2007 General Meeting Topics

We've had some great informative and inspiring speakers at past NAMI Sacramento General Meetings. Here is a summary:

November 2007: Randall Hagar, Director of Government Affairs for the California Psychiatric Association, spoke about the opportunities for case-managed outpatient treatment for people with mental illnesses.  Randall explained the evolution of Laura's Law in California, the concept of Assisted Outpatient Treatment and the impressive successes achieved by this new program. There is an urgent need for members to contact the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors by early December to support putting this program to work in our county. See Laura's Law.

October 2007: John Buck, Chief Executive Officer of Turning Point Community Programs, described the services available to families of people with serious illness with Planned Lifetime Assistance Network's (PLAN) pooled trust. John described the advantages of a special needs trust for protection of the beneficiary's public benefits (SSI and Medi-Cal) while enhancing the beneficiary's life.  See NAMI's general information about PLAN and information about services available in our area from PLAN of California.

September 2007: NAMI Sacramento recently received a grant to conduct outreach to the diverse communities of Sacramento County, so that we can share our resources with a more diverse population.  These efforts are well underway. At this meeting the project coordinator, Valentin Lopez, and our team of outreach specialists presented the cultural beliefs about mental illness and challenges we face as an organization reaching out to multicultural communities.

August 2007: Graduates of the NAMI Sacramento In Our Own Voice (IOOV) program presented their personal testimony about their own journeys with mental illness and invited the audience to participate, too. The IOOV program helps to dispel many myths surrounding mental illnesses and helps reduce stigma as we openly share our experiences as mental health consumers and family members. See IOOV for more information.

June 2007: Tom Wootton, author of "The Bipolar Advantage" gave an address to an almost full house called "What is Functionality?" Tom, who has bipolar disorder himself, suggests that by accepting rather than fighting the disorder, people with bipolar disorder can identify and access their strengths and lead lives that are satisfying and productive.

In the words of Maureen Duffy Ph.D. , Professor and Chairperson of The Counseling Program at Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida:

"Tom Wootton is turning a serious mental illness on its head and suggesting that by accepting rather than fighting the disorder, people with bipolar can identify and access their strengths and lead lives that are satisfying and productive beyond their wildest imaginings. Tom is standing up to the pervasive deficit-based view of people with psychiatric disorders that is held by both mental health professionals and the lay public alike and saying with grace, humor, and the strength of personal experience that it is possible to take this disorder and live abundantly and creatively. Tom is helping people to both face-up to their illness and to resist accepting a diminished story of their lives and futures through self-acceptance and cooperation with caring psychiatrists and therapists. Tom is staking out new territory and leading the way in showing people with brain-based disorders like bipolar that it is possible to live richly." See The Bipolar Advantage.

May 2007: Our speakers in May were from Crossroads Employment Services. They educated consumers and family members about the impact of employment on consumers' SSI, SSDI, Medicare, and MediCal benefits.  Crossroads provides individualized employment services that help people with barriers to employment get back to work and supports the businesses that hire them. See Employment.

April 2007: In response to the ever increasing need for services and care for children through age 18 who have mental illness and their parents, at the April General Meeting we had a panel of experts who help parents, teachers, and others who care about children to learn more about the services available in the county. Panel: Michael Laharty, Sacramento County Office of Education; Lawrence Shweky, Sacramento City USD; Billy Willson, County of Sacramento Child and Family Mental Health; Lael and Alana Walz, mother and daughter who are advocates for improving care for children; and Oscar Wright, CEO of United Advocates for Children and Families of California. See our resources for Children through Age 18 and Parents.

March 2007: At our meeting on Monday, Mar. 12, our speakers were the Sacramento Mental Health Court Panel: Dr. Gregory Sokolov, Judge Talmadge Jones, and advocate Mark Burchell. Angie Mendoza provided information about the Loaves and Fishes Homeless Court and Paul Hauptman with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spoke about how officers are being trained to be supportive of people with mental health. See Current Issues for more information on Sacramento's new Mental Health Court.

February 2007: At this meeting we had a panel of professionals from the four Regional Service Teams (RSTs) that provide mental health services to Sacramento residents who qualify through the County:

• East Sacramento: Human Resources Consultants (HRC)
• Downtown: El Hogar Mental Health and Community Services Center
• North Sacramento: Northgate Point
• South Sacramento: Visions Unlimited

See Sacramento County Mental Health Services resources for more information on the RSTs.