NJAMHAA 75th Anniversary

Commemorative Journal 17 NJAMHAA’s Pioneers (continued) “NJAMHAA is here to translate people’s private troubles into public issues. NJAMHAA is on the cutting edge of initiatives to make lives better,” Monahan said. “It has been a tremendous pleasure and profound honor to work with Bill, Jeanne, Joe and John. They have inspired and mentored countless NJAMHAA members and other individuals – including myself, for sure – and continuously propelled the association forward, keeping it as the premier New Jersey advocate for children, youth and adults needing behavioral health services and supports and the providers delivering them as the system transformed many times over the years,” noted Dr. Wentz. The following bills were signed into law: S2373/A3716 – Requires DMHAS to annually prepare a substance use treatment provider performance report and make it available to the public - NJAMHAA recommended that citations be published on the Internet and that a process be established for comparing performance among providers. S2378/A3720 – Extends immunity provisions of the Opioid Prevention Act to certain professionals and entities and permits sterile-syringe programs to obtain standing orders for opioid antidotes – NJAMHAA recommended restoration of funding for the antidotes. S1856/A3175 – Aims to improve conditions in boarding homes and other shelters by requiring state and local officials to post on the Internet the inspection reports from residential healthcare centers, boarding homes and homeless shelters that fail inspections for health and safety violations. Also in FY2015, Governor Chris Christie signed two bills from Assembly Republican Deputy Conference Leader Mary Pat Angelini, who was also a NJAMHAA Board Member and CEO of Preferred Behavioral Health Group: S2380/A3722 – Requires DHS and the Department of Corrections (DOC) to share regulatory authority over prison-based treatment centers with the goal of improving mental health and drug treatment in prisons – NJAMHAA recommended an appropriation. This state mental health parity law (P.L. 2013, c.259), which NJAMHAA had advocated for over several years, represents a significant expansion of coverage beyond the provisions of the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008. This state law requires that insurers provide this coverage, not just parity if they cover behavioral health services, for a broad range of mental illnesses defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual , including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as autism spectrum disorder and substance use disorder, which are not specified in MHPAEA. It also strengthened enforcement by empowering the Department of Banking and Insurance to monitor compliance. FY2015 1974 The first program to credential alcoholism counselors was launched. The New Jersey Association of Mental Hygiene Clinics was renamed the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies (NJAMHA). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was first described. 1972 FY2014