LEGAL ACTION CENTER

Need-to-Know News: Feb. 17, 2012

February 17, 2012

Budget Central, a roundup of our advocacy on the 2012-2013 budget in New York, is now live! Keep checking back for updates and events.
Along with our partners in the NY ATI/Reentry Coalition, LAC led a trip to Albany for the coalition's annual advocacy day on Feb. 14. We were pleased to have productive meetings with legislators and staff on both sides of the aisle to discuss funding and legislation.
Our new HIV/AIDS Confidentiality Law Overview course is now featured on the AIDS Institute's Clinical Education Initiatives website.
State Policy Director Tracie Gardner was the featured speaker at the Reentry Roundtable on Feb. 15 in New York. She'll be presenting “Albany Up Close and Personal" at the March 21 roundtable.

State

New York’s chief judge, Jonathan Lippman, talked about his proposal to create a new youth court that would treat 16- and 17-year-olds convicted of nonviolent crimes as juveniles, an idea winning praise around the state.

National

Nearly half of college drug treatment is alcohol-related, according to new data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Another report from SAMHSA finds that more than one in 10 U.S. children live with a parent suffering from alcoholism.
Years after a series of suicides in state prison segregation units, Massachusetts officials have reached an agreement with advocate groups to better care for prisoners with severe mental illnesses.
In California, inmate advocates question the likelihood of continued improvements in prison healthcare if federal oversight ends.
A report by the Government Accountability Office finds that only 19 percent of federal inmates in the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program can finish treatment in time to earn a the maximum possible sentence reduction of a year.
In its project examining the implementation of the Affordable Care Act on 10 states -- Alabama, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Virginia -- the Urban Institute has published its report from Rhode Island.

The Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition is holding its annual "Power of My Parts: Annual Film Festival For Youth by Youth" on March 17 on Manhattan. Follow this link to learn more and sign up for free tickets.
March 10 is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! Find events in your area using this link.
Faces and Voices of Recovery is hosting a listening forum on Feb. 25 in New York to provide people in recovery from addiction who are living with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and other chronic health conditions an opportunity to voice their concerns to elected officials and government policy makers. See the event's flier for more details.
Time is running out for the early registration discount for the 2012 Youth Summit, happening March 22-23 in Albany. Follow this link for more on the event, sponsored by advocacy organizations and government agencies in the substance use disorder fields.