NJAMHAA and its IT Project Do Not Miss a Beat during Pandemic: Virtual Conferences Planned for October

As the pandemic required many services to be provided in a virtual environment, it also expanded the trend of online conferences and other training events. NJAMHAA and its Information Technology (IT) Project are keeping pace with all the changes affecting providers of behavioral healthcare services, and this includes presenting our annual conferences online. We are excited to continue our mission of strengthening providers’ abilities to deliver their life-saving services to everyone in need while ensuring the health and safety of all. 

We are working closely with Trusted Provider Network (TPN) to ensure that these events provide experiences that are just as complete and valuable as our previous in-person conferences. TPN offers a digital platform to connect behavioral health professionals, treatment facilities, hospitals and employee wellness programs throughout the nation.

As always, we have secured many experts on the critical topics that providers need to expand their knowledge about, and the tools and skills they need to serve individuals most effectively throughout the pandemic and long afterwards.

The IT Project’s Conference, No Fooling, IT is Critical!, will be held on October 21, 2020. This event is important for all staff, not just IT employees. For the keynote presentation, Converting Awareness into Action: It Begins with Culture, Daniel Eliot, Director of Education & Strategic Initiatives, National Cyber Security, will explain how to create more resilient organizations in the face of increased cyber-attacks, clarify misconceptions of cyber security, and share tips for engaging employees to convert awareness into action. 

NJAMHAA’s Annual Conference, Reimagining Health Care, will be held October 29-30, 2020, beginning with a fireside chat-type discussion about population and public health, with a focus on mental health, substance use disorders and social determinants of health with Leana S. Wen, MD, MSc, Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management and Distinguished Fellow, Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University; and Theresa Wilson, MSW, LCSW, President and CEO of South Jersey Behavioral Health Resources, Executive Vice President, Inperium, Inc. and NJAMHAA Board Member. The second day will begin with a keynote presentation, The Behavioral Market: Disruption & Evolution, during which John Talbot, PhD, Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS, will discuss the rapidly changing behavioral healthcare environment and how providers can prepare for it.

Registrants for the NJAMHAA Annual Conference will be directed to become a TPN member, which is a terrific value because it connects individuals with providers across the country and membership is free for one year.

Both conferences will offer so much more! Visit www.njamhaa.org/events to access links for program details and to register, as well as information on valuable sponsorship, exhibiting and advertising opportunities.

 FY2021 Budget Must Support Increased Capacity for Behavioral Health Services

As critical decisions are being made to finalize Governor Murphy’s FY2021 budget, the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA) urgently requests your support to ensure full funding for mental healthcare and substance use treatment services.

Many of our state’s most vulnerable children and adults have been relying on these life-saving services for years and for many, the pandemic has increased their need for services due to exacerbated symptoms of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. This is the result of social isolation, unemployment, the virus itself and concerns about their own and loved ones’ health and safety. In addition, many more individuals have needed services for the first time or are likely to need services in the near future.

The FY2021 budget must support increased capacity, so tens of thousands of New Jersey’s adults and children in need of services will not have to go untreated or seek treatment in emergency rooms, an inefficient and costly alternative. Adequate funding to avoid layoffs and program closures in the community-based behavioral health system is essential for a healthy New Jersey, as well as the health of the state’s bottom line.

The anticipated exponential increase in the demand for services underscores the critical need for funding to be not only sustained, but also increased, in the FY2021 State Budget. Please read more details in op-ed pieces I recently had published in the Star-Ledger and Philadelphia Inquirer, and an interview I had with ROI-NJ.