This week marks the 26th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This landmark piece of legislation guaranteed that citizens with disabilities would have the same access to public spaces, rights in the workplace, and ability to access public transportation as their fellow Americans. And that includes Americans with psychiatric disabilities! While […]
CAFE TAC News and Notes for July 27, 2016 Read More »
It’s no secret that we live in an extraordinarily dynamic moment for behavioral health, and the healthcare system in general. Major changes to healthcare laws, including the Affordable Care Act and mental health parity legislation, have opened up access to behavioral health care. At the same time, the value of lived experience as a professional
Focus: Peers at the Center of New Approaches to Coordinated Care Read More »
As last year’s SAMHSA report to Congress on the nation’s substance abuse and mental health workforce noted, the demand for behavioral health services in the US exceeds what is available. With expanded access to care through the Affordable Care Act and new Mental Health Parity rules, that demand will only increase in coming years, and
A Focus on The Mental Health Workforce Crisis Read More »
What is “accreditation” and why does it matter? “Accreditation” is the process whereby a health care provider obtains impartial, outside approval for the manner in which it provides services. Traditionally, the accreditation process has involved outside experts looking closely at health care providers, their staffs, their internal processes, and other measurable factors. Rarely has accreditation
Focus: Behavioral Health Leads the Way in Changing the Accreditation Process Read More »
With so much going on in healthcare, it can be difficult to keep track of all the pieces. To help sort things out, The CAFE TA Center has developed its newest Focus newsletter to examine one of the biggest changes to healthcare on the horizon: Medicaid expansion. Right now, states are deciding whether or not
What’s At Stake in Medicaid Expansion? Read More »
For decades now, consumer organizations and the larger consumer movement have been advocating for the rights of individuals with mental health needs. Many strong advocates have worked to end stigma, increase opportunities to live and work in the community, and put individuals with mental illnesses in control of their own care. At the same time,
Cross Disability Collaboration: What Can We Accomplish Together? Read More »
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act presents both challenges and opportunities for individual behavioral health consumers and consumer organizations alike. For individuals, there will be a challenge in identifying how their healthcare may change, and finding reliable answers to their questions about those changes. For consumer organizations, there will be a new role to
Now that the suspense is over, and we know that the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act, it’s time for mental health consumer to start educating themselves about the impact of this landmark legislation. There are plenty of opinions about the ACA coming from pundits and politicians, but where are the facts? What
A Focus on the Affordable Care Act Read More »
