AJC :: Georgia Governor's mental health commission copied other state's materials..

Alan Judd and Andy Miller's recanting of Georgia's ever evolving mental health care system story through their A Hidden Shame series just keeps getting better and better.......

Not.

Thanks to the editors who (once again) saw the Value to including the following in the weekday AJC emailing, the latest I've seen is today's entry about how the Georgia Governor's commission has now no less than plagiarized a few years old likeminded report from Michigan rather than dedicate more towards creating our own:

• (Georgia) State's mental health report was mostly plagiarized: Gov.'s commission copied others' material
  
  Alan Judd, Andy Miller; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Published on: 06/11/08

A new vision outlined for mental health care in Georgia last week isn't so new after all.

Large sections of a report by Gov. Sonny Perdue's mental health commission were lifted, often verbatim, from a Michigan study published in 2004 and from two other sources, a review by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found. The commission's report, released last week by the governor's office, credits none of the cloned material.

The report presents as its own work entire sentences, paragraphs and longer passages from other sources, with no more than superficial editing. It duplicates, with only two minor changes in wording, the values listed in the Michigan study. Seven of Georgia's eight key findings mirror Michigan's. Even Georgia's vision statement is appropriated from the Michigan report.

Sigh.......

Because of how ceaselessly exhausted I remain and how hard I know it is to keep going most days, a part of me is empathetic to what occurs in situations like this.. What I'm meaning is empathetic towards that days are only 24-hours long and Lives are crammed full to the hilt already trying just to possibly stay somewhere above the water line in this, our one and only shot at that thing called Life..

And like that which goes back to 2002 when the in-my-physical-presence handpicked advocate chosen for me by heads of the Highland River's Community Service Board THEMSELVES the day they publicly announced their slate was clean dropped off the face of the Earth on me regularly in an extremely desperate, by a spider's silk threadbare time of need for any kind of external advocacy assistance.. Every day that blip in time comes to Mind, I try to forgive by picturing she may walk in Shoes not so unlike my own..

Yup.. Some large part of me does "get" it in some part, much as it can be and remains Life-endangering to those who faithfully do as Society expects, too often dictates, and trustingly walk in those same very doors..

What me doesn't get is that those who could become even more empowered by involvement on any level sit day after day after day waiting to hear what tidbits they can from sources such as Alan and Andy.. Most aren't at that point where these fingertips are.. Those in particular could use the self-determination guaranteed by a phone call inviting their opinion on what occurred in each, their own separate case of mismanaged mental health care across the great state of Georgia..

Ego comes to Mind.. When Lives are endangered, there is no place on this Planet for Ego..

There's a reason I openly worship my relationship with the advocates and self-advocates that revolve around the awe-inspiring energies generating from disABILITY LINK, the center for independent living (CIL) down there on Commerce Drive in Decatur.. If they've got Ego, by gosh and golly, they've harnessed it to the hilt to drive positive actions of support and empowerment in all directions towards others, positive forward moving actions of advocacy that are literally saving Lives..

They nearly alone and without twice of thought saved mine..

My Heroes.

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Feds Say Georgia State Mental Hospital's Problems Caused Preventable Deaths

Had been up since about 3:30am this morning just smoking along checking out the latest leads coming into my inbox along with siphoning out pertinent advocacy/self-advocacy related posts when I slammed wide open into the eternal brick wall that is Georgia's intolerable mental health care crisis:

• State mental hospital's problems caused preventable deaths, feds say: Justice Department says conditions at Atlanta facility violate patients' constitutional rights
  Alan Judd, Andy Miller; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  Published on: 2008-06-04

It's already over at Digg.com if you're interested in helping bump it.. Because of the article's nature, it isn't the kind of story people might otherwise promote on average:

• Digg.com: Feds: GA State mental hospital caused preventable deaths..

Because I'm going to post an open letter in a few seconds, the following are just a sampling of what was reported.......

In a blistering 65-page letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue, the U.S. Justice Department detailed "critically deficient" conditions at Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta. Investigators have inspected two other state hospitals, finding comparable problems, and plan to visit another next week.

Continually failing to address hospital fatalities and violence, the letter said, caused similar deaths to multiply and left patients vulnerable to sexual assaults and other attacks.

Citation #2.....

Federal investigators, the letter said, found that medical and nursing care substantially depart from generally accepted professional standards. They also determined that the hospital provides inadequate psychiatric treatment; uses seclusion and restraint, including sedatives, inappropriately; and fails to adequately protect its patients from harm.

Citation #3.....

We were already working on many of these [problems], Gwen Skinner, head of the state's mental health division, said Wednesday. Georgia Regional has increased its nursing staff, as well as the number of hours of patient treatment, she said. A commission appointed by Perdue to study the state's mental health system issued a report Wednesday documenting problems in hospital care, community psychiatric services and state funding.

