Weekly Update December 6, 2024

Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites
100 W. Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49007

2025 Room Rates:
Standard Room:   $169 plus taxes (Single/Double/Triple/Quad)
Concierge Room: $219 (Single/Double)

Parking: Discounted rate for self-parking: $12 per night/car for all attendees.

Hotel Check In: 4 p.m.       Hotel Check Out: Noon

To Make Your Reservations at the Radisson Plaza Hotel:

Phone Reservations: (269) 343-3333 and connect with either the reservations team or the front desk.

– Reservations team is available M-F 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST; the front desk team will manage requests outside of those times.

– For discounted rates, guests need to mention “CMHA Winter Conference.”

Book Your Hotel Reservation Online

Deadline for Reduced Rate:

Booking online: Deadline of 11:59 p.m. EST the day BEFORE 1/13/25 or until the room block fills.

Phone reservations: Deadline of 5:00 p.m. EST on the day OF 1/13/25 or until the room block fills.

Cancellation Policies:

• If you find it necessary to cancel or change plans, please inform the hotel 24 hours prior to check-in time to avoid one night’s room and tax charged to your credit card. If the reservation was booked as an advance purchase, non-cancel, or non-refundable, then full penalty applies.
• Reservations can be modified or canceled by calling in-house reservations team at (269) 343-3333.
• If a reservation is canceled after this time, it will be subject to a late-cancellation fee (one night’s guestroom rate + taxes). If there is a credit card on file, this fee will be routed to the credit card.
• If a guest does not arrive for their reservation, it will be subject to a no-show fee (one night’s guestroom rate + taxes). If there is a credit card on file, this fee will be routed to the credit card.
• If a guest does not arrive for their reservation and check-in for the first night, their reservation will be CANCELED. The hotel can reinstate the reservation as able and requested (based on hotel availability).

Conference registration coming soon!

These stories, along with the growing list of solutions journalism stories centered around the work of Michigan’s public mental health system, can be found at: https://cmham.org/newsroom/

This partnership, with the Issue Media Group (IMG), is built around the concept of “solutions journalism” – providing news about innovative and concrete ways that communities, across Michigan, are addressing the needs of their residents along a number of dimensions – healthcare, economic development, education, the arts, to name a few. Solutions journalism investigates and explains, in a critical and clear-eyed way, how people try to solve widely shared problems. While news sources and many of us typically define news as “what’s gone wrong,” solutions journalism runs counter to that definition by covering the innovative responses to identified needs and problems.

This partnership ensures that the work of Michigan’s public mental health system is highlighted in IMG’s large suite of solutions journalism-focused publications.

If your organization would like to be a part of this effort, via the purchase of a partnership share and the active participation in the generation of stories for these local and statewide electronic newspapers, contact Bob Sheehan at rsheehan@cmham.org or Paul Schutt at paul@issuemediagroup.com

You can subscribe, at no cost, to these publications, on the websites of each of these publications. The list of partner publications and their websites are provided below:

Second Wave – Michigan

Capital Gains – Lansing

Catalyst Midland

Concentrate – Ann Arbor/Ypsi

Epicenter – Mount Pleasant

Flintside

Metromode – Metro Detroit

Model D

Route Bay City

Rural Innovation Exchange

Second Wave -Southwest Michigan

The Keel – Port Huron

The Lakeshore

Upword – UP

Look for more articles like this over the coming year.

Connections purpose is to be an avenue for the exchange of information that includes people’s dreams, stories, concerns and successes. Its intent is to connect us all – the individuals who sit around the board room table, our customers, our administrators, caregivers, and our partners in the communities in which we live.

The Mental Health Code states that Community Mental Health Service Providers are required to distribute Recipient Rights Booklets to each recipient receiving services. To place an order with CMHA please visit our websites bookstore page.

The CMHA BoardWorks program was developed to assist Board members in fulfilling their obligations as CMH leaders, directors of policy, and advocates for those they serve.

Welcome to the latest edition of our SDOH newsletter. Our newsletter aims to provide you with updates on the initiatives and progress within this current phase, along with relevant partner updates, with the goal of fostering transparency and creating space for meaningful collaboration.

Phase III of the SDOH Strategy, which launched in January 2024, represents a significant progression in our commitment to holistic well-being. Building on the foundational achievements of Phase I, which prioritized critical areas such as food security, housing stability, and health equity, we now advance our efforts. Our latest phase synthesizes insights gained from our earlier efforts, incorporates feedback from Michigan’s diverse partners, and employs a collaborative, community-driven approach to address emerging challenges.

