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{ timecode: 0, handler: 'blob', id: 1, data: {text: 'JOE ARMSTRONG: The next panel will be moderated by our second vice-chair of NBCSL Health Committee, the president senate from the Virgin Islands, Senator Usie Richards. Usie, it is – Usie. Is it '}},
{ timecode: 19, handler: 'blob', id: 2, data: {text: 'Virgin, is it U.S. Virgin Islands, or Virgin Island? Plural, Islands, alright, okay. Okay, if we can ask our panelist to come on down, and we can get to – okay, do we have any other '}},
{ timecode: 37, handler: 'blob', id: 3, data: {text: 'announcements quickly? Okay, on our open mike sessions, when we finish this, um, we were, our first feed will be directly to Miami, so, uh, to Representative Gibbons, who is in his last week of being '}},
{ timecode: 54, handler: 'blob', id: 4, data: {text: 'single, he’s planning on getting married next week, uh, we’ll be coming to him. Representative Joe Gibbons, uh, yes, he’s planning his wedding and so he’s been multi-tasking '}},
{ timecode: 70, handler: 'blob', id: 5, data: {text: 'this week, planning a wedding and planning for this event. Also, announcement, the House passed the bailout bill 263 to 171, okay. Okay, there’s mixed emotions on that right there, okay. I '}},
{ timecode: 83, handler: 'blob', id: 6, data: {text: 'don’t think I need to introduce Usie Richards. We’re going to turn it over to him. Senator Richards. USIE RICHARDS: Good afternoon. AUDIENCE: Good afternoon. RICHARDS: If I could preface '}},
{ timecode: 105, handler: 'blob', id: 7, data: {text: 'my introduction by simply saying that for me it’s been a real learning experience from the – all of the panelists and speakers that we’ve had prior to what we getting ready to hear '}},
{ timecode: 117, handler: 'blob', id: 8, data: {text: 'this afternoon. I know that myself and this panel stands between us coming to an end of a very long day, but I do want to offer some quick statements before I do introduce the panel members, that I am '}},
{ timecode: 132, handler: 'blob', id: 9, data: {text: 'reminded of a story in book entitled On The Steps We Took, from Dr. Joe McCue, and he always had this little story that says, and often repeated in some of the classroom by some teachers, he stated, '}},
{ timecode: 149, handler: 'blob', id: 10, data: {text: 'he said, there were 3 frogs sitting on a log and one of them decided to jump, and he quickly asked the students, so how many frogs were left? The students in their excitement raised their hand and '}},
{ timecode: 164, handler: 'blob', id: 11, data: {text: 'said there were 2 frogs left. The teacher asked the question again, and obviously didn’t get the right answer. They said there were 3 frogs sitting on a log and one decided to jump. How many '}},
{ timecode: 178, handler: 'blob', id: 12, data: {text: 'frogs were left? And the students again adamantly stated there were 2 frogs left on the log. And instead of asking the question one more time, the teacher simply said there were still 3 frogs sitting '}},
{ timecode: 194, handler: 'blob', id: 13, data: {text: 'on the log because despite 1 frog making a decision to jump, he never did take the action of jumping. My good chair of the Health Policy Committee, Representative Joe Armstrong, wanted to remind you '}},
{ timecode: 216, handler: 'blob', id: 14, data: {text: 'of a statement made, I believe at a conference in Little Rock, Arkansas by a former surgeon general Dr. Joycelyn Elders, and she said that opportunity is like a single strand of hair on a bald-headed '}},
{ timecode: 236, handler: 'blob', id: 15, data: {text: 'man, it only goes around once. And so that if we take this information and don’t put it to use, what good is information that is not used. Welcome to our panelists, and let me introduce them. To '}},
{ timecode: 254, handler: 'blob', id: 16, data: {text: '– oh, you’re right here. Right next to me, speaking on our cultural stigmas, Dr. Lorraine C. Blackman, who is a native of Nashville, Tennessee, a graduate of Southern Illinois University, '}},
{ timecode: 271, handler: 'blob', id: 17, data: {text: 'the University of Tennessee, and Florida State University. She’s also an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Social Work, on the boards of the National Association of Social '}},
{ timecode: 284, handler: 'blob', id: 18, data: {text: 'Workers, Crystal House Academy, the past president of the Indiana Council on Family Relations. She’s also an author of the African-American Marriage Enrichment Program, How To Make Your Good '}},
{ timecode: 300, handler: 'blob', id: 19, data: {text: 'Things Better, and again, the African-American Parent Training Program, Pulling Together To Rear Our Children, They Grow Up Only Once. Welcome, Dr. Lorraine C. Blackman. Sitting to her immediate left '}},
{ timecode: 321, handler: 'blob', id: 20, data: {text: 'I suspect is someone that needs little introduction in this group, who will be speaking on state policy. A senator from Massachusetts, Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who holds a bachelor of science in '}},
{ timecode: 336, handler: 'blob', id: 21, data: {text: 'public administration from American International College, and a J.D. from Boston College of Law. She’s also the first African-American female to obtain a partnership with a major law firm in '}},
{ timecode: 351, handler: 'blob', id: 22, data: {text: 'Boston. She was sworn in as the first African-American female to serve in the Massachusetts Senate, she’s tackled many of tough policy issues, from dealing with the anti-predatory lending law, '}},
{ timecode: 367, handler: 'blob', id: 23, data: {text: 'she’s dealt with racial and gender profiling, insurance red-lining. I ask you to welcome Senator Dianne Wilkerson. And our last panelist, I do believe he’s no stranger to us either. This '}},
{ timecode: 388, handler: 'blob', id: 24, data: {text: 'is not his first time before us, but we want to welcome Dr. Ron K. Bailey, who is a dual board certified forensic psychiatrist, got training at the University of Texas Medical School, completed his '}},
{ timecode: 403, handler: 'blob', id: 25, data: {text: 'forensic fellowship at Yale University, recently held positions as an associate professor at the University of Alabama Birmingham, and past director of Bryce Hospital in Alabama. Currently serves as '}},
{ timecode: 419, handler: 'blob', id: 26, data: {text: 'chair of the – an interim executive director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Medicine at Meharry Medical College, and has some administrative experience '}},
{ timecode: 431, handler: 'blob', id: 27, data: {text: 'as psychiatry section chairman for the National Medical Association. He currently serves as the secretary to the House of Delegates, and was elected as vice-speaker, and from my alma mater, Meharry '}},
{ timecode: 444, handler: 'blob', id: 28, data: {text: 'Medical College, welcome Dr. Ron Bailey. LORRAINE BLACKMAN: Good afternoon. Thank you NBCSL for this invitation and Representative Greg Porter in particular. Those of you who are not from '}},
{ timecode: 469, handler: 'blob', id: 29, data: {text: 'Indianapolis, welcome, this is circle city classic weekend, and standing between them and circle city classic weekend is dangerous. There’s lots of fun to be had this weekend, so we’re '}},
{ timecode: 480, handler: 'blob', id: 30, data: {text: 'going to move the comments along so you can go play. I’m accustomed to teaching 3-hour classes, so I’ve made some very crisp notes so I can get out of here, okay. So, I’m going to '}},
{ timecode: 495, handler: 'blob', id: 31, data: {text: 'read rather than my usual talk. A major source of misdiagnosis and stigma in mental health, but a cornerstone of mental health among African-Americans, is our strong religious orientation. '}},
{ timecode: 507, handler: 'blob', id: 32, data: {text: 'Traditionally, it’s a holistic world view, we don’t see things dichotomized, you know, that’s another discussion so we’ll keep on. But from that perspective, life is seen as an '}},
{ timecode: 520, handler: 'blob', id: 33, data: {text: 'infinite reality in which a soul is sent into the physical realm of life, lives out its purpose, and then leaves the physical realm to live forever as an ancestor in the spiritual world. These, those '}},
{ timecode: 532, handler: 'blob', id: 34, data: {text: 'living in the physical realm have an interactive relationship with those in the spiritual world. On the one hand, strength and advice are sought from that world. On the other hand, one must give an '}},
{ timecode: 543, handler: 'blob', id: 35, data: {text: 'account for one’s behavior in life to the spiritual realm. In this way, one is expected to live life in this physical realm so as to become a good ancestor in the spiritual realm to future '}},
{ timecode: 555, handler: 'blob', id: 36, data: {text: 'generations. The major point here is that health and success are a part of a process that saturates all parts of our lives, from our individual stance to family, community, world, universe, and the '}},
{ timecode: 570, handler: 'blob', id: 37, data: {text: 'metaphysical. The cornerstone of that paradigm, cornerstones of that paradigm, are a reverence for life, a belief in and – a belief in life and power beyond the physical realm, and a conformity '}},
{ timecode: 583, handler: 'blob', id: 38, data: {text: 'to moral and religious principals. Agape love is one of the overarching principals. And from our world view, spirituality is a rock to hang onto when the world is rushing out of control. It is the '}},
{ timecode: 598, handler: 'blob', id: 39, data: {text: 'unseen force that gives you the courage to push when you’d rather pull. It shows the way when there is no way. It makes sense out of nonsense, and encourages you to have faith. Help is just '}},
{ timecode: 610, handler: 'blob', id: 40, data: {text: 'around the corner. It\'s the map to inner peace. Simply put, the feeling, feeling the spirit, brings you joy, and that comes from Villarosa\'s work on black health. But more'}},
{ timecode: 623, handler: 'blob', id: 41, data: {text: 'specifically, the key components of this paradigm reflect that, both traditional African values as well as Christianity. The reason I share that with you is that an important implication of this is '}},
{ timecode: 635, handler: 'blob', id: 42, data: {text: 'that this spiritual view in the mental health arena is often thought to be psychotic. It’s often thought to be psychotic. If you tell your therapist that you have spoken with God, that you have '}},
{ timecode: 653, handler: 'blob', id: 43, data: {text: 'seen angels, or that angels are surrounding you on your way to surgery, or that your mother is praying for you in Heaven, your mother is looking down upon you at your graduation, they’re going '}},
{ timecode: 666, handler: 'blob', id: 44, data: {text: 'to write in your chart that you’re psychotic, okay. That’s really, really important, because after 36 years in the field of mental health, it is very disturbing to know that we, we see the '}},
{ timecode: 681, handler: 'blob', id: 45, data: {text: 'day that says we are overdiagnosed among the paranoid schizophrenics, and it’s these kinds of things that get us into trouble when we’re talking to people outside of our community. Now '}},
{ timecode: 691, handler: 'blob', id: 46, data: {text: 'when I said, you know, when I was reading all that about our religion, you’re just like duh, we already know that, but people outside our community don’t necessarily know that, okay. We '}},
