Latest news with #AlabamaDepartmentofMentalHealth
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alabama veterans mental health plan focuses on crisis care, treatment access
Kimberly Boswell, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, chairs the Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee on March 26, 2025 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector) State officials Wednesday agreed to recommend expanded services, new prevention programs and stronger partnerships between state agencies to improve mental health care and crisis intervention for Alabama veterans. The recommendations, presented Wednesday during an Alabama Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee meeting in Montgomery, focused on four primary goals: suicide prevention; enhancing crisis care and care transitions; increasing access to treatment, and addressing risk factors that contribute to mental health issues among veterans. '[We're] really trying to figure out, based on all the data and documents we've produced, where the gaps in services, and how can we best build those gaps,' said Alabama Department of Mental Health Commissioner Kimberly Boswell, who chairs the committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Alabama's veterans experienced suicide at a rate of 35.4 per 100,000 in 2021, exceeding both the national veteran average and the state's general population rate. A significant number of Alabamians, including veterans, suffer from traumatic brain injuries (TBI), a condition linked to increased mental health challenges. Research indicates veterans in Alabama face higher rates of mental illness and substance abuse compared to their non-veteran counterparts. The committee recommended establishing an Alabama Veterans Resources Center (AVRC), a partnership between the state and Alabama Power designed to serve as a centralized hub for veterans' services. SB 70, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, which provides for its creation, was signed by Gov. Kay Ivey in February. 'We're very, very excited about that Veterans Resource Center and looking forward to getting it up and running,' Boswell said. The committee also recommended expanding programs for traumatic brain injuries, citing a $2.5 million allocation in the state's Education Trust Fund budget. The funding would allow veterans with TBIs to receive care beyond the current two-year post-injury eligibility limit. 'The combination of traumatic brain injury and substance use disorder put veterans at the greatest risk of suicide, and addressing TBI is a really important goal of the group,' Boswell said. Another recommendation is to implement the Storing Ammunition and Firearms to Enhance Resilience (SAFER) Together Program, an initiative promoting secure firearm and ammunition storage to reduce suicide risk. SB 40, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, which would allow people experiencing suicidal thoughts to surrender a firearm to a licensed gun dealer, passed the Senate in February and is in position to be voted on in the House. The committee also called for a formal partnership between the Alabama Department of Mental Health and the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs to improve coordination of behavioral health services as well as organizing a summit on veterans' mental health to focus on improving awareness and education among service providers. 'We're really excited about the partnership with ADVA and really working together to figure out how to truly address the behavioral health needs of veterans,' Boswell said. 'They're kind of the expert on the veterans and we're kind of the expert on behavioral health, and we really feel very strongly about that partnership.' The committee will finalize a final draft Friday to present to the Legislature and Gov. Kay Ivey. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Opioid deaths decreased in 2024, but other drugs heighten concerns
Mar. 8—Alabama saw a 24% decrease in opioid overdoses in 2024, but more work needs to be done, according to an official with the Alabama Department of Mental Health. ADMH state opioid coordinator Debbi Metzger spoke at the 23rd Annual Alabama Child Safety Conference at Decatur Baptist this week and discussed the trend of opioid and other narcotic addictions over the years. Metzger said in 2024, the state Department of Mental Health distributed about 40,000 naloxone kits, used to reverse opioid overdoses, to agencies across the state. "Our reported (fatal) overdoses (in 2024) were around 1,265, the predicted overdoses were under 1,290 and we like seeing that," Metzger said. "Our overprescribing dropped 50%. We went from 143.8 scripts for 100 people (in 2012) to 71.4 for 100 people in 2023." In Morgan County, there were 59.7 opioid prescriptions per 100 people in 2022, compared to 161.6 prescriptions per 100 people in 2012, according to the state's Central Data Repository. Morgan County Coroner Jeff Chunn said he has seen a decrease in opioid overdose deaths in the last eight months, but said it is still an "epidemic." "I don't know whether it's supply or what, I really don't know why," Chunn said of the decrease. "I know law enforcement is getting a lot off the streets right now." In 2024, Chunn said Morgan County had 66 overdose deaths. "We've even seen fentanyl in vapes," Chunn said. Chunn said fentanyl remains the top opioid choice for individuals, and over the last year, he has heard of users mixing it with other narcotics, such as cocaine or methamphetamine, to intensify the effects. He said a majority of overdose deaths he encounters are from these drug