Click here to learn more about Phase III of the SDOH strategy.

Subscribe to the SDOH newsletter

This dynamic gathering of behavioral health and I/DD leaders from across the country explores the challenges and opportunities in our field while also highlighting the most recent policy developments. Make sure to stay up to date with the conference agenda and registration information through the Legislative & Policy website.

March 4th – 6th, 2025      |      Washington, D.C.      |      REGISTER HERE
We are looking forward to seeing you!

The Michigan Rural Health Conference aims to provide engaging education on relevant topics for rural health providers. Conference objectives include:

Bringing rural healthcare providers together.
Offering networking and collaboration opportunities.
Providing current and relevant information to rural healthcare providers.

The Michigan Rural Health Conference typically hosts presentations that are focused on the following areas:

Health Information Technology
Public Health
Health Equity
EMS
Workforce
Finance & Operations
Quality Improvement

Suggested Topics of Interest to Conference Attendees:

Workforce:

Integrating Telehealth
Staffing Shortages
Enhancing Workforce Retention and Well-being

Rural Health Clinic:

HEIDIS Measures with RHCs
RHC Survey Information
Emergency Preparedness and Response in RHCs
Maximizing Reimbursement
Leveraging Technology for Data-Driven Decision-Making

Social Drivers of Health:

Transportation, Food Security, & Other Social Drivers of Health
Engaging Disproportionately Impacted Populations
Other Innovative Approaches to Rural Health Care

Proposal Information: Proposals are welcomed for 60-minute presentations that are interactive, creative, dynamic, feature best practices in rural health, and will encompass this year’s theme Vision Into Action: Rising Together.

The presentation time frame will include introductions, presentation material, and time for questions and answers. Proposals are due by 11:45 pm January 17, 2025*

*All applicants will be notified of acceptance, regret, or waitlist by February 14, 2025. All applicants are encouraged to include a photograph and bio when submitting proposals.

Scan the QR Code to be Taken Directly to the Presentation Submission Portal

CYCLE 1
Grant range up to $200,000
Concept papers due January 16, 2025
Proposals due February 20, 2025
Grants announced May 2025

CYCLE 2
Grant range up to $200,000
Concept papers due June 10, 2025
Proposals due July 22, 2025
Grants announced November 2025

The Michigan Health Endowment Fund 2025 Capacity Building Initiative seeks proposals to support the core functions of organizations and their collaboratives through organizational and collaborative capacity building grants.

This grant program aims to:

Assist health-focused, community-based organizations in becoming stronger, more effective institutions in their communities, allowing them to spend more time focused on their mission and collaborative efforts.

Increase or improve collaboration among providers, service agencies, the business community, and community-based organizations within a community to address health issues in a sustainable way.

View the Health Fund website and RFP for more details by clicking here.

CAPACITY BUILDING RFP & RESOURCES

Overview x2: Crafting Budgets & 2025 Capacity Building Initiative

Join us January 6, 2025, at noon for a “two-in-one” webinar: we’ll start with a short, demonstrative session on preparing budgets for Health Fund grant applications. Afterward, we’ll transition to an overview of our 2025 Capacity Building Grant Initiative.

In the first segment, our grants manager will provide tips for crafting budgets and navigating the budget portion of our application across all Health Fund grant programs. In the second segment, our program team will go over the priorities and processes in our 2025 Capacity Building RFP. We’ll have time for Q&A after each session, and we’ll share recordings with registrants afterward.

Join us for the full webinar or hop on at 12:30 p.m. to catch the RFP portion only. You are welcome to participate with your camera off. Come with lunch: bring an appetite for learning and a new grant opportunity! We look forward to seeing you there. Questions? Contact Veronica Marchese at veronica@mihealthfund.org. Register and view the full agenda by clicking here.

REGISTER FOR HEALTH FUND WEBINAR

Please note: The Capacity Building program is referenced in two cycles. The grant limit has increased to $200,000 for 2025. The application for our Community Health Impact program will open in May.

You can find more informational resources, including past grants and frequently asked questions, on our website and new Grant Database.

Questions? Contact Veronica Marchese at veronica@mihealthfund.org

The Division of Grant Review (DGR) is recruiting reviewers who have academic qualifications and meet the requirements of the 21st Century CURES Act.