{ timecode: 701, handler: 'blob', id: 47, data: {text: 'look crazy to them. Then there’s the question of racism or paranoia among mental health professionals. African-American reports of oppression, discrimination and prejudice are also diagnosed as '}},
{ timecode: 715, handler: 'blob', id: 48, data: {text: 'psychotic thinking. But consider this, have you ever felt like you had been attacked just because you were different, but later you weren’t quite sure if it really happened. Were you just being '}},
{ timecode: 728, handler: 'blob', id: 49, data: {text: 'oversensitive or was this a genuine attempt to harass you. Social scientists call this phenomenon micro-aggression, and it’s most often seen as a manifestation of racism. Racial '}},
{ timecode: 741, handler: 'blob', id: 50, data: {text: 'micro-aggressions are small, often barely perceivable in dignities that insult and denigrate people of color. These commonplace occurrences can be verbal, behavioral or environmental in nature, and '}},
{ timecode: 755, handler: 'blob', id: 51, data: {text: 'such putdowns may be intentional or unintentional, and perpetrators may be completely unaware of their communication and how destructive it is. You know how it is when you’re standing in line '}},
{ timecode: 768, handler: 'blob', id: 52, data: {text: 'waiting for football tickets. You’ve been standing there a long time, you have your gold card in your hand, but the clerk doesn’t see you. Hmmm, was that you? Was that them? Did they mean '}},
{ timecode: 783, handler: 'blob', id: 53, data: {text: 'it? Or if they say, okay boy, come on up. Hmmm. In the south, white men talk to each other. Hey, that’s a good ole boy, but that word has different connotations for us. I see my friend '}},
{ timecode: 798, handler: 'blob', id: 54, data: {text: 'Representative Bartlett out there. Call him a boy, and it’s on. Okay. But those micro-aggressions, those little smacks that happen to you all day long, every day, is that you, is that them? And '}},
{ timecode: 812, handler: 'blob', id: 55, data: {text: 'when you talk to mental health professionals about those experiences, they write in your chart, hypersensitive, paranoid, needs medication, okay. And if you say, I’m about to go postal because '}},
{ timecode: 831, handler: 'blob', id: 56, data: {text: 'of these micro-aggressions, then it’s time to press the buzzer under the desk and call the people to take you to the hospital, okay. These are really important pieces of our way of living, our '}},
{ timecode: 850, handler: 'blob', id: 57, data: {text: 'way of thinking, that are so commonplace to us, but then when we have to interface with people who supposedly are going to help us, we have to be very careful, because sometimes we’re talking to '}},
{ timecode: 862, handler: 'blob', id: 58, data: {text: 'the oppressor, and the oppressor might look like us, but they were trained in a Eurocentric way of thinking, and so not, as somebody said earlier, it’s not a matter of finding a therapist who '}},
{ timecode: 877, handler: 'blob', id: 59, data: {text: 'looks like you, but one who understands your reality that is so very, very important. So given the fact that most mental health service providers are not African-American, clients often fear seeking '}},
{ timecode: 889, handler: 'blob', id: 60, data: {text: 'help. Therefore, individuals who seek to design effective mental health policies or delivery systems for African-Americans, would be wise to increase their cultural competence and to involve them in '}},
{ timecode: 902, handler: 'blob', id: 61, data: {text: 'the design process. So just a quick list of the some of the common myths and fears about mental illness in our community. One of the things that we were talking about at lunch is that our '}},
{ timecode: 917, handler: 'blob', id: 62, data: {text: 'understanding of mental illness is too narrow, and I don’t have that in my notes, but I want to raise that now. There’s a book called the DSM IV, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of '}},
{ timecode: 927, handler: 'blob', id: 63, data: {text: 'Mental Health - of Mental Disorders. And it’s a very thick book. It includes things from learning disabilities and mental – and developmental delay to post-traumatic stress disorder, to '}},
{ timecode: 941, handler: 'blob', id: 64, data: {text: 'anxiety, to depression, to psychosis, and then there’s a whole section we call V Codes that deal with marital problems and parent-child conflicts. All of those in this field are considered '}},
{ timecode: 953, handler: 'blob', id: 65, data: {text: 'mental disorders, and so we need to move our discussion beyond just psychoses and addictions, okay, but that’s another discussion for another day. But some of our – [audience interruption] '}},
{ timecode: 964, handler: 'blob', id: 66, data: {text: '– absolutely, absolutely, but it’s certainly broader than just psychosis and addiction. We need a broader conversation, because that would then include most of us at some point in our '}},
{ timecode: 976, handler: 'blob', id: 67, data: {text: 'lives. Life gets to us. Okay. So some of the common stigmas and myths. Mental illness, that is to say psychosis or addiction, is a sign of moral failure or demonic spiritual forces. We often fear that '}},
{ timecode: 992, handler: 'blob', id: 68, data: {text: 'somehow the labels, such as crazy, lunatic, and nut, are going to severely damage our network of interpersonal relationships or opportunities. I’ve had pastors creep in to me, either at the V.A. '}},
{ timecode: 1007, handler: 'blob', id: 69, data: {text: 'on psychiatry, or in my private practice, hoping nobody would ever see them, because if anybody ever saw them, regardless of what they were coming to see me about, they’d lose their pastorate. '}},
{ timecode: 1018, handler: 'blob', id: 70, data: {text: 'Some people would say, I don’t want you marrying that boy, he comes from a crazy family. Well, that might simply mean a family that struggles with depression, but that doesn’t make them a '}},
{ timecode: 1029, handler: 'blob', id: 71, data: {text: 'bad marriage candidate. We have fears that psychoactive medications are addictive and may cause permanent neurological damage. Many of us who are old school have seen people with those writhing '}},
{ timecode: 1044, handler: 'blob', id: 72, data: {text: 'movements. That’s called tardive dyskinesia, and it is a sequela of some of the antipsychotic drugs, but we’ve got ways of treating that now, we know more about how to treat major '}},
{ timecode: 1060, handler: 'blob', id: 73, data: {text: 'psychoses, and so some of those fears that any drug that you’re given is going to cause some permanent neurological damage is still a part of the fear in our culture. Blacks are likely to be '}},
{ timecode: 1073, handler: 'blob', id: 74, data: {text: 'guinea pigs for physicians and health researchers. We still have memories of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, and we know about other maltreatment of human subjects in research. We fear that '}},
{ timecode: 1088, handler: 'blob', id: 75, data: {text: 'symptoms, whether it’s depression, anxiety, children’s misbehavior, that somehow these things aren’t treatable, so if I go and hear that there’s nothing they can do, '}},
{ timecode: 1100, handler: 'blob', id: 76, data: {text: 'that’s more devastating than just coping with it or praying about it. We fear that treatment is often going to mean confinement, perhaps for a lifetime, in isolated mental institutions, as '}},
{ timecode: 1113, handler: 'blob', id: 77, data: {text: 'depicted in films like Titicut Follies or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I did a quick search just at Blockbuster.com, 100 films came up about really weird, crazy people in asylums, and '}},
{ timecode: 1128, handler: 'blob', id: 78, data: {text: 'they’re scary. They’re those thriller movies. But that continues to perpetuate this myth in the community that mental health treatment is going to land you in one of those places and you '}},
{ timecode: 1140, handler: 'blob', id: 79, data: {text: 'may never come out. We still have some work to do to get the word out in our community about the current state of knowledge, the current state of the science, in the field of mental health. So '}},
{ timecode: 1158, handler: 'blob', id: 80, data: {text: 'I’d like to make just some suggestions to those of you who are policy makers and program developers. One is that I think we should mandate that cultural competence be an educational outcome in '}},
{ timecode: 1171, handler: 'blob', id: 81, data: {text: 'both professional education and continuing education for mental health service providers, whether those are social workers, psychologists, nurses, or psychiatrists. You can graduate from medical '}},
{ timecode: 1182, handler: 'blob', id: 82, data: {text: 'school as a psychiatrist and not know anything about black people. You can graduate from the school of social work and not know much about the history of African-Americans in this country. '}},
{ timecode: 1196, handler: 'blob', id: 83, data: {text: 'That’s a travesty. And yet many of our institutions are funded by state dollars, including mine. We need to invite African-American consumers, service providers, and researchers to the table, to '}},
{ timecode: 1211, handler: 'blob', id: 84, data: {text: 'participate in program or policy development, and so thank you NBCSL for inviting us to the table today. I would dare ask if there are any consumers in the audience, because of the stigma you see, but '}},
{ timecode: 1224, handler: 'blob', id: 85, data: {text: 'we certainly need people who have experienced the system to help us revamp it and make it more culturally competent. And finally, we need to educate community leaders, by our definition community '}},
{ timecode: 1237, handler: 'blob', id: 86, data: {text: 'leaders, clergy, barbers, beauticians, nail people, teachers, and certainly public officials, so that they can carry the message to the community that mental health is attainable, we can be '}},
{ timecode: 1250, handler: 'blob', id: 87, data: {text: 'psychologically healthy people, and that treatment for some disorders is quite advanced. We know how to fix some of the things in our field. Things like pedophilia, we don’t know how to fix, but '}},
{ timecode: 1264, handler: 'blob', id: 88, data: {text: 'we have, we know what the research would tell us about how to deal even with that. We finally need to tell people in our community that mental illness is not a sign of moral failure or un-Godliness. '}},
{ timecode: 1277, handler: 'blob', id: 89, data: {text: 'And so I look forward to not just this discussion, but future discussions, so that we can get mentally healthy in our communities. SENATOR DIANNE WILKERSON: Good afternoon everyone. I too want to '}},
{ timecode: 1298, handler: 'blob', id: 90, data: {text: 'thank Rep Armstrong as a Chair Armstrong, Rep Richards and Rep Clack for the work that they continue to do on issues around health care in general, and I’m happy to be here today talking about '}},
{ timecode: 1310, handler: 'blob', id: 91, data: {text: 'mental health. You know, I’m sitting there all, like most of us, I think, the elected officials, kind of wrapped up in the stories and the emotion of the stories, and I’m thinking that my '}},
{ timecode: 1320, handler: 'blob', id: 92, data: {text: 'job is to try to, try to make some relevancy and connection to what we do. And I’m hoping that I could raise some questions to at least the members of the Legislature about, um, that would have '}},
