National data suggests that between 50% to 90% of all adolescents who access services for mental health or substance abuse treatment, actually have co-occurring mental health and substance abuse issues. Most of us know it exists, whether we see it in our children, or in our clients, we know it’s there. However, it is not often discussed, because those treatment providers who bill Medicaid for services rendered, cannot give a client two primary diagnoses. For so long, the system focused on treating one, then the other. So if a parent brought in a child, the treatment provider would need to diagnose him or her first with a mental health issue and then a substance abuse issue, or the other way around.

Dating and domestic violence is a dirty little secret that most people keep quiet about. Men and women don’t admit that it’s happened to them because it’s embarrassing. And nobody wants to ask a friend if it’s happening to them, it might start a fight, or cause a rift in the friendship.

Children with disabilities receive special education and related services through the public school system and are protected by either the Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal law that governs special education, or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In general, those children covered under Section 504 usually have less severe disabilities than those covered by IDEA, or their disability does not fit within the categories of eligibility under IDEA. It is important for parents to be aware of the differences between the two because of the discrepancies in criteria for eligibility, services, procedures, and safeguards.

The IMPACT Plus emergency regulations (E-regs) were signed by Governor Paul Patton in July 2000. The regulations are rather lengthy and due to the space in the KPFC newsletter, an abbreviated version of sections 3 (Eligibility), 4 (Criteria for At Risk of Institutionalization), 5 (Standards for a Covered Service), and 6 (Covered Services) are below.

“Section 3. Eligibility. A recipient under twenty-one years of age shall be eligible to receive a medically necessary service covered in Section 6 of this administrative regulation if the recipient:

1. Is in, or is at risk of being in, the custody or under the supervision of the state; and
2. Meets one of the following:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was signed by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002 and is designed to improve student achievement by the end of the 2013-2014 school year. NCLB is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was the principal law affecting education from kindergarten through high school. NCLB is built on four basic ideas: accountability for results, an emphasis on doing what works based on scientific research, expanded parental options, and expanded local control and flexibility. Under NCLB a school will not be labeld “failing” but “in need of improvement” if that school does not meet its state’s definition of “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) for two straight years.

It is estimated that for every one person who commits suicide, at least six others are immediately affected by their decision. They could be family, friends, or co-workers, and all are left to cope with the terrible loss of someone they cared about. Survivors of suicide are those people who are left behind when someone chooses to take their own life, and are left to deal with the grief and loss of someone important in their lives. Each year’s suicides bring about an estimated 186,000 new survivors.

• By establishing standards for electronic transmission of health information,
• By establishing standards to protect the privacy of individuals' medical records and other protected health information, and
• By ensuring the security of health care information.

How is this done?
• HIPAA establishes safeguards to protect the privacy of health care information.
• HIPAA sets boundaries on the use and release of health records.
• HIPAA holds people accountable if they violate patient rights (civil and criminal penalties)

Protected Health Information (PHI)

You probably know that when you turn 18 you’re finally allowed to vote, but do you know how important your vote is? Do you know how to register? Do you know what the difference is between the Primary Election and the General election? Here’s the place to find out!
PRIMARY ELECTION vs GENERAL ELECTION
Okay, so just what is the difference between these two elections? For starters, in Kentucky the primary election is always held on the first Tuesday after the fourth Monday in May. So this year, the primary election (primaries) will be held May 25th. The general election is always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This year’s general election will be held November 2nd.

Talking to kids about war and terrorism has to be one of the hardest tasks any parent must take on. Hard, because no parent wants to explain to their child why people kill other people. But in this time of war and unrest, it seems a necessary evil. While the goings-on in Iraq seem to have mildly subsided, we still have many men and women in the armed services overseas, many of them fathers and mothers. Both the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (NCCEV) and the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Healthy Parenting Initiative have published helpful tips on their websites (listed below).

Suicide occurs at a rate of 83 completed suicides per day, which breaks down to one suicide every 18 minutes. In Kentucky, an average of nine people a week take their own lives. It’s something that affects all of us on some level. And, unfortunately, we probably all know someone who either completed suicide, or attempted it. Nationally, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for those age 10 to 14, and third for those age 15 to 24. In Kentucky, suicide is the second leading cause of death for those between the ages of 15 and 34 years old, and Kentucky has the 16th highest suicide rate in the nation. While the subject of suicide is heartbreaking, it is one that absolutely must be dealt with.