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February ISMICC Newsletter 

Dear ISMICC members, as winter comes to a close and we turn to fresh things and thinking in 

the spring, we are looking forward toward building ongoing relationships that will support and 

foster a stronger mental health services system for the individuals with SMI and SED that we 

know and care about. Here are a few notes regarding what we have been working of in 

February. 

• We had the opportunity to present ISMICC plans to the Joint National Advisory 

Committees of SAMHSA February 15-16. SAMHSA is organizing five 

“Implementation Workgroups” with staff from the 10 ISMICC departments and 

agencies. The Implementation Workgroups are organized by the five focus areas: 

Data, Access, Treatment and Recovery, Justice, and Financing. 

• We’ve met with 9 of the 10 ISMICC agencies and departments and the level of 

support and interest they have expressed is exciting. Each has designated staff to 

one or more of the Implementation Workgroups. We’ll have completed meeting 

with all of the departments next week. 

• On March 28th, we will convene all of the federal staff together for a one day 

orientation and to launch the five Implementation Workgroups. As you know, some 

of our federal partners are very knowledgeable regarding the treatment and 

recovery support needs of persons with SMI and SED, while others are interested in 

learning. We would love to have one or two federal and non-federal members 

address the group. Please reply if you are interested in addressing federal staff in 

Bethesda on March 28. We will summarize this meeting for you in June at the next

full ISMICC meeting. 

• To bring you up to date with federal plans and activities and to plan for the public 

discussion, we are scheduling a “pre-ISMICC” teleconference on March 20th. 

During that call, we will be seeking your input regarding how the June ISMICC 

meeting (described below) should be organized. We’ll be e-mailing you with more 

information about the March 20th call-in meeting soon.

• The next full ISMICC advisory meeting will be in Rockville on June 8. Please mark 

your calendars for this all day meeting! We will be presenting the progress and 

products of the federal effort since the December meeting for your consideration. 

Department of Labor has offered to present on the work equipping employers to 

work with individuals with serious mental illness. We would also like to discuss how 

members of the public and non-government organizations can be involved with 

ISMICC. 

• ISMICC was set up by congress as a Federal Advisory Committee Act (passed in 1972) 

or FACA committee. This Act was set up to allow for broad public input into federal 
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activities and it does have certain rules that govern our ability to engage with our 

ISMICC members. George Washington used one to advise him on the Whiskey 

Rebellion of 1794. Many ISMICC members have asked how other members of the 

public and non-government organizations can be involved with ISMICC. That is an 

important question that is appropriate for public deliberation consistent with FACA 

rules. We are actively working on enhancing our communication about ISMICC. 

Your job as ISMICC advisory members is to provide recommendations and input for 

federal government consideration. 

• We are in the process or organizing several expert panel meetings. Expert panels 

are what we call meetings of 12-25 people who have extensive knowledge and 

expertise in a particular topic area. We view these meetings as the first step in a 

lengthier process of addressing the recommendations. Some of you are being 

invited to participate as experts on the topics at hand. Our policy has been to invite 

2 of our Non-federal ISMICC members with expertise that most closely matches the 

content of the panel meeting and we hope to have each of you at one or more of 

these meetings. Unless you are invited as an expert panelist, we cannot travel or 

reimburse you for these meetings. However, you are welcome to come and observe 

these meetings. If you do want to attend, please register early for the meeting as 

seating may be limited. 

o Psychiatry Department Chairs March 12, 2018 SAMHSA Rooms 5N54/5N76

https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/cdp/ismicc

This meeting is designed to create a dialog with the leaders of departments of 

psychiatry at major medical centers who are providers, educators of our critical 

workforce and who are capable of influence in the field of behavioral health locally 

and nationally. We will introduce them to ISMICC and encourage them to create a 

plan that includes attention to training individuals to work with persons with SMI, in 

correctional facilities, with homeless populations and in other settings where we 

need them. 

o Psychiatric Advance Directives March 13, 2018 Cambria Suites/Rockville, MD

https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/pad/ismicc

The purpose of this expert panel is to identify opportunities to increase the 

utilization of psychiatric advanced directives (PAD). With this meeting, SAMHSA will 

identify barriers to the acceptance of PADs and discuss successful efforts to 

incorporate PADs into state laws, as well as best practices for developing PADS. The 

focus of the meeting will be on the development of a guidance document to identify 

recommendations regarding the development of PADS for nationwide distribution in 

order for states to initiate their own PAD processes and increase utilization of PADs 

nationally. 

o Civil Commitment March 14, 2018 Cambria Suites/Rockville, MD

https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/cc/ismicc
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The purpose of this expert panel is to review and assess civil commitment 

processes. With this meeting, SAMHSA desires to increase its knowledge of present 

practices in traditional civil commitment as well as outpatient civil 

commitment. The focus of the meeting will be on the development of a guidance 

document to identify next steps to inform policy recommendations influencing civil 

commitment practice in the service of the SMI/SED population.

o Workforce for Older Adults with Serious Mental Illness (April 16, registration not 

yet open) 

o Three additional meetings are under consideration and have not yet been 

planned: 

 Creating a children’s screening and assessment toolkit 

 Developing a continuum of care and national standards for crisis care 

 Developing a priority research agenda for SED and SMI

• We are considering the development of a blog about content related to ISMICC. This 

would be something that could be shared with many of our stakeholder groups. We

would love your ideas regarding what kind of communications would be most 

effective for the groups and organizations you are familiar with. 

• We look forward to talking to you on March 20th! 
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