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| The Alliance of Military and Veteran Family Behavioral Health Providers | |
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Mission Statement: Membership: |
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| New Resource: 2012 Tax Credit Outreach Community Tool Kit | |
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The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is pleased to announce the availability of the 2012 Tax Credit Outreach Campaign Kit. This resource is intended to provide community groups, social service agencies and employers with the materials and information needed to conduct community outreach efforts promoting the Earned Income Credit (EIC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Throughout the United States, millions of people are working hard to make life better for themselves and their families. With the jobs they hold, and the current difficult economic circumstances, many of them simply cannot earn enough to achieve their goals. Veterans – especially those recently transitioning out of the military – often find themselves in a similar situation as they seek to translate military skills into qualification for civilian jobs. However, this year eligible families – including military families – can get as much as $5,751 from the EIC, and even more if they also qualify for the CTC. Claiming the credits can put an eligible veteran or worker on the path to securing better housing, pursuing higher education, obtaining dependable transportation, covering out-of-pocket health care costs, or paying for quality child care. In 2010, 27 million eligible families and individuals claimed EICs worth $59.7 billion, yet millions of dollars still went unclaimed. Outreach efforts are needed to inform eligible workers about the tax credits and how to get free tax filing assistance. The 2012 Tax Credit Outreach Kit contains: Click here to request a free copy of the Kit. The Center is eager to work with organizations interested in distributing kits through their own networks and is ready to help facilitate that process. The Center can provide technical assistance and training to help you start or bolster outreach activities. Please contact the Center’s Tax Credit Outreach team at 202-408-1080 or eickit@cbpp.org if you have any questions or would like to order additional materials. |
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| Your Money. You Earned It. Now Claim It! | |
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The Earned Income Credit (EIC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) are refundable federal tax benefits that offset taxes and supplement wages. Some workers can get a refund even if they don’t owe federal taxes. Yet, many who are eligible – including veterans – are at risk of missing out on these critical federal tax benefits because they don’t know about them or don’t know how to claim them. • Veterans and military members, you may qualify! Click here to learn more about the EIC and CTC and how to claim them. • Organizations, click here to learn more about the need for tax credit outreach efforts to military veterans and what you can do. Click here to learn more about the National Tax Credit Outreach Campaign and how you can become involved. |
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| Earn Education Credits Through Mild TBI Web-Based Case Studies | |
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Health care professionals can learn more about mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) while earning education credits through a series of Web-based case studies. Presented by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs (VA), these mild TBI case studies use real patient scenarios and are available to military and civilian health care providers. Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) helped develop a series of 12 modules for providers to improve their knowledge of TBI-related issues and deliver better care to service members coping with mTBI. The platform enables providers to learn at their own pace and includes screening, diagnosis and management of symptoms in the non-deployed setting. |
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| SAMHSA’s GAINS Center News Flash: Visit Our New Website! | |
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SAMHSA’s GAINS Center Has a New Look! SAMHSA’s GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation is proud to announce the launch of a new logo and new website. The new logo graphically depicts the five components of GAINS: • Gathering Information Stimulating change is the capstone of the work of the GAINS Center, and it is our intention to use our website as a vehicle for disseminating information and tools that transform behavioral health and justice systems. Visit our new website at gainscenter.samhsa.gov where you can: • Search for GAINS supported programs in your state Visit gainscenter.samhsa.gov regularly for new publications and other helpful resources. Questions about our new look? Contact us at GAINS@prainc.com.
