Alliance for Addiction and Mental Health Services, Maine The unified voice for Maine's community behavioral health providers July 3, 2020 Governor Janet Mills 1 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333 Dear Governor Mills, Let me first acknowledge that we are all working under severe time and financial constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on our state. Given this we know that you and your leadership team are trying very hard to juggle many ... Read More ›
Millions of dollars over budget due to COVID-19, behavioral health care providers cut services
Millions of dollars over budget due to COVID-19, behavioral health care providers cut services, ask state for $35M in federal CARES Act funding State-contracted providers warn Maine's mental health system is already collapsing after they receive none of Maine's $1.25B COVID-19 stimulus funding. Credit: NCM Author: Beth Brogan (NEWS CENTER Maine) Published: 7:29 PM EDT July 23, 2020 Updated: 5:07 PM EDT August 3, 2020 Karen Evans has been in and out of the mental health system ... Read More ›
Maine Behavioral-Health Providers Worry about Trimming Services
Laura Rosbrow-Telem, Public News Service - ME The COVID-19 crisis has heavily impacted the finances of Day One, a youth nonprofit and member of the Alliance for Addiction and Mental Health Services in Maine. (Day One/Facebook) June 12, 2020 AUGUSTA, Maine - Forty percent of the agencies in Maine's Alliance for Addiction and Mental Health Services are concerned they may need to shut down services in the next six to 12 months, according to an internal survey. Eighty percent say they've already ... Read More ›
THE ALLIANCE STANDS WITH BLACK LIVES MATTER!
Our struggle is mutual and our liberation is mutual. Our collective physical and mental health depends on reallocating our resources, realigning our community supports, and reimaging our future together. While many white Americans are only now waking up to the realities of racism and police brutality against Black, Brown, Indigenous, People of color (BBIPOC) communities, racism has always undergirded American life. BBIPOC People have always known and borne this burden. BBIPOC people ... Read More ›
SBA Releases PPP Loan Forgiveness Application: A Deep Dive
SBA Releases PPP Loan Forgiveness Application: A Deep Dive Tony Nitti Senior Contributor, Forbes Taxes On Friday, May 15th, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released the application borrowers of a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan must use to determine the amount of the loan that may be “forgiven” by their lender. While the application included instruction, the SBA failed to provide two additional items that would have greatly benefited ... Read More ›
The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental-health crisis
Anxiety and depression are rising. The U.S. is ill-prepared, with some clinics already on the brink of collapse. Isolation and economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic are already resulting in a sharp spike in people seeking mental health help. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post) By William Wan May 4, 2020 at 12:57 p.m. EDT Three months into the coronavirus pandemic, the country is on the verge of another health crisis, with daily ... Read More ›
Nonprofits try to maintain services amid high demand, limited resources
MEGAN GRAY, STAFF WRITER Nonprofit leaders say they are following the recommendations from public health officials, while still trying to deliver essential aid to people across Maine. “Being a nonprofit, we don’t have big reserves,...“To say it’s keeping me up at night is an understatement because of the uncertainly of it all, how long it will go on. What are the people that we’re serving supposed to do? So we’re anxious to see what comes out of the federal government and how that response ... Read More ›
The Coronavirus Poses New Challenges For Those Recovering From Addiction
The isolation required as part of the state’s efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus is a challenge for many of us, but particularly difficult for people dealing with addiction, those in recovery, and for the providers who are treating these populations. One of the established principles of getting people with substance use disorder into treatment - and keeping them healthy - is founded on connection and communication. “Call, use the phone, ask for help. Say ‘I don’t know, can ... Read More ›
‘Hope vs. hopelessness’ – navigating mental health diagnoses in the time of coronavirus
BY ERIC RUSSELL STAFF WRITER Those with existing mental health diagnoses are at higher risk of suicide and those with lower-level anxiety or depression might see their symptoms worsen in a time of great stress and uncertainty For someone with a mental health diagnosis, disruption in routine or ability to continue treatment can be dangerous, which means the upheaval caused by the current coronavirus outbreak has put mental health providers on heightened alert. The state has seen ... Read More ›
There Are Signs That Anxiety Is Rising In Maine, As Cases Of COVID-19 Increase
Those who work in the field of mental health say that just as cases of COVID-19 are on the rise in Maine, so is the level of anxiety. Calls to both the state crisis line and the non-crisis "warm" line are up. Read/Hear complete NPR Report here ... Read More ›