Spring 2021

David W. Oaks will blog on Mad in America, to be released 18 March 2021, about changing federal mental health agency and remembering Ivory. For the Mad in America page about David W. Oaks blog, go here:

https://www.madinamerica.com/author/doaks/

Below are resources and events that are relevant to this blog:

Resources

My blog talks about requesting information from Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

You can download a simple three-page spreadsheet about this SAMHSA support of involuntary outpatient commitment, and find out if your state is one of those listed:

https://aciu.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/samhsa-iot-awardees-2016-2020.3.pdf

Here are the actual links from SAMHSA about these two grants:

2016 Funding Opportunity Announcement: SM-16-011

Announcement: https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/sm-16-011

Awardees: https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/awards/2016/SM-16-0112020

2020 Funding Opportunity Announcement: SM-20-006

Announcement: https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/sm-20-006

Awardees: https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/awards/2020/SM-20-006

SAMHSA cancelled its funding to the popular Alternatives conference. You can read about the history of the Alternatives conference here:

https://www.alternatives-conference.org/our-history

In the calendar of events below, you can read about two large national conferences on Zoom that bring together US mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors.

My Mad in America blog is a personal blog. I also have a blog here:

www.davidwoaks.com

And of course, you can find out more information via this website for my green disability consulting business, Aciu! Institute, LLC.

Calendar of Upcoming Events this Spring 2021

27 April 2021 to 29 April 2021

Reeve Summit 2021. Organizers describe this online event here:

The Reeve Summit will touch on topics and themes relevant to the paralysis community and give everyone a chance to hear from experts, ask questions and share experiences on many aspects of life living with paralysis.

https://web.cvent.com/event/af04d8b5-32b5-421f-bd64-c2e8cc2717a1/summary

Crip Tonite!: While the above does cost, each evening after the event, independent of the Christopher Reeve conference, David W. Oaks will do a Zoom at 9 pm ET, 6 pm PT featuring news and events that emerged during the conference. To be updated about this event, be sure to get on David Oaks’ news list here:

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/KP5C4KZ/dwoaksnews

3 May 2021 to 6 May 2021

A few years ago, SAMHSA canceled Alternatives and zeroed out funding support. Now the main annual conference is Peerpocalypse, which is sponsored by a State nonprofit here in Oregon, Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon. You can find more about Peerpocalypse here:

https://www.mhaoforegon.org/peerpocalypse-main-page

David W. Oaks, Haley Case-Scott, and Laura Rose Misaras will give a workshop about “Green Disability” and how the cross-disability movement can play a role in addressing disasters such as climate crisis.

1 July 2021 to 31 July 2021

Celebrate Mad Pride Month which MindFreedom Oregon, an Affiliate of MFI, has promoted for each July.

https://www.facebook.com/MadPrideJuly

Here is a great way to celebrate Mad Pride month for July, especially Bastille Day, which is traditionally a day to celebrate human rights of psychiatric survivors, 14 July:

8 July 2021 to 17 July 2021

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery is, despite SAMHSA’s lack of support, organizing another new Alternatives 2021 for 8 July – 17 July, 2021:

https://www.alternatives-conference.org/

A few blocks from our southwest Eugene home, less than two months ago, a peer and mental health consumer, Ivory McCuen, 30, died homeless of exposure. I co-chair the UUCE Accessibility Task Force. Recently With Breezy’s support, we and several groups are co-sponsoring a free Virtual Vigil webinar:

Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81753733339

For questions and comments, email to ivorypeer@gmail.com.

If you have additional resources, events, comments regarding the blog, please comment on Mad in America, David’s blog, Facebook, and/or email to revolution@aciu.info.