Category: News

Parents and young people – Help shape mental health and substance use policy and programs!

Join the Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group’s efforts to improve mental health and substance use/alcohol treatment services and supports for children, young people through age 25, and their families.

There are several opportunities for you to participate:

  1. The Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group (CYBHWG)
  2. The Prenatal-25 Behavioral Health Strategic Plan Advisory Group (P-25 Strategic Plan Advisory Group)
  3. The P-25 Strategic Plan Advisory Group parent/caregiver and youth/young adult subcommittees

These opportunities are described more fully below. 

  • To become a member of the Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group (CYBHWG) or the P-25 Strategic Plan Advisory Group, you must nominate yourself/apply. Information about how to nominate and/or apply is included below (attached form for CYBHWG and survey links for P-25 Strategic Plan Advisory Group).
  • The P-25 Strategic Plan Advisory Group parent/caregiver and youth/young adult subcommittees are open to all and information to sign up to join these meetings is also included below.

Please note the following supports that are available:

  • Most parent/caregiver and youth/young adult members of the CYBHWG and the SPAG may receive payment for attending meetings.
  • All parent/caregiver and youth/young adult attendees at the strategic plan subcommittee meetings described below who meet the above criteria may receive payment for attending meetings.
  • Child and elder care, as well as travel expenses for in-person meetings, are also covered.
  • Translation and interpreter services are available, if arranged in advance.

We can’t improve the system without you – your experience and wisdom will ensure that these services truly look and feel like help to those who seek them.

If you have questions or need more information, please send an email to cybhwg@hca.wa.gov.

1. Children & Youth Behavioral Health Work Group (CYBHWG)

The CYBHWG currently has openings for one parent or caregiver and two young people between the ages of 13 and 29 who have had experience with mental health or drug and alcohol-related programs or services.

The CYBHWG is a group of legislators, state agency representatives, health care providers, tribal governments, community behavioral health services, advocates, young people who have received behavioral health services (mental health and/or substance use/alcohol treatment), and parents of children and young people who have received services. Each year this group provides recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature to improve behavioral health services and strategies for children, youth, young adults, and their families – and each year many of these recommendations are passed into law.

Additional Details
Time commitment: Attend up to eight 3-4 hour CYBHWG meetings per year and one 3-hour member retreat. Most meetings are virtual (held on Zoom). All in-person meetings include a virtual option.

Term: Member terms may not exceed 3 years.

Application deadline: Wednesday, May 8, 2024

To nominate yourself: Please use the attached 2024 CYBHWG nomination form.

To nominate someone else: Please send their name and why you think they should be on the CYBHWG to amber.leaders@gov.wa.gov and cybhwg@hca.wa.gov, and cc the person you’re nominating.

CYBHWG meetings are open public meetings. Each meeting includes a public comment period; some also include breakout groups in which non-members can participate. 

2. Prenatal-25 Behavioral Health Strategic Plan Advisory Group

The CYBHWG is currently developing a statewide strategic plan to improve the behavioral health system for all of Washington’s children, youth, young adults, and their families.

The goals for the Prenatal-25 Strategic Plan:

  • Develop a long-term system-wide strategy and roadmap to build robust, equitable services and supports from prevention through intensive inpatient services.
  • Engage deeply with communities and stakeholders and sustain an ongoing feedback loop.
  • Drive tangible improvements along the way.

Its guiding principles include:

  • No wrong door.
  • Help that looks like help.
  • Informed by children, youth and families that utilize services
  • Oriented toward prevention to avoid future crises and reduce the need for more intensive services

The P-25 Strategic Plan Advisory Group is made up of parents, young people, and system partners. The advisory group will serve as a platform to bring all partners together to find common ground and develop collective suggestions.

Additional Details
Time commitment: Up to five 3-4 hour meetings per year and one 3-hour member retreat, plus review of draft documents and other materials as needed.
Most meetings are virtual (held on Zoom). All in-person meetings include a virtual option.

Term: Member terms may not exceed 2 years.

