xxAACP Newsletter, Volume 14, Number 2, Spring 2000
Board of Directors' Report
The fall meeting of the Board will take place in Philadelphia October 29-30, 2000 following the IPS meeting. There will be approximately 8 presentations by AACP Board members at the 2000 IPS meeting. The 2001 winter Board meeting will be held in Cleveland in conjunction with the "All-Ohio" meeting.
APA: New appointments
The contributions of AACP members continue to be recognized by the APA. David Pollack, MD has been appointed to the Joint Council on Government Relations. Hunter McQuisition, MD was appointed Chair of the Council on Homelessness and Poverty. Russell Lim, MD was offered a liaison appointment to the Council on Human Dignity and Professional Values. The Board voted to support his participation on this committee.
Outpatient commitment
A letter from the Bazelon Center about outpatient commitments was reviewed. A subcommittee of the Quality Management Committee is being formed to address this issue. The Board agreed to use the AACP listserv to survey what individual states are doing with regard to outpatient commitment. The group will attempt to distill the email discussion on this topic into a position statement draft. Fred Osher, MD will attend the Bazelon Center meeting on outpatient commitment in Washington, DC in May as the AACP liaison.
Committee Reports
- Membership Committee
The current membership has increased to 662. A motion was made to consider multi-year memberships for two, three, and five years. This motion was approved. Concern was expressed about the potential overall decrease in revenues. The Board amended the motion to delay changes in the dues structure until a financial assessment can be completed, and to implement multi-year memberships after this financial information is reviewed by the Executive Committee. - Program Committee
Plans for the upcoming APA meeting were discussed. AACP Board member presentations were reviewed. The AACP Board will meet May 13-14, 2000 in Chicago. The members meeting will be held on Tuesday May 16. At the end of the membership meeting the official change of officers will take place. - PublicationsCommittee
Discussion was held about the policy regarding non-members on the AACP listserv. The point was raised that everyone on the listserv should know who has access to the list. After some discussion the Board voted that non-members would not be included on the general listserv. The Board also addressed the issue of non-members on committee listservs for the purpose of collaborative work. A motion was forwarded that non-members may be included on committee list serves and that the committee list should be available on the web site. This was approved.
Discharge/Transition Planning Documents
Three drafts were prepared by the Committees on Quality Management and Discharge Planning, Mentally Ill Behind Bars, and Children and Adolescents addressing the issue of discharge/release planning. Dr. Barbara Rohland, Co-Chair of the Quality Management and Discharge Planning Committees, reported plans to develop four documents including a general statement of overarching principles regarding transitions in care, then three specific documents for discharge/release planning related to acute settings, jails and prisons, and children/adolescents. Final drafts are expected by the May Board meeting. These documents are intended to be position statements and not addressed to any specific advocacy group, though final drafts will be disseminated to various advocacy and professional groups. The Mentally Ill Behind Bars Committee has forwarded a draft of their document in response to the Rikers Island lawsuit. This was sent as an unofficial document. The final discharge planning documents will be posted to the web site as soon as they are approved by the Board.
Conduct Disorder Motion
The Child and Adolescent Committee recommended that the Board endorse Dr. Huffine's motion to remove the diagnosis of conduct disorder from future editions of the DSM. (See President's Column, Winter 2000 Newsletter.) Endorsement by the AACP is considered crucial to the success of this effort as the diagnosis of Conduct Disorder comes up in public mental health settings more than any other. After extensive discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Co-Occurring Disorders Document
The Board approved the final version of the position paper, "Principles
for the Care and Treatment of Persons with Co-Occurring Psychiatric and
Substance Disorders". Ken Minkoff, MD
took the lead in preparing this document. This document is now available
on the AACP Web site at http://www.comm.psych.pitt.edu/finds/dualdx.html.
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2000 Table of Contents