Mental Health – Building Better Programs

CLASP – Seizing New Policy Opportunities to Help Low-Income Mothers with Depression

FIS Intern — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 20:23:02 +0000

Center for Law and Social Policy By: Stephanie Schmit and Christina Walker June 2016

Maternal depression is wide-spread among low-income families. One in nine babies in poverty has a mother suffering from depression. New provisions under the Affordable Care Act, recent federal decisions and guidance, and state and local innovations have provide unique opportunities to address this issue. Improving depression outcomes for low-income mothers has implications for the health of the mothers and their children, and for their chances of escaping poverty. This brief from CLASP pulls from interviews with various stakeholders in the areas of child care and early education, health, and mental health to provide ideas for state and federal action.

Read here

Emerging Opportunities for Addressing Maternal Depression under Medicaid

Ife Floyd — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 16:07:39 +0000

This brief highlights opportunities and challenges for Medicaid programs in providing access to services for depressed mothers. Low income mothers have high rates of untreated depression, posing significant risks for them and their children. Medicaid covers many such mothers and children, and coverage will increase with implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Emerging opportunities include new approaches to screening and treatment and new federal funding for integrated health care models and patient-centered medical homes. Major challenges include fragmentation between primary care and mental health care systems and provider shortages. The brief provides suggestions for addressing these challenges.

Urban Institute – Emerging Opportunities for Addressing Maternal Depression under Medicaid

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Disorders

Ife Floyd — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 16:01:24 +0000

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is perhaps one of the most frequently used psychotherapeutic orientations, with considerable research supporting its effectiveness and adaptability in clinical practice. As the name implies, CBT integrates the rationale and techniques from both cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy, taking advantage of their complimentary relationship. For example, as cognitive therapy seeks to change behavior by challenging maladaptive thoughts, behavioral therapy employs more direct, yet complimentary methods, such as pairing reinforcing stimuli with a desired behavior or aversive stimuli with an undesired behavior. CBT aims to quickly resolve maladaptive thoughts or behaviors without necessarily delving too deeply into why they may occur. Thus, effective courses of therapy might be as short as a single session, or as long as a lifetime, depending on the specific needs of the individual. This report summarizes evidence gained from systematic reviews focusing on the efficacy of CBT in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.

SAMHSA – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Disorders

The New Haven MOMS Partnership

Ife Floyd — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 18:09:46 +0000

The New Haven MOMS Partnership is a coalition led by mothers, community-based providers, local and state government, national partners and academic institutions committed to the vision and mission of maternal and child well-being. The MOMS Partnership not only focuses on helping mothers meet their basic needs, but also seeks to improve their mental health so that they can become better parents to their children and more active members of their community. Community ambassadors, neighborhood residents hired to work for the project, recruit participants and work with mental health counselors to deliver an 8-week cognitive behavioral therapy intervention. The project makes extensive use of incentives and has developed a cell phone app to keep mothers engaged in the project and with each other. The Partnership is in the process of adding an employment component and is building a mental health and employment services center that will be located in the neighborhood grocery store. The Partnership’s innovative strategies have led to high participation rates in the program.

CBPP webinar on the New Haven MOMS Partnership
Webinar Video
Webinar Slides

New Haven MOMS Partnership program website

Ramsey County’s Families Achieving Success Today Program

Ife Floyd — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:15:43 +0000

Ramsey County, through its Workforce Solutions Department, developed a new initiative called Families Achieving Success Today (FAST) with the express purpose of finding better paths to employment, and ultimately family and economic stability, for TANF recipients with disabilities and their families. FAST is a partnership of several agencies that provide mental health, vocational rehabilitation, community health care, and TANF employment services —co-located to improve access for families and streamline the delivery of services. A key component of FAST is the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of supported employment, which many studies have shown increases competitive employment among individuals with severe mental illness.

OPRE Report – The TANF/SSI Disability Transition Project: Innovative Strategies for Serving TANF Recipients with Disabilities