{ timecode: 1333, handler: 'blob', id: 93, data: {text: 'you go back to your respective states and ask some questions, because I have a feeling that much of what I will share with you, that I’m learning about the whole mental health delivery system in '}},
{ timecode: 1344, handler: 'blob', id: 94, data: {text: 'Massachusetts, is probably something that you have not probed either, and so I hope we do that. But I want to tell you just 2 stories as we start. I was thinking about a very good friend of mine who '}},
{ timecode: 1360, handler: 'blob', id: 95, data: {text: 'happens to be a school psych counselor in Boston, who shared the story with me about, probably 10 years ago, that in the ‘80s, he worked at one of our middle schools in what we call Orchard '}},
{ timecode: 1376, handler: 'blob', id: 96, data: {text: 'Park. Orchard Park neighborhood of Roxbury. And he had a student that was referred to him because he was having some trouble in his classroom, named Bobby Brown, and Bobby Brown told him that he, when '}},
{ timecode: 1391, handler: 'blob', id: 97, data: {text: 'he grew – he didn’t really want to spend a whole lot of time fooling with school because he was going to be a superstar like Michael Jackson, and he was going to be on stage one day, and '}},
{ timecode: 1402, handler: 'blob', id: 98, data: {text: 'that he really didn’t know why anybody wanted to make him bother with all this school stuff. My friend tells me that he wrote in his record, “experiences major periods of delusion.” '}},
{ timecode: 1415, handler: 'blob', id: 99, data: {text: 'So the Bobby Brown I’m telling you about is the Bobby Brown in New Edition. And so my point is, you just don’t know. Things that might sound crazy to us today, which prompted the very '}},
{ timecode: 1430, handler: 'blob', id: 100, data: {text: 'comment that you raised that you’ve talked about too, doctor, that’s what they wrote in his record. Well, he was a star, he did end up on stage, and who knew? Now, if I fast forward to one '}},
{ timecode: 1449, handler: 'blob', id: 101, data: {text: 'of our morning radio talk shows DJs just last month, I was listening to the radio one morning and he, in what he, I think, intended to be a joke, said, what do you call a sister with 2 black eyes? The '}},
{ timecode: 1467, handler: 'blob', id: 102, data: {text: 'answer was – no, said, what do you tell a sister with 2 black eyes? And the answer was nothing, she’s stubborn and you already tried to tell her twice. I didn’t even write a letter, '}},
{ timecode: 1486, handler: 'blob', id: 103, data: {text: 'I went over to the station. And just really kind of putting in context this whole conversation for today, and really the kinds of things that if someone, I would, I would submit to you, if someone '}},
{ timecode: 1499, handler: 'blob', id: 104, data: {text: 'white had said that, we’d all have stormed the radio station. But somehow those kinds of jokes, which are not funny, and in fact have more truth than anything, make their way into our just daily '}},
{ timecode: 1513, handler: 'blob', id: 105, data: {text: 'dialogue, and we just kind of laugh, laugh, laugh it off and move on. But it is real. We have in Massachusetts right now what can only be described as a crisis in our mental health system in 3 areas, '}},
{ timecode: 1528, handler: 'blob', id: 106, data: {text: 'and I want to talk about them because they are all very much connected. Our correctional system, which like every other state in this nation, has become the de facto hospitals for mental illness. The '}},
{ timecode: 1542, handler: 'blob', id: 107, data: {text: 'criminalization of mental illness and how that relates to us. Seventy-six percent of our inmate population has some degree of mental illness that ranges from, what they call minimal to very serious. '}},
{ timecode: 1561, handler: 'blob', id: 108, data: {text: 'We have a mental health population dealing with serious illness that far outweighs the number of specified beds that we would allow them to be. The reason that this has become a crisis for us is '}},
{ timecode: 1578, handler: 'blob', id: 109, data: {text: 'because we have had an explosion of inmate suicides in the last 5 years. In fact, had to appoint a commission to deal with it. And so I, and I happen to be on the Committee on Mental Health and '}},
{ timecode: 1592, handler: 'blob', id: 110, data: {text: 'Substance Abuse in the Senate, and we – was part of that committee hearing, and I have to tell you that I was just stunned and dumbfounded by what seemed to me to be so obvious an issue and a '}},
{ timecode: 1605, handler: 'blob', id: 111, data: {text: 'problem and a remedy, that turns out to be much more difficult than it is. I’m not a psychologist, psychiatrist, but something just on basic knowledge would tell, told me, that the last thing '}},
{ timecode: 1622, handler: 'blob', id: 112, data: {text: 'that you would want to do with an inmate that is experiencing and voicing suicidal ideation, is to isolate them. And, in fact, that has become our practice, until we figured out that 12 of the last 15 '}},
{ timecode: 1641, handler: 'blob', id: 113, data: {text: 'people who committed suicide spent at least 12 of their last 24 hours in isolation, and once every hour the guard would come and say, if I let you out, are you going to behave? And of course for the '}},
{ timecode: 1656, handler: 'blob', id: 114, data: {text: 'first 24 hours they would say no, if they spoke at all, and then finally they figured it out, if I say yes, they will let me out of here. And 12 of them committed suicide within 8 hours of being '}},
{ timecode: 1668, handler: 'blob', id: 115, data: {text: 'released from isolation. It’s the worst place. So why is that connected? Why is that relative to us? Because obviously, as legislators, we have a whole lot of control over the policy and '}},
{ timecode: 1679, handler: 'blob', id: 116, data: {text: 'practice of our various departments of mental health, and so that’s something you probably want to find out. What is the policy? Because I bet it’s not that much different in your state, '}},
{ timecode: 1690, handler: 'blob', id: 117, data: {text: 'in terms of how it is done. One of the manifestations of people who are exhibiting mental illness, of course you know this, you can know this, again, without being an expert, is they can’t sit '}},
{ timecode: 1703, handler: 'blob', id: 118, data: {text: 'still, they’re not quiet, and they sometimes engage in what would be considered antisocial behavior, they act out. That’s kind of what they do. And so if quiet and following rules is a '}},
{ timecode: 1719, handler: 'blob', id: 119, data: {text: 'part of the expected process for those in our criminal justice institutions, they’re going to have trouble all the time. And so it’s a very, very important cycle that we have to be more '}},
{ timecode: 1731, handler: 'blob', id: 120, data: {text: 'engaged, because the other point that’s obvious, that should be obvious to you all, is that we’re talking about, for the most part, people of color. Disproportionately high numbers, people '}},
{ timecode: 1739, handler: 'blob', id: 121, data: {text: 'of color, again, I suspect something that is similar for your state as it is to mine. So then for those who are lucky and fortunate, eventually they get out. And then what happens? They end up '}},
{ timecode: 1753, handler: 'blob', id: 122, data: {text: 'homeless. Why? Because you have a criminal record, you’re not getting a house. Not in my state. I don’t know how it is in most of yours, but unless you happen to be taken in as part of a '}},
{ timecode: 1763, handler: 'blob', id: 123, data: {text: 'model program or some experience, for the most part, you have a query or criminal record, you – and you’re not getting out with a job. You are probably going to end up homeless. What does '}},
{ timecode: 1774, handler: 'blob', id: 124, data: {text: 'that mean? Well, I can tell you what we found out in our study in the Commission on Homelessness, we just issued our report 6 months ago, that homeless people with mental health issues spend on the '}},
{ timecode: 1790, handler: 'blob', id: 125, data: {text: 'average of 102 days every 2 years in, hospitalized. Within 2 years of stabilizing their housing, that 102 days reduces to 7. The difference, 43,000 dollars we’re spending to 3,000 dollars, and '}},
{ timecode: 1810, handler: 'blob', id: 126, data: {text: 'it’s, you can understand why. The stability that a home would provide in and of itself helps to stabilize their health. We do a homeless survey, a homeless count once a year, every year, and for '}},
{ timecode: 1826, handler: 'blob', id: 127, data: {text: 'our – in the entire City of Boston. I think it may be the only city in the state that does it, but that’s because people come to Boston to be homeless. It’s the capital city, they '}},
{ timecode: 1834, handler: 'blob', id: 128, data: {text: 'figure if I’m going to be homeless, you know, if I’m going – if I’m looking for welfare, if I’m – you know, let’s go to the capital city. In fact, we have '}},
{ timecode: 1840, handler: 'blob', id: 129, data: {text: 'some cities and towns in Massachusetts that are now adopting bands for people who are homeless, from living – if you did not have an address, like within 30 days or 60 days in that town, you '}},
{ timecode: 1855, handler: 'blob', id: 130, data: {text: 'cannot even be homeless in that town. They do bus them, you are right, they bus them. They take them, put them in a bus, and bring them to Boston, and drop them off. And this is just, it’s a '}},
{ timecode: 1868, handler: 'blob', id: 131, data: {text: 'cycle that I think we now know has very direct connection to our budgets and the monies that we’re spending. I said this at the conference in D.C., I think in March, that I still don’t '}},
{ timecode: 1882, handler: 'blob', id: 132, data: {text: 'quite understand it, but we somehow, in this world, in this country, adopted this policy of delivering health care by body parts, so we have a dental health system, we have a mental health system, and '}},
{ timecode: 1896, handler: 'blob', id: 133, data: {text: 'then we have a health care system for the rest of our bodies. Just how crazy this gets in Massachusetts, and I don’t know what it is for you, you probably want to check. In our correctional '}},
{ timecode: 1908, handler: 'blob', id: 134, data: {text: 'institutions, they have 3 different contracts with 3 different providers for people who are in our criminal justice system. They have a health, physical, a health care contract, they have a mental '}},
{ timecode: 1922, handler: 'blob', id: 135, data: {text: 'health contract, and they have a dental health contract, that has provisions that prevent any of the 3 from sharing information with each other. So in the course of our hearing on inmate suicide, I '}},
{ timecode: 1936, handler: 'blob', id: 136, data: {text: 'learned that the mental health provider is not allowed to share information with the health care provider for inmates in our criminal justice system. And so in the last 6 months, and I think it '}},
{ timecode: 1948, handler: 'blob', id: 137, data: {text: 'certainly has helped with a new governor on this issue, what we have done is taken, forced those provisions out of the contracts, and want to respect people’s privacy, but also know that this '}},
{ timecode: 1959, handler: 'blob', id: 138, data: {text: 'doesn’t make any sense, but that’s what we do. And I do think that, that this whole issue of the criminalization of mental health, the fact that, and I saw in our package the article, I '}},
