Join us for a day to renew memberships, learn about legislative approaches and connect with friends in the mental health community.  Lunch will be available to those who RSVP.  Please indicate if you have dietary restrictions when you RSVP.

East TN

Feb. 10, 2012 from 10am-3pm

218 Western Avenue, Knoxville

To RSVP for East: kbrasher@tmhca-tn.org or call (865) 310-9356

Middle TN

Feb. 8, 2012 from 10am-3pm

521 Mercury Blvd., Patterson Park, Murfreesboro

To RSVP for Middle: lgarner@tmhca-tn.org or call (888) 539-0393

West TN

Feb. 3, 2012 from 10am-3pm

Madison Complex, 319 C3 North Parkway, Jackson

To RSVP for West: labbott@tmhca-tn.org or call (731) 660-3275

The state recently held its annual budget hearing for TennCare.  According to the budget presentation below there is a 1.25% proposed cut to TennCare providers and 8.5% in cuts to mental health providers.  Potentially this represents nearly 10% in cuts to mental health services provided through TennCare.

To read a Public News Service story on the cuts

To watch the TennCare hearing

TennCare Budget Presentation

The Healing Arts Project is exhibiting artworks by Middle Tennessee consumer artists at two locations during November 2011.  These locations:

• Tennessee Art League – 808 Broadway, Nashville
• Downtown Presbyterian Church – 154 5th Avenue North, Nashville.

On Monday, November 21, the artists are being honored with a reception from 11 am to 1 pm at the Downtown Presbyterian Church.  At 10 am and 1 pm, before and after the 11 am reception, consumer artists can view  other artwork hanging at the Tennessee Art League. gallery.

The gallery visits and reception will provide an opportunity for Middle Tennessee consumer artists to see their artwork on public display.  Consumer artists from the TMHCA Riverside center are included in the art show.

Supporters of the Healing Arts Project and consumers are quite welcome to attend.  Just send me the name and count of persons planning to attend on Monday, November 21.

Contact Jane Baxter if you have any questions or to RSVP

Phone: 615-594-4642
Email:  janebaxter@comcast.net  

TMHCA will offer free Mental Health First Aid Training on November 2nd and 3rd, 2011 at the Mental Health Cooperative in Nashville (registration required). The 2-day training is a groundbreaking public education program and is managed and disseminated by three national authorities – the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

This training will help participants identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. 12 CEU’s are Available. It is sponsored by United Healthcare Community Plan of Tennessee.

Date:  November 2-3, 2011

Time: 9am to 5pm CST each day

Registration Required: Limited to the first 25 registered.

Location: Mental Health Cooperative, 275 Cumberland Bend Suite 109-A, Nashville

To Register: Contact Karen Brasher, Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association Education Director, at (423) 775-3206 (main) or (888) 539-0393 (toll free) or via email at kbrasher@tmhca-tn.org.

Sponsored by:

TMHCA has two immediate openings for Peer Specialists in the Middle TN area. Peer Specialists work in a community setting providing mental health evidence-based practices, best practices and peer support to individuals that meet criteria set forth by stakeholders in Tennessee.

All applicants must be a Tennessee Certified Peer Specialist or obtain a four year degree in any human services related field. Additional requirements include: High school diploma or equivalent with local, state, and national travel required. The applicant must be a person with lived experience of mental illness.  A person with mental illness is someone that has met at some point in their adult life the following definition: an adult with a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnosable criteria as specified within DSM-IV that has resulted in functional impairment which has substantially interfered with or limited one or more major activities. Starting Salary is $23,000.00 annually.

Benefits include 12 sick and 12 annual days yearly and TMHCA offers health insurance. TMHCA pays 80% percent of the employee’s insurance premium and the employee pays 20% and is responsible for all co-pays and deductibles. Applicant must have a clean criminal background history.

To apply

Please fax resumes to TMHCA at (615) 383-1176, Attention Middle TN Regional Director.

The state released detailed plans recently for how it would deal with potential cuts in federal funding of up to 30% that , if fully implemented, would slash 5,132 employees and $4.5 billion out of the state’s $31 billion budget.

