Another beautiful day, another update to the Northampton State Hospital Winter gallery.
On April 24, 2010,
in Updates,
by Christopher J Sparks
On April 24, 2010,
in State articles,
by Christopher J Sparks
From DMH
Thursday, April 22, 2010
DMH Celebrates Mental Health Month
The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health is promoting this year’s Mental Health Month by raising awareness about mental health and how important it is that all of us enjoy “good” mental health. To help observe Mental Health Month, DMH will host and promote a number of events and activities statewide to promote mental wellness and overall health throughout the Commonwealth.
On April 21, 2010,
in Local Media articles,
by Christopher J Sparks
From Northampton Media
By Mary Serreze
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
No Environmental Review Required for Revised State Hospital Development Plan
A revised development plan for the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital will require no environmental impact report, ruled Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles on April 9.
The new plan for the development called Village Hill “reflects current development opportunities and market conditions,” wrote Bowles in his decision.
The original master plan for the mixed-use project, approved in 1999 and revised in 2006, called for 207 housing units; the 2009 revision calls for 327 mixed-income units in a variety of housing types. While the original plan called for 476,000 square feet of commercial development, the new plan scales that back to 361,000.
On April 4, 2010,
in State articles,
by Christopher J Sparks
From DMH
Friday, April 2, 2010
Massachusetts Sweeps First-Ever National Award for Reducing and Eliminating Restraint and Seclusion
Massachusetts swept the first-ever awards given by the U.S. Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), recognizing sustained restraint and seclusion reduction and prevention work. Five of the ten awards were given to Massachusetts’ facilities, including Taunton State Hospital and the nine child/adolescent statewide programs operated by the Department of Mental Health (DMH).
Massachusetts has led the nation in the reduction and elimination of restraint and seclusion since DMH launched its Restraint and Seclusion Elimination Initiative in 2001. In that time, the use of seclusion and restraint has decreased more than 63 percent statewide with more robust reductions in several facilities like Taunton State Hospital which has reduced its use 88 percent and the DMH child/adolescent statewide programs which have reduced total episodes of restraint and seclusion by 93 percent. The DMH statewide programs were the only youth-serving programs in the country to be recognized by SAMHSA.
“I could not be more proud of the work we have done and will continue to do in Massachusetts facilities and I am fully committed to advancing our restraint and seclusion prevention work even further,” said DMH Commissioner Barbara A. Leadholm, M.S., M.B.A. “Congratulations to all of our award winners — they are a shining example of the positive outcomes we strive for as our system continually transforms and promotes recovery-based practices.”
In addition to Taunton State Hospital and the nine DMH child/adolescent programs, SAMHSA’s “Alternatives to Seclusion and Restraint Recognition Program” also recognized
On March 30, 2010,
in National Media articles,
by Christopher J Sparks
From The New York Times
By Nina Bernstein
Monday, March 29, 2010
For lawyers offering free legal information at large immigration detention centers in remote parts of Texas, the task is difficult enough: coaching hundreds of detainees on how to represent themselves at assembly-line deportation hearings. But the lawyers soon discover a more daunting problem: many detainees are too mentally ill or mentally disabled to understand anything.
The detainees, mostly apprehended in New York and other Northeastern cities, some right from mental hospitals, have often been moved to Texas without medication or medical records, far from relatives and mental health workers who know their histories. Their mental incompetence is routinely ignored by immigration judges and deportation officers, who are under pressure to handle rising caseloads and meet government quotas.
These are among the findings of a yearlong examination of the way the nation’s immigration detention system handles the mentally disabled in Texas, where 29 percent of all detainees are held while the government tries to deport them. The study, conducted by Texas Appleseed, a public interest law center, and Akin Gump, a corporate law firm, documents mistreatment at every stage of the process.
Among many examples in the 88-page report, to be released Tuesday, is that of a 50-year-old legal permanent resident with schizophrenia who had lived in New York City since 1974. In November, a New York criminal court declared him incompetent to stand trial on a trespassing charge and ordered him to serve 90 days in a mental institution. Instead, he was transferred to the Willacy County Regional Detention Facility in South Texas, to face a deportation proceeding without counsel — so abruptly, the report said, that his family and lawyer did not know what had happened.
On March 30, 2010,
in Local Media articles,
by Christopher J Sparks
From The Republican
By John Appleton
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Board of Selectmen is supporting plans to link the town with its Economic Development Industrial Corp. and the quasi-public agency MassDevelopment in working jointly on demolition and decontamination at the former Belchertown State School campus.
“I see this as a positive move forward,” Selectmen Chairman James A. Barry said Monday.
The town’s economic development corporation has been working for several years to attract commercial development to the former state school grounds.
On March 30, 2010,
in Updates,
by Christopher J Sparks
Perhaps only appropriate now that the its getting warmer, I have posted the Winter gallery which is a small but growing collection of images of the State Hospital during the cold season. Special thanks to Tom Riddell who lent me his images some time ago.
I have a few more historical pictures I hope to track down and add to the bunch soon as well.
On March 29, 2010,
in Updates,
by Christopher J Sparks
After some time away from the project I’ve made a few small improvements. Most obvious is the new theme that is wider and overall easier to read than the last.
The second improved element is the gallery system. The new application (SlideShowPro) has a few more options that the last, including the ability to play video.
Finally I’ve added a SIMILIE timeline to the History section. At the moment it only displays the news posts, but in time I hope to include important historical events and articles.
-Chris
On March 24, 2010,
in Local Media articles,
by Christopher J Sparks
From The Valley Advocate
By Tom Vannah and Mark Roessler
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A public comment period is open now–until March 30–for those interested in responding to proposed changes made to the master plan for the development on Northampton’s Hospital Hill. The public comment period follows the filing of a Notice of Project Change with the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs by Hospital Hill Development, LLC on March 1. EOEEA Secretary Ian Bowles is scheduled to rule by April 9 on whether the proposed changes require further environmental study.
The formal filing of the notice comes nearly a year after the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) overseeing the project approved a request from developers to add over a hundred housing units to the original plan, diminishing the square footage allotted for office, commercial and community space. While the total site acreage remains the same (124 acres), the acres of land altered from current woodlands and fields expands from 44.8 acres in the original plan to 62 acres.
The original master plan was reviewed and approved by the state in 2003 under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). Subsequent alterations to the plan need to be evaluated to determine whether they warrant further MEPA review. When the original plans for a mixed-use, village-like approach for the site’s southern campus were changed to accommodate the development of Kollmorgen Electro-Optical’s new manufacturing facility, MEPA analysts determined the changes weren’t sufficient to require a re-evaluation of the original approval.