{ timecode: 1975, handler: 'blob', id: 139, data: {text: 'think Representative Armstrong was quoted in this article about the increase in suicide of young black males. That’s just something that we didn’t see before. And I don’t think '}},
{ timecode: 1986, handler: 'blob', id: 140, data: {text: 'it’s something that we didn’t see because people weren’t saying it. I think they didn’t see it because it wasn’t happening, and it’s happening now. Mental illness '}},
{ timecode: 1996, handler: 'blob', id: 141, data: {text: 'is now the third leading cause of absence and dropout from our schools, in our urban schools, which means children of color. And we, in fact, prior to the Congress, we have a Children’s Mental '}},
{ timecode: 2007, handler: 'blob', id: 142, data: {text: 'Health Parity Bill. We just passed ours in the last year, but we do have one, and one of the things that we had to, that took the biggest part of our negotiation is that, like most of them I think '}},
{ timecode: 2017, handler: 'blob', id: 143, data: {text: 'across the country, what you will find if you ask, that they have negotiated numbers of visits, which has been our history in Massachusetts. You get 14 visits. And you have, you want mental health '}},
{ timecode: 2033, handler: 'blob', id: 144, data: {text: 'coverage, you want us to come, you get 14 visits. Heaven help you if you are not well after 14, but that’s all we’re giving you. It clearly, like many other insurance-directed health care '}},
{ timecode: 2043, handler: 'blob', id: 145, data: {text: 'delivery policy, didn’t have anything to do with the care, it had to do with the insurance interest. So that’s the first thing that we had to remove from our Children’s Mental Health '}},
{ timecode: 2055, handler: 'blob', id: 146, data: {text: 'Parity Bill, is that they are allowed the number of visits that it will take for the physician, the doctor and the client, or the patient, to feel like they are making some progress or there’s '}},
{ timecode: 2067, handler: 'blob', id: 147, data: {text: 'been some, some, some certain, certain some progress at all. And I’m all over the place because I just really wanted to deal with the issues that I think I heard today in the conversations that '}},
{ timecode: 2078, handler: 'blob', id: 148, data: {text: 'we’ve had on domestic violence, the connections. Children, homelessness. The last one is this, pipeline issues. One of the things, again, that we learned in the course of the deliberations on '}},
{ timecode: 2090, handler: 'blob', id: 149, data: {text: 'the Commission to Eliminate Racial and Health Disparities, which I chaired, and I’m actually now the state chair of our official and permanent Health Disparities Council, is that the issue of '}},
{ timecode: 2102, handler: 'blob', id: 150, data: {text: 'pipeline has a whole lot more to do with just the doctor. We have to deal with pipeline issues at every level, which for us means dealing with teaching hospitals. We’ve convened a panel of the '}},
{ timecode: 2115, handler: 'blob', id: 151, data: {text: 'presidents of our teaching hospitals to talk to them about some of the curriculum. That you can go through an entire medical training and medical school and never be required, in most schools, to have '}},
{ timecode: 2130, handler: 'blob', id: 152, data: {text: 'any conversation about cultural competency. New Jersey, I think, is probably one of the most progressive in this area. They actually passed legislation. We are working to do the same thing in '}},
{ timecode: 2139, handler: 'blob', id: 153, data: {text: 'Massachusetts that New Jersey has done, but it is, it’s real, and we know that it is real because, in fact, the Institute of Medicine report, and now you’ve, you probably have heard about '}},
{ timecode: 2152, handler: 'blob', id: 154, data: {text: 'this, because we are still trying to absorb the impact of the findings of that report on equal treatment. Emergency room doctors all across the country did the analysis and found that blacks and '}},
{ timecode: 2165, handler: 'blob', id: 155, data: {text: 'Latinos that present in emergency rooms with broken upper arm received 32% less pain medicine than whites who present in emergency rooms with the same broken arm. Now, you process that, because I '}},
{ timecode: 2180, handler: 'blob', id: 156, data: {text: 'think if it was single digit it wouldn’t be such an issue, but if it’s double digit, then you got to wonder what else is going on. So the issue around cultural competency is real, so I '}},
{ timecode: 2190, handler: 'blob', id: 157, data: {text: 'hope that it generates some thinking, and maybe going back to our respective states and even some questions about as legislators what we do with all of this information that we’ve gotten from '}},
{ timecode: 2201, handler: 'blob', id: 158, data: {text: 'you, because that really is our job, to take the information that our professionals share with us and try to translate this into some policy that works for our people, and our people need our help. So '}},
{ timecode: 2211, handler: 'blob', id: 159, data: {text: 'I’m going to end there. Thank you. DR. RON K. BAILEY: I want to thank the National Association of African-American State Legislators for inviting me back. As was mentioned, I’m Ron Bailey. '}},
{ timecode: 2233, handler: 'blob', id: 160, data: {text: 'I’m a psychiatrist, I’ve had the opportunity to address this group, I think now, on 4 or 5 occasions, and always really warms my heart to see the group and see the kind of work '}},
{ timecode: 2241, handler: 'blob', id: 161, data: {text: 'you’re doing, and appreciate that you invite persons like myself. You do give value to the concept that African-Americans do suffer from brain illnesses, they substantially adversely impact our '}},
{ timecode: 2250, handler: 'blob', id: 162, data: {text: 'lives, and if we’re going to make the lives of these persons better, you know, we have to address these issues kind of head on. So the time in my 10 minutes, and I’ll make sure I’m '}},
{ timecode: 2258, handler: 'blob', id: 163, data: {text: 'on time as well, I’m going to hit 3 key take home messages that I want everybody to think about. A, first and foremost, is the issue of depression and suicide in blacks. And I’m going to '}},
{ timecode: 2269, handler: 'blob', id: 164, data: {text: 'give you a case vignette that I think will hit home. Second, I’m going to talk about the National Medical Association, almost vicariously, I’ve always got to address this group based on my '}},
{ timecode: 2277, handler: 'blob', id: 165, data: {text: 'national group of black doctors. Again, there are 30,000 living black doctors in our country, about 21,000 practicing, about 4,000 actually pay dues for organizations, so we got to kind of work on '}},
{ timecode: 2287, handler: 'blob', id: 166, data: {text: 'that. But we have our primary health initiatives that we want to talk to you about very briefly, what we are doing with that. And as mentioned, I actually have a new job now since I have addressed you '}},
{ timecode: 2296, handler: 'blob', id: 167, data: {text: 'last time. I’m actually now the chairman of psychiatry at one of the 3 black medical schools, Meharry Medical School, and we have tremendous issues and concerns and needs, and I would be remiss, '}},
{ timecode: 2304, handler: 'blob', id: 168, data: {text: 'and my boss would probably be unhappy, if I didn’t bring some of those ideas to the forefront. Depression and suicide in blacks. As a black psychiatrist, and one who’s been involved in '}},
{ timecode: 2314, handler: 'blob', id: 169, data: {text: 'this for about 18 years, you know, I’ve heard the issue and we’ve talked about it, I actually lectured on it, and I actually published papers on antidepressants, how they work in these '}},
{ timecode: 2321, handler: 'blob', id: 170, data: {text: 'groups, but I wasn’t really, until August 12th, 2008, that it really kind of hit home. My first person who I feel kind of responsible for, who’s an African-American male, that actually '}},
{ timecode: 2332, handler: 'blob', id: 171, data: {text: 'died of suicide. And it wasn’t incidental, it wasn’t a car wreck with no skid marks. It was a young man who actually put a gun in his mouth and blew his head off. And in all ways, he was '}},
{ timecode: 2341, handler: 'blob', id: 172, data: {text: 'African-American like the rest of us. Baptist, and went to church every Sunday, his family loved him, and the whole nine yards. That story by itself I think is somewhat disconcerting and it resonates '}},
{ timecode: 2351, handler: 'blob', id: 173, data: {text: 'with us, and it kind of hurts our feelings. When I tell you that he was an African-American male medical student at Meharry Medical School, that should really hurt your feelings. In every way '}},
{ timecode: 2361, handler: 'blob', id: 174, data: {text: 'possible, as involved in his community and society, a mom who was a nurse who loved him, a 19-year-old brother who he roomed with, no signs or signals that this person was having any kind of '}},
{ timecode: 2373, handler: 'blob', id: 175, data: {text: 'difficulty. At his last ball chem test he made an 87. So we now are, you know, all systems alert on this issue, and we actually had one of these about 2 years ago, and we had one at a dental school '}},
{ timecode: 2385, handler: 'blob', id: 176, data: {text: 'the year before that. So we, unfortunately, are not adverse as compared to other places. About 1,100 suicides every year of college and university students in our country, but very often what misses '}},
{ timecode: 2396, handler: 'blob', id: 177, data: {text: 'the radar is that this happens to black people too. And in every form and fashion. So we focus issues on gun control and access to weapons or we talk about hearing people’s message and getting '}},
{ timecode: 2407, handler: 'blob', id: 178, data: {text: 'them some kind of professional care. These are issues that I think you should go back to your constituents and address, and recognize that these are problems that although may seem hidden at times, do '}},
{ timecode: 2417, handler: 'blob', id: 179, data: {text: 'substantially adversely affect us, and they put a tremendous burden on us in the mental health field to figure out ways to communicate in a culturally sensitive and culturally appropriate way. I think '}},
{ timecode: 2425, handler: 'blob', id: 180, data: {text: 'as you pointed out very articulately, that maybe we haven’t done it well in the past. Maybe what we’re seeing now are persons put a gun in their mouth, which is the traditional suicidal '}},
{ timecode: 2432, handler: 'blob', id: 181, data: {text: 'maneuver, whereas throughout my whole career, we always heard that when blacks commit suicide, it was indirectly and vicariously, we did things that wouldn’t actually meet the criteria of '}},
{ timecode: 2443, handler: 'blob', id: 182, data: {text: 'suicide on a death certificate, but there was a lot of self harm and really lack of self love if you will. We should be aware that these are problems that adversely affect us, and we’ve got to '}},
{ timecode: 2452, handler: 'blob', id: 183, data: {text: 'do something about it. On the issue of the National Medical Association, this is our 108th year. We are focused this year on obesity and mental health. Not really accidental. You know, generally we '}},
