Substance Abuse & Mental Health

SAMH Advisory Council

meeting

The Advisory Council was established in October 2010 to provide a consumer/family/community viewpoint on the policies, programs, and services affecting adults with mental illnesses and children with emotional disturbances; and adults and youth with substance use disorders.

The Advisory Council recommends strategies for service reinvestment to avoid more costly and inefficient deep-end treatment, child welfare, and incarceration costs, and other significant long-term adverse economic and social consequences.

Specifically, the Advisory Council advises the Secretary and Assistant Secretary for Substance Abuse and Mental Health on the following:

  • The best means to coordinate and deliver community-based behavioral health care services in conjunction with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (federal healthcare reform legislation).
  • Methods to insure the integration of behavioral and primary health care services to reduce premature deaths from co-morbid conditions such as suicide, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes and cancer among individuals with behavioral health disorders.
  • Strategies to implement best practice models that serve individuals with behavioral health disorders including those with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders.
  • The most effective delivery of behavioral health services for persons involved in the adult and juvenile justice systems.
  • Ways to improve access to, and availability of, supportive employment and supportive housing.
  • The integration of substance abuse and mental health with DCF programs dealing with child welfare, domestic violence, and homelessness.