The Mississippi Department of Mental Health (DMH) receives federal grant money from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to help adults and children who have mental illnesses or substance use disorders live successfully in the community. Because every state is different, each state can decide the best ways to use this money to make sure people dealing with mental illness or substance use get the help they need. There is a planning council, made up of people who deal with mental illness or substance use or who care about people with mental illness or substance use challenges, that helps the Department of Mental Health decide how to spend the grant money in the most helpful way.
This survey is from both the Department of Mental Health and the Mississippi Behavioral Health Planning and Advisory Council. We want to know how you think this grant money should be used to help adults and children with mental illness and substance use disorders live in the community. Anyone can take this survey. We especially encourage people who have mental illnesses or substance use disorders and their families to take the survey. You know better than anyone what has and hasn’t helped you and what might help you in the future.
As you take the survey, please keep these things in mind:
· This money can be used for services that already exist or it can be used to fund new ideas. You may have an idea that would help a lot of people that no one else has thought of. We want to hear it.
· This money is to help adults and children with mental illness and/or substance use challenges live in the community. Think about things that help all adults and children live in the community such as jobs, doing OK at school and having friends and things to do. How could this money be used to help people with mental illness and/or substance use challenges have those things? It doesn’t have to be a formal service. It can be just a way of providing support.
· This money can be used in the mental health system or in another system that helps people with mental illness and/or substance use challenges live, work, go to school and have friends in the community.
· This money can be used to help prevent issues with mental illness and/or substance use and to evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches.
Your answers on this survey are anonymous. We will not be able to tell who you are when we read your answers. If you have questions about this survey and would like to talk to someone before taking the survey you can contact the Co-Chairs of the Mississippi Behavioral Health Planning and Advisory Council: Dr. Scott Willoughby (swilloughby@smsh.ms.gov) and Ms. Tiffany Tine (tiffany_tine@nmsh.state.ms.us). If you have any technical issues with the survey please contact Ms. August Irving (August.Irving@dmh.ms.gov) or Dr. Mallory Malkin (Mallory.Malkin@dmh.ms.gov).
Again, answers on this survey will be used to help the Department of Mental Health and the Mississippi Behavioral Health Planning and Advisory Council know what services and supports would help people with mental illness and substance use challenges live successfully in the community and how the grant money should be used to make those things happen. Results of the survey and plans for spending the grant money will be published on the Department of Mental Health website and shared by organizations and individuals on the Mississippi Behavioral Health and Advisory Planning Council. If you would like to be individually contacted about the results of the survey, you can give your name and email address at the end of the survey.
Input Requested
Special Education Advocacy
Families and educators living in rural areas of Mississippi are offered free access to a Special Education Advocacy Curriculum
This opportunity is for families and educators living in rural areas in Mississippi to gain free access to an Arc@School Special Education Advocacy Curriculum. CoBank is funding 30 accounts for folks in Mississippi. The curriculum, which normally costs $99 for access, is designed to provide the basic information that families, educators, and non-attorney advocates need to support students and families from birth through age 21 in the special education system. Once the survey is filled out, an account will be made and the login information will be sent directly to you.
IDD and Dementia Survey
The National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices (NTG) is looking for input to better understand the needs of family members and caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities/Down syndrome and diagnosed or suspected dementia.
Please consider sharing in your community!
Survey Seeks To Understand Family Caregiver Experiences to Better Support Families
The Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports (FINDS) survey is conducted by the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota and uses insights of family caregivers to shape better public policy and service delivery systems. Please take and share the survey with your networks so insights will be representative, robust, and impactful!
Keeping Up With The Arc
Join Our Fight for Equal Rights for All
The Arc fights every day to protect civil rights and access to vital programs, such as Medicaid, for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). But we can’t do it alone! We need the help of people with I/DD, their families, and allies of the cause.
Sign up today to receive updates on our movement, take action, and make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities.