combinations. "Very seldom do we find just pure fentanyl," Chunn said. Metzger said over the last few years, synthetic opioids like nitazenes have become more prevalent. "It does respond to naloxone, you just have to take a lot more," Metzger said. "(Nitazenes) are often mixed with other substances, which makes it difficult to detect." Metzger said synthetic cathinones, known on the street as bath salts, are beginning to become popular among youths, mainly because most drug tests fail to detect it. "It's still very dangerous for our youth," Metzger said of bath salts. "It creates neurological and psychiatric issues such as paranoia and self-destructive behaviors. We are seeing an increase in this." Chunn said he occasionally hears of individuals overdosing on bath salts and said as far as their prevalence that "they come and go." "I haven't seen a lot just here recently," Chunn said. "Every time something gets outlawed, they find a way to mix something different." Metzger said marijuana and alcohol remain the top recreational substances among juveniles and young adults, just as they were 30 years ago. However, she said while opioid use among ages 12 to 25 is relatively low, it presents a new concern that did not exist before. "We've seen dramatic increases in the last five to 10 years, largely with our college-age (individuals)," Metzger said. Metzger said another drug that is becoming popular is xylazine, or tranq. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, xylazine is a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer that has been found mixed with opioids such as fentanyl. Metzger said because it is not an opioid, naloxone will have no effect on an individual who overdoses on xylazine. "We don't see as much of it in the South as there is in the Northeast, however, it has very damaging consequences for the user," Metzger said. "Typically, it's people who are injecting it in sites on their legs and arms and bodies and we typically see individuals who are homeless or without shelter who are using this, and they usually have compromised immune systems anyway." Chunn said one of the earliest instances of a xylazine overdose death in Alabama happened in Decatur. "There for a while, I hadn't had any in quite a few months, but at the beginning of the year last year, we had several overdoses on xylazine," Chunn said. Metzger said Jefferson County had the highest fatal overdose percentage and Morgan County was in the top 10 counties of the state in fatal overdoses per capita in 2024. "What does that tell you?" Metzger said. "It tells you we need more services." In 2015, the Alabama Legislature passed the Good Samaritan Law, which provides immunity to anyone prescribing or administering naloxone. The following year, the Legislature passed a law authorizing the state health officer or a county health officer to write a standing order for dispensing naloxone. Like a prescription, the standing order can be provided to a person who is at risk of an overdose or someone who is in a position to assist an at-risk person. Metzger said individuals and agencies can now receive free naloxone kits from the state Department of Mental Health. Michele Moore, of Quest Prevention Services in Morgan County, said she believes the availability of naloxone to be a lifesaver for individuals of all ages. "I think the decrease in overdoses (in 2024) would probably be from the (naloxone)," Moore said. "There are still people who need to stop using but that's available to them where there's not deaths for sure." — or 256-340-2442.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
SpectraCare's Crisis Center set to hold grand opening Monday
DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) — On Monday, Dothan will be home to one of the six mental health crisis centers across the state that assist individuals experiencing mental health or substance use crises. A grand opening for SpectraCare's Crisis Care Center will be held Monday morning. The center, located at 2700 block of Headland Avenue in Dothan, will provide 15 temporary observation beds for short-term stays of up to 23 hours and 12 extended observation beds for individuals needing support for one to seven days. Once stabilized, patients will be connected with community resources and hospitals for continued care as needed. This facility is part of Alabama's Crisis System of Care, a statewide initiative aimed at expanding mental health services. The Alabama Department of Mental Health estimates it serves around 200,000 residents dealing with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and substance use disorders. Joining Governor Kay Ivey at the 10:30 a.m. event on Monday will be SpectraCare Health Systems CEO Melissa Kirkland, Board President Sharon Kelley, Mental Health Commissioner Kim Boswell, State Representative Steve Clouse, and Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Parker, among others. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alabama mental health care recovering slowly from recession-era cuts