{ timecode: 2465, handler: 'blob', id: 184, data: {text: 'have one key theme every year, and obesity has certainly been a key theme for many years in the past. But this year we’ve actually joined these themes, obesity and mental health, is fairly '}},
{ timecode: 2475, handler: 'blob', id: 185, data: {text: 'unique, and I think it actually points out really that the salient take home message that when your psychiatric problems are not well attended to, when your psychological concerns are ignored or put '}},
{ timecode: 2486, handler: 'blob', id: 186, data: {text: 'off on the back burner, by definition, the process worsens your medical issues. Your high blood pressure is worse when you have stress, your diabetes is harder to control when you have anxiety, your '}},
{ timecode: 2498, handler: 'blob', id: 187, data: {text: 'arthritic pain feels worse and feels more impairing when you’re unable to get control of whatever your psychiatric issues are. That we should get out the message that addressing diagnostically '}},
{ timecode: 2509, handler: 'blob', id: 188, data: {text: 'and treating clinically your primary psychiatric problems will make your medical problems better, i.e. decrease your morbidity or disease, and will decrease early death or early mortality. Those 2 '}},
{ timecode: 2522, handler: 'blob', id: 189, data: {text: 'issues are inextricably linked, and has evidence-based medicine to support it, is I think the key take home message for the National Medical Association for 2008. Finally, I actually come from an HPC '}},
{ timecode: 2534, handler: 'blob', id: 190, data: {text: 'background. Went to Morehouse College and finished in 1986, absolutely. But I’ve kind of been on another side for about 20 years now, so I’ve been doing my best, but it really warms my '}},
{ timecode: 2545, handler: 'blob', id: 191, data: {text: 'heart to be back in an HPC-type setting, and it really a few issues that I think for all groups for us to address. A, first and foremost, and I actually see this a lot, my president would not be happy '}},
{ timecode: 2554, handler: 'blob', id: 192, data: {text: 'if I did not say it, we need money, and the reality is whether folks donate independently or through organizations or churches or groups, we’ve got to survive. Two, you should know that we '}},
{ timecode: 2566, handler: 'blob', id: 193, data: {text: 'don’t come asking for gifts without bringing some value, and what you should know about Meharry Medical School that I’m very proud of, is that every single year, including this year, we '}},
{ timecode: 2576, handler: 'blob', id: 194, data: {text: 'accept and matriculate more African-American males than any medical school in the country. If it take a minute, I’m going to say it again. We put more black males into and graduate out of '}},
{ timecode: 2590, handler: 'blob', id: 195, data: {text: 'medical school than all other medical schools in the country. This year in our class of 100, their happy about it. _________. This year we have 38 in our medical school class, and I should find out '}},
{ timecode: 2602, handler: 'blob', id: 196, data: {text: 'what the number is for dental school class, but the reality is, we should be a safe haven for our people to come to and do well. So right now I’m actually very happy. I’ve been involved in '}},
{ timecode: 2612, handler: 'blob', id: 197, data: {text: 'this medical problem, medical issue for 20 years, but my phone has never rung as much as it has in these last 6 months since I’ve been at Meharry. People think now they can get their relatives '}},
{ timecode: 2620, handler: 'blob', id: 198, data: {text: 'and their friends, their kids and their neighbors into a school that will take care of them. Well, we promise that if you come to Meharry, we’ll not only get you in, we’ll teach you, and '}},
{ timecode: 2629, handler: 'blob', id: 199, data: {text: 'we’ll get you out. Thank you very much. RICHARDS: Thank you very much, Dr. Blackman and Senator Wilkerson and Dr. Bailey. I’m going to beg the indulgence of those of us who are here in '}},
{ timecode: 2646, handler: 'blob', id: 200, data: {text: 'Indianapolis, and since we cut short the folks that are looking via feed, we want to go directly to Miami with Representative Joe Gibbons, and provide them an opportunity to ask a couple of questions '}},
{ timecode: 2658, handler: 'blob', id: 201, data: {text: 'before we come back here. Representative Gibbons. REPRESENTATIVE JOE GIBBONS: Yes, we\'re here. We want to go right to the open mic portion of it, because we have a couple of comments and a'}},
{ timecode: 2670, handler: 'blob', id: 202, data: {text: 'couple of questions, so I’m going to have Dr. Steven Ronik come and make a comment. Dr. Steven Ronik. DR. STEVEN RONIK: Okay, again, I appreciate the opportunity to be here, and we had a lot of '}},
{ timecode: 2681, handler: 'blob', id: 203, data: {text: 'good discussion during the day today, and I just wanted to really highlight a couple of themes. You know, in Florida, we have a significant access issue relative to mental health, not just for the '}},
{ timecode: 2696, handler: 'blob', id: 204, data: {text: 'African-American community, but for everybody. But today we’re really here to talk about access issues and quality of care issues relative to the African-American community, and why we '}},
{ timecode: 2707, handler: 'blob', id: 205, data: {text: 'haven’t been able to bring the right quality and right access relative to behavioral health care, at least in South Florida, and probably nationally. And I think there’s a couple themes '}},
{ timecode: 2717, handler: 'blob', id: 206, data: {text: 'that emerged today. One, which you’ve heard from speaker after speaker, is we have to partner and collaborate with the faith-based community much better than we’ve done historically. A '}},
{ timecode: 2727, handler: 'blob', id: 207, data: {text: 'couple of the speakers mentioned this, we talked about it here in Florida. We can’t pathologize spirituality and religion, we have to make sure we work together. On the other hand, we '}},
{ timecode: 2740, handler: 'blob', id: 208, data: {text: 'can’t just help people to pray on it when they have a mental illness, but we can’t dismiss spirituality, we have to work together. Secondly, we have to really, really do something about '}},
{ timecode: 2751, handler: 'blob', id: 209, data: {text: 'the shortage of African-American mental health professionals. Only 2% of mental health professionals are African-American, it’s a major problem, it’s embarrassing in my organization, and '}},
{ timecode: 2762, handler: 'blob', id: 210, data: {text: 'it’s embarrassing throughout the country. So one thing we can do about that is somehow we have to have at least the African-American mental health professionals that we do have, lead in this '}},
{ timecode: 2774, handler: 'blob', id: 211, data: {text: 'area. We have to make it cool, we have to make it interesting, we have to make it compelling for young African-American students and scholars to pursue careers in our field. And while I can help that, '}},
{ timecode: 2785, handler: 'blob', id: 212, data: {text: 'help with that to some degree, African-American mental health professionals have to get out in front on that to some degree. We have to make it cool, we have to make it interesting again, and we can. '}},
{ timecode: 2794, handler: 'blob', id: 213, data: {text: 'And then as leaders, you know, people who lead behavioral health organizations, we have to make sure that our staff are trained, not that we have to have a mix, we have to have minority mental health '}},
{ timecode: 2808, handler: 'blob', id: 214, data: {text: 'professionals to give people an opening and get people in the front door, but we have to train all our mental health professionals, especially white mental health professionals relative to cultural '}},
{ timecode: 2819, handler: 'blob', id: 215, data: {text: 'competency, and make sure they understand some of the key issues. Stigma is an issue for everybody who walks into a mental health center. Everybody, regardless of ethnicity, tends to be embarrassed, '}},
{ timecode: 2830, handler: 'blob', id: 216, data: {text: 'and they don’t think that they’re worthy of getting treatment because they feel like mental health or mental health diagnosis is a weakness. With great humility, I would say there’s '}},
{ timecode: 2840, handler: 'blob', id: 217, data: {text: 'a special issue and a complication with African-American folks coming for help. Number 1, we don’t have the right amount of people, we said, of color to help them, and number 2, we have to tune '}},
{ timecode: 2851, handler: 'blob', id: 218, data: {text: 'in to a dynamic that a lot of African-Americans, and Dr. Poussaint spoke about this earlier today, don’t feel entitled or worthy in general. If you were listening carefully to Dr. Poussaint, he '}},
{ timecode: 2862, handler: 'blob', id: 219, data: {text: 'referenced Kenneth Clark, and if you’re old school, you read Dark Ghetto, like I did 30 years ago in 1978, which talked about the issues around slavery, and we can’t diminish or forget '}},
{ timecode: 2873, handler: 'blob', id: 220, data: {text: 'that slavery still has an impact today in the African-American community, especially around worthiness. So the way to deal with that is we have to make sure that non-minority professionals understand '}},
{ timecode: 2885, handler: 'blob', id: 221, data: {text: 'that, so that we over-communicate how people are entitled to treatment, and good treatment, that it’s nothing to feel ashamed about. So look, you know, we’re all in this together, and it '}},
{ timecode: 2897, handler: 'blob', id: 222, data: {text: 'was a very good day, so I appreciate Representative Gibbons giving me the opportunity to be here, so thank you. DR. PERCY RICKETTS: My name is Percy Ricketts. I’m a psychotherapist in private '}},
{ timecode: 2913, handler: 'blob', id: 223, data: {text: 'practice here in South Florida. Today’s day well spent. The conference was very enlightening, very informative, and I’m glad that I was a part of it. I’ve been practicing for almost '}},
{ timecode: 2931, handler: 'blob', id: 224, data: {text: '12 years, and I am a father myself, I work with fathers, and I’m a little concerned that we didn’t mention a major issue today, that of father absence. The number 1 social problem in '}},
{ timecode: 2946, handler: 'blob', id: 225, data: {text: 'America today is that of absent fathers. The number 1 social problem. America leads the world, we’re number 1 when it comes to the number of families that are without fathers. In some '}},
{ timecode: 2960, handler: 'blob', id: 226, data: {text: 'communities, up to 70% of families are run by a single mother, and we also know that children who are raised without fathers, they’re more likely to end up in jail. Over 80% of incarcerated '}},
{ timecode: 2977, handler: 'blob', id: 227, data: {text: 'African-American youths are from homes without fathers. They’re more likely to commit suicide. They start having sex much earlier. Single mothers – not single mothers. Pregnant teenagers, '}},
{ timecode: 2996, handler: 'blob', id: 228, data: {text: 'for example, over 60% of them are from father-absent homes. They’re more likely to commit suicide. So the father absence issue affects, impacts the mental health system, and I’m just '}},
{ timecode: 3012, handler: 'blob', id: 229, data: {text: 'hopeful that we will pay more attention to this very significant issue in our community as we address mental health concerns. Thank you. REPRESENTATIVE GIBBONS: We also have a couple of questions that '}},
