partner will review nominations and select seven recipients across categories spanning health care professionals, community supporters and media. In addition, each advocacy partner will choose a separate nonprofit mental health organization to receive a $500 donation from Eli Lilly and Company in each award recipient's name (seven awards). These donations will be used to improve education or help advance care for persons with severe and persistent mental illness in their community.

Advocacy partner applications will be accepted from Monday, April 17 through Friday, May 5. Partner selections will be made on a rolling basis based upon pre-defined partnership criteria defined in the application form. For more information and an application form, contact Cari with VMS Medical at (317) 805-6645 x241 (email cari.nicholson@...) or contact your NAMI Regional Leadership Consultant: Region 1 and Region 4 – Liz Smith lsmith@...; Region 2 – Teri Brister tbrister@...; Region 3 – Karen Ford Manza kmanza@....

2. NAMI State Policy Conference Call Scheduled to Address Impact of Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) on Medicaid Policy

Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Call-in Number: 1 - 888-858-6021 (Toll Free), Access Code: 309918#

3. NAMI 2006 Elections

Congratulations to our 2006 NAMI National Board candidates! The following NAMI leaders have been nominated for the five slots up for election on the National Board of Directors:

Don Muller (nominated by NAMI Utah)
Dave Lushbaugh (nominated by NAMI Georgia)
Anand Pandya (nominated by New Yor)
Fred Frese (nominated by NAMI Summit County, Ohio)
Eileen Silber (nominated by NAMI North Carolina)
Nancy Carter (nominated by NAMI California)
Suzanne Clifford (nominated by NAMI Indiana)
Marty Raaymakers (nominated by NAMI Michigan)

For information about the election, proposed bylaws changes and the Board candidates (including their letters of nomination, photographs, and answers to five questions on the most pressing issues facing NAMI), visit www.nami.org/voting and watch for your special election edition of the Advocate, coming in May.

4. Free Teleconference on Self-Disclosure Offered by SAMHSA

The SAMHSA Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma Associated With Mental Illness invites you to participate in a free teleconference training titled, "Self-disclosure: The Public and Personal Effects of Revealing Mental Health Problems."

Date: Thursday, April 27, 2006
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (Eastern Time)

To participate in this training teleconference, please complete the online registration form located at http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/regpage.cfm. For additional teleconference information, please refer to the Training section of the SAMHSA ADS Center web site or contact a technical assistance representative by e-mail at stopstigma@... or by telephone at 1-800-540-0320. Please pass this invitation along to interested friends and colleagues. Please note: Registration for this teleconference will close at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on Wednesday, April 26, 2006.

5. Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit

NAMI's Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit on June 28 to July 2 as part of NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention. The Summit will bring together multicultural mental health leaders from across the nation to address the lack of access to care and the disparities in treatment faced by multicultural communities. The Summit will feature policy and research briefings, plenary sessions and program tracks to address issues specific to African American, American Indian, Asian American and Latino/Hispanic communities. Nationally recognized consumer and family advocates, researchers, policymakers and providers will work together to offer a vision for change. For more information contact us at MACenter@... or visit www.nami.org/summit.

6. Justice Department Announcement On Criminal Justice/Mental Health Grant Funds Expected Shortly

The U.S. Congress allocated $5 million in FY 2007 for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, a program which will be administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). A notice from BJA announcing the availability of funds through this program is expected in the next several weeks. These funds, which will be available to state, tribal and local governments, may be used for a variety of purposes to assist non-violent offenders with mental illnesses, including jail diversion, reentry programs, and training programs for law enforcement, corrections, and mental health personnel. The BJA will solicit applications for these grants through a "Notice of Fund Availability" (NOFA). While the specific requirements for grantees are not yet available, it is expected that applicants who can demonstrate strong collaborations between criminal justice, mental health and other key stakeholders (including consumers and families) will be favored. We also anticipate that prospective grantees will have approximately one month after the date the NOFA is released to submit their applications. NAMI will provide more specific information about the NOFA and how to apply for these grants when it becomes available. For more information about this program, go to http://consensusproject.org/infocenter/news/Mar06/miotcra-update.