And lastly.....

By tolerating a chronic shortage of nurses, the letter said, Georgia Regional routinely compromises patient care. The adolescent unit is highly dangerous, the letter said, quoting one staff member as saying patients would be safer outside the hospital and another who described continuing clinical chaos.

Like I said, just a couple of snippets, but they are snapshots of what has been repeated in some likeness and kind that as yet go unheeded over the last few years..

Having done as much of their own part as humanly possible over the last few years, these Fingertips simply do not understand what else, how many more destroyed Lives it's going to take before Change breaks upon the Horizon.......

United In Advocacy..

WSJ :: Aid to Make Homes 'Accessible'..

Really nice find in my inbox this morning was an article from the Wall Street Journal regarding accessible housing design:

• Aid to Make Homes 'Accessible'..
  By Theo Francis, Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2008

In trying desperately to respect copyrights but wrestling with that there is so much important information in his article, am thinking here that highlighting the more prominent resources reporter Theo Francis shares is the "safer" way to go:

• 400 Centers for Independent Living (CILs).. YAY, CILs get their due national "props"..!

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards For Accessible Design: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) website..

• Pima County Visitability Ordinance: Accessible Society's take on that ordinance (December 23, 2003)..

• CUD's Most Popular Resources: Quick hug to The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University for providing their info in a cognitively accessible manner.. :wink:

• Article on Rosanne Grande, Bohemia, New York, investment advisor: Since she was quoted in the WSJ.. Everyone deserves their due fifteen..

• IRS' Publication 502 (2007), Medical and Dental Expenses: "Including the Health Coverage Tax Credit"..

• Social Security Online's Work Incentives - Detailed Information: In particular, Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE)..

• HUD's PHA Contact Information: Public Housing Authorities searchable by area map..

• National Association of Area Agencies on Aging: Cool.. Something new.. Had never heard of that one.. Thank you again, Theo.. :wink:

• 1997 Assistive Technology Act (AT Act) Programs: State programs, highlights, and accomplishments from the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs..

A couple more that IMMEDIATELY came to mind to these fingertips:

• Concrete Change: "An international effort to make all new homes Visitable!" :hug to Eleanor Smith:

• Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia (SILCGA): "Changing lives, changing Georgia." Has Concrete Change as one of their many great projects forever in action.. :hug to Patricia Puckett:

Long as I'm at it, straight from SILCGA's website to you comes their contact info:

Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, Inc.
755 Commerce Drive, Suite 415
Decatur, GA 30030
Voice: 770-270-6860
Toll Free: 888-288-9780
TTY: Use GA Relay, 711
Fax: 770-270-5957

Hm. While visiting them right now, my Mind just caught Concrete Change's footer there where it appears the website's information may have been provided in one form or another from some ten years ago until.......

Precisely today, April 6, 1998.. Makes it just that much more TOO cool for school that the WSJ article on accessible housing design debuted today..

Aren't you glad these fingertips have on-demand computer access once again and finally..? :wipes sweat from cyber brow as she winks:

Premature-PS.. Concrete Change should sound at least "vaguely" familiar to any seasoned veterans of the CraigsList Disabilities Forum.. :ga-WINK:

An-EE-way (and in conclusion,).......

*Please*, if you have just a few seconds, drop the reporter, Theo Francis, a very quick *thank you* because, human nature being what it is, people will *finally* start to take note of Visitibility purely because they did indeed see it in the Wall Street Journal.. If it works in your favorite email programs, I've set the email link below to fill in an email that very simply states, "Thank you so much for covering the very important subject of accessible home design. Visitibility benefits everyone!":

• Email Theo :: Theo Francis..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

CBS News Investigation :: "Disabled and Waiting"..

Call it Fate, if you will, in flipping channels one evening a couple of months ago, caught the news feature teaser just getting ready to lead into CBS News Investigation's Disabled and Waiting: Backlog In Disability Benefits System Leaves Thousands Of Vulnerable Americans Stranded story (January 14, 2008)..

And for some reason, I watched..

And (predictably) ended up absolutely in tears before it was over..

Was this part in particular that did it:

A two-month CBS News investigation has found that over the last two years, at least 16,000 people fighting for disability benefits died while awaiting a decision.

Having spent as long as I have with my cyber heels dug deep [1] into some of the best disability (self-)advocacy Internet sites around since my own psychiatric survivor label-garnering experience, I've seen my share of horrible, horrible stories of people with disabilities going through the social security disability payments ordeal and losing everything, everything in Life they have, are, and were while enduring the seemingly ceaseless process..

Up to and including the "s" word.......

Suicide..

The tears shed over Disabled and Waiting come also in part from consciously recognizing every moment I'm still here that there but for the generosity of an ex-boyfriend for the extremist of Life-sustaining staples go I..

