Congress hears military missteps, improvements in treating mental health

Posted by admin on Mar 27, 2008 in News Articles | 0 comments

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chris Scheuerman believes the military he served for 20 years failed his Army son Jason, who shot himself to death in his Iraq barracks almost three years ago.

Carefully choosing his words before a hushed congressional audience Friday, the father spoke of how the 20-year-old private’s superiors largely ignored the soldier’s signs of distress and his family’s expressions of alarm in the days leading up to his suicide.

Click here to read the full Associated Press article.

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Colorado’s March 2008 Revenue Forecast

Posted by admin on Mar 26, 2008 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Colorado’s March 2008 Revenue Forecast-Compliments of Capitol Success Group
 
Four times a year the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) asks the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) and the non-partisan Legislative Council (Leg Council) to each submit quarterly estimates of the revenue forecast for the current year, and for the next five years. This forecast will give the JBC and idea how much money will be in the General Fund (GF), Cash Fund (CF) and how much money the state received under the Referendum C (Ref. C) five-year timeout period.
 
Leg Council and OSPB met with the JBC on March 20, 2008 to report their first quarterly revenue forecast of 2008. As expected, the forecast has decreased since the December forecast and is expected to continue to decrease thought the year.
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Analysts propose trimming veterans mental health initiative

Posted by admin on Mar 12, 2008 in News Articles | 0 comments

Feb 22, 2008 1:00 AM
BALTIMORE
Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration wants $3.5 million to provide short-term mental health services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But legislative analysts recommend the funding be cut in half because the services are fundamentally a federal responsibility and the estimates of the veterans needing the treatment are too high.
Click here to read the full article.

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Sen. Keller wins national award for championing mental health legislation

Posted by admin on Mar 12, 2008 in News Articles | 0 comments

Rocky Mountain News
Tuesday, March 11 at 2:08 PM
Sen. Moe Keller has won the national 2008 State Legislator of the Year award from the American Psychological Association.
The Wheat Ridge Democrat was honored for her successful leadership on legislation to improve mental-health coverage for Coloradans.
In 2007, she passed a bill expanding mental health coverage for nine additional conditions, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, panic disorder, bulimia and anorexia.
“Considering her long-standing efforts to improve the mental health system in Colorado, I believe that she is an outstanding candidate for this distinguished award,” said John Mahalik, a Colorado Psychological Association board member.
Keller, who also won the 2007 CPA State Legislator of the Year award, made it clear she isn’t resting on her laurels.
“Even though we have made a lot of progress in Colorado, there is still a lot of work to be done,” the senator said. “I would like to expand community-based mental health treatment for individuals and their families and implement a triage program to handle mentally ill taken to hospital emergency rooms.”

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2nd chance for mentally ill teens

Posted by admin on Mar 11, 2008 in News Articles | 0 comments

Life was spiraling in the wrong direction for Stephanie Winkler — 18 years old with a month-old son, an arrest for fighting with the baby’s father and therapy for depression.

Colorado’s first juvenile mental-health court program — designed to keep juveniles with mental-health diagnoses out of the criminal justice system — threw Winkler a life preserver.

Click here to read the full Denver Post article.

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