Alabama's mental health system was gutted by funding cuts during the Great Recession. It has only slowly begun to recover what was lost. (Getty Images) Alabama is dealing with the long-term aftermath of budget cuts and poor mental health planning and trying to find ways to cope amid an absence of reliable data. Wednesday: The state is rebuilding its emergency care care network after devastating funding cuts during the Great Recession. Thursday: Mental health services are critical for new mothers. Accessing them can be difficult. Friday: School-based therapists are seeing more trauma in earlier grade levels and increasing demand for services. Monday: The state's jails are poorly equipped to work with people with mental illness. That's led to tragedies. Tuesday: Law enforcement officers are being trained to find more effective ways to help people suffering from mental health crises. Alabama's public mental health system has been focused on one thing over the last decade: recovering services lost in the wake of the Great Recession. The effects of those cuts are still being felt, years after the state began reducing beds in state mental health hospitals, said Hardy McCollum, a retired probate judge and former chairman of the Tuscaloosa County Commission. Steep cuts in state funding in 2010 ravaged the system. The budget for the Alabama Department of Mental Health (ADMH) fell from $178.1 million in fiscal year 2008 to $117.1 million in fiscal year 2011. State psychiatric hospital beds, which primarily rely on state dollars, were among the hardest hit. 'That was really the only place that we could come up with a $40 million cut,' said Alabama Department of Mental Health (ADMH) Commissioner Kimberly Boswell. McCollum called the closures a 'political decision' that left people with mental and behavioral health issues without adequate care, forcing many into homelessness or incarceration. 'A lot of them were living under bridges,' McCollum said in an interview. 'They just were left to fend for themselves, basically.' Alabamians who need mental health care still struggle to get it. In the first State of Mental Health in America report in 2015, Alabama ranked 49th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in access to care, only trailing Mississippi and Nevada. In the nine years since, Alabama has moved up just three spots. State funding for mental health services have been slow to recover from recession-era cuts, and they fell hardest on long-term care. The state shut down several state-run psychiatric hospitals and decreased the number of beds in others. Over the five years that followed the austerity measures, Alabama lost more than 400 beds meant for long-term crisis care. Searcy Hospital in Mount Vernon, which shuttered its doors in 2012, had 228 beds. Greil Hospital in Montgomery, also closed in 2012, had 61 beds. North Alabama Regional Hospital in Decatur had 77 beds before it closed down in 2015, and a long term care unit at Bryce Hospital, with 62 beds, closed in 2014. In the years following these cuts, Alabama's mental health system has been slowly putting itself back together. The state launched a 24/7 crisis care initiative in 2018 after calls to address mounting problems that arose from closing civil commitment beds. 'We had a lot of feedback from sheriffs, from hospitals, who engaged us and said, 'These folks are winding up in our hospitals, in the emergency department, where they're not really getting care, or they're winding up in jail,'' Boswell said. Boswell acknowledged that building an effective mental health system after years of underfunding is a long-term project. Despite the economy improving in the years following the budget cuts, she said there were no increases until 2018 because the department didn't have a plan for rebuilding the system. 'We were sort of stuck doing what we had always done, and there was this big transformation going on in mental health services,' she said. 'Frankly, we were a little late to the party,' she said. The Alabama Department of Mental Health's funding levels rose slowly each year but only saw large increases starting in 2018. The department only surpassed its total 2008 funding level in 2020, though when adjusted for inflation, it was still short over $40 million. In real terms, ADMH remained below its 2008 allocation until 2023. But there are areas where the department is still playing catch-up. ADMH in 2008 allocated $100 million for mental health programs, which do not include substance use and developmental disabilities programs also administered by ADMH. Another $40 million went to developmental disabilities care, with the rest going to substance use treatment. It doesn't require a genius to figure out if you close beds, these people are going somewhere. When they closed Bryce Hospital, it backed them up into not only the jails but in the community hospitals as well. – Hardy McCollum, former Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge In 2022, funding for mental health programs reached $100 million for the first time in 14 years. But $100 million in 2008 would be worth nearly $144 million in 2024. McCollum said Tuscaloosa has not yet recovered from the austerity cuts. At its peak in 1970, Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa had more than 5,000 patients. The state' capacity for long-term beds as of July was about 700. 'It doesn't require a genius to figure out if you close beds, these people are going somewhere,' he said. 'When they closed Bryce Hospital, it backed them up into not only the jails but in the community hospitals as well.' To address mounting concerns from the local community, such as overcrowded county jails, Alabama began developing its crisis system of care in 2018, focusing on establishing crisis centers aimed at offering them more appropriate mental health interventions. These centers help people in immediate need, offering alternatives to emergency rooms and jails, where those facing crises have frequently ended up in the past. Between 2018 and 2024, the state received an additional $139.4 million in funding, a 94% increase. Despite these efforts, Alabama's mental health funding still falls short. The state needs at least 11 crisis centers to properly serve Alabamians across the state, according to ADMH. It only has six, serving 20 of 67 counties. 