Life being what it is, nay, more what the thunderstorms predict it could be in the near offing, I, too, once again entered the Social Security junket just a couple of weeks ago.. While the despair that arises with each attempt is no less than before due to being forced to openly relive everything disastrous that has been the Life these fingertips have seen, this Time very admittedly seems almost pleasant as the wonderful SS lady on the other end of the phone has herself seen Life from this side..

And she knows what it's like walking in these Shoes..

And, more importantly than anything else sometimes, she really does give.......

A rat's patootie about the Human Life within these same worn Shoes..

To the government entities who each have their Hands in the Beastie that is the social security disability payment process, you obviously can access the file that is mine.. That lady there helping me..? She should be one of the Standards others strive to achieve..

And she already works right there within your, our system..

Please......

As much as anything else, if you don't proactively do something to help, you play a part in that "s" word as it applies to some part of those 16,000 people CBS reports..

If you don't proactively do something to help create change, you play a part in all of those some 16,000 precious Lives lost as CBS reports..

If you don't proactively do something to help create change, you play a part in some untold number of persons with disabilities right this moment..

Living on the street.......

Literally starving.......

Them, too, right this very, very second contemplating the unthinkable a forever untold number of others have already done before them for the exact same reasons..

This very, very second as you read this.......

Cyber hugs with a special one going out to the very kind and understanding Mrs. * currently helping me work through the SS process..

.......This time..

[1] A little sidebar on the referenced CNN.com blurb.. Thanks to the very first opportunity I had to speak totally by accident with Yvette with PAIMI over at GAO back in 2003, I had in fact introduced myself to CNN.com as "a person with mental illness".. Editorial license being what it is and thus wholly out of our control the precise moment the "Send" button is clicked, WHOOPSIE, I became a person who "[has] a mental illness"..

Rome, Georgia :: Owner of 2 Nursing Homes suing DHR and CMS over funding loss..

Just found the following story in my ever burgeoning inbox.. In circumstances such as this story involves, resources that immediately come to mind to contact include:

• State disability advocacy office
• Long term care ombudsman (National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center)
• Local center for independent living (CIL)
• News media (e.g. Congress.org Media Guide) -- Don't forget to get your story out there widespread so disability advocates can see it..

In addition to the above, don't forget about your local disability self-advocacy organizations, too.. Coming immediately to mind are:

• American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT)
• People First

Checking out the ADAPT website and/or contacting them directly should provide leads to local ADAPT chapters.. Calling your local CIL or trying some creative keyword combination searches will point you in the direction of your area's nearest People First chapter..

Article :: Owner of two nursing homes filed a federal lawsuit..
By Mike Gellatly, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer, 2007-07-07
Rome News-Tribune..

Synopsis :: George Houser of Forum Healthcare, owner of two Rome, Georgia, nursing home facilities (Mount Berry and Moran Lake) filed a federal lawsuit against Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and others.. Federal funding supporting skilled nursing services stands to be pulled from these two long term care centers on July 15, 2007.. Based on the article, ceasure of funding appears to be related to (previous) quality of care.. Funding currently being provided is earmarked for the discharge and transfer of affected residents..

AJC :: Hartsfield-Jackson climbs into tie for second in satisfied users..

Just forwarded this to a number of lists that I'm on.. Fair warning: It may take a free registration/subscription to participate..

This quick article from today's online AJC summarizes a California-based J.D. Power and Associates survey that found Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport being tied for second overall regarding customer satisfaction.. According to the article Atlanta's airport is most improved in baggage check-in, accessibility, terminal facilities [cleanliness of terminal] and baggage claim..

Thought that some may have travel-related experiences to relay regarding the accessibility and universality of the same.. Please don't forget to take this opportunity to also share good experiences, too, to let people know what does work..

If you're thinking of commenting, jump right in because some comment sessions are closed after end of business hours the first day an article appears online.. Never to fear, we can always contact the paper along with those featured after the fact through the use of snail mail, phone calls, and emails should we feel they really need to hear our experiences..

ABC News Now/Prevention Magazine :: Picture of Health Contest..

You know what..? I honestly don't know what to think of the Picture of Health Contest featured by ABC News Now and Prevention Magazine.. Well, not so much about the contest as it is the, sigh, maybe overly "mushy" way one website referenced the individuals and depicted the contest.. The word I need alludes me.. Ha, got it.. "Patronizing"..

What I most definitely AM for regarding the Picture of Health Contest is that, through Kate Adamson's participation, light continues to be shed on the pain that is the starvation and dehydration of [incapacitated patients]..

Cool beans.. Forever in our Hearts and Minds, Terri.. May there always be those who will never let it go..

In dreams, she dances :: Georgia's hospitals to get Federal investigation..

In reality, she's too pooped to barely walk down the hall, BUT that won't stop her from sharing the following..........

A breaking news announcement shared that Governor Sonny Perdue has been notified that the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights division is headed for Georgia to investigate our state's seven state-run mental health hospitals..

