Meet Greta Glenn, our latest Never Quit Service Award winner. Glenn, a member of CSEA Local 1000 (Subunit 418) has been a longtime housekeeper at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, New York. On the job, she practices the Golden Rule: treat others the way you would want to be treated. That includes both her co-workers and the patients who live in the hospital.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month this May, Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride moderated a round table discussion with four AFSCME mental health professionals from across the country. They represent a cross section of the more than 64,000 AFSCME mental and behavioral health care workers who provide essential services to our families and neighbors.

A flurry of advocacy by Chicago union members provided a final push for enactment of a “labor peace agreement” to protect human service workers from management retaliation.  

 Last month, the Chicago City Council passed the AFSCME-sponsored Human Service Workforce Advancement (HSWA) ordinance by a veto-proof majority of 42-2.  

AFSCME’s United We Heal campaign has long been securing a voice on the job for behavioral health workers and helping them improve at their jobs. Now, the campaign is receiving federal support to the tune of nearly $900,000 to better prepare and train behavioral health workers in Oregon.

After a nearly three-year battle to secure their voice on the job, the residential counselors and maintenance workers at SERV Centers of New Jersey in Mercer County voted unanimously to ratify their first contract.

These front-line workers, who provide the critical mental, addiction and behavioral services their communities desperately need, stood strong against years of SERV’s efforts to deny them their union rights and won a contract that will improve working conditions, staffing and consumer care.

The hardworking behavioral health employees of SERV Centers of New Jersey in Mercer and Middlesex Counties won critical victories in their multi-year fight for a first contract when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finalized an agreement detailing their employer’s violations of various labor laws. The workers and their union, AFSCME New Jersey Council 63, filed the Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) due to SERV’s continued refusal to bargain in good faith with the residential counselors and maintenance workers who voted overwhelmingly for their union in November 2019.

Residential counselors and maintenance employees for SERV Centers of New Jersey in Mercer County may soon be going back on strike after spending Thursday rallying outside a country club that hosted the 30th Annual Volley for SERV Tennis Tournament and Awards Reception.

Deshonda Copeland, a senior residential unit specialist at Florida State Hospital, is a behavioral health worker and a member of AFSCME Florida. She says she strives to create a safe, clean and comfortable environment for all patients seeking services at the state-run mental health treatment facility. Copeland says it’s rewarding to witness the growth of her clients, adding she’s honored be a part of their journey toward improved mental health.

In his State of the Union address, President Biden called on Congress to help address America’s ongoing mental health crisis.

AFSCME members mourn the death of Sister Deidre Silas, a front-line worker and investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, who was killed on the job while investigating a report of children in danger.

On Jan. 11, Silas was assigned to visit a home in Thayer, a small town in central Illinois. Hours later, responding to a 911 call, local police arrived at the home to find that she had been stabbed to death. Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said six children were present in the home at the time of the death.

More than 250 social and health service workers in New York City officially joined AFSCME District Council 37 this week, following a strong organizing push and voluntary recognition from management.

“I’m here because I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,” said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who voiced solidarity with behavioral health workers holding a 24-hour unfair labor practice strike on Labor Day.

Gov. Murphy made clear to the residential counselors and maintenance employees of SERV Centers of New Jersey in Mercer County that management’s bad faith contract negotiations, lies, misuse of their budgets, failure to maintain safe working conditions and intimidation were a clear issue of right versus wrong that he would help end.

Last week, residential counselors and maintenance employees for SERV Centers of New Jersey in Mercer County held a rally for a fair contract. They are still without a contract as management continues to do everything possible to silence the voice of front-line behavioral health workers – even while they are central to helping our communities rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic.

And, after another session of SERV negotiating in bad faith, the workers gave notice that they will hold a 24-hour strike on Labor Day after 97% voted in favor. 

A new study in Nature Portfolio looks at the mental health impact that COVID-19 restrictions have had on different age groups.

This week the National Council for Mental Wellbing released their Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Poll Results in partnership with Morning Consult. For minorities seeking treatment for mental health challenges, "cost is not the only barrier; access to care also represents a significant hurdle."

