mental health care

CARSON CITY — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $2.19 million to the Division of Child and Family Services for the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program, officials announced Tuesday.

Several rural sheriffs, in interviews with The Nevada Independent, said they know that the back of their police car or, in some cases, a jail cell is not the best place for a person experiencing a mental health crisis. But sometimes there’s no other option.

CARSON CITY — Governor Brian Sandoval on Wednesday signed Senate Bill 201, a measure that prohibits the practice of “gender conversion therapy” in Nevada.

The Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties will have 3 guest speakers for their February breakfast meeting. The meeting is on Thurs February 9th at 9am at the Silver Springs Community Center.

Speakers include Lori Nichols from Foster Care Recruitment, and Sally Hazard from the Fernley office for the Advanced Foster Care Program. They will explain the pressing need for foster homes in the Lyon and Storey County region, and offer ways to help increase the number of foster parents.

Suicide has reached epidemic levels in Nevada, according to numbers from the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH), and the state has been stepping up efforts in recent years to combat the problem.

"We lose more than 500 Nevadans and 100 veterans to suicide per year," said Luana Ritch, Ph.D., a Community Health Planner with the Nevada DPBH. "It's really looking at this now as a public health crisis for Nevada."

This column dovetails my last one concerning mental health care in Nevada.

The recent zeal to bring attention to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has rightfully brought the topic to the fore. But I feel that the media blitz has been at the expense of other equally severe mental disabilities, the awareness of which have waned and suffered. However good the intentions toward autism coverage may be, this attention has consequently overshadowed other developmental disabilities that are just as critical to treat, and equally heart-breaking.

Former Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons had a very interesting term as Nevada's 28th governor from 2007-2011

Serenity Meditation Studio in Carson City is a way for me to give back to the community. As a Registered Nurse I see first hand the many problems that our current Physical and Mental Health Care Systems face.

I believe that each of us has a responsibility to be a part of the solution to our Health Care Crisis. Our lives today are so fragmented and full of non stop go, go, go and stress, stress, stress that we have forgotten what it's like to just relax and breath and enjoy the moment.

Grants amounting to $4.5 million from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will go to four Nevada service organizations that assist veterans in the Silver State, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid announced Friday.

U.S. Vets, Vietnam Veterans of California, The Salvation Army, and HELP Social Service organization, each have received grants totaling $4.5 million through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program. This program supports VA’s efforts to prevent at-risk veterans from becoming homeless and rapidly re-house those who have recently fallen into homelessness.

As Prepared for Delivery Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013:

Madam Speaker, Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Legislature, Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Officers, Senator Heller, honored guests…...

Tahoe Family Solutions announced today that they have received a $25,000 grant from United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra to address the fast growing need for affordable mental health care throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities in Nevada and California. Tahoe Family Solutions services in providing affordable psychiatric care and family counseling were rated as a top priority by UWNNS’s board and volunteers.

Christy McGill likes to use a gardening metaphor when she explains Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey's mission to reduce substance abuse and promote recovery.

“The Coalition is planting the seeds of hope that alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse prevention works, treatment is effective, and people do recover,” said McGill, who serves as director.

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, and Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey is celebrating the month by “planting the seeds of hope” that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people do recover.