State Highlights: Advocates, Audit Fault Ability Of Georgia Agencies To Oversee Mental Health, Senior Care; Massachusetts Bill Aims To Improve ‘Profoundly Broken’ Mental Health System

Georgia Recorder: Mental Health Advocates Say Cuts To State Safety Net Are Deadly Serious 
Officials in charge of Georgia’s mental health safety net offered dire predictions after the governor ordered nearly all state agencies to slash spending. People suffering from mental illnesses would land in the emergency room, they said. And more people contemplating suicide would act on those impulses. Those same officials with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities later softened that alarming language and so still plan to yank $10.6 million from a new program state lawmakers funded last year to provide mental health intervention services in communities across Georgia. (McCosh, 2/17)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Action Needed To Protect Vulnerable Georgia Adults, Audit Says
A state audit identified damning new evidence that Georgia’s system to protect seniors and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect and exploitation is failing and the breakdowns are causing additional harm. Among the significant gaps cited in Friday’s report by State Auditor Greg S. Griffin on Georgia’s Adult Protective Services system was that investigators are taking too long to respond to urgent cases, such as when the elderly were going hungry or were sexually abused. One year, some 500 vulnerable adults facing serious situations waited three days or more before an investigator arrived. APS employees also were rejecting reports that should have been investigated, the audit found. (Schrade, 2/14)

State House News Service: Senate Unanimously Approves Vast Mental Health Bill
The Senate unanimously approved wide-reaching legislation Thursday designed to remove common barriers blocking access to mental health treatment, an action that supporters say is a key step toward fulfilling the promise of parity in health care already enshrined in law. Under the bill, referred to by authors as the “Mental Health ABC Act,” state offices would have new enforcement powers, insurers would need to file regular compliance reports, and more in an attempt to guarantee that patients have the same access to mental health care as they do to physical health care. (Lisinski, 2/14)

Los Angeles Times: Finding Patients Where They Live: Street Medicine Grows, Along With Homeless Population
The white van navigated streets lined by tents in downtown Los Angeles. From the back seat, Brett Feldman peered at the encampment’s residents scattered along the sidewalk. Feldman is a physician’s assistant here to treat someone who is sick. But before he can administer tests or medicines, he must perform a far more unusual task among medical providers: finding the patient. The four-person medical team Feldman leads offers care to some of the sickest people in L.A. by meeting them where they live, on the street. (Karlamangla, 2/16)

Los Angeles Times: Some Texans Blame California For Homelessness In Austin
Last June, Austin Mayor Steve Adler and fellow Democrats on the City Council passed a law effectively allowing homeless people to sleep, camp and panhandle on sidewalks and in other public spaces, as long as they didn’t threaten safety. The rationale was that the police too often played a cat-and-mouse game with the homeless population, moving them from place to place. Decriminalization was the start to a “housing-first” policy to expand access to shelter and apartments. (Hennessy-Fiske, 2/17)

Colorado Sun: One In Eight People Struggle With Infertility. Colorado Lawmakers Want Insurance To Cover Treatment
House Bill 1158 would require insurance companies to cover the most effective treatment for infertility, called in vitro fertilization (IVF) — where the egg and sperm are fertilized in a lab then transferred into the uterus. The expanded coverage would also include the harvesting and freezing of eggs and sperm for people undergoing medical treatment that threatens fertility, such as chemotherapy. “Income should not be a barrier for becoming a parent,” said Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat who is helping lead the charge on the bill. (Clark, 2/14)

The Washington Post: Florida Man Fights To Take Life-Sized Trump Cutout To Dialysis For Emotional Support
Nelson Gibson says his family isn’t allowed to stay for his multi-hour dialysis treatments. So he found another familiar face to sit beside him: President Trump. First, the 59-year-old Floridian brought an 8-by-10-inch picture. Then his son Photoshopped a small cardboard cutout of Gibson with his political hero grinning beside him, giving a thumbs-up. It stood on a ledge as Gibson reclined in his shirt embroidered with Trump’s name and his custom shoes bearing the president’s face. (Knowles, 2/15)