7. Second Annual CIT Conference Call for Presentations!

We are pleased to announce a Call for Presentations for The Second Annual CIT Conference! The Second Annual CIT Conference will be held this year in Orlando, Florida. For more detailed information, contact Michele Saunders at Michele.fpic@... or Bonnie Sultan at Bonnies@.... Mark your calendars for September 25, 26, 27! Information on the program, registration and accommodation will be released in the near future at the following website:http://cit.fmhi.usf.edu.

8. Multicultural Mental Health Research Conference Call Postponed

The American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Conference Call scheduled for Friday, April 28, 2006 at 11:00 am will be postponed until further notice. This conference call is part of the new series of adult conference calls hosted by Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI's Medical Director. This new series has focused on mental health research in communities of color. Dr. Duckworth has been joined by prominent researchers who focus on African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Latino/Hispanic mental health. We will let you know the date in an upcoming issue of Friday Facts.

9. Avanzamos!

10. Seeking Nominations for the Family-to-Family Hall of Fame

11. Airline discounts available for NAMI Convention Attendees

We have arranged discounts on two airlines, UNITED AIRLINES and AMERICAN AIRLINES, for attendees for the NAMI National Convention in Washington, D.C., June 26-July 2, 2006.

We have also arranged the following discount on AMERICAN AIRLINES:

a) 5% discount off Coach fares.
b) After the ticket is purchased, but at least 48 hours prior to outbound flight departure date, the name may be changed for a service fee. (This is a great new benefit that AA is offering to our meeting attendees.)

12. NAMI Legal Center in Need of Mental Health Attorneys

The Legal Center is presently in need of more Mental Health Attorneys in Criminal Defense practice. Nearly one third of callers to the Legal Centerequest such support for family members in jail and prison to present facts on serious mental illness in the criminal justice system. Although we have nearly 100 Mental Health Courts at present, there continues to be a critical need for more attorneys in this discipline, both for fee and pro bono. Please send nominations for such legal support to stuart@.... Thank you.

Disclaimer - NAMI Legal Center

NAMI does not warrant or guarantee results of referrals from the Legal Center. However, we use the Disability Directory of the American Bar Association, the Directory of the American Council of Trust and Estate Attorneys, the Directory of the Planned Lifetime Assistance Network, the Directory of Legal Aid and Defender Offices, and our own Directory of Mental Health Attorneys. We make our best effort to find legal support for inquiries to the NAMI Legal Center.

13. Deadlines and Dates to Remember

- April 27 – April 30: NAMI National Education, Training and Peer Support Center Training of Trainers; Family to Family, In Our Own Voice; Family Support Group Facilitation; and NAMI-C.A.R.E., St. Louis, MO, Airport Hilton.

- April 27: Teleconference: "Self-disclosure: The Public and Personal Effects of Revealing Mental Health Problems," Time: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (Eastern Time). For more information and registration go to: http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/regpage.cfm.

- May 5 - NAMI State policy conference call to address impact of Deficit Reduction Act, Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time; Call-in Number: 1 - 888-858-6021 (Toll Free), Access Code: 309918#.

- May 5: Multicultural Strategic Summit scholarship applications due.

- May 5 - Heroes in the Fight Program applications due.

- May 31: F2F Hall of Fame Nominations due to Lynne@....

- June 28-July 2, 2006: NAMI's 2006 Annual Convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

- June 28-July 22: NAMI's Multicultural Action Center (MAC) will host the Eliminating Disparities: Multicultural Strategic Summit as part of NAMI's 2006

- September 25-27: Second Annual CIT Conference

- November 10-12: NAMI’s 2006 Fall Leadership Conference, St. Louis, MO.