The rest of the story may be found at:

Justice Dept. to investigate Georgia's mental hospitals..
By Alan Judd, Andy Miller..
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution..
Published on: 2007-04-19

You're going to have to grab it quick because the AJC's articles go into archive very regularly.. Be forewarned that it takes a subscription to view many of their articles.. Perhaps this one they'll just let slide..

To Andy Miller and Alan Judd..

Haven't been able to say it enough since you all started the A Hidden Shame series of articles: You all ROCK..

Anyone else smell a Bouncing Baby Pulitzer in the air for these two..?

Told them back when those articles first started appearing, what is occurring in our state's hospitals is, no, goes beyond inexcusable.. It's unconscionable that, with all the cr#p that came out about our Highland Rivers' system here across the top of the state, Andy and Alan's series of articles is eerily like stepping back five years ago.. The stories are the same, the results are the same, the circumstances more similar than different..

Last time I, for one, sat in person and watch as the man in charge jested, joked as he announced at a press conference that they had been cleared of.. wrong-doing, of all accountability, I guess.. The system that directly cost people their Lives and others nearly theirs got away with it a few short years ago, managed to cover their tracks somehow.. Not this time, folks.. There will be justice for those who have no alternative but to turn to a system they in their Hearts believe is providing responsible Emergency Rooms for their Minds..

PS.. Hee-UGE THANK YOU slash CYBER HUG for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution editors for seeing the value of this story being "breaking news" worthy.. (Grin, that happened to be a gripe that I had stalling half-finished in the wings on my 'puter.. Welp, set that one to the side and keep moving steady forward from there..)

PPS.. Ok, so who's got the chutzpah, the ca(l)jones to go open information act on the Governor's Office and pull the handwritten note I left him Disability Day..

Talking about the note where I told him from the Heart that they have got to stop what is going on across the state in our community mental health care system as a whole, that they're churning out more desperate people every day they piddle along.. If you live in a community, you ARE touched by our state's community mental health care system because there is a ripple effect when those desperate people's Lives inevitably touch yours down the road.. Virginia Tech (VA Tech) very sadly has already realized the same..

NO MORE DESPERATE, DESTROYED LIVES.. PERMANENTLY ACCOUNTABLE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CARE NOW.................... (please)..

Cross-posted at: Georgia Disability Advocates' Calendar..

Calhoun Times: County OKs group for mental health services

My thoughts are with everyone involved as Gordon County, Georgia, takes their next step in providing quality community mental health care for the residents of their county..

---

County OKs group for mental health services, 02/20/07
Susan Kirkland, Calhoun Times..

Gordon County residents will soon have county mental health services again as the Board of Commissioners voted to approve a contract with Gordon Mental Health and Addictions.

The board also approved a motion allowing Chairman Alvin Long to officially give Highland Rivers 30 days to vacate the county building that has essentially served as storage since the group restructured, eliminating most of its services in the county.

"It's one of those things that we’ve been working on for months," Long said.

The group could be in the county as early as April 1. It is in the application process to receive Department of Human Resource funding for juveniles who qualify for Medicaid and Medicare. The process for funding for adults could take until November.

However, proprietors Beth Brock and Donna Johnson agreed in the contract to take private pay adults and sliding scale fee for those without insurance.

Long told Brock at the work session that what should have been pretty cut and dry as far as approving the contract became more complicated when some members of the community raised questions about the group’s credentials.

Those concerns were unfounded, said Dottie Jarrett, who has been following the mental health issue since Highland Rivers pulled most of its services out of the county.

"A Hidden Shame": AJC Investigation into Georgia Mental Health Care Hospitals..

***HIGH Trigger warning on this lead for consumer or psychiatric survivors***

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

PLEASE NOTE: The reporters and those who assist them are putting together a very extensive investigation into Georgia's mental health care hospitals.. In several places, they give readers the opportunity to provide feedback, either through online comment forms or a phone number for one on one contact..

Overwhelming amount of information regarding the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's newest investigation(s) into what they state as "at least 115 patients from Georgia's state psychiatric hospitals who have died under suspicious circumstances during the past five years".. The reporters have presented so much information, it would be taking a huge chance on copyright infringement with respect to reposting from this keyboard..

Theoretically, this series of articles all starts here:

A HIDDEN SHAME: About this series
www.ajc.com/news/content/health/stories/2007/01/04/0107meshabout.html.

Links to the related articles so far are provided on the left of the screen.. You'll most likely need an AJC free, somewhat lengthy online subscription to view while the information is up there..

For my friends who wish to have alternative formats available, you will need to inquire of AJC directly.. The reporters offer the following phone number for those wishing to contact them regarding this series of articles in particular:

404-526-2640

Crossposted at: Georgia Disability Advocates' Calendar.