{ timecode: 3026, handler: 'blob', id: 230, data: {text: 'I’ve been given. One of the them that says mentally ill clients complain that once they go to the doctor’s office and the doctor sees their chart, they automatically, the medical '}},
{ timecode: 3036, handler: 'blob', id: 231, data: {text: 'professional will attribute all of their legitimate medical conditions as in his or her mind. Could – would one of the panelists please address that area. DR. BAILEY: Yes. In my career as a '}},
{ timecode: 3047, handler: 'blob', id: 232, data: {text: 'psychiatrist, it really has been a common theme that persons will argue that the others think that these issues are not real. We try to, as best we can, find some theory or organic background to '}},
{ timecode: 3059, handler: 'blob', id: 233, data: {text: 'clinical depression or sadness of the realities are often as a part of it that has a genetic link, and maybe if their relative had clinical depression and it bothered them and the like, then they may '}},
{ timecode: 3070, handler: 'blob', id: 234, data: {text: 'have it as well. That’s just to help make sense to some persons. We also address the fact that there’s data arguing that environmental stressors certainly can alter or change brain '}},
{ timecode: 3079, handler: 'blob', id: 235, data: {text: 'function. We see it on PET scan. That also I think can be useful and can help many as well. The big issue I think most commonly is that when persons think that these issues are on their mind, they '}},
{ timecode: 3089, handler: 'blob', id: 236, data: {text: 'really are referencing what others think about them, and if they’re going to be embarrassed or humiliated when others recognize that they have a brain-related illness. Until we can get to the '}},
{ timecode: 3097, handler: 'blob', id: 237, data: {text: 'point where persons think that these are brain illnesses, that they are organic and you, tangible, you can see them touch in the field, as compared to something that is hocus-pocus or spiritually '}},
{ timecode: 3106, handler: 'blob', id: 238, data: {text: 'based or things of that nature, of the mind and of the brain if you will, it really is an argument that is hard for us to make. Psychiatrists should be doctors of the physical dimension of problems of '}},
{ timecode: 3116, handler: 'blob', id: 239, data: {text: 'the brain. RICHARDS: Could you hold one second and provide opportunity for Dr. Blackman, and then we’re going to take one more question out of Miami before we go to Detroit. DR. BLACKMAN: '}},
{ timecode: 3131, handler: 'blob', id: 240, data: {text: 'It’s real important for the health care providers to understand that among African-Americans, and other populations too, but especially among African-Americans, we don’t care how much you '}},
{ timecode: 3142, handler: 'blob', id: 241, data: {text: 'know unless we know how much you care. And yet, our health care system is so time driven. Doctors don’t have time to talk to us. And we are not accustomed to walking in, rattling out relevant '}},
{ timecode: 3157, handler: 'blob', id: 242, data: {text: 'symptoms that doctors are listening for, and so there’s a communication disconnection because of our cultural styles, if you will, and I don’t know how we can deal with the billable hours '}},
{ timecode: 3170, handler: 'blob', id: 243, data: {text: 'issues for doctors so that they have time to listen to patients who need to tell the story. We are oral people and we need to tell you our story. With black men it is harder to get the answers. '}},
{ timecode: 3186, handler: 'blob', id: 244, data: {text: 'It’s like I dare you to find out what’s wrong with me, and so you have to be more concrete in getting information from men. But women need to tell their stories in a more securative way '}},
{ timecode: 3197, handler: 'blob', id: 245, data: {text: 'than doctors have time to listen to, and so we’ve got to fix that disconnection so that doctors have more time to talk with us. RICHARDS: Thank you Dr. Blackman. Representative Gibbons, you have '}},
{ timecode: 3211, handler: 'blob', id: 246, data: {text: 'time for one more question. REPRESENTATIVE GIBBONS: The last question is, what are strategies that can take place to address the silent epidemic in the churches, and do we know of any successful '}},
{ timecode: 3222, handler: 'blob', id: 247, data: {text: 'solutions to addressing that epidemic, because silence is an epidemic? DR. BLACKMAN: The National Council on Churches hosted a conference, I believe 2 years ago, with a progressive Baptist Church, and '}},
{ timecode: 3236, handler: 'blob', id: 248, data: {text: 'it was entitled Breaking the Silence, and we talked about many of these issues; father absence, and mental health, and marriage, and teen pregnancy, lots of touchy things that we don’t like to '}},
{ timecode: 3248, handler: 'blob', id: 249, data: {text: 'talk about. And it was interesting that in that setting, the leadership of the church came and greeted us, a whole male entourage of them, and then left, saying, this is a women’s issue. So it '}},
{ timecode: 3263, handler: 'blob', id: 250, data: {text: 'turned out to be a women’s conference on breaking the silence. But again, I think that, and our sister who’s at CTS, the theological seminary, is, is positioned in a wonderful place, to '}},
{ timecode: 3275, handler: 'blob', id: 251, data: {text: 'help educate clergy around these various sensitive issues. Again, culturally, we think that somehow these are moral issues or maybe demonic forces and we don’t have a place to talk about them. '}},
{ timecode: 3289, handler: 'blob', id: 252, data: {text: 'So thank you again, NBCSL, for opening this conversation nationally. We have much, much work to do. RICHARDS: We are going to move on, and thank you very much in Miami, Representative Gibbons. We are '}},
{ timecode: 3304, handler: 'blob', id: 253, data: {text: 'going to go to Detroit to Senator Hansen Clarke, provide him opportunity. If you notice today, we are in fact taking open mike from the 2 satellite sites so that they could have an opportunity to '}},
{ timecode: 3315, handler: 'blob', id: 254, data: {text: 'speak. Senator Clarke. SENATOR HANSEN CLARKE: Thank you very much. We have 1 question, and this is for any of our panelists, is that do you believe that mental health parity will help get rid of some '}},
{ timecode: 3332, handler: 'blob', id: 255, data: {text: 'of the stigma surrounding mental illness? SENATOR WILKERSON: I’m not sure that mental health parity will get rid of the stigma of mental illness, I think mental health parity will help treat '}},
{ timecode: 3346, handler: 'blob', id: 256, data: {text: 'mental illness for people who have, who are suffering from it and have not been able to access adequate health care or mental health care for the length of time that they needed to do that, and I '}},
{ timecode: 3357, handler: 'blob', id: 257, data: {text: 'think it’s probably the most significant benefit of a mental health parity bill, that - and it’s, and it’s basis says that you get to get the service for as long as you need it, '}},
{ timecode: 3367, handler: 'blob', id: 258, data: {text: 'instead of what historically has been, you get 10 visits, or you get 14 visits, and then you’re done. So I think it’s much more a service, service benefit than a societal benefit. Anyone '}},
{ timecode: 3383, handler: 'blob', id: 259, data: {text: 'else? RICHARDS: Dr. Bailey? DR. BAILEY: I also think, I definitely think it’ll help. I mean, the reality is I think people are smart, and they pick up on subtle messages. Throughout the entirety '}},
{ timecode: 3395, handler: 'blob', id: 260, data: {text: 'of my career has been surprising how often patients have commented that it really doesn’t make much sense that if you had health insurance because you had a good job, your health insurance paid '}},
{ timecode: 3404, handler: 'blob', id: 261, data: {text: '80% and you pay 20% for a medical problem, like arthritis or diabetes, but it was a 50/50 split if it was a psychiatric problem. That sends a message to people that somehow, even at the highest '}},
{ timecode: 3413, handler: 'blob', id: 262, data: {text: 'levels, our legislators and our leaders somehow devalue psychiatry at some level. We also had higher – or excuse me, lower lifetime caps. It was very easy for somebody to be 40 years old and '}},
{ timecode: 3422, handler: 'blob', id: 263, data: {text: 'have used all of their mental health benefits to use the entirety of your life. Even if you had less overall hospital days, that if you had some kind of a major long-term chronic medical illness, like '}},
{ timecode: 3431, handler: 'blob', id: 264, data: {text: 'liver cancer and a transplant, or some chronic illness for a long period of time, so I want to believe that there may be some subtle messages that are important for people to realize that our '}},
{ timecode: 3440, handler: 'blob', id: 265, data: {text: 'legislators believe that psychiatric problems can be as impairing and can lead to early death, as medical problems. RICHARDS: Thank you Dr. Bailey. Senator Clarke. SENATOR CLARKE: That’s it for '}},
{ timecode: 3457, handler: 'blob', id: 266, data: {text: 'right now. RICHARDS: Good. Anyone with questions here in Indianapolis? AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes. I have 1 question for the senator. I know that you have a different health care system now in the State of '}},
{ timecode: 3470, handler: 'blob', id: 267, data: {text: 'Massachusetts. I’m concerned mental health parity looks different in different states. I’m interested in how the new system of financing your health care there has translated into the '}},
{ timecode: 3481, handler: 'blob', id: 268, data: {text: 'mental health parity situation in Massachusetts? SENATOR WILKERSON: Oh, thank you. You know, I think that one of the things that is most different about Massachusetts health re – health care '}},
{ timecode: 3494, handler: 'blob', id: 269, data: {text: 'reform bill is that we tied the provider’s compensation to, among other things, the degree to which they are able to demonstrate a reduction in health care disparities, which includes mental '}},
{ timecode: 3509, handler: 'blob', id: 270, data: {text: 'health. Now, I said this in March, that they are not happy, we took a lot of flack for it, but we simply couldn’t come up with a better way to be able to measure what we are doing with the '}},
{ timecode: 3521, handler: 'blob', id: 271, data: {text: 'money, than to actually tie that to compensation. So I think it’s early now, but we certainly have included the mental health service delivery process in our health reform, and I think '}},
{ timecode: 3534, handler: 'blob', id: 272, data: {text: 'it’ll probably be a few years before we can actually see how much of a difference this makes, but they are paying attention to it, and there’s a lot of discussion about this whole notion '}},
{ timecode: 3544, handler: 'blob', id: 273, data: {text: 'that we actually are looking for tangibles before we pay providers, and that because we were paying across the board for every illness, more money for people of color, either black or Latino, who are '}},
{ timecode: 3559, handler: 'blob', id: 274, data: {text: 'at the top of the, of the worse health indicators in every one of the 22 health indicator measures that we had, that now they are focusing on this in a way that they had not. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Great '}},
{ timecode: 3572, handler: 'blob', id: 275, data: {text: 'panel. My question actually is about the pipeline issues along graduate medical education, you don’t see a lot of us going through selecting psychiatry as a piece, and also on the social work '}},
