The Nova Academy, a therapeutic preschool for children ages 3-5, celebrated the end of summer and graduation with a program and luncheon on July 30, 2015. The Academy is a program of the Nova Center for Youth & Family, the child and adolescent division of WellStone Behavioral Health. With parents, grandparents, friends, and other family in the audience […]
Facts About Alabama’s Public Mental Health System
In preparation for the upcoming Special Session of the 2015 Alabama Legislature, consider the following when thinking through funding for community mental health services: In 1970, there were approximately 8,000 persons confined to state mental hospitals and another 5,000 individuals resided at Partlow State School for the intellectually disabled. Through the advent of modern medicines, […]
Huntsville Group Wants Mental Health Funding Restored
By Jim Little | jlittle@al.com The Huntsville Times on July 24, 2015 at 2:39 PM, updated July 24, 2015 at 5:30 PM With the Legislature set to return to Montgomery on Aug. 3 to solve Alabama’s $300 million budget gap, one Huntsville group is organizing to make sure mental health issues are not overlooked. The Huntsville […]
Help & Hope for Dementia Caregivers
Covenant Presbyterian Church at 301 Drake Avenue in Huntsville, is hosting a seminar on Saturday August 8, 2015 from 9 am to 12 pm entitled “Help & Hope for Dementia Caregivers”. The seminar will provide practical advice for caregivers of people with dementia and will dispel the sense of hopelessness that families may experience in […]
Nova Center Receives 2015-2016 CHI Grant
The Nova Center for Youth & Family, the child and adolescent division of WellStone Behavioral Health, was announced today as a 2015-2016 recipient of a Community Health Initiative grant through the Huntsville Hospital Foundation. The most recent CHI award is for $85,000 and will enable the Nova Center to provide school-based mental health services to an […]
Mental Health Awareness Campaign Encourages Being Vocal
A new national mental health awareness campaign was introduced this week and is championed by Demi Lovato, a singer, songwriter, and mental health advocate living with bipolar disorder. Entitled “Be Vocal”, the campaign states that “together we can use our voices in an effort to live well and advance mental health in America”. The campaign […]
Local Rally Brings Mental Health Awareness
Over 200 people gathered at the Huntsville Public Library on May 11, 2015 to recognize May as Mental Health Awareness month and to highlight the impact on local service availability should the currently proposed FY 16 state budget for the Alabama Department of Mental Health become a reality. Several local providers spoke about the reduction […]
Commissioner Predicts Collapse of State Mental Health System
By Amy Hinton Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY — At his agency’s legislative budget hearing Wednesday, Alabama’s Commissioner of Mental Health, Jim Reddoch, minced no words when he described the impact of the 15 to 30 percent budget cuts proposed by the Alabama Legislature. The Alabama Department of Mental Health is the single State agency with […]
ADAP Director Warns Legislature: Fund Mental Health or Go Back to Federal Court
10 Apr 2015 By Amy Hinton Alabama Political Reporter TUSCALOOSA – Just one day after Alabama’s Commissioner of Mental Health, James Reddoch, addressed the Alabama Legislature and outlined the devastating impact of the Legislature’s proposed budget cuts on the state mental health system, the Executive Director of Alabama Disability Advocacy Program (ADAP), James Tucker, officially […]
State Budget Cuts Threaten WellStone Services
Alabama legislative budget hearings have begun in Montgomery for the FY 2016 state budget. Governor Robert Bentley proposed a $541 million tax increase proposal to address the budget shortfall, but the Alabama Department of Mental Health issued an impact statement should the tax proposal not be passed and no other new revenues are identified. The $35 million reduction […]