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...
Biden Administration Releases New Housing Supply Action Plan
May 17, 2022
Today, the Biden Administration released a new Housing
Supply Action Plan with the aim of closing the housing
supply gap in five years. This plan, part of the
Administration's efforts to combat inflation, looks to
...
NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission Faces Harsh Questioning during Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
May 16, 2022
On Thursday, May 12, 2022, the New Jersey Senate Judiciary
Committee held a hearing that primarily scrutinized and raised
concerns about the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission's
(CRC's) rollout of legal marijuana in the state. The hearing,
which lasted five hours, ...
FDA Approves Olumiant for COVID-19 Treatment
May 12, 2022
On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
announced approval of a new indication, or justification for
prescription, of the drug Olumiant (baricitinib) for treatment of
COVID-19 in hospitalized adults requiring supplemental oxygen,
non-invasive or invasive...
Lack of Inpatient Psychiatric Services Forces Hundreds of Suicidal Teens to Spend Nights in ERs
May 10, 2022
As the mental health crisis continues to wear on in the U.S., an
increasing number of youth are vying for a limited number of
treatment openings. The situation can become even worse when
those individuals are mandated such treatment by emergency room
doctors.
At Bosto...
FDA Restricts Use of J&J’s COVID-19 Vaccine over Blood Clot Risk
May 9, 2022
On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
announced that it had limited the authorized use of the Johnson
& Johnson (J&J; also referred to as Janssen) COVID-19
vaccine due to the risk of developing thrombosis with
thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a d...
Providers Make Up for Language Barrier Shortcomings in Current Telehealth Services
May 5, 2022
While the expansion of telehealth services has improved access to
care for many Americans, it has also ushered in a new set of
challenges for others. One such issue relates to individuals who
don't speak English and others who have limited English speaking
skills facing ht...
Provider Shares Heartwarming Example of the Value of Behavioral Health Services
May 4, 2022
"The power of hope: That's where we come in as providers. That
one interaction, that one engagement can really change the
trajectory for an individual in need. You're really looking at a
multigenerational solution because we have the opportunity to
engage not just the mom,...
Fentanyl, Lack of Access to Life-Saving Drugs Present Major Issues in Battle against Opioid Crisis
May 3, 2022
While over the past 10 years, the New Jersey Legislature
has passed dozens of bills aimed at expanding access to
treatment, education, and life-saving drugs like
naloxone, as well as changing how many drug crimes are
...
