January 26th was Mentoring Day and MHA is looking for volunteers to mentor children in our public schools as part of our Listen to Children program.
We will train you to mentor a child who needs your help. For just 30 minutes a week, you can help a child who has been identified by a teacher, guidance counselor, or parent as needing a little extra help with problems they may face in school (such as bullying), at home (divorce of a parent, child abuse), or in neighborhoods (violence). Many children face these an other challenging life circumstances for which they need coping skills and a caring adult who can help them with solutions for success.
We have children today who need a mentor but do not have one! Please consider volunteering today! For more information about Listen to Children please call Val Stanley today at 832-3755 or visit our web site (http://www.mhapbc.org/ListentoChildren).
Learn about a great career opportunity at MHA!
Featured
Legislative Luncheon Offers Opportunity for Discussion on Mental Health Policy
MHA
December 24, 2011
The Mental Health Association of Palm Beach County recently hosted a legislative "Lunch and Learn," offering participants the chance to talk in detail about issues of concern to them.
Learn more about the Mental Health Association of Palm Beach County in our November 2011 Newsletter.
GOOD NEWS: If you have a mental illness and have been uninsured for six months, or if you know someone else who may be, MHA can help!
Our September 16th Lunch and Learn featured Safe Schools representatives, Kim Mazauskas and Rick Lewis presenting on Interventions to Prevent Bullying & Cyber bullying. Filled to capacity, parents/grandparents, mentors, mental health professionals and educators were informed on the latest interventions and prevention programs on bullying within our schools.
Recent events involving BCBS in Florida threaten to cut already low provider reimbursements from insurers, cause confusion among patients about whether their mental health provider is covered by their insurance, and fly in the face of those who are fighting for equal treatment (parity) for mental health and physical health care, (which is the law but is not always being enforced). We are partnering with Mental Health America and other advocacy groups to address this issue by raising awareness and writing to our policy makers.
Please write to our Florida Insurance Commissioner and to Blue Cross Blue Shield to express your concern about the disruption in access to care that the BCBS actions may create, the unacceptable reduction in payments for mental health providers, and the lack of parity in their actions.
The Mental Health Association is please to welcome Raffaela Peter, new Care Access Coordinator, and Val Santiago-Stanley, new Program Coordinator, to our staff.
Have you ever tried to find the name of a professional to assist you with mental and behavioral health issues that you or a loved one is dealing with? To answer that need, we are creating a comprehensive list of providers to whom we can refer people when they contact us
Curious about the outcome of the proposed mental health funding bills in this year's legislative session? Find out about specific bill outcomes here.