Mental Health Parity Becomes Law
Mental health advocates marked 2008 as a year in
which they helped win passage of a landmark law to
bring mental health parity protection to more than
100 million Americans covered by group health
insurance. Passage of the Paul Wellstone and Pete
Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity
Act owes much to a relentless battle waged in order
to educate lawmakers, win their support for
comprehensive parity legislation, and persuade them
to make parity’s enactment a vital priority. Also
achieved was another critical victory toward ending
all discrimination against people with mental health
needs: Legislation phasing out the inequitable 50
percent co-pay requirement on outpatient mental
health care under the Medicare program. Supporters
believe these longstanding discriminatory practices
have helped keep stigma alive. With each legislative
victory over discrimination it comes closer to the
day that all people view mental health conditions no
differently than any other health condition.
National Survivors of Suicide Day
In support of
National Survivors of Suicide Day, the Sedgwick
County Suicide Prevention Task Force will host the
Survivors of Suicide Conference and Web cast on
Saturday, November 22. Click on the link to
the right for more information.
Workplace Mental Health
Mental illness is becoming an
increasingly widespread problem in the workplace.
Find out how mental illness affects the workplace
and what employers can do to help employees and
alleviate those effects.
Understanding Alcoholism as a Community Issue
September is National Alcohol and
Drug Addiction Recovery Month. To promote the
hopeful and healing message of recovery, COMCARE of
Sedgwick County’s Addiction Treatment Services (ATS)
is participating in the 18th annual
observance of this event.
Raising Teens
Many things wreak havoc on the souls
of adolescents including, struggles for
independence, identity questions and hormones.
These things create questions for parents
including, how much freedom to grant, how to handle
attitudes, which disciplinary strategies will be
most effective and which issues are worth fighting
about.
Communicating effectively with teenagers can be a
challenge for many parents. While it is true that
one of the main developmental tasks of adolescence
is to separate from parents, there still is no
substitute for the parent-teen relationship.
Sedgwick County Prescription
Discount Card
Since 2004, Sedgwick County has partnered with the
National Association of Counties and Caremark to
provide Prescription Discount Cards free of charge
to uninsured and underinsured residents of Sedgwick
County. The discount card provides individuals an
average 18% discount on their prescription drugs.
For more information on this program and to learn
how to receive a card, email or call
Rachelle Moody
at 660-7673.
Click on the More Information link below to view
Frequently Asked Questions about the program.
COMCARE Receives Exemplary Award for Excellence
On May 1 the KUSSW
Office of Mental Health and Training sponsored the
biannual
Evidence-Based Practice Supported Employment Summit
to learn from each other and
recognize the outstanding work and achievements of
those supported employment programs that have implemented EBP-SE in Kansas. COMCARE of
Sedgwick County was among the five agencies recognized for meeting a specified list of criteria.
Homelessness in Sedgwick County
Did you know there are
52,000 residents in Sedgwick County living in
poverty and 1 in 10 people living in poverty
will experience homelessness this year? Kansas ranks
as the 7th highest state for hunger
nationwide and according to the Kansas Health
Institute, more than two-thirds of families with
difficulty obtaining food have at least one family
member working full-time.
The leading causes of hunger
include low-paying jobs, the high cost of housing,
medical care costs, substance abuse and mental
health problems, reduced public benefits, childcare
costs, and transportation expenses. For
homelessness it is the lack of affordable housing,
followed by the lack of needed services for mental
health and substance abuse, low-paying jobs,
unemployment, domestic violence, poverty and prison
release.
If you see a person who is
homeless, or would like information about food or
shelter in the community, please call COMCARE’ s
Homeless Program at 660-7800. COMCARE of Sedgwick
County is the community mental health center for all
residents of Sedgwick County.
Mission:
COMCARE of Sedgwick County
helps people with Mental Health and Substance Abuse
needs to improve the quality of their lives.
Vision:
We envision a healthy community where people are
provided the support needed to reach their potential.
COMCARE's quality comprehensive services are
prioritized and provided for all citizens regardless of
ability to pay. Services are provided in the most cost
efficient and cost-effective manner. Sedgwick County
provides programs which are accessible to the public without
regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, religious or
political affiliations, disability, or status as a disabled or Vietnam-era veteran.
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