Mississippi Mental Health Lawsuit Poses Concerns for Civil Rights
As a mental-health lawsuit claiming a violation of the civil rights of mentally ill Mississippians moves forward, Joy Hogge has in mind "a young person" who never received the support they needed.
Judge Urged to Force Mental Health Changes in Mississippi
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday told a federal judge that Mississippi provides too few mental health services in the community and confines too many people in state mental hospitals.
Mississippi Says Mental Health Care With No 'Gaps' is 'Unattainable'
Federal prosecutors will tell U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves that the state of Mississippi is violating a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision called Olmstead, which found that "unjustified" confinement in a mental hospital violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Judge Rejects Mississippi Effort to Quash Mental Health Suit
A federal judge is rejecting attempts by Mississippi officials to throw out a federal government lawsuit challenging how the state runs its mental health system.
EDITORIAL: No More Secrecy in Mental Health Care
All good research shows that locking people away in hospitals is not how to treat mental illness, and while hospitals are needed in some cases for stabilizing people, by and large, people need treatment in their own communities.
Task Force Meeting in Secret in Wake of Mental Health Litigation
Under legal pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice to repair Mississippi's system of mental-health care, Attorney General Jim Hood last month announced a mental-health task force of state practitioners who already serve Mississippians with mental illness.
Mental Health Task Force Aims to Improve Services, Including for the Accused
Attorney General Jim Hood is tackling problems in Mississippi's mental-health system to make it easier for people to get treatment and to improve the commitment process, he said last week.
A Mental Self-Care Plan for Fall
Fall is the season for drawing inward and preparing for the stillness of winter.
Rule and Budget Push Mental Health Agency to Shift Workers
Mississippi's mental health department will begin handing off some direct care workers to regional mental health centers as part of an effort to cut its budget and comply with a federal mandate.
Stuck Behind Bars, Waiting for Mental Care
Judges in Mississippi have few options when sentencing men and women who need mental-health care but have also committed a crime.
Politicking Over Mental-Health Care at Neshoba County Fair
The words "mental health" may never been used more in a handful of minutes than they were Wednesday at the Neshoba County Fair.
State Settles Kids’ Mental Health Litigation
After seven years of litigation, one Mississippi teenager will finally get to move from the East Mississippi State Hospital to a regional center that provides services for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Previously Secret Children's Mental Health Report: State Institutionalizes Too Many Kids
After nearly two years of litigation, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate ordered the State of Mississippi to release a 2015 report on its system of mental-health care for children, referred to as the TAC report.
The Battle for Children’s Mental Health in Mississippi
Lisa Fuller, a Mississippi mother of two in Madison, stood up at the Children's Mental Health Summit at the Jackson Hilton on May 12 to explain her laborious journey of finding care and support for her two daughters: one who has high-functioning autism and the other who has anxiety and depression disorders.
AG Office Needs $1.72 Million to Pay for Mental-Health Litigation Next Year
Attorney General Jim Hood asked Gov. Phil Bryant to address his budget bill in the special session, so far scheduled for June 5 with no specifics set, as well as to ask the Legislature to add more funding to litigate the state's mental-health litigation with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mental Illness: Behind Bars and Beyond
Locking up people suffering from mental illnesses is an endless, fruitless cycle—unless a person can access the services and (in some cases) treatment needed to live their lives in the most integrated setting possible.
Mental-health Courts Could Supplement Jails If Bill Stays Alive
Replacing jail with mental-health courts in some instances is still possible statewide, after the House Judiciary B and Appropriations Committees passed their version of legislation to the House for a full vote this morning.
MAEP, Mental Health Among #MSLeg Cuts
Public schools should prepare for more budget cuts, as the Mississippi Adequate Education Program took a hit in the budget lawmakers passed late Monday, March 27.
Legislature Cutting Millions of Dollars from Human Services, Mental Health and Rehab Services
The Mississippi Legislature is cutting millions of dollars from state health-care services, and Democrats are not happy about it, especially with lawsuits looming.
Hood Deposits $34M, Lobbies for Mental Health Spending
As budget writers try to stretch Mississippi's cash to cover its needs, Attorney General Jim Hood is chipping in $34.4 million.
In the Statehouse and the Courtroom, Mental Health is Embattled
Research in the psychology and psychiatry fields show little to no evidence that hospitals and residential treatment centers are effective in helping a person with mental-health needs.
Senate Attempts to Put Governor in Charge of Mental Health
Legislation to move the Department of Mental Health under the policy direction of the governor passed the Senate by one vote on Feb. 9, after a contentious debate and bi-partisan opposition to the bill that initially included the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services.
Mississippi Still Faces Merged Mental-health Lawsuits
Medicaid-eligible children are entitled to services under the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Services (called EPSDT) provisions of the Medicaid Act.
AG Hood: State Must Fund Mental Health Care, Not Ignore Lawsuit
Attorney General Jim Hood is calling on the Legislature to increase funding for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health as a part of his legislative priorities this session.
Henley-Young Increases Mental Health Care
Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center will soon be able to offer mental-health assessments and treatments after a court-appointed monitor's report led the county to allocate $190,000 to expand the facility's staff.
Mississippi’s Mental-Health Conundrum
The mood shift in the old Mississippi Supreme Court room was palpable last week when the Department of Mental Health faced a group of legislators tasked with evaluating the agency's effectiveness and expenditures in upcoming months.
Feds Sue Mississippi for 'Repeated, Prolonged and Unnecessary Institutionalization'
The U.S. Department of Justice sued the State of Mississippi last week for unnecessarily institutionalizing adults with mental illness at a higher rate than providing community-based mental health-care services.
Mississippi Gov: Feds Seek to Dictate Mental Health Policy
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is criticizing the U.S. Justice Department for suing the state over adult mental health services.
The State of Mental Health in Mississippi
Mississippi's mental-health system is mainly run through the Mississippi Department of Health, which certifies private and public mental health-care providers, rapid-response teams of mental health-care professionals and public community mental-health centers around the state.
'We Are In Crisis': Mental Health Staff, Services Reducing Due to Budget Cuts
Overnight chemical-dependency services for men in Mississippi state hospitals will end as a result of budget cuts in fiscal-year 2017, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health said in a statement last week.
Off to the Races ... and the Chopping Block
Money was front of mind over the last week in the Mississippi Legislature as Senate and House appropriations committees began budget hearings for state agencies last week.