With respect to mental health and treatment for mental health challenges, the survey found that over the past 12 months, many people have neglected seeking treatment. According to the findings:

When workers at Central City Concern-Blackburn (CCC-Blackburn), a facility just barely a year old with a turnover rate of over 20%, felt their voices were not being heard around safety issues, they took matters into their own hands and decided to form a union with Oregon AFSCME Council 75.

During May – Mental Health Awareness Month – AFSCME members are joining the national movement to raise awareness about mental illnesses and the behavioral health industry.

Representing more than 50,000 professionals in the nation’s behavioral health industry, AFSCME members are at the forefront of helping to fight stigma, provide support, educate the public and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.

New Report Details Broken Promises of New Jersey Behavioral Health Providers

Report Comes on the Heels of Important Legislation Protecting Workers’ Rights and Improving Standards for Consumers

A new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted people’s mental health and raised new barriers for those suffering from mental illness and substance use disorders.

Among the key conclusions:

AFSCME members and United We Heal activists have been working hard for far too many months to help pass necessary additional COVID-19 economic relief legislation. Because the Republican-led Senate blocked every effort to include emergency funding for states, cities and towns in this time of crisis, AFSCME President Saunders called the overall bill “a slap in the face to front-line public service workers and communities across the country.”

Seventy-six percent of U.S. adults rate their mental health positively, representing a nine-point decline from 2019 according to Gallup's annual November Health and Healthcare survey. This is the lowest rate recorded since the survey began in 2001. 

In behavioral health, you are at the front lines of crisis situations— but when was the last time workers gave themselves space for care and strategies to help?

That is why AFSCME, the union for more than 50,000 professionals in the behavioral health industry across the country, hosted a free online workshop through the United We Heal campaign to help you overcome stress, set boundaries and build collective well-being.

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt of a column that ran in the Seattle Times. To read the entire column, go here.

“Not long ago, when the pandemic first hit, society had an ‘aha!’ moment.

The headline in the Washington Post couldn’t have been clearer: “The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental-health crisis.” The Wall Street Journal warned, “Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Toll on Mental Health,” while USA Today reported, “

Front-line workers across the U.S. are heading into hospitals and other high-risk zones knowing that the likelihood of being infected with COVID-19 is incredibly high. For hospital workers in New Jersey, these risks have been all too real – and made worse by what they say are the slow an inadequate responses from hospital administrators and the New Jersey Department of Health.

Awol Alhassan, a human services technician at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital and president of Local 2218 (AFSCME New Jersey), is among those who has COVID-19.

Two hundred and nine behavioral health workers in Oregon are making great progress on their 2020 New Year’s resolution to secure a strong voice on the job.

Following two mail-in ballot elections, registered nurses, residential and crisis counselors and others who work at Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare’s respite and residential programs overwhelmingly said yes to joining Oregon AFSCME (Council 75).

Knowing that your unborn fetus has congenital heart disease causes such pronounced maternal stress, anxiety and depression that these women's fetuses end up with impaired development in key brain regions before they are born, according to research published online Jan. 13, 2020, in JAMA Pediatrics.

This underscores the need for behavioral health to be part of health coverage plans!

Fifty-two New Jersey behavioral health workers have decided to become part of the AFSCME family.

Last month, the residential counselors and maintenance employees voted 77% in favor of joining AFSCME New Jersey Council 63 after enduring an anti-union campaign waged by their employer, the nonprofit SERV Centers of New Jersey.

A new study found that an hour in talk therapy with a trained counselor costs much more, and takes more time, than swallowing an inexpensive antidepressant pill. But for people with a new diagnosis of major depression, the costs and benefits of the two approaches end up being equal after five years, a new study shows.

The analysis, conducted using real-world data on treatment costs, positive and negative health effects, and impacts of treatment and depression symptoms on productivity, could help guide future care and insurance coverage.

A new study found that after exposure to short-term air pollution, children were more likely to go to the emergency room for anxiety and suicidal thoughts or attempts. Other research has also linked long-term pollution exposure to anxiety and depression in young people. 

AFSCME Local 2767 members at the McFarland Mental Health Center in Springfield were being repeatedly subjected to violent attacks by high-risk patients.

Staff continually alerted management to the alarming pattern of attacks but their pleas for safety improvements for workers and patients alike fell on deaf ears.

