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TONIGHT: NTBHA Town Hall Meeting on NorthSTAR March 9 TUESDAY Eve 6 to 8 PM

March 9, 2010
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm

From NAMI Collin County:

There will be a Town Hall Meeting for the North Texas Behavioral Health Authority (NTBHA) to gather information and input on the Public Sector Behavioral Health program (NorthSTAR) on Tuesday, March 9, from 6 to 8 PM at Custer Road Methodist Church. The church is located on the west side of Custer Road north of Spring Creek and south of Legacy.

We hope to see you all there!

Sharon DeBlanc
President NAMI of Collin County

OPEN to public Thursday March 25 9:30 am Dallas County Behavioral Health System Redesign Task Force

March 25, 2010
9:30 am	to	10:30 am

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – Regarding the Public Mental Health System in Dallas County (NorthSTAR)

DALLAS COUNTY Behavioral Health System Redesign Task Force

Thursday, March 25, 2010 9:30 a.m.

Dallas County Health & Human Services Building Hickman Conference Room (Room 627)
2377 Stemmons Freeway Dallas, Texas 75207

Commissioner John Wiley Price, Chair and Commissioner Maurine Dickey, Vice-Chair

Call to Order – 9:30 a.m.
Reports
(9:35 a.m.) Update on Parkland Study – Josh Flores
(9:40 a.m.) Update on Collin County Study – Dr. des Anges Cruser
(9:45 a.m.) Update on Transfer of Authority to NTBHA – Alex Smith
(9:55 a.m.) Update on NorthStar Psychiatrists Survey – Dr. Ed Nace
(10:00 a.m.) Update on Goals of Project Transform – Ryan Brown

Legislative Advocacy Plan
(10:05 a.m.) – Legislative Report – Craig Pardue
(10:15 a.m.) – Review Advocacy Template – Janie Metzinger
(10:20 a.m.) – Discuss CJAB Legislative Agenda Item – Ron Stretcher
(10:25 a.m.) – Review/Assign Legislative Visits – Shay Cathey

Next Meeting Date: April 22, 2010

Adjournment

NTSPP President Ed Nace MD on Mental Health Services in North Texas

President’s Column from the Winter 2010 NTSPP Newsletter*

The city of Seattle saved $4 million in hospital, jail and other public services after 95 homeless people moved into one housing project. These 95 people’s visits to hospitals and jails before had cost tax-payers nearly $8.2 million. Other facts concerning the wisdom of providing permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless can be found in Kim Horner’s Dallas Morning News article of Sunday December 13, 2009. This article focuses on Dallas’s empty Plaza Hotel which a developer has been attempting to make available for permanent supportive housing. The state rejected this developer’s application for tax credits in March 2009, most likely because of neighborhood opposition. As a result, the twelve-story Plaza building remains empty and thousands of people in Dallas remain on the streets or in jail or emergency rooms, incurring costs of tens of millions of dollars, not to mention the human misery. Continue reading NTSPP President Ed Nace MD on Mental Health Services in North Texas