Preferred CURES Act Experience:

A medical degree, a doctoral degree in psychology, or an advanced degree in nursing or social work from an accredited program.

An active license and experience in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or recovery from mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder.

In addition to recruiting those with the preferred CURES Act experience, DGR continues to search for the following:

People who meet the general reviewer qualifications found on SAMHSA’s “How to Become a SAMHSA Reviewer” webpage.

Expectations:

Participate in a mandatory pre-review teleconference to learn about key aspects of the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Availability during the review period, which is expected to last approximately two weeks and participation in a follow-up conference call with other reviewers if needed.

Analyze and evaluate grant applications against published evaluation criteria.

Clear writing style and adherence to deadlines.

Reviewers will receive $180 per application reviewed and returned to SAMHSA in the timeline specified for each program.

Please contact DGR at reviewer@samhsa.hhs.gov for more information or go to the website to submit your information.

Interested eligible applicants are encouraged to submit a letter of intent to apply for funding. The information in the attached document contains guidance regarding the funding opportunity, deadlines, requesting clarifying information, the required contents of the letter of intent, and how to submit. Deadline for applying for this funding opportunity is January 10, 2025.

MDHHS anticipates awarding a total of $20,000,000 to eligible applicants, and these grants will have a term of either one or two years, beginning on March 17, 2025 (date subject to change).

PSH Supportive Services LOI
December 4, 2024 – 10:30 am EST
REGISTER HERE!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the event

Additional grant application resources Supplemental Budget Template and PSH Supportive Services LOI Application

Bridge has spent months chronicling the devastating impact of the ongoing opioid crisis and disagreement over how the state and local governments will spend a combined $1.6 billion in funds intended to help. Now, Michigan has launched a new online mapping tool to allow those with substance abuse disorders to find help. It’s searchable by ZIP code, city or county, and it identifies which providers accept Medicaid. 

The mapping tool can be found here.

A Democratic House member has alerted leadership that a health issue will prevent her from attending session for at least this week. A call to the member and the member’s office failed to provide clarification regarding her potential availability during lame duck.

The issue of attendance during lame duck is critical, given the Democrats’ slim 56-54 majority in the House. The absence of one more Democratic member would prevent a bill from passing on only party-line votes.

Another wrinkle in the fabric is some conferences that are taking place in December, starting with the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in Washington D.C., which is scheduled to meet Dec. 2-7. House Speaker Joe TATE (D-Detroit) is listed as a featured guest for a Wednesday afternoon plenary session. However, House Democratic spokesperson said the Speaker will be attending that event virtually and plans to be in Lansing for session that day.

Whether others attend the conference, which has seen participation from Michigan legislators in the past, is in question, but legislative leaders are urging their members to stay in Lansing.

The same is true for another conference, the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), a progressive policy group that’s active in Michigan, which is holding its first national conference Dec. 11-13 in Atlanta, Ga. While none of Michigan’s state legislators are listed as speakers, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Tim BORING and Michigan SiX Director Tom LENARD have slots on the schedule.

“We expect every member to participate in session as long as they’re physically able to be there,” said House Majority Floor Leader Abraham AIYASH (D-Hamtramck). “We are not making exceptions for conferences.”

Sen. Erika GEISS (D-Taylor), chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said she is urging “members to make wise choices, taking into account that these conferences overlap with lame duck. What they do with that and where they believe they need to be is entirely up to them.”

However, the health issue of at least one member has Democrats conceding that working with House Republicans for at least the first week of lame duck (if not more) will be necessary. The House will be in session as scheduled next week, voting all three days, but will need Minority Leader Matt HALL (R-Richland Township)‘s help to pass legislation. At this point, the Democratic caucus is “still hopeful” about its attendance.

Meanwhile, following up on a report from last night, the Governor’s office confirmed this morning that the Governor has meetings scheduled with leaders of both parties as the Legislature returns from Thanksgiving break.

“The Governor met with legislative leaders during their last week of session prior to the Legislature’s hunting break,” said Whitmer Communications Director Bobby LEDDY. “As the Governor has said repeatedly, she looks forward to working with both parties in lame duck on legislation to expand economic development tools and fix the roads.”

The updates come as House and Senate members combined to introduce 295 bills in the month of November, more than twice as many as in 2022 (99) and more than 2020 (168), 2018 (217) and 2016 (110). Numerous interest groups are pushing to get their priorities through during the three-week window.