{ timecode: 3586, handler: 'blob', id: 276, data: {text: 'side, in hospitals, they’re being replaced by nurse case managers, and they’re less concerned about the social concerns, but more about how we get these patients out of the hospital '}},
{ timecode: 3597, handler: 'blob', id: 277, data: {text: 'quicker. So what is some of the things that we can do as legislators to actually address that, to kind of slow some of that down and pick up on some of the pipeline issues along graduate medical '}},
{ timecode: 3607, handler: 'blob', id: 278, data: {text: 'education? DR. BAILEY: I think the first thing we have to do, is we have to get African-American boys and girls to do math and science, and that’s in high school, junior high school, if you '}},
{ timecode: 3619, handler: 'blob', id: 279, data: {text: 'will. I mean, it just must do the math and science. I you don’t do math and science, you don’t major in a science major when you go to college, so that’s the first problem, '}},
{ timecode: 3627, handler: 'blob', id: 280, data: {text: 'that’s the first place where we are just, you know, we knock out 80% of our people right there. Clearly, once you go to college, that’s when really all of the strategies we have kind of '}},
{ timecode: 3635, handler: 'blob', id: 281, data: {text: 'come into place, all of the college organizations, and, whether they are black colleges or not, and the medical organizations, and any ______ groups, all the things that we do generally tend to target '}},
{ timecode: 3644, handler: 'blob', id: 282, data: {text: 'graduate level and college level people, but we really have a small pie to choose from, if you will, because we just don’t know if people, how interested in science they are by that point. And '}},
{ timecode: 3653, handler: 'blob', id: 283, data: {text: 'when you’re 18 you don’t like science, if you haven’t made A’s in science all that time, and you haven’t if you didn’t start in sixth, seventh grade, learning to do '}},
{ timecode: 3660, handler: 'blob', id: 284, data: {text: 'well there. So we really need, I think, to put our focus very early on math and science. Second, secondly though I think that the other issue is, we have to make sure people realize that, you know, '}},
{ timecode: 3669, handler: 'blob', id: 285, data: {text: 'these are problems, these are issues that I think adversely affect our community. When I go to meetings of black psychiatrists and psychologists, you know, everybody has a story to tell, and very '}},
{ timecode: 3678, handler: 'blob', id: 286, data: {text: 'often it’s an impassioned one, and a compassionate one if you will, and I think that you get a lot of self reward in a career because you’re actually helping persons at a very direct '}},
{ timecode: 3688, handler: 'blob', id: 287, data: {text: 'level. And we’d like to share that with more if they would actually get to the level where they actually could choose a psychiatric type area or psychological type field. So those will have to '}},
{ timecode: 3696, handler: 'blob', id: 288, data: {text: 'be 2 key tools we could use to maybe increase the number of blacks in these areas. And I think, as I mentioned earlier, probably less than 2% of all psychiatrists and psychologists and mental health '}},
{ timecode: 3705, handler: 'blob', id: 289, data: {text: 'professionals are African-American. The numbers are about, substantially low compared to our numbers in the medical population. SENATOR WILKERSON: Can I just, would add too, some of you may know the'}},
{ timecode: 3716, handler: 'blob', id: 290, data: {text: 'name Dr. Ken England, Dr. Joan Reid from Boston University and Harvard Medical School respectively, but they did a presentation for us in our, before the Commission to Eliminate Health Disparities, '}},
{ timecode: 3728, handler: 'blob', id: 291, data: {text: 'and shared with us that in 2002, no African-American chose psychiatry as a specialty in any major medical institution in the United States of America. So you think about while the incidence and the '}},
{ timecode: 3742, handler: 'blob', id: 292, data: {text: 'need is increasing, the cultural competency and our ability to respond to it is going to be decreasing drastically unless we do something about it, and the something about it, and I appreciate you '}},
{ timecode: 3753, handler: 'blob', id: 293, data: {text: 'talked about math and science, because we always tend to go directly to the medical school. It is, it’s a middle school issue. And I think as elected officials, the one thing that we can do is '}},
{ timecode: 3762, handler: 'blob', id: 294, data: {text: 'to be more attentive to funding some model programs that allow young people. We have one of the best pre-science and math high school programs, summer programs for students of color at MIT in the '}},
{ timecode: 3780, handler: 'blob', id: 295, data: {text: 'country. We didn’t figure it out until 6 years ago that no students in Massachusetts were making the cut for the summer program. It was Illinois, it was Texas, it was Pennsylvania and New York. '}},
{ timecode: 3795, handler: 'blob', id: 296, data: {text: 'And so what we did is fund a middle school program, a Saturday program, so they go all year-round now, and so that then we have begun to see our students in Massachusetts, students of color, be able '}},
{ timecode: 3807, handler: 'blob', id: 297, data: {text: 'to get into the summer program that they couldn’t get into before, because we weren’t paying attention to that. So by high school and college, it’s too late. If you haven’t '}},
{ timecode: 3816, handler: 'blob', id: 298, data: {text: 'taken those programs, and it really is for those of us who are in, state legislators, we have a lot to say about curriculum in public school, K through 12, and we should use our, our office and our '}},
{ timecode: 3831, handler: 'blob', id: 299, data: {text: 'clout in the way we can affect it. DR. BLACKMAN: I’d like to back the train up and ask that we pay attention to K-12 and even pre-K education. Just recently I heard that about half of '}},
{ timecode: 3844, handler: 'blob', id: 300, data: {text: 'African-American children who show up in first grade are already 4 years behind academically. You’re 6 years old, you’re 4 years behind academically. So for black first graders, half of '}},
{ timecode: 3857, handler: 'blob', id: 301, data: {text: 'them are showing up with second grade academic competencies – I’m sorry, age 2 competencies. That’s a parenting issue. And yet we, if you look around in most cities, unless '}},
{ timecode: 3868, handler: 'blob', id: 302, data: {text: 'you’ve abused or neglected your children, you can’t get parenting education. That’s another conversation. Boys who don’t read on grade level by age 3 – I’m sorry, '}},
{ timecode: 3878, handler: 'blob', id: 303, data: {text: 'by third grade, are already being targeted for special ed or for corrections, so again, anybody who has an opportunity to provide tutoring, particularly for black boys, in math, science, and reading, '}},
{ timecode: 3891, handler: 'blob', id: 304, data: {text: 'can certainly help with the pipeline issue. When you asked about the availability of social workers in hospitals, again, legislators, please, it’s time for us to look again at managed care. '}},
{ timecode: 3905, handler: 'blob', id: 305, data: {text: 'Managed care was supposed to provide higher quality care at less cost. We’ve continued to see health care costs balloon, time for care reduced, so hospitals are not concerned about having social '}},
{ timecode: 3921, handler: 'blob', id: 306, data: {text: 'workers there. JCAHO requires that you have at least 1, so they do have at least 1 usually. But the focus is on get them in, diagnose, treat, get them out. Deal with the ongoing health care issues on '}},
{ timecode: 3934, handler: 'blob', id: 307, data: {text: 'an outpatient basis, and certainly deal with psychosocial issues in the community. So there’s not really a need for emphasis on your total life in the hospital. We’re concerned in the '}},
{ timecode: 3948, handler: 'blob', id: 308, data: {text: 'hospital with do you need a bed pan, hospital bed, somebody to take care of you when you get home. I don’t know now what the average length of stay is for most general medical, surgical '}},
{ timecode: 3960, handler: 'blob', id: 309, data: {text: 'hospitals, but when I left it was 3 to 10 days, get in, get out, so there’s not time to deal with your total life. And nurses felt they could get the bed pans just as easily as social workers, '}},
{ timecode: 3972, handler: 'blob', id: 310, data: {text: 'and a master’s in social work is, you know, a bit more competence than you need to get a bed pan anyway. So we need to look again at managed care and what that is doing to the quality of patient '}},
{ timecode: 3984, handler: 'blob', id: 311, data: {text: 'care, biologically, psychologically, and socially. RICHARDS: We’re going to take on 2 more questions here, and I believe we have 1 more question from one of the satellite centers _______, '}},
{ timecode: 3993, handler: 'blob', id: 312, data: {text: 'AUDIENCE MEMBER: Because teenage male suicide is something that has happened in my extended family, I’m wondering, Dr. Bailey, as you look back on the young man you worked with, what might have '}},
{ timecode: 4016, handler: 'blob', id: 313, data: {text: 'been some cues, or what might have been some clues that suicide was down the road? DR. BAILEY: Well again, I’d say that we have really, I’ll only say, when I say we, I mean my entire '}},
{ timecode: 4032, handler: 'blob', id: 314, data: {text: 'school, my dean, who’s an OB/GYN, has really led the issue on this, really trying to get to the bottom of it, and we’ve had groups, and we’ve tried to talk to the other students of '}},
{ timecode: 4040, handler: 'blob', id: 315, data: {text: 'other likes, so there’s been a huge emphasis at Meharry Medical School on trying to figure out what the problem was so we can maybe fix it. We have just, you know, not been able to get our hands '}},
{ timecode: 4049, handler: 'blob', id: 316, data: {text: 'around any particular issue. I tend to think that this was one that you can really attribute to stigma against mental illness. This is probably someone who had some problems and did a very good job of '}},
{ timecode: 4058, handler: 'blob', id: 317, data: {text: 'masking them, because they never felt comfortable sharing with anybody, their mother, their brother, their classmates, let alone going into a mental health center, where I work, and saying, I have a '}},
{ timecode: 4067, handler: 'blob', id: 318, data: {text: 'problem and I need some help. So I think that, you know, again, let us talk to this group, because you guys really have that bully pulpit. When you say things, I assure you, people listen. And you can '}},
{ timecode: 4076, handler: 'blob', id: 319, data: {text: 'say in settings in your jurisdictions, people should not be afraid of these concerns, it can adversely affect their lives. If you have a problem, tell somebody about it. I’m a strong believer in '}},
{ timecode: 4087, handler: 'blob', id: 320, data: {text: 'my community, telling somebody is maybe as good as telling me. Because at least if you tell your mother or your cousin or your next door neighbor, they might tell me, and we might be able to create '}},