NAMI ~ 2107 Wilson Blvd. ~ Suite 300 ~ Arlington, VA 22201

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#143 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:53 pm
Subject: FW: [NAMITX] clozaril agibson@...
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Note to Team Solutions Students. Remember class discussion from this past Tuesday. Great little read.

Andy Gibson

Consumer Network Director

NAMI Lubbock

(806) 783-9268

(806) 773-7368

http://namilubbock.nami.org

From: NAMITX@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Diana Kern
Sent: Wed 4/19/2006 4:09 PM
To: NAMITX@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [NAMITX] clozaril

Schizophrenia Drug Gets Vote of Confidence Associated Press - April 01, 2006 NEW YORK - A schizophrenia drug as well-known for its risk of dangerous side effects as for its effectiveness gets a vote of confidence in a new federally financed study. Researchers explored a common situation in schizophrenia treatment: If the first drug a patient tries fails to control symptoms adequately, what drug should be tried next? When patients in that situation were randomly assigned a second drug in the new study, Clozaril emerged as more effective than Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa, said lead author Dr. Joseph McEvoy of the Duke University Medical Center. That's not a surprise, he said, because Clozaril "was believed to be the most therapeutically effective drug out there." But it's under-used because of the risk of side effects that require patients to go through special monitoring, he said. In a companion analysis of other patients who didn't want to try Clozaril or who'd abandoned their first medication because of side effects, Risperdal and Zyprexa were found to be more effective than Geodon and Seroquel. Clozaril is sold by Novartis SA, Risperdal by Janssen Pharmaceutica and Zyprexa by Eli Lilly and Co. Both papers appear in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. The work, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, was the second phase of a government study to seek the most effective way to treat people with this devastating mental disorder. Schizophrenics struggle with such symptoms as hallucinations, delusions, social withdrawal, and other mental impairments that interfere with a normal lifestyle. Dr. Darrel Regier, director of the research division of the American Psychiatric Association, said the head-to-head drug comparisons are "a major step forward" that will help doctors make a choice for a second drug to try. Doctors have to consider both effectiveness and side effects of the various drugs in deciding what's best for each patient, he said. In fact, McEvoy said if a patient had gotten inadequate response from a first drug other than Zyprexa, he'd recommend trying Zyprexa because it doesn't have Clozaril's side effects and the need for special monitoring of patients. But if Zyprexa doesn't work, he said, he'd recommend Clozaril. Clozaril's potential side effects include a loss of disease-fighting white blood cells and a potentially fatal inflammation of heart muscle. The risks make it more complex to use because patients must be closely monitored. For example, users must take weekly blood tests at first. In the new studies, effectiveness was measured by how long patients stayed with the new drug. In the study that included Clozaril, half the 45 patients on that drug stuck with it for nearly 11 months or more. In the other three medication groups, which contained about 15 patients apiece, the corresponding figure was about three months. While the difference in that measure between Clozaril and Zyprexa was not significant by statistical criteria, other measures in the study found Clozaril to be superior, McEvoy said. In the other analysis, which covered more than 300 patients, the results were seven months for Risperdal and six months for Zyprexa, longer than the four months for Seroquel or the three months for Geodon. Save time by starting a search from any Web page with the MSN Search Toolbar-FREE!

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#142 From: "Andy Gibson" <agibson@...>
Date: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:03 pm
Subject: DSHS Hearing agibson@...
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Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2006 - 3:00 - 7:00 p.m.
(meeting agenda) <http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/news/blankAgenda.html>
Public Hearing: 2007-2011 Coordinated Strategic Plan
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Academic Classroom Building, Room 150
3601 4th

Street Lubbock, Tx

Parking Information: on campus, adjacent to building, Lots D1 and D2 Contact: Laura Jordan, (512) 424-6974

More information will come on this hearing as it becomes avaliable.

Andy Gibson
Consumer Network Director
NAMI Lubbock
(806) 783-9268
(806) 773-7368
http://namilubbock.nami.org

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