The Republicans under the presumed next speaker, Rep. Matt HALL (R-Richland Township), will treat the oversight committee the same as the appropriations committee and standing committees as a whole. 

The goal is to make sure the government is working well, and that money is being spent wisely.  Logistically, there are still several questions. The size of the committee isn’t known, although it promises to be larger than today’s nine-member committee. Some members want the committee to be given subpoena powers, but that hasn’t been ironed out, yet, according to a source. 

The committee will have a unique process in which subcommittees or a team of members will be asked to dive into specific issues over a period of months. 

In Gov. Gretchen WHITMER‘s first four years, then-Oversight Committee Chair Hall and Steve JOHNSON did deeper dives than prior House committees. This committee promises to be even more extensive with the Democratic governor completing her final two years. 

It will be more than going through a department budget.  “It’s going to be a big, big thing over the next two years,” one source said. 

Without opposition, the Michigan Senate passed SB 918, SB 917, SB 916 and SB 915 allows law enforcement officers to take someone in for a psychiatric examination if they have “reasonable cause” to believe they need community mental health treatment. Currently, officers must personally witness signs of uncontrolled mental illness.

Proponents of SB 915, such as the Mental Health Association in Michigan (MHAM), say it will give officers “greater latitude” to follow guidance from loved ones and treatment providers who contact them flagging someone’s behavior.  Additionally, the bill permits psychiatric nurse practitioners to conduct examinations. 

During an Oct. 9 Senate Health Policy Committee hearing, MHAP President Marianne HUFF said she frequently gets phone calls from family members seeking treatment for loved ones. But in order to get it, according to their complaints, the person “has to be basically so incapacitated by symptoms” that they become potentially and unintentionally harmful, she explained.   

“When somebody has uncontrolled symptoms of those conditions, mainly psychosis or what we would call hyper-mania, there is a lack of the understanding of the need for treatment,” Huff said. “Nobody should have to be so overcome by symptoms of a mental health condition that they could either harm themselves or someone else without meaning to, or find themselves in the criminal justice system.” 

SB 916 sets up a system where prosecuting attorneys, defendants or their counsel can make a motion subjecting someone to a mental health examination following misdemeanor charges. After a petition hearing – with petition filings based on the examination’s findings – courts can place that person into an assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) program for up to 180 days. 

Although the bill states that conditions for release from the courts’ oversight must be separate from complying with a treatment plan, it does provide that misdemeanor charges can be dismissed 90 days after the individual’s AOT order. If they’re charged with a “serious misdemeanor,” the timeframe will be 180 days.

At the same time, the defendant can oppose being diverted from criminal prosecution and into AOT, choosing to remain in the criminal justice system. The prosecuting attorney would have the same influence if they object. 

“This allows for individuals to focus on their treatment without the immediate pressure of legal consequences, fostering an environment for recovery if they comply with the treatment,” said Sen. Sylvia SANTANA (D-Detroit), the sponsor of SB 916, in December. “This bill represents a compassionate and more pragmatic approach to addressing mental health within our criminal justice system, by prioritizing treatment over punishment.” 

Also in the legislation, care providers and family members have the opportunity to seek mediation before a petition is filed with a probate court that could result in involuntary treatment. 

According to backers of the reform, mediation requests require the person being flagged for mental illness to speak with a community mental health (CMH) provider early on, discussing treatment plans with their input. 

However, when a petition is filed, the individual will be examined in a hospital by a physician or licensed psychologist for no longer than 24 hours.

Why Support CMH PAC? 

In the Michigan Legislature there are:

• More new legislators due to term limits.
• Fewer legislators with in-depth knowledge about behavioral health issues.
• More legislative proposals that directly and indirectly impact Michigan’s publicly funded mental health system.
• More aggressive interest groups competing for limited resources.
• Very few legislative champions for persons with mental health, developmental/intellectual disabilities and substance use disorders.

CMH PAC helps overcome some of these obstacles by raising awareness for issues that are important to behavioral health care. The CMH PAC supports legislators/candidates who support and advocate on behalf of Michigan’s publicly funded mental health system.

Interested in contributing to CMH PAC? 

Donate online or mail check donations to our offices located at 507 S. Grand Ave., Lansing, MI 48933. Please make checks payable to CMH PAC.