TennCare, the federal and state health insurance program for low-income and disabled people, would bear the brunt at just over $2.25 billion. If fully implemented, the program would reduce reimbursement rates to health providers, eliminate optional benefits and reduce other services — including medicine and dental — to recipients.

But effects would be felt across state government, with social services agencies that receive considerable federal funding the hardest hit. The Department of Human Services would lose 1,595 employees and $861 million across a wide range of programs. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities would lose 1,152 employees and $230 million. The state Health Department would shed $96 million and 422 workers.

Public K-12 schools statewide would be cut by $277 million and higher education by $80 million. The state Department of Transportation would lose nearly $274 million, which it said would slow highway projects and limit commitments to new projects.

The Department of Labor and Workforce Development would lose $55 million and 593 employees, including closure of 36 career centers at a time when the state’s jobless rate is over 9 percent.

The plans result from an Aug. 18 letter from state Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes ordering all state agencies to submit details of how they would deal with the potential loss of federal money as a result of last month’s debt-reduction agreement in Congress. The budget deal requires congressional action on budget reduction by Dec. 23 or automatic cuts kick in. The earliest the state would feel the cuts would likely be in early 2012.

The state agencies’ plans provide details of cuts in two levels: “Tier 1″ reductions of 15 percent cut, followed if necessary by another 15 percent, or “Tier 2.” Both Emkes and his boss, Gov. Bill Haslam, have said they don’t expect cuts at that level (Tier 2) to occur.

2012-2013 Federal Revenue Loss Contingency Plan Detail (excerpt)

Possible TennCare Cuts

Total Tier 1 -  15% Federal Revenue Loss of $1,107,814,000

Total Tier 2 – Additional 15% Federal Revenue Loss of $ 1,145,873,900

Federal Revenue Loss Contingency Plan – Outlines cuts by department and programs

Credit: Memphis Commercial Appeal

The Tennessee Peer Specialist State Conference is coming up October 10, 2011. The Conference, which is being presented by the Consumer Advisory Board in partnership with the TCPS Advisory Committee, will include awards for notable Peer Specialists and Agencies in our community.

Go here to nominate your favorite Peer Specialist: http://www.tn-cps.org/?page_id=60

This is a chance to let your voice be heard. Do you know of someone who goes above and beyond in their job? Who helps people with mental illness no matter what? An agency that “gets” the concept of recovery and works to spread the word?

Here is where you can do it! We are now accepting nominations for these awards. To nominate someone, simply fill out the fields on the website and submit the form. It’s that easy!

The deadline for submissions is September 21st

TCPS of the Year
This award is given to the Tennessee Certified Peer Specialist who has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty, modeling by example the concept of mental health recovery and helping others with mental illness start and move forward in their own recovery.

Community Service Award
This award is given to the person who has been a superior performer over the past year, being a model for community service. Their work in the community has furthered the cause of mental health recovery by bringing the issue to light and helping break the stigma of mental illness, fostering the concept of mental health recovery.

Advocate of Peer Services: Individual
This award is given to the individual who has been at the forefront of peer services in the state of Tennessee. They have been the outstanding advocate in the cause of advancing and the strengthening of peer-run services across the state.

Advocate of Peer Services: Group/Agency
This award is given to the group or agency that has been at the forefront of peer services in the state of Tennessee. They have been the outstanding group or agency in the cause of advancing and the strengthening of peer-run services across the state.

Go to the website to nominate your favorite Peer Specialist:
http://www.tn-cps.org/?page_id=60

Thank you for your support of Peer Specialists in Tennessee.

My best,
Lisa

Lisa Ragan, mssw
Director, Consumer Affairs and Peer Support Services
Tennessee Department of Mental Health
425 Fifth Avenue North
Nashville, Tennessee
615-532-6732

I am Anthony Fox, Executive Director of the Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association, an organization run by and for people with mental illness. We are one largest organizations of its kind in the nation.