McFarland is a state-run psychiatric hospital treating approximately 150 patients at a time, including individuals held as an alternative to incarceration after having committed a crime but found not guilty by reason of insanity or mentally unfit to stand trial. 

Great article from the Chicago Sun Times on how how 

Summers in New Jersey are the perfect time to visit the state’s famous beaches, reconnect with friends and family and, most importantly, enjoy the warm weather. For two dozen United We Heal activists a recent Saturday in August was also the perfect time to dig into how the legislative process can have a positive, or negative, impact on their efforts to improve their industry.

Past research has show that people who report high levels of boredom propensity have a higher chance at having an avoidant disposition, making them more likely to experience depression and anxiety. But what happens in the brain when we get bored, and how can this help us find ways of dealing with boredom? 

Becky Grupa comes from a family of seven brothers and sisters. She grew up outside Minneapolis and remembers riding the bus to school with her sister Victoria, who is autistic.

“She couldn’t speak, so instead she had her crying spells if she was in pain or frustrated, and some kids made fun of us,” she recalls.

The hardest thing about growing up with Victoria, though, Becky says, was “putting myself in her shoes.” The experience would prepare her for a career serving young people in her community.

Nearly a hundred union and nonunion behavioral health workers gathered at the offices of District 1199J, NUHHCE for a summit the union hosted along with AFSCME New Jersey Council 63 and the United We Heal campaign. There they shared best practices for the challenges they face across the industry and developed specific solutions that can be used to solicit the funding necessary to meet these challenges.

Health care legislation that is a priority for AFSCME is beginning to advance in Congress, thanks in part to pressure from members.

Last week, the health subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on several critical health care bills facing funding shortfalls, including the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act. 

Last week, a Congressional committee approved a bill that would include $25 million to fully fund a new federal student loan repayment program for some behavioral health workers whose jobs involve treating substance use. The passage of the bill out of committee brings thousands of AFSCME behavioral health workers one step closer to relief from crushing student debt.

To raise public awareness of mental illness, May was designated Mental Health Month 70 years ago (it began as Mental Health Week). Since then, the organization behind its creation, Mental Health America, has been a force for educating the public about this urgent problem.

Workers and community came together in the spring sun to share stories, grieve, and commit to a safer future at a recent Workers’ Memorial event at Western State Hospital (WSH) in Washington.

A field of flags represented the 1,090 reported assaults in 2018.

Joined by Representative Mari Leavitt and Senator Steve Conway, memorial attendees celebrated the dedication and service of the staff of WSH.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has developed fact sheets that can help family and support networks better understand what bipolar disorder is and how to support their loved ones with the diagnosis. 

The fact sheets provide an overview of bipolar disorder among youth and young adults. They also offer guidance on how to provide support, and recommendations for treatment.

AFSCME is the union for 50,000 professionals in the behavioral health industry in 29 states across the country, and more are joining every day. We are a community of clinicians, caretakers, social workers, therapists, case managers, alcohol and drug counselors and more. We put the needs of our clients first, and we advocate for a better, safer workplace for all.

Here are some of our stories.

State-employed nurses in Nevada take care of some of the most vulnerable community members and deserve safe workplaces so they can provide the best possible care. The nurses at a state of Nevada adult mental health facility came together earlier this month and presented management with a list of workplace safety issues they would like resolved.    

Oregon behavioral health workers connected with each other and built power during a recent AFSCME Strong blitz, which was part of a broader national effort to bring together workers in that industry so they can jointly fight for their patients and their communities.

Practicing transcendental meditation can help reduce or even reverse the symptoms of PTSD and depression in a new study of young people. 

The findings, which appear in the journal Psychological Reports, indicate that participants who started practicing transcendental meditation saw notable improvements in their symptoms.

In the largest study of it's kind ever, international researches led by the Univertsity of Edinburgh, found hundreds of genes that can now be linked to increased risks of depression, shedding light on the origins of the condition and highlighting personality types that could be at risk.

According to a report in Science Today, after the study that involved two million people, scientists "studied information pooled from three large datasets of anonymised health and DNA records and pinpointed 269 genes that were linked to depression."