Application deadline: extended to Wednesday, May 8, 2024

To apply for membership on the P-25 Strategic Plan Advisory Group, please use the links below:

To nominate someone else: Please send their name and why you think they should be on the CYBHWG to amber.leaders@gov.wa.gov and cybhwg@hca.wa.gov, and cc the person you’re nominating.

3.The Prenatal-25 Spag Parent/Caregiver And Youth/Young Adult Subcommittees

Come to our monthly Parent/Caregiver and Youth/Young Adult subcommittees!
Throughout the year, we will be holding monthly 1-2 hour meetings to share progress and plans and get your ideas and input. Every meeting is open to any parent or young person who wants to attend; there are no appointed members. We will begin scheduling these meetings in May. If you are interested in participating in one of these subcommittees, please send email to cybhwg@hca.wa.gov and we’ll add you to the mailing list.

Additional Details
Time commitment: Attend monthly 1-2 hour meetings, as you are available.
We welcome your participation, even if you can only attend occasionally.

Presentation To Your Group or Organization

We are happy to come to your group’s meetings or gatherings – in person or virtually – to share information about the Prenatal-25 Strategic Plan and get your ideas for how to create a better system. Please email cybhwg@hca.wa.gov if you know of groups or people we should connect with.

We are grateful for the opportunity to work in partnership with young people, parents, and community members.

Download Application Form Checklist

Dan Thompson Account Survey – Make Your Voice Heard!

Seeking your input! DDA is asking for your participation to provide input on future awards from the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account. We want to hear from you about what the process should look like and what type of projects should be funded. Please complete the survey below by close of business Oct. 13.

There is approximately $5 million dollars in the Dan Thompson Account for new applications to be spent by June 30, 2025.

RCW 71A.20.170 (6) states “Expenditures from the account must supplement, and may not replace, supplant, or reduce current state expenditure levels for supports and services in the community setting for eligible persons with developmental disabilities.” This means that grant awards cannot pay for services covered by DDA Home and Community Based Services waivers or Medicaid State Plan services.

Thank you for your input. The survey results will influence the design of the next round of applications for Dan Thompson Account funding.

Take the survey here

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What Happens to Health Programs if the Federal Government Shuts Down?

For the first time since 2019, congressional gridlock is poised to at least temporarily shut down big parts of the federal government — including many health programs.

If it happens, some government functions would stop completely and some in part, while others wouldn’t be immediately affected — including Medicare, Medicaid, and health plans sold under the Affordable Care Act. But a shutdown could complicate the lives of everyone who interacts with any federal health program, as well as the people who work at the agencies administering them.

Here are five things to know about the potential impact to health programs:

1. Not all federal health spending is the same.

“Mandatory” spending programs, like Medicare, have permanent funding and don’t need Congress to act periodically to keep them running. But the Department of Health and Human Services is full of “discretionary” programs — including at the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, community health centers, and HIV/AIDS initiatives — that must be specifically funded by Congress through annual appropriations bills.

The appropriations bills (there are 12 of them, each covering various departments and agencies) are supposed to be passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president before the start of the federal fiscal year, Oct. 1. This almost never happens. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, Congress has passed all the appropriations bills in time for the start of the fiscal year only four times since the modern budget process was adopted in the 1970s; the last time was in 1997.

Congress usually keeps the lights on for the government by passing short-term funding bills, known as “continuing resolutions,” or CRs, until lawmakers can resolve their differences on longer-term spending.

This year, however, a handful of conservative Republicans in the House have said they won’t vote for any CR, in an attempt to force deeper spending cuts than those agreed to this spring in a bipartisan bill to raise the nation’s borrowing authority. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his allies could join with Democrats to keep the government running, but that would almost certainly cost McCarthy his speakership. Several of the rebellious conservatives are already threatening to force a vote to oust him.

2. The Biden administration decides what stays open.

The White House Office of Management and Budget is responsible for drawing up contingency plans in case of a government shutdown and publishes one for each federal department. The plan for Health and Human Services estimates that 42% of its staff would be furloughed in a shutdown and 58% retained.

