Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Farmers Can be Isolated and Unsure How to Seek Support. One State is Trying to Help.

    The state of Wisconsin has launched a pilot initiative that aims to help farmers who are dealing with job stressors access mental health services including "a 24-hour wellness hotline, tele-counseling sessions and vouchers for in-person visits with participating mental health providers." While some of the services have proved more successful than the others, as a whole, use of the counseling services has increased, especially as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

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  • ‘Peer Respites' Provide an Alternative to Psychiatric Wards During Pandemic

    As the coronavirus pandemic forces people into isolation and social distancing, places known as "peer respites" are providing a space for those "experiencing or nearing a mental health crisis" to seek help. While the peer respites don't offer clinical care by licensed mental healthcare professionals, they are free for those who stay and "offer people in distress short-term (usually up to two weeks), round-the-clock emotional support from peers."

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  • At Teen Lifeline, teens help in ways only they can

    A hotline staffed by teenagers for teenagers has been providing peer-to-peer support and counseling services in Arizona for years but has played an even bigger role during the coronavirus pandemic. The group quickly pivoted to reduced staffing shifts to limit exposure to the virus and implemented longer hours for texting services. Not only have calls to the hotline increased, so has the number of those who want to volunteer.

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  • How Genesee County wants to change criminal justice: A New Juvenile Justice Center

    A new Juvenile Justice Center that will focus on trauma-informed treatment of children rather than simply jailing them is still more than one year from completion. But, in the years leading to its opening, the county's family courts have cut in half the numbers of children held in detention by emphasizing rehabilitation programs over jail. Many of the services are based on the "Missouri Model" of juvenile justice, which has been shown to reduce incarceration and prevent crime through evidence-based approaches that are more therapeutic than punitive.

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  • 'A chance to choose life': For some, drug courts break cycle of addiction and crime

    Cheshire County Drug Court provides intensive drug addiction treatment, behavioral therapy, and other services to help people charged with crimes whose drug problems are their underlying problem. Since 2013, it has helped dozens of people avoid re-offending and put their lives on track. Like other drug courts, it is not suited to all circumstances and its coercive nature – jail is threatened for failure to follow the rules – has its critics. But graduates credit it with saving their lives. And it serves as a gateway to services that people might not otherwise have access to.

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  • How Oregon's Radical Decriminalization of Drugs Was Inspired by Portugal

    After Portugal decriminalized hard drugs in 2001 to treat drug use as a health problem and not a crime, the country expanded treatment services that produced sharp drops in drug-overdose deaths and HIV infections. Its numbers of people incarcerated on drug charges also dropped by nearly half. The Drug Policy Alliance studied Portugal's approach and made a modified version of it the model for Oregon, where courts and prisons have been the gateway to the state's limited treatment services. Oregon voters approved decriminalization and a vast increase in treatment programs that will roll out in 2021.

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  • Therapy From the Living Room

    When the coronavirus pandemic made in-person therapy sessions too risky to schedule, therapists in the Czech Republic moved their services online and set up a hotline for patients to call when needed. Although it's yet to be seen if the service will remain financially viable in regards to health insurance reimbursements, it has helped eliminate many barriers including transportation troubles and feelings of stigma.

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  • After #EndSARS, community support helps Nigerians heal wounds

    To help alleviate the psychological toll of protesting against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Lagos, two advocacy groups spearheaded a helpline that connected callers with counselors and listeners. The helpline uses task-sharing, so that calls are routed to either trained mental health counselors or psychotherapists and psychiatrists, depending on the severity of the concerns.

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  • A New Tool in Treating Mental Illness: Building Design

    Across the U.S. an influx of new mental health facilities are being designed through a lens of "evidence-based" architecture that aims to use the design itself as a means of treatment. With studies indicating that access to nature and green space can reduce stress, these new facilities aren't "just about being warm and fuzzy."

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  • In Brattleboro, a new kind of police patrol pushes treatment, not jail

    Police officers paired with substance abuse counselors go onto Brattleboro's streets to offer no-strings-attached help to people using drugs. Without using arrests or other coercion, the Project CARE "recovery coaches" have connected dozens of people to rehab and other needed services since the program began in July 2018. Modeled on bigger, successful programs in Gloucester and Brockton, Massachusetts, CARE's effect on overdoses is unknown and the involvement of police is seen by some as a drawback. But the outreach has let the community know help is available for the asking – even from cops.

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