The Mental Health Social Worker

Washington—Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a precedent-setting 5-4 decision, reversing a May 2007 ruling of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, and holding that the imposition of the death penalty for child rape violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. 

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and its Louisiana Chapter filed an amicus curiae brief in Kennedy v. Louisiana (https://www.socialworkers.org/assets/secured/
documents/ldf/briefDocuments/Kennedy%20v.%20Louisiana.pdf)  arguing that the death penalty for child rape harms the victims it is intended to help.  The Court adopted the reasoning in NASW’s brief as support for its conclusion that the death penalty is a disproportionate consequence for a crime that does not result in the death of the victim.  NASW was joined on the brief by several coalitions of sexual assault treatment providers from across the nation.  (more…)

On March 5th the House of Representatives passed landmark comprehensive legislation requiring private health insurance plans to use the same treatment limitations and financial requirements for mental health and addictive disorder coverage as is used for other covered services. H.R. 1424, the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007,” introduced by Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN), was passed with strong bipartisan support by a vote of 268-148. (House members’ votes are listed online at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll101.xml.) The legislation is named for the late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, a tireless advocate for Americans with mental illness. House passage of H.R. 1424 is an historic step forward for mental health and addiction treatment advocates, and comes after years of hard work by the mental health and addictive disorder advocacy community.

ACA applauds Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) for their long, hard, heroic work in gaining House passage of H.R. 1424. During floor debate, both Kennedy and Ramstad spoke about their own personal battles with mental and addictive disorders, their treatment, and how their treatment has enabled them to lead productive lives. ACA also thanks those counselors who took the time to contact their representative on this issue.

ACA and other mental health and addictive disorder advocates are now working to build upon the strong bipartisan support for H.R. 1424 and the unanimous passage last year of the Senate’s bill, to encourage the development and enactment of parity legislation that provides consumer protections that are as strong as possible. Details: Scott Barstow at sbarstow@counseling.org.

ARLINGTON, Va. (March 13, 2008) – The American Psychiatric Association applauds recent Congressional efforts led by Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., to improve treatment for the large number of people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders who are currently incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons.

The U.S. Senate passed the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593) this week by unanimous consent. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation last fall. The legislation would provide transitional assistance to ex-offenders in an effort to reduce a return to alcohol abuse. Additionally, the legislation would extend and provide a full continuum of care for treatment of substance use disorders and improve mental health screening and treatment. (more…)

Arlington, Va. – Managed care health plans for Medicaid patients with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses may result in lower costs to the Medicaid system, but lead to greater personal expenditures and higher caregiver burden for patients and their families, new research indicates. This cost pattern was revealed in an analysis of total societal costs for 628 patients in the Tampa Bay area, to be published online Jan. 15 by The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) (http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/pap.dtl), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. (more…)

Only a few legislative days are left in the current session of Congress, and ACA and other mental health advocacy organizations are working to push mental health and addictive disorder parity legislation over the goal line. A very strong parity bill -H.R. 1424, the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act” – has been approved by the House committees to which it was referred. A somewhat weaker Senate bill, S. 558, was passed by that chamber in September. (more…)