Announcement for 02/22/11
Webinar: Responding to a High-Profile Tragic Incident Involving a Person with a Serious Mental Illness
When a person with a history or current diagnosis of serious mental illness is involved in a high-profile tragic incident, community leaders face public, media, legal and legislative scrutiny. Incomplete and/or inaccurate information may spread quickly—not only about the incident, but also about the likelihood of violence among individuals with mental illnesses. This is often fueled by community members’ mistaken assumptions that mental health treatment is ineffective and that most people with mental illnesses are violent. Though most individuals with serious mental illnesses will never be violent and can live successfully in the community with adequate treatment, supports, and housing, when a high-profile, tragic incident does occur that involves a member of this population, it can engender fear and lead to heated public debate.
To help policymakers better anticipate and respond to these events, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and the Council of State Governments Justice Center have released a toolkit for responding to tragic incidents involving a person with serious mental illnesses. In this webinar presenters will discuss the toolkit’s origins and applications. Presenters include:
- Dr. Lorrie Rickman-Jones, Director of Mental Health for the Illinois Department of Human Services
- Dr. Fred Osher, Director of Health Systems and Services Policy for the Council of State Governments Justice Center
- Mr. David Miller, Project Director for the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors.
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011
Time: 2:00-3:15 pm E.T.