Read the full article from KFF.

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Federal government to start providing free coronavirus tests once again

Just as a summer covid wave shows signs of receding, the Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is reviving a program to mail free rapid coronavirus tests to Americans.

Starting Sept. 25, people can request four free tests per household through covidtests.gov. Officials say the tests are able to detect the latest variants and are intended to be used through the end of the year.

The return of the free testing program comes after Americans navigated the latest uptick in covid cases with free testing no longer widely available. The largest insurance companies stopped reimbursing the costs of retail at-home testing once the requirement to do so ended with the public health emergency in May. The Biden administration stopped mailing free tests in June.

The Department of Health and Human Services also announced Wednesday that it was awarding $600 million to a dozen coronavirus test manufacturers. Agency officials said the funding would improve domestic manufacturing capacity and provide the federal government with 200 million over-the-counter tests to use in the future.

Red the full article from the Washington Post.

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Department of Health launches new Respiratory Illness Data Dashboard, retires COVID-19 Data Dashboard

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) created a new Respiratory Illness Data Dashboard that allows people to track COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease activity by region across the state.  

The new, comprehensive dashboard replaces DOH’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard, which retired Sept. 18. COVID-19 data and reports can now be found on the new dashboard site.  

“We hope the new Respiratory Illness Data Dashboard will inform communities and help guide their personal decision making on prevention measures such as masks and social distancing,” said Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, MD, MPH, Chief Science Officer at DOH. “Getting up to date on vaccinations and staying home when you’re sick can also help protect you and those around you against the worst impacts of COVID-19, flu, and RSV. We all need to do our part to reduce the chance that our healthcare system could be overwhelmed by respiratory illnesses in the coming months.”  

One major change in the new dashboard is the inclusion of data from previous years, providing the public with clearer comparisons between current disease activity and that of years past. The Respiratory Illness Data Dashboard will be updated weekly through April 2024. Subsequent update frequency depends on the degree of ongoing activity for COVID-19.  

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Youth and Parents Needed for Mobile Study to Support Mental Health

Who’s Eligible?

  • Youth (15-21 y/o) and their Parents/Guardians
  • Both fluent in English
  • Both have a smartphone
  • Living in same household 5 days/week
  • Youth Involved with Juvenile Justice (probation, re-entry services, etc.)
  • Youth has been depressed, suicidal, or engaged in self-harm

What’s Involved?

  • Youth + Parent/Legal Guardian will use a mobile phone app together for 4 months
  • Participate in 4 virtual meetings over 4 months

For more information, view the flyer: RCT Flyer

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It May Be Time to Break Out the Masks Against Covid, Some Experts Say

If you’re at high risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19, it’s time to dust off those N95 masks and place them snugly over your nose and mouth to protect yourself from a recent uptick of the virus, according to a growing number of experts.

That advice should go all the way up to 80-year-old President Joe Biden, said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist.

“Octogenarians comprise the highest-risk group for complications following Covid infection,” Reiner said.

As a summer wave of Covid-19 hits the US, questions about vaccines, quarantine and testing are back

“At least until the numbers start to drop again, it would be appropriate for President Biden to take some precautions and wear a mask in crowds.”

Other high-risk groups include people with diabetes, cancer, chronic liver, kidney or lung disease, organ or stem cell transplants, HIV or other immunocompromising conditions, a history of heart disease or stroke, dementia or mental health issues.

“If you’re a caregiver for somebody who is at increased risk of complication following infection, then I think you should also consider putting a mask on in public places,” said Reiner, a professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

“And since the masks that are most effective are N95 that are now readily available, that’s the kind of mask you should wear,” he added.

Read the full article from CNN.

Emergency Preparation for People with IDD Goes Beyond Having a Go-Bag

Families with individuals who have Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) often have plans in place for natural disasters. Wildfires, earthquakes, and flooding are common concerns across Washington. Yet there are other, more mundane emergencies that also need to be planned for. Emergencies happen in almost every home at one time or another. If the emergency is with the individual with a disability, there are often procedures in place with the household as to how to proceed. These include having a go-bag, having a list of diagnosis, medications, and medical history on hand. But emergencies are not also so straightforward, yet it is still possible to prepare for them.

