2009 Legislative and Policy Confernce was a great success!!
From March 9-11, 2009 participants in the 2009 conference heard informative and engaging presentations, met with Members of Congress, learned about the prospects and process for health care reform, attended a Congressional Reception where Representatives Patrick Kennedy, Allyson Schwartz and Jackie Speier spoke to them, and celebrated NACBHDD's 20th anniversary as a NACo affiliate! It was a jam-packed three days that participants said were educational, memorable and fun!
A highlight of the 2009 Conference was the 20th Anniversary Reception that celebrated NACBHDD's two decades as an official NACo affiliate. We were pleased that NACo's Executive Director, Larry Naake, came by to speak to us accompanied by NACo President-elect Teresa Altemus from Virginia who said a few words as well. Long time NACBHDD Board Member David Wiebe (Johnson County, KS) was the evenings Master of Ceremonies and presented the "Outstanding Leadership Award" to the longest serving Board Member, Mr. Lynn Ferrell of Polk County, IA. Wiebe read remarks prepared by Ferrell's Iowa colleage and NACBHDD Board member, Linda Hinton, Counsel for the Iowa State Association of Counties, about Ferrell. The speech was entitled "Lynn Ferrell: the Unsung Hero."
The conference began with an engaging keynote presentation by Dr. Ronald Manderscheid on the topic of "National Health and Health Care Reform." This presentation was the basis for numerous conversations about how best to incorporate behavioral health care into health care reform. The theme was continued in the presentations by SAMHSA's three Centers: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). A presentation by CMS followed the SAMHSA session.
Prior to going to Capitol Hill for meetings with their own Members of Congress, NACBHDD Conference participants heard briefings on key legislative issues from our colleagues at the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS), the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Addiction Directors (NASADAD), the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), and the National Governors' Association (NGA).
Our luncheon speaker, Nancy Thaler, Executive Director of NASDDDS, added to the information our members took to the Hill with her thought-provoking look at the future in her speech "Health Care Reform: Long-Term Services and Supports for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities." She offered a view of health care reform that would include coverage of the services and supports essential to enabling persons with developmental disabilities to live productive and quality lives.
The afternoon was spent visiting with elected officials representing participants counties and states. We all reconvened in the House of Representatives' Veterans Affairs Committee hearing room for a very informative briefing by Representative Michael Michaud (D-ME), Chairman of the Committee's Health Subcommittee, who spoke about the legislation his subcommittee will consider to enhance the care of returning veterans who need mental health and addiction services. Following the Chairman's presentation on veterans, we also heard from Andrew Schneider, Chief Health Counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Andy presented an overview of the process the House will use to craft its health care reform bill(s) and his predictions on what the proposals might look like.
The Congressional Reception closed out the second day of the conference and left participants excited and engaged in the legislative process.
The 2009 Legislation and Policy Conference offered sessions on a variety of topics of interest to county behavioral health and developmental disability directors including:
You can see all of the sessions and speakers in the Program of the 2009 Legislative and Policy Conference. Available PowerPoint presentations and printed resources are listed below.
Supportive Housing - Mark Refowitz
HIT: Integrated Electronic Health Records - Stephan Sherman
HIT: Update on HIT Legislation - Kirsten Beronio
HIT: Interoperability - Mark Refowitz
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2008 Legislative and Policy Conference
To see some of the PowerPoint presentations and materials that were distributed at the 2008 conference click here.
To see photos taken at the Capitol Hill reception with Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) click here.
NACBHDD 2008 Legislative and Policy Conference Program
NACBHDD and NACo Offered Joint Presentation on Jail Diversion at NACo 2007 Summer Conference
At the recent NACo summer meetings in Richmond, Virginia several programs focused on criminal justice issues. A highlight was the session moderated by NACBHDD Vice Chair Leon Evans, Executive Director of The Center for Health Care Services in San Antonio, Texas. Another NACBHDD member, Amy Kroll, Mental Health Forensic Program Director for the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Department of Human Services-Office of Behavioral Health, was a panelist and presented an overview of the continuum of jail diversion services developed in Allegheny County based on the "Sequential Intercept Model" including, police-based CIT, pre- and post-booking diversion, mental health and drug courts, and re-entry programs. The well attended session offered a snapshot of the many components needed to deal with individuals with mental health needs who come in contact with the criminal justice system.