{ timecode: 4096, handler: 'blob', id: 321, data: {text: 'some intervention that can actually help. Nobody wants to see this young man or any other young man or young woman, lose their life needlessly. RICHARDS: Thank you. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you. '}},
{ timecode: 4106, handler: 'blob', id: 322, data: {text: 'RICHARDS: Senator? AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you. I wanted to go back for, for one second to the domestic violence team to ask this question. I’ve been very proud of what’s happening in the '}},
{ timecode: 4117, handler: 'blob', id: 323, data: {text: 'State of New York, in the direction that we’re going. A lot of my colleagues have put forth legislative initiatives that are excellent. But there is too much of an emphasis, I believe, on the '}},
{ timecode: 4131, handler: 'blob', id: 324, data: {text: 'penal side, and nobody’s looking at the pathology. And I want to know at what point are we going to begin to discuss the fact that we can put them away, but is that forever, you know, and, '}},
{ timecode: 4143, handler: 'blob', id: 325, data: {text: 'because where do we go once we realize that this is a problem that’s escalating in our communities, and we’re going to be substituting this for other criminal activities in, as ways of '}},
{ timecode: 4156, handler: 'blob', id: 326, data: {text: 'which of getting rid of males in, for the most part, in our communities. RICHARDS: Thank you. You did say go back. I don’t know – AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well, I’m saying go back in terms '}},
{ timecode: 4167, handler: 'blob', id: 327, data: {text: 'of – RICHARDS: I understand – AUDIENCE MEMBER: -- of -- RICHARDS: -- go back to the previous panel. AUDIENCE MEMBER: But anybody can answer, I mean, because I’m not clear, I’m '}},
{ timecode: 4176, handler: 'blob', id: 328, data: {text: 'not clear exactly what our thinking is. I serve in 2 capacities. One in the state senate, I’m the chair of Domestic Violence Task Force for the State of New York, in the Bronx, which is a part '}},
{ timecode: 4191, handler: 'blob', id: 329, data: {text: 'of my district, I co-chair that with, with a member of the, of our representative from the Bronx area. She is one who wants to put them in jail and that’s all there is to it, and I believe that '}},
{ timecode: 4205, handler: 'blob', id: 330, data: {text: 'while in the stages of anger and hurt, that’s a response, but I just don’t believe that that’s the response and, but I don’t, I don’t know that I have supporters, and so '}},
{ timecode: 4219, handler: 'blob', id: 331, data: {text: 'today I felt the most hopeful, I think, in terms of having a discussion about where the pathology of this issue is, and what is it that we ought to be doing while we’re quickly legislating this '}},
{ timecode: 4232, handler: 'blob', id: 332, data: {text: 'part, what do we do about support services. We’re supporting the women, because in the State of New York, at least our significant population that is reporting are females, so I’m speaking '}},
{ timecode: 4244, handler: 'blob', id: 333, data: {text: 'about, about not in isolation of the concerns of men, but in what our reality is. So our reality says we’ve got shelters for women, we’re providing services, even in the middle of this '}},
{ timecode: 4255, handler: 'blob', id: 334, data: {text: 'horrendous crisis, my governor just passed 2 bills where he was vetoing everything that had a price tag, he was strong enough and supportive enough of us to understand the work that we’ve put '}},
{ timecode: 4268, handler: 'blob', id: 335, data: {text: 'into coming this far, and he passed 2 domestic violence service bills that were significant to us, and that speaks well, but where’d we go? RICHARDS: Senator, I beg your indulgence, but we are '}},
{ timecode: 4279, handler: 'blob', id: 336, data: {text: 'getting to the point of wrap up. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Is anybody answering? DR. BLACKMAN: Yes. May I -- RICHARDS: Hold on. DR. BLACKMAN: May I just -- RICHARDS: Excuse me. DR. BLACKMAN: Excuse me. '}},
{ timecode: 4288, handler: 'blob', id: 337, data: {text: 'RICHARDS: Yes, please do. We do have to wrap up because we are hooked up on link with others. We are going to provide you with just 2 minutes to give a response, and then we’re going to call in '}},
{ timecode: 4299, handler: 'blob', id: 338, data: {text: 'the chair of the Health Policy Committee on backup here, Representative Joe Armstrong, to get us to the wrap up portions with the 2 other groups that are in Detroit and Miami. Dr. Blackman. DR. '}},
{ timecode: 4311, handler: 'blob', id: 339, data: {text: 'BLACKMAN: I’d like to refer you to Dr. Oliver Williams at University of Minnesota. He has an Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community. There’s tons of research that '}},
{ timecode: 4324, handler: 'blob', id: 340, data: {text: 'would be of great guidance to you. There are also, there’s lots of information now on model batterers programs that certainly work with the criminal justice system, because the men who do these '}},
{ timecode: 4337, handler: 'blob', id: 341, data: {text: 'sorts of things are in, in pain themselves, and, and, and Oliver could be of great benefit to you. Dr. Oliver Williams, University of Minnesota. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you doctor. RICHARDS: Doc. '}},
{ timecode: 4349, handler: 'blob', id: 342, data: {text: 'You’re fine. We’re going to have someone from the previous panel come up and respond to that question. PANELIST: In response to her question, we had a conversation in the hallway about the '}},
{ timecode: 4362, handler: 'blob', id: 343, data: {text: 'domestic violence piece, and she was saying that she wanted to put them in jail. Well, that is not the response, because usually they are the bread winner, and they take care of the family, so if you '}},
{ timecode: 4372, handler: 'blob', id: 344, data: {text: 'just lock them up, then that wife or that, that significant other, has no way of taking care of that family. And I think in, in the process of trying to figure out how to help them, I think the '}},
{ timecode: 4388, handler: 'blob', id: 345, data: {text: 'legislators and, and people with domestic violence, speaking from experience, I think that we need to form some kind of, I should say groups for men, to get them some help, because it really is a '}},
{ timecode: 4399, handler: 'blob', id: 346, data: {text: 'sickness that we’re dealing with. It’s a control issue, and there’s something in the mind that they feel that have to belittle somebody to make them feel good. And I think that we '}},
{ timecode: 4408, handler: 'blob', id: 347, data: {text: 'have to somehow get a program to help the men with those problems, instead of putting them in jail, maybe put them in an institution or a place where they can go and get the help that they need to try '}},
{ timecode: 4419, handler: 'blob', id: 348, data: {text: 'to make them productive citizens and a provider for their family, because locking them up is not the issue. Because if they were to lock my ex-husband up, yes, I was working, but I would have '}},
{ timecode: 4430, handler: 'blob', id: 349, data: {text: 'struggled a lot more than what, you know what I mean, then if they had locked them up. So I think in the process, we need to come together with people that have lived through it, and also our senators '}},
{ timecode: 4441, handler: 'blob', id: 350, data: {text: 'and our lawmakers, and come up with some programs that will help these men. Yes, they, they, it’s like a drug addiction, it is an addiction, and they just need to get help, and jail is not the '}},
{ timecode: 4452, handler: 'blob', id: 351, data: {text: 'key. So I really believe if we can come up with some programs, and I’m speaking from experience, you know, I don’t, I think that what they’re doing is wrong, I’m not condoning '}},
{ timecode: 4462, handler: 'blob', id: 352, data: {text: 'it, but I think that if they put, if we help them, it will help the family be stronger in that they won’t, the families won’t struggle as much. RICHARDS: Thank you very much for your '}},
{ timecode: 4470, handler: 'blob', id: 353, data: {text: 'contribution. Let’s get a round of applause for Dr. Blackman, Senator Wilkerson, and Dr. Bailey. Welcome back to the microphone, chair of Health Policy Committee. REPRESENTATIVE GIBBONS: Thank '}},
{ timecode: 4482, handler: 'blob', id: 354, data: {text: 'you Senator Richards. We’re going to head into the wrap up portion of our program, and we’re first going to go back to Detroit to give them an opportunity for any last questions and wrap '}},
{ timecode: 4496, handler: 'blob', id: 355, data: {text: 'up at this time. So we’re going to go back to Senator Clarke in Detroit. SENATOR CLARKE: Thank you Mr. Chair. One question we have is, what kind of policies can we enact to better prevent mental '}},
{ timecode: 4510, handler: 'blob', id: 356, data: {text: 'illness from developing, and also policies that we can enact to intervene earlier before the mental illness progresses to a point that it may not be treatable. My question deals with prevention and '}},
{ timecode: 4527, handler: 'blob', id: 357, data: {text: 'intervention techniques and policies. DR. BAILEY: Very briefly, I’ve always been a strong believer that we should teach psychology like we teach other basic disciplines in junior high school. '}},
{ timecode: 4537, handler: 'blob', id: 358, data: {text: 'There should be an 11th grade class that addresses domestic violence and addresses, you know, not just necessarily schizophrenia, but clinical depression and when people begin to behave and act there '}},
{ timecode: 4548, handler: 'blob', id: 359, data: {text: 'differently. These are issues that I think tend to affect large numbers of Americans in our lives, and I think that because they’re not addressed, very often we have people trying to handle them '}},
{ timecode: 4557, handler: 'blob', id: 360, data: {text: 'from a non-evidenced-based medicine type prospective or non-medical prospective. I’ve also, that would actually be very useful from an educational standpoint. The prevention issue I think is '}},
{ timecode: 4566, handler: 'blob', id: 361, data: {text: 'very clear. We need to treat medical problems with medical solutions. Going back to what was said earlier. But for an earlier intervention that’s a clinical one, we very often will try to '}},
{ timecode: 4577, handler: 'blob', id: 362, data: {text: 'respond legally or put people in jail or prison or educationally, put people in special education, and those generally are not solutions that tend to end with any positive overall outcome. I’m a '}},
{ timecode: 4589, handler: 'blob', id: 363, data: {text: 'strong believer that, I love the lady’s point a minute ago by group. For all my career there have been discussions that, you know, men don’t go to group, and the issue that only women will '}},
{ timecode: 4596, handler: 'blob', id: 364, data: {text: 'go to group. Well I’m a guy, played sports all my life, you put a bunch of guys in a room, nobody shuts up. I mean guys will talk if you give them the right conditions to talk. I think '}},
{ timecode: 4606, handler: 'blob', id: 365, data: {text: 'you’re right, when you give them the conditions to talk, then they’re less likely to be angry and have hostility then they go home and take it out on somebody who may be physically smaller '}},
{ timecode: 4612, handler: 'blob', id: 366, data: {text: 'and easier to physically assault than others. So we really need to address given persons where these difficulties immediately can be prevented in a clinical form.'}}
);