The Associated Press: Kansas Leader Decries Attempts To Tie Abortion, Medicaid
A top Republican lawmaker in Kansas on Friday disputed the claims of GOP colleagues that a bipartisan plan to expand the state’s Medicaid program would lead to taxpayers funding elective abortions. Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican, sent an email to senators decrying what he called “inaccurate verbal and written statements” used to justify opposition among anti-abortion lawmakers and groups to the expansion plan he drafted with Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. (2/14)

The Associated Press: Mississippi Inmate With Broken Arm Waits Weeks For A Cast
As the Justice Department investigates deaths and violence in the Mississippi prison system, one inmate had to wait about a month to get a cast on his arm that was broken during a prison riot, people close to the injured man say. They said Wesley Clayton only got help after people persuaded a legislator to intervene on his behalf. The state Department of Corrections will not answer questions about Clayton’s situation. (2/14)

The Washington Post: How A 6-Year Old Was Taken From School To A Mental Health Facility — Without Her Mother’s Consent
The body-camera footage starts after police officers had already located their suspect, and she fit the description: hazel eyes, about four feet tall and really concerned about finding candy. In the footage, Nadia King, 6, emerges from Love Grove Elementary School on Feb. 4, holding the hand of a Jacksonville sheriff’s deputy. The officers were told Nadia was “a threat to herself and others” and was “out of control,” a police incident report later recounted, and it would lead to her committal in a mental health facility. (Horton, 2/16)

Marietta Daily Journal: KSU To Double Size Of Nursing Program To 1,000 Students With Wellstar Money 
In an effort to address Georgia’s nursing shortage, Kennesaw State University announced Friday it will double the size of its nursing program over five years with an infusion of money from Wellstar Health System. By 2026, the size of KSU’s nursing program will balloon from 500 students to 1,000, with enrollment increasing 20% each year beginning in 2021. Wellstar will give the university about $9 million to finance the expansion. About $2.5 million will fund scholarships for 50 students each year in perpetuity; the rest will be used to hire professors and staff. (Gilbert, 2/14)

The Washington Post: After 35 Years, A Lawsuit Over ‘Inhumane’ Juvenile Detention In D.C. Has Led To Major Reforms
In 1985, when the District was still warehousing juvenile offenders in a pair of decrepit, vermin-infested detention centers — each rife with violence and lacking any meaningful health care or rehabilitation programs — a group of lawyers filed a 42-page complaint in D.C. Superior Court, demanding reforms. “The plaintiffs live under conditions that are inhumane and that inflict needless suffering,” the attorneys wrote. (Duggan, 2/17)

The Associated Press: Juvenile Facilities In Nebraska Rocked By Violence, Escapes
A sudden and puzzling increase in violence and escapes at Nebraska’s two state-run homes for high-risk juvenile offenders has prompted officials to move some of the teenagers to other facilities and to consider spending millions of dollars on upgrades intended to enhance safety. The incidents at the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers in central Nebraska, including an outburst that sent two employees to the hospital after a group of boys beat them with pieces of a metal bed frame, has shocked state officials, legislators and parents. (Schulte, 2/16)

ABC News: Denied Because They’re Deaf: Why One Maryland School Continues To Host Unofficial Cadet Program 
People who are deaf cannot join the U.S. military. But, that’s not stopping teachers at the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick, Maryland, from leading some of their pupils through the rigors of military life through an unofficial cadet corps demonstration program. Teacher Keith Nolan started the unofficial cadet corps demonstration program to teach deaf and hard-of-hearing students about leadership, using military training and discipline. He is also leading the effort to change the Department of Defense’s policies so that deaf individuals have the chance to join the military. (Weinstein and Ramos, 2/18)

