Thursday, August 21, 2014

NAMI Morehead program addresses mental health care reforms and HR 3717

Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2014 9:59 am
Read more here: http://www.themoreheadnews.com/news/article_69120abc-293b-11e4-a85e-001a4bcf887a.html







On Tuesday, Aug. 26, NAMI Morehead (National Alliance on Mental Illness) will host a program designed to shed light on the nation's mental health care system and how HR 3717 (“The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act”) would help.
Speaker GG Burns of Lexington is an advocate for individuals living with psychiatric disabilities. She will discuss specific mental health care reforms that are needed and how the legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (HR 3717) could help avert suffering and tragedy that so often ensue from untreated serious mental illness.


Burns is the founder of the “Change Mental Health Laws in Kentucky” Blog and cofounder of “Treatment Before Tragedy” (TB4T), a nationwide group that advocates in congress for better mental health treatment, services and research for a cure.
A long-time NAMI member, she received “NAMI Kentucky's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 and in 2014 was recognized by the Community Health Charities MediStars as “Volunteer of the Year.”
Among the issues to be addressed at Tuesday's program are the following:
• An estimated 600,000 homeless people and 356,000 inmates have untreated mental illness and approximately 40,000 of them die of suicide each year.
This presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be held at the Rowan County Public Library from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 784-4551.

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Morehead in central Kentucky, is a beautiful town right out of a travel postcard. It's surrounded by the Daniel Boone National Forest, full of culture and scenic beauty.




Their local NAMI Morehead affiliate board president, Carol Mauriello requested me to present on H.R. 3717 and the need to reform mental health laws in Kentucky earlier this year. However, due to schedule conflicts, I was unable to meet with NAMI Morehead until August 30, 2014.

L-R, Carolyn Miller, Carol Mauriello and GG Burns 
The following are a few photograhps made at our meeting. Thanks to all the members and Morehead Students who came out to learn more about H.R. 3717 and how it can help families in crisis.