I recently spent a week in Washington DC aside a delegation of mental health providers meeting with members of Congress about threats to Medicare, Medicaid and SSI and SSDI benefits. The news coming from DC is shocking and will have a devastating impact on people with mental illness unless concessions are made to protect these programs.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB9D1G3Bl-8

In the last several years Tennessee’s Medicaid program has taken it share of cuts and reductions. We have reduced costs of programming to the greatest extent possible in order to continue providing quality services. We in Tennessee have done our share and feel any additional cuts will have a merciless affect on the behavioral healthcare needs of people with mental illness.

I have had an opportunity to meet with several members of our Association about the proposed cuts and this is what they have to say:

Medicaid is the primary source of funding for safety-net mental health services. Any reductions will have a devastating impact on people with mental illness in Tennessee. Please contact your member of Congress and let them know the seriousness of cutting Medicaid benefits.

If Congress chooses A Medicaid “blended rate option” it will severely reduce federal Medicaid and CHIP payments. This option would shift costs to states and limit mental health care for Medicaid beneficiaries.

Ask members of Congress not to adopt a Medicaid Block Grant model or any proposed spending caps that could result in spending caps and service reductions.

And finally ask Congress to oppose repeal to the Medicaid Maintenance of Effort which would allow states to roll back eligibility for their Medicaid programs.

Please take a few minutes to contact your member of Congress. Your phone call can make a huge difference. People with mental illness need your help and support. Recovery is possible if appropriate services and supports are in place. I am living proof.

If you need more information feel free to contact us at (888) 539-0393.

To find contact information for your Congressmen visit:

• http://www.capitol.tn.gov/districtmaps/
• http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=TN&district=5

The Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association will offer free statewide BRIDGES Training (Building Recovery of Individual Dreams and Goals through Education and Support) in each grand division of Tennessee over the next three months. Eligibility is open to people with mental illness that have a willingness to learn new skills to become a trained BRIDGES Teacher and Support Group Facilitator.

BRIDGES Teacher and Facilitator Training Dates 2011-2012:

Middle Tennessee Grand Division
Corporate Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association Office
955 Woodland Street
Nashville, TN 37206
August 22-25 from 9-5
To register contact:
Karen Brasher (423) 775-3206
Or via email kbrasher@tmhca-tn.org

West Tennessee Grand Division
Jackson Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association Office
319 Vann Drive Suite L2
Jackson, TN 38305
September 19-23 from 9-5
To register contact:
Lori Rash (731) 660-3275
Or via e-maillabbott@tmhca-tn.org

East Tennessee Grand Division
Bristol Open Arms Peer Support Center
1400 Windsor Ave
Bristol, TN 37628
October 17-21 from 9-5
Karen Brasher (423) 775-3206
Or via email kbrasher@tmhca-tn.org

Event Details

• CEU’s Available
• Materials and Snacks provided
• Lunch on your own

Russell "Keith" Potts, Sr.

Russell “Keith” Potts, Sr. a member of Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association (TMHCA) Board of Directors died Thursday, June 30, 2011 at his residence in Clarksville, Tennessee. The cause of death was an apparent heart attack.

TMHCA Executive Director Anthony Fox said, “We at TMHCA are so deeply saddened and shocked. We have lost a pillar of our organization; a good man that never met a stranger and always had time for a friend. Keith’s kind and caring nature will always be remembered. His spirit will remain.”

Visitation will be Wednesday, July 6, 2011 from 4-7 p.m. and Thursday July 7, 2011 from 11 a.m. until the hour of the service at the Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. at the Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home with burial in Greenwood Cemetery.

Condolece Messages can be left for Keith at http://www.neal-tarpley.com/obituaries.html

Keith Russell was born November 12, 1963 in Clarksville, Tennessee. He was the son of Russell Wayne Potts of Adams, TN and the late Clara Jo Wright Potts. Survivors include his wife; Edith Hunter- Potts, one son; Russell Keith Potts, Jr. four daughters; Kathryn Potts, Teresa Espinoza, April Stittums and Meredith Duncan all of Clarksville, three brothers; Jeff Potts of Clarksville, Andy Potts of Nashville, and David Potts of Adams, seven grandchildren, and one great grand child. He was preceded in death by his mother; Clara Jo Wright Potts and one sister; Dana Louise Potts.