Health News
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As part of the heroin legislation passed this year, community mental health centers and residential treatment facilities across the state will receive more than $3.5 million in grants to help treat prescription drug and heroin abuse, and address neonatal...
- Amid Legislative Action On 'larry's Law,' Report Says Mentally Ill And Intellectually Disabled Don't Belong In Personal-care Homes
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News As state legislators move to change the procedure for admitting mentally ill patients to personal-care homes, a new report argues those patients shouldn't be in the institutions at all ? and neither should people...
- Federal Supervision Of Oakwood Mental-health Facility Ends
The federal supervision of Oakwood, the long-beleaguered Somerset facility for the mentally disabled, is no longer necessary and will end, officials announced yesterday. The move means the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the U.S....
- Second Death In Five Years Raises Questions About Placement Of Mentally Ill Kentuckians In Personal-care Homes
The second death in five years of a mentally ill person who has walked out of a personal care home has "prompted advocates for the brain injured and the mentally ill to question whether personal care homes, which do not provide skilled nursing care, are...
- Medicaid: The Long-term Costs Of Short-term Savings
The Rauner Administration?s decision to cut $1.5 billion in Medicaid spending to balance the state budget is like the proverbial cutting off the nose to spite the face. Central to the Rauner ?plan? is to tighten eligibility for people with disabilities...
Health News
Mentally ill in personal-care homes, or at risk of going there, will have increased access to behavioral health care in Kentucky
The state Cabinet for Health and Family Services is extending an agreement that provides housing assistance and services to people with serious mental illness has been extended through Septemnber 2018, and is expanding it to provide increased access, according to a state news release
The agreement is with Kentucky Protection and Advocacy, an independent state agency that advocates for the rights of persons with disabilities. Its services are available to those with serious mental illness who reside, or are at risk of residing, in a personal-care home. Such facilities are long-term care facilities that provide care for persons who do not require hospital or nursing-home care, but who do require care beyond solely room and board.
The initial agreement only allowed the 14 regional community mental health centers to provide these services to individuals in their regions, but now they can serve individuals outside their service area. In addition, other behavioral health providers will now be able to provide services to these individuals.
The extended agreement also says that a regulation must be put into place that requires the use of these services to be a routine part of the Department for Behavioral Health, Development and Intellectual Disabilities protocols for those who reside in personal-care homes.
Services provided under the agreement include basic physical and behavioral health and health-related services, personal care services, residential care services, supported employment, case management, peer support services and social and recreational activities.
The extended agreement is expected to help avoid litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires providing services to persons with disabilities in the most integrated setting.
It is estimated there are some 2,300 Kentuckians, most with serious mental illness, receiving the state supplement and residing in personal-care homes, according to the release.
The agreement is with Kentucky Protection and Advocacy, an independent state agency that advocates for the rights of persons with disabilities. Its services are available to those with serious mental illness who reside, or are at risk of residing, in a personal-care home. Such facilities are long-term care facilities that provide care for persons who do not require hospital or nursing-home care, but who do require care beyond solely room and board.
The initial agreement only allowed the 14 regional community mental health centers to provide these services to individuals in their regions, but now they can serve individuals outside their service area. In addition, other behavioral health providers will now be able to provide services to these individuals.
The extended agreement also says that a regulation must be put into place that requires the use of these services to be a routine part of the Department for Behavioral Health, Development and Intellectual Disabilities protocols for those who reside in personal-care homes.
Services provided under the agreement include basic physical and behavioral health and health-related services, personal care services, residential care services, supported employment, case management, peer support services and social and recreational activities.
It is estimated there are some 2,300 Kentuckians, most with serious mental illness, receiving the state supplement and residing in personal-care homes, according to the release.
- $3.5 Million In Grants Allocated Across State To Treat Heroin And Prescription Drug Addiction And Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
As part of the heroin legislation passed this year, community mental health centers and residential treatment facilities across the state will receive more than $3.5 million in grants to help treat prescription drug and heroin abuse, and address neonatal...
- Amid Legislative Action On 'larry's Law,' Report Says Mentally Ill And Intellectually Disabled Don't Belong In Personal-care Homes
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News As state legislators move to change the procedure for admitting mentally ill patients to personal-care homes, a new report argues those patients shouldn't be in the institutions at all ? and neither should people...
- Federal Supervision Of Oakwood Mental-health Facility Ends
The federal supervision of Oakwood, the long-beleaguered Somerset facility for the mentally disabled, is no longer necessary and will end, officials announced yesterday. The move means the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the U.S....
- Second Death In Five Years Raises Questions About Placement Of Mentally Ill Kentuckians In Personal-care Homes
The second death in five years of a mentally ill person who has walked out of a personal care home has "prompted advocates for the brain injured and the mentally ill to question whether personal care homes, which do not provide skilled nursing care, are...
- Medicaid: The Long-term Costs Of Short-term Savings
The Rauner Administration?s decision to cut $1.5 billion in Medicaid spending to balance the state budget is like the proverbial cutting off the nose to spite the face. Central to the Rauner ?plan? is to tighten eligibility for people with disabilities...