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| Female Vet ‘Better Person, Better Wife’ | |
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The first thing Randi Airola said in a session of veterans court this month was that her son just started his first day of kindergarten. “And here you are here. Bummer,” responded David L. Jordon, a District Court judge in East Lansing, Mich. “That’s taking care of business.” Parenthood wasn’t always Airola’s priority. Drinking had been, to the extent that it almost destroyed her marriage and her life. “This is the best thing that ever happened to me,” Airola, a veteran of the Michigan Air National Guard, said about veterans court shortly after leaving the courtroom. “Eventually, if something like this didn’t happen, I probably would have ended up killing someone or myself.” |
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| New program helps veterans in prison | |
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MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — More than 1 million veterans are in jails and prisons in the U.S. More than 2,000 of them are in North Carolina prisons, arrested for crimes ranging from theft, to drugs, to murder. Many incarcerated veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, traumatic brain injury or other mental health issues. The problems are side effects of their service that they might not recognize until it’s too late. But there is a new effort in Mecklenburg County to help them. Wesley Woodling will never forget the night he killed an innocent man, someone he mistakenly thought was trying to rob him. “I was using tactics when I did it. I did it from a tree line where nobody could see me,” he said. “Like I was trained to do.” He was trained in the National Guard and served in Iraq and Kuwait. He was diagnosed with PTSD and bi-polar disorder and discharged in 2008. He said he was suicidal and hearing voices after he returned to his Charlotte home. |
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| 2012 National Shelter and Street Point-in-Time Count & Housing Inventory Count | |
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In anticipation of the 2012 Housing Inventory Count (HIC) and Point-in-Time (PIT) counts, HUD has provided communities with a few reminders. When to Conduct the Sheltered and Unsheltered Count Beginning in 2012, all Continuums of Care (CoCs) must conduct an annual sheltered count. The unsheltered count is only required every other year – the next required year will be 2013. Although 2012 is not a required year for CoCs to conduct an unsheltered count HUD encourages all CoCs who have the means to conduct an unsheltered count to do so. Who to Count Though the new HUD homeless definition has been published, the McKinney-Vento Act as amended by HEARTH states that CoCs will continue to count the same literally homeless populations and subpopulations in their counts, as they have in the past. |
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| The inTranstion Program in 2012 | |
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The holidays are behind us and the promises and possibilities of a new year abound as the DCoE inTransition program continues to move forward with a sense of purpose and an unwavering commitment to excellence of service. What this means for our service members and their families and for those who are dedicated to providing them with the best psychological health and traumatic brain injury care and treatment, is a renewed confidence that: • The inTransition program will strive to reach greater heights as it continues to be instrumental in improving the system of care by becoming that critical bridge of support that qualifying service members, guard and reserves need during transitions • Our unparalleled telephonic coaching services performed by licensed master’s level mental health experts will continue to be a program of choice. This is evident by the impressive 54% of new participant enrollment made through self-referrals by service members in 2011 • Our skilled inTransition coaches will continue to provide exceptional support to service members seeking to locate the care and services they need and motivate them to achieve their wellness goals. These mental health experts have a thorough understanding of today’s military culture and issues and respect the importance of privacy. • The inTransition program will continue to improve the critical follow-up of deactivating, separating and retiring service members with VA mental health services to ensure a successful system of care The DCoE inTransition program continues to be free, voluntary and accessible via: Look for inTransition on display at these upcoming events: • MHS Conference, January 30-February 1, 2012, National Harbor, MD To learn more about inTransition or share the information with your colleagues, please visit www.health.mil/inTransition or contact Robbyn Shin at Robbyn.Shin.ctr@tma.osd.mil to arrange a video teleconference, brief at your clinic or facility, or an informative webinar. If you have an upcoming permanent change of station, please keep your clinic informed about inTransition updates by providing us with email information for the new point of contact (POC) or incoming officer in charge (OIC). Sincerely, inTransition Program Coordinators |
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| Government Supports Early Intervention for Psychological Health Concerns in Defense Bill | |
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The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, signed by President Barack Obama Dec. 31, 2011, authorizes the budget and provisions for the defense of the United States to include, among other issues, critical programs for service members and their families. The act includes two new provisions that affirm the importance of early intervention for psychological health concerns for service members. The purpose of these provisions is to identify those in need of care and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal tendencies and other behavioral health concerns. The first provision applies to active-duty service members and requires the Defense Department to provide psychological health assessments at prescribed intervals. All service members scheduled to deploy will be given a person-to-person assessment within 120 days of being deployed in support of a contingency operation. |
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and Trauma Recovery initiative (grant number 5H79SM059272-04) as a project of the
NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities & Substance Abuse Services