Federal Bill Aims to Address Gun Violence, Includes Funding for Mental Health Care & School Security
June 14, 2022
"A bipartisan group of senators announced Sunday that it had
reached a tentative agreement on legislation that would pair
modest new gun restrictions with significant new mental health
and school security investments - a deal that could put Congress
on a path to enacting...
House Passes ‘Red Flag’ Gun Bill with Presidential Support; Bill Now Moves to the Senate
June 13, 2022
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.2377, the
Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order of 2022, that would allow
families, police, and others to ask federal courts to order the
removal of firearms from people at extreme risk of harming
themselves or othe...
DDD Shares Update on Enhanced Funding for Day Services Reconciliation
June 9, 2022
On October 1, 2021, rates for Day Services (i.e., Career
Planning, Community Inclusion Services, Day Habilitation,
Prevocational Training - Group and Individual, and Supported
Employment - Group and Individual) were increased due to one-time
funding appropriated to the Di...
Experts Warn against Conflating Mental Illness and Violence
June 7, 2022
In response to recent mass shootings, including that
which took place in Uvalde, Texas at Robb Elementary
School that claimed the lives of 19 students and two
teachers and wounded 17 other people, communities in New
...
HHS Extends Deadline to Use ARP Funds for Expanding and Enhancing HCBS for Medicaid
June 6, 2022
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS),
announced a one-year extension to the time that states will have
to use American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to enhance, expand, and
strengthen home-...
White House Releases Fact Sheet on Strategy to Address National Mental Health Crisis
June 2, 2022
Yesterday, on the final day of Mental Health Awareness Month, the
White House released a
fact sheet highlighting the Biden-Harris
Administration's strategy to address the national mental health
crisis. The statement noted that the U.S. is facing an
unprecedented mental...
SAMHSA Shares Resources Including on School Shootings and Gun Violence
June 1, 2022
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) has shared a variety of resources for SAMHSA Region II
in the wake of the tragedies of Buffalo, NY; Uvalde TX; and the
211 prior mass shootings so far this year.
Support resources following recent sc...
Bipartisan Group of Senate Finance Committee Leaders Propose Plan to Expand Mental Telehealthcare
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of Senate Finance Committee
Leaders prosed a plan for expanding telehealth access for mental
health services.
The committee's plan would eliminate Medicare's in-person visit
requirement prior to patients seeking online mental health
services. This requi...
New Jersey Recorded More than 4,300 Drug, Alcohol, and Suicide Deaths in 2020
Yesterday, Trust for America's Health released a
report that found that alcohol, drugs, and suicide
accounted for 186,763 deaths across the U.S. in 2020.
In New Jersey, there were 826 alcohol-induced deaths and 2,921
drug-related deaths in 2020. These numbers represent increases of
2...
Shootings, Tragic Deaths and Lasting Trauma Underscore Need for Strong Laws and Increased Access
Shootings, Tragic Deaths and Lasting Trauma Underscore
Need for Strong Laws and Increased Access to Services
- Statement from Debra L. Wentz, PhD, President and
CEO
The New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction
Agencies, Inc. (NJAMHAA) is devastated to hear about the hor...
Tragic Deaths and Lasting Trauma Underscore Need for Strong Laws and Increased Access to Services
May 25, 2022
Statement from Debra L. Wentz, PhD, President and
CEO
The New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction
Agencies, Inc. (NJAMHAA) is devastated to hear about the horrific
loss of 19 students and two teachers, and serious injuries to
several more children and ad...
Lack of Federal COVID-19 Funds May Soon Lead to Supply Rationing
May 24, 2022
Nearly all of the money in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan
that was dedicated directly to the COVID-19 response has been
spent, and the White House is planning for a number of
contingencies if more COVID-19 funding is not approved by
Congress. Among these contingen...
Sharing Personal Stories of Mental Health Struggles Helps Eliminate Stigma
May 23, 2022
Open conversations about mental health that have occurred as a
result of the pandemic are helping to eliminate stigma, which is
the greatest factor that prevents individuals from seeking help.
An extremely powerful tool is sharing experiences with mental
health challenges...
Public Health Emergency Expected to Be Extended Past July
May 23, 2022
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented a
COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) in January 2020. Since
then, the PHE has been continually reviewed and renewed. The last
official extension of the PHE took place on April 16, 2022, which
extended the P...
House Energy & Commerce Committee Votes in Favor of MAT Act Amendments, Paving Way for House Vote
May 19, 2022
On May 18th, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce
Committee voted to approve an amendment to the Mainstreaming
Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, to remove the buprenorphine
X-Waiver, and to move the MAT Act out of committee. The
Committee, Chaired by Representative Frank Pallo...