A global team of researchers has found the first common genetic risk factors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a complex condition affecting around one in 20 children.

The team analysed genetic information from over 20,000 people affected with ADHD and over 35,000 people without the condition, the largest genetic study of ADHD to date.

Workers at Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare are finding out just how empowering it is to organize for a voice on the job–to communicate and find common ground with their coworkers with the goal of forming a union.

But the struggle isn’t risk-free. Last month, Daneen Pray, who had worked at Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Portland, Oregon, for 17 years, was fired. She has been an activist and a strong supporter of the union.

AFSCME members in Washington state are demanding solutions to ensure worker safety after one of their co-workers – sister Christa Butters – was assaulted by a patient who had a history of violence.

Before she began her career in behavioral health, Vialante Vieira had been in a drug and alcohol recovery program at Volunteers of America Oregon in Portland. Her experience at VOA gave her more than a path back to normalcy; it also helped her find her calling.

We know that access to care is critical to helping ensure people don't just get and stay health but that patients have the oppertunity to ask for help or be identified as at risk. But many rural areas are finding hospital care harder and harder to come by. 

Here is a list of the 85 rural hospitals that closed between January 2010 and July 2018, as tracked by the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program.

There is a national debate underway about the regulation of health insurers and insurance benefit standards. To reduce regulatory burdens, the Executive Branch enacted changes that weaken essential health benefit requirements, which require coverage of mental health and substance use services. The Executive Branch has also proposed regulations that will expand the availability of health plans that can discriminate against people with mental health and substance use disorders.

It was while growing up that Mike Yestramski found his life’s calling.

“Like a lot of people in the behavioral health field, I had my own experiences growing up through family and friends who struggled with behavioral health problems,” he says. “I saw a lot of good that can be done but I also saw a lot of areas for improvement, and I wanted to be part of that improvement.”

Since the 1960s, Outside In has been an integral part of Portland, Oregon’s, social services thanks to building one of the region’s largest homeless programs. Now, the hardworking behavioral health professionals who work at Outside In are among AFSCME’s newest sisters and brothers.

Over two days last week, workers at Outside In voted to form a union with Oregon AFSCME Council 75. A total of 128 workers will make up the bargaining unit, with the majority coming from Medical and Youth Services.

Nine labor activists, including Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Stacy Chamberlain, were arrested this week while participating in a peaceful sit-in in support of Volunteers of America (VOA) Oregon workers, who are bargaining their first contract.

Monday’s sit-in was an act of civil disobedience in support of the workers, who have been negotiating for more than a year following an organizing drive with Oregon AFSCME.

Gov. Phil Murphy's administration Wednesday delayed a new payment system for some private mental health providers who've warned the change could disrupt services to thousands of people discharged from New Jersey psychiatric hospitals.

The proposed system of paying for community support services -- the one-on-one casework that helps 5,500 seriously mentally ill people maintain their independence -- will go live in July 1, 2019 instead of July 1 this year, department spokeswoman Ellen Lovejoy confirmed.

Diagnoses of clinical depression — also known as major depression — have risen by 33% since 2013, according to a new report from health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield.

CMS' new rural health strategy unveiled May 8 aims to improve access to healthcare for 20 percent of people living in rural areas and ensure CMS policies and programs are not negatively affecting rural care.

"For the first time, CMS is organizing and focusing our efforts to apply a rural lens to the vision and work of the agency," CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a press release. "The Rural Health Strategy supports CMS' goal of putting patients first."

The U.S. Senate has passed its bipartisan Improving Access to Behavioral Health Information Technology Act to help behavioral health care providers – like psychologists and psychiatric hospitals – adopt electronic health records.

Only about half of teenagers with depression receive a diagnosis before they become adults, and about two-thirds go without help, according to a report that has spurred the release of revised guidelines on depression screening and management for children from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The updated guidelines, GLAD PC (Guidelines for Adolescent Depression in Primary Care), include a new recommendation that all children aged older than 12 years be screened for depression at least once per year.1

Nearly 200 employees at UCAN, a youth services agency in Chicago, won their union election when the ballots were tallied on March 20 after an intensive anti-union campaign waged by their employer. They fought for a better future for themselves and for the youth they serve everyday – and they won.