Sometimes the individual with a disability is alone when an emergency occurs, or the caregiver is incapacitated, with only the person with a disability around to help.  Under these stressful situations, many people will panic and be unable to help themselves or others, and those with and IDD are even more likely to react poorly to an emergency situation. One option is to have a personal emergency response system (PERS), sometimes known as medical alert system, for both the individual with an IDD and their main caregivers. This will allow for non-verbal communication with emergency services when the person with an IDD or a caregiver is having a medical emergency.  PERS are available to those on the Community First Choice Medicaid waiver and can otherwise be purchased by anyone.

Preparation is key to heading off potential disasters when emergencies happen. Experts recommend talking regularly to loved ones with IDD about how to deal with an emergency situation.  This can include discussing the importance of listening and following directions of caregivers and first responders. It can also take the form of drills, in the guise of make-believe.  Storytelling can be a wonderfully effective way of getting the message across, and several picture books are available to help children understand how to behave in an emergency.

First responders are increasingly being taught about how to deal with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but first responders displaying this knowledge cannot be counted on in an emergency. Individuals with IDD are more likely to be comfortable with first responders if they have interacted with them in the past in a comfortable environment.  Community events often have meet-and-greets with police or firefighters, which can be a fun place to introduce children to emergency personnel.  If the individual with a disability is able to regularly visit with first responders, they will be more likely to have a positive reaction to them during an emergency.

Washington State started issuing updated ID cards in 2022, which can now show that an individual has a developmental disability, is deaf or hard of hearing, or has another medical condition.  Not only will first responders be able to see an individual’s important medical information on their ID card, having the card will allow most law enforcement departments to see these designations when they look up individuals in the Department of Licensing system. These new ID cards can help first responders recognize that a person has a disability and act accordingly.

Primary caregivers can enlist the help of nearby friends and family in their emergency planning and can be recruited as an emergency caregiver.  Emergency caregivers need to be someone who is nearby, trustworthy, easily reachable, and has knowledge as to what the person with a disability needs to stay safe and cared for. They can be put on speed dial and the individual with an IDD can be taught how to contact them in emergencies.

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Wildfire Smoke is Causing Unhealthy Air Conditions for Much of the State

More than half our state is breathing in unhealthy air because of wildfires in Washington and Canada. Air Quality Alerts are issued through Monday morning for many Central and Eastern counties and Tribal Nations. Smoke is also expected in Western Washington this weekend.

When air is unhealthy, everyone should take steps to protect themselves. Track air quality levels on the Washington Smoke Information website and follow related health recommendations. Stay inside with cleaner indoor air by:

  • Closing windows and doors unless temperatures inside get too hot.
  • Filtering indoor air by using an HVAC system, HEPA portable air cleaner, or DIY box fan filter.
  • Not adding to indoor air pollution, such as smoking or burning candles indoors.
  • Setting air conditioning units to recirculate.

If you must be outside, limit how long you’re outside and how intense the activity is. If you have to be outside for long periods of time you can also wear a properly fitted, NIOSH-approved particulate respirator, such as an N95 mask. It’s also important to check on elderly loved ones and neighbors and keep pets inside.

“It wasn’t a matter of if, but when smoke would hit,” said Kaitlyn Kelly, Air Quality Policy Specialist. “Wildfire smoke season is here in Washington, which means we need to be proactive about taking steps to protect ourselves.”

Smoke often affects people with pre-existing conditions the most. Minor symptoms include eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. More serious symptoms include difficulty breathing, chest pain, and irregular heartbeat. Wildfire smoke can lead to hospitalization and death. Seek medical attention if your symptoms are severe.

For more information on how to protect yourself from wildfire smoke, visit the Washington State Department of Health’s Smoke From Fires webpage.

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