Mental Health Association of
Week ending February 1, 2008
The
Mental Health Association annual legislative briefing and reception was a
resounding success. The briefing was extremely informative with presentations
by a number of legislators and Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown gave an
excellent key note address.
There were
several briefings of interest to the Association this week. Of primary interest was the briefing in the
House Health and Government Operations Committee on the progress on the
initiatives defined in House Bill 281 – Incarcerated
Individuals with Mental Illness enacted during the 2007
Session. The hearing went very well for
mental health advocates as Public Health Subcommittee Chair Delegate James
Hubbard castigated the MVA for their failure to respond to the need to provide
IDs to persons leaving incarceration.
Delegate Hubbard made it clear that continued failure to find a solution
was unacceptable. He expressed similar
sentiments to the DHMH on their failure to enhance IT capability to address
coverage and linkage to care capabilities intended by the legislation. His
views were echoed by other members of the Subcommittee. Hopefully the ire of the Legislators will
provide new momentum to move forward.