In This Issue

• Legislative Update
• 1115 BHS Needs Assessment
• Counselor Rules to be set by states

 

Legislative Update

CAARR Conference

Join us for our Annual Conference on March 26th-28th 2012 at the Hilton Arden Click link below for Agenda and Registration

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Board of Directors

President
Paul Savo
The Fellowship Center

Vice President
Tom Avey
Avey and Associates

Secretary
Ramona Robertson|Central Valley Recovery Services

Treasurer
Lisa Beintker
Alpha Oaks/Cornerstone

Tom Greenwood
The Roque Center

Greg Dorst
Cedar House

Craig Koury
River City Recovery

Phil Allen
Pat Moore Foundation

Janet Knotts
Turning Point Home

Don Troutman
Clean and Sober

Wendell Carmichael
House of Uhuru

Cindy "Oma" Gray
Soroptomist House of Hope

Lorraine Martinez
The Villa

Dan Tobin
ARA First Step

Patricia Flood
Stepping Stones

Joint Legislative Committees Hearing on Proposed ADP Elimination

The February 21 Hearing of the Senate and Assembly Health Committees and Budget Subcommittees went off without a hitch. It was convened at about 3:00 and lasted until nearly 8:00 p.m, which demonstrates that the Legislators involved were exceedingly committed to a full exploration of the subject. The Hearing began with several panels of high level officials of Governor Brown's administration, headed by Health and Human Services Agency Undersecretary Michael Wilkening. Amazingly, a total of only 6 different Agency and Department officials provided the actual testimony. Equally amazingly, they consumed nearly the entire first 2 hours of the hearing.This reporter counted as least 7 instances of these officials, in explaining the rationale of why they are trying to eliminate ADP, saying "We hope ..." or "We think ...". Not once did they provide evidence-based documentation demonstrating that, "They know ... " why the proposal to eliminate ADP will be better for the field and all the clients we treat.

Hearing Heroes - All of the Members of the 4 Committees who put so much effort into the Hearing, AND to the staff members who clearly had put in dozens and probably hundreds of hours getting ready for the hearing. And especially to the Chairs of the 4 committees: Senators Ed Hernandez and Mark DeSaulnier and Assembly Members Bill Monning and Holly Mitchell, each of whom were very well prepared to really dig into the guts of the matter. Also to Assemblymembers Toni Atkins, Wes Chesbro, Roger Hernandez, Mike Eng and Brian Nestande for taking the lead in asking many thoughtful and penetrating questions of Administration officials and of various stakeholders. Also to Bob Garner, County AOD Administrator from Santa Clara County who stood alone, above all other AOD Stakeholder "panelists", in assertively opposing the administration's current proposal; and last but certainly not least CAARR's Executive Director Susan Blacksher for sitting through the entire 4.5 hour hearing and not once charging the podium to contest DHCS testimony! As was repeated by the Members of the Legislature frequently during the Hearing, this was the first but certainly not the last Legislative Hearing on eliminating ADP.

In summary, the Legislators certainly "get" that the Administration is very serious about the proposal, but they also made it very clear that they are dubious, at best, about pushing this policy in a Budget debate rather than in a Policy debate.

Behavioral Health Needs Assessment

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is pleased to release the Final 1115 Waiver Behavioral Health Services Needs Assessment (Needs Assessment). We have separated the Needs Assessment into two documents: 1) Needs Assessment, and 2) Data Appendices, to make it easier for the reader to follow along with the data tables while reading the narrative. The Needs Assessment has identified a number of needs and gaps in the California mental health and substance use services system, as well as many strengths and building blocks for improvements.

DHCS looks forward to developing the Service System Plan that is required to be submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by October 1, 2012, pursuant to the Special Terms and Conditions (STCs) of the 1115 "Bridge to Reform" Waiver. Pursuant to the STCs, the focus of the Needs Assessment and Service System Plan is primarily on the Medi-Cal program, with emphasis on mental health and substance use services for the expansion population. A preliminary work plan for this process is already posted on our website. A more detailed work plan for this planning process will be developed once we have established the plan priorities and parameters. The detailed work plan will include processes and time frames for additional stakeholder involvement and input as the planning process proceeds.

The Final Needs Assessment can be found at the following website: http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/provgovpart/Pages/BehavioralHealthServicesAssessmentPlan.aspx.

Any questions, comments, or requests to be included in our communications should be e-mailed to the following inbox: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Counselor Rules to be set by states: SAMHSA

According to "Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly" the controversy over whether counselors should have Master's degrees is not going to be determined by the federal government, but the state. The director of SAMHSA, H. Westly Clark, M.D. stated, "At the end of the day, degrees generally reflect the training, but competencies are more important." States that have no requirements for Masters Degrees will be able to decide whether they want to proceed in that direction or not, while states that already require Masters Degrees will not be affected. This is great news and we here at CAARR will be keeping track of the decision making process and represent our Certified Counselors every step of the way.

CAARR has been in the business of advocacy, training, and education for California counselors for 40 years. We will continue to bring you the latest pertinent information regarding treatment and services in the field of Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders.

Sincerely,

Susan Blacksher

Executive Director