'This year, we'll be laying out a five-year financial plan of what it would take to really get our infrastructure stable and develop the new services that we need based on the needs we have,' Boswell said. The goal is to boost funding for existing services, particularly residential programs, while also expanding the number of crisis care beds available to both voluntary and involuntary patients. That's just to address crisis services in the state. Alabama officials are also ramping up efforts to address suicide and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) among veterans, a condition they describe as a 'silent epidemic.' Alabama officials are looking at the links between TBI, mental health issues, substance abuse, and an increased risk of suicide among veterans. TBI symptoms often overlap with conditions like depression and PTSD, leading to inadequate treatment if the underlying brain injury is not identified. Nationwide, over 185,000 veterans are documented as having at least one TBI, though the specific number in Alabama is unknown. The state is taking steps to expand TBI screenings through a federal grant that will integrate them into mental health and substance abuse treatment programs, which can be done remotely in just 10 minutes. Certain medications, such as benzodiazepines, could exacerbate symptoms for those with TBI, stressing the importance of tailored treatment plans. Holly McCorkle, executive director for Alabama Council for Behavioral Healthcare, said that establishing crisis care centers was a step in the right direction, but the state has not increased funding for crisis residential units in community mental health centers since 2012. The state turned to these crisis residential units, capped at 16 beds per unit, to replace beds lost due to facility closures. 'So you're with individuals that are deemed a danger to themselves or others, and this is pretty intensive inpatient treatment, and we have not raised the funding level for that in over a decade,' McCorkle said. Boswell sees promise in Alabama's mental health system, specifically in the implementation of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), which she sees as the next step in providing comprehensive mental health services, regardless of whether someone is in crisis or not. These federally funded clinics offer more comprehensive care by integrating primary health services with behavioral health and substance use treatment. Alabama's mental health centers have traditionally provided outpatient care, but with the expansion of CCBHCs, there is a focus on same-day access and integrated care, which would allow people to 'move through the system more efficiently.' 'Programmatically, where we're going is really transforming and building out the kinds of services that people really need now: crisis services, obviously, 24/7 access to care, but also integrated behavioral health and substance use services, as well as primary care,' Boswell said. But these are incremental changes, designed to prevent crises before they escalate. 'The longer someone waits for care, the less likely they are to show up. Same-day access ensures we're reaching people before it becomes a crisis,' she added. And these CCBHCs, or crisis centers, still only serve a portion of the population. Mobile crisis teams serve 25 counties, often overlapping those with crisis centers. 'It's not a perfect system, but we have a lot more to offer people than we had, you know, 10 years ago or five years ago,' Boswell said. Thurdsay: There is an urgent need for mental health care for new mothers — and many barriers to access. The need for mental health services in Alabama is hard to quantify. The state ranked 21st among states with a prevalence of mental illness in the State of Mental Health in America 2024 report, according to Mental Health America National, a nonprofit that promotes care and treatment. That may indicate a lower prevalence of mental health and substance use disorders than most U.S. states, or that Alabamians aren't reporting issues, either because of stigma or lack of access to care. Alabama also ranked 25th in adults experiencing any mental illness, and it was the state with the second lowest rate of adults with substance use disorders in the past year. Expenses can be a barrier to care. In 2022, 58.9% of adults in 2022 nationwide with a mental illness in the past year who sought or thought they should receive mental health care said the reason they did not receive it was because they thought it would cost too much, according to a survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Alabama ranks 49th in the number of adults who are unable to see a doctor for frequent mental health issues due to costs, according to the Mental Health America 2024 report. Alabamians diagnosed with mental illness are also more likely to be uninsured (14.4%) than the population with mental illness generally (10.1%). The state's lack of Medicaid expansion may also be contributing to the state's mental health crisis: nine of the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid rank in the bottom 12 for health care access. Among these non-expansion states, 13% to 24% of the remaining uninsured population fall within the Medicaid coverage gap. But even insured people struggle to access mental health services. Almost 16% of Alabamians who experienced a mental illness in the past year had private health insurance that did not cover mental or emotional problems, compared with roughly 10% nationwide. — Alander Rocha