North Carolina Health News: Nitrous Oxide Increasingly Being Used For Childbirth
If you’ve ever had a wisdom tooth out or dental surgery, you may have used laughing gas to take the edge off the pain. Across North Carolina, women now have the option to use the same nitrous oxide to get through childbirth. The mix of nitrous and oxygen has been used for childbirth across the world for about a century, but it’s only recently started catching on again in American hospitals. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Women’s Hospital was the first in North Carolina to offer it in 2013. This month, Atrium Health’s main Charlotte hospital, Carolinas Medical Center, joins the trend. (Duong, 2/17)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Colleges Handle Athletes’ Mental Health Issues Differently
The Free Press found a wide disparity in how Michigan colleges handle mental health issues, and athletic administrators at several schools admitted they fear they aren’t doing enough. These administrators should be commended for their honesty because it is time to talk openly about this issue — to talk about what is working, as well as what is not. This isn’t about casting blame or pointing fingers, it’s about trying to isolate problems and highlight solutions. The stigma has to be broken. And it starts with education and unvarnished openness. (Seidel, 2/16)

Charleston Gazette-Mail: House Committee Passes Bill To Give Workers’ Comp For PTSD In First Responders
Following testimony from a retired firefighter about his son, a Huntington firefighter who died by suicide, the House Judiciary Committee passed a bill Monday that would allow first responders to take workers’ compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. House Bill 2321 would provide workers’ compensation benefits to firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMTs and paramedics diagnosed with PTSD. It is the third year Delegate Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell, lead sponsor of the bill, has introduced the legislation. (Stuck, 2/17)

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Legislators Cite Constituents’ Experiences In Backing Better Access To Birth Control
Legislators on Friday approved two measures that would make birth control more accessible to women in West Virginia. At least one of the bills legislators passed Friday was crafted as part of an effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies for women suffering from substance abuse.Senators approved Senate Bill 288 in a 31-0 vote, with three senators absent. (Pierson, 2/15)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Bucks County Program Sends First-Time Offenders To Treatment Instead Of Courtroom
Minor drug-possession charges have a pattern: Get caught, see a district judge, wait nearly a year for a county judge’s conviction so treatment can begin. Most of those defendants never see the inside of a jail cell, but have a criminal charge hanging over them. Some, in the throes of addiction, don’t live to see a final court date.In July 2018, Bucks County decided to try to break that pattern. Officials created the District Court Diversionary Program, which catches first-time offenders shortly after their arraignments and puts them into treatment immediately. If they complete the program, the charges are dropped. (Vella, 2/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Winter Is Wildfire Prep Season In California
Grass and other vegetation have begun to cover the ash left behind when the largest blaze of the 2019 wildfire season burned the edge of this Northern California town about four months ago. Windsor still stands because most of its residents, acting on the lessons of deadly blazes in 2017 and 2018, grabbed pre-packed emergency go-bags and evacuated immediately when ordered. Unlike in other dangerous California blazes, including 2018’s Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, first responders were able to focus entirely on the firefight rather than last-minute rescues. (Ailworth, 2/18)

Boston Globe: Child Labor Violations, Especially At Fast-Food Chains, Pile Up In Mass.
Employers struggling to find workers in a historically tight labor market are leaning heavily on their employees, including teens, more of whom have been working in recent years. But their hours and duties are tightly restricted under state law. During the school year in Massachusetts, 16- and 17-year-olds can only work until 10 p.m. on school nights and midnight on weekends, and can’t put in more than nine hours a day or 48 hours a week at any time. But some employers blatantly disregard these limits, scheduling teens over the time allowed. (Johnston, 2/17)

Boston Globe: A Law Said Pot Taxes Should Help Communities Harmed By The War On Drugs. That Hasn’t Happened
It was a hard-fought victory for Black and Latino lawmakers — a provision in the state’s marijuana legalization law that said some of the pot tax proceeds would benefit communities targeted most by the war on drugs. Leaders in minority neighborhoods envisioned the money helping people find housing and jobs, including in the new cannabis industry. Police chiefs, too, celebrated that the law reserved some taxes for officer training, hoping the funds would aid in catching stoned drivers. But a year and a half into the state’s recreational cannabis rollout, none of the $67 million in excise taxes and fees left over after paying for the cost of regulators has benefited either of those causes, a Globe data analysis has found. (Martin, 2/14)