NASHVILLE – September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery month. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this event, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities would like to recognize all Tennesseans who are currently in recovery and those who are working toward recovery from past drug and alcohol abuse.  With proper treatment and supports, recovery is definitely possible for all persons facing the illness of drug and alcohol abuse. 

NASHVILLE – Five Community Anti-Drug Coalitions from Tennessee will each receive $625,000 in new federal Drug Free Communities grant funds over the next five years. The grants, which begin October 1, 2009, will provide funding to involve and engage each coalition’s local community to prevent and reduce alcohol and other drug abuse among youth. 

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Commissioner of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Virginia Trotter Betts has been re-elected president of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Betts begins her second term as president this month. She has previously served on the NASMHPD Board of Directors, as the representative for the Southern Region and then as Vice President.

Artists from Across the State Gather in Legislative Plaza

NASHVILLE – May is recognized nationally as Mental Health Month, and on Monday the Fourth Annual Art for Awareness Day held at Legislative Plaza featured the works of 35 artists in recovery from mental illness. The special event was co-sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities and the Middle Tennessee Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition.

NASHVILLE – In recognition of Mental Health Month, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities is encouraging Tennesseans to increase their awareness of mental health and mental illness by understanding the fundamental nature of mental health to overall health as well as the destructive nature of stigma in our society.

Crisis Stabilization Unit Opens in Johnson City

Crisis Stabilization Unit Opens in Memphis

NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities announces the opening of a crisis stabilization unit in Memphis.  The CSU will provide 24-hour, seven days a week, short-term stabilization services for individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues and serve residents of three counties including Shelby, Fayette, and Tipton. Southeast Mental Health Agency will operate the first CSU in Memphis.

NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities has issued an Announcement of Funding for statewide prevention services in the amount of approximately $6 million.

Using information from TDMHDD Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Service's statewide needs assessment, prevention funding will be targeted to provide evidenced-based prevention services to select populations, such as youth in foster care, youth in the juvenile justice system, and children of substance abusing parents.   

NASHVILLE— The Nashville Prevention Partnership’s Rep Your Voice campaign will be showcased this week at the 2009 Community Anti-Drug Coalition’s Across America National Leadership Forum held in Washington D.C. The Nashville Prevention Partnership is an anti-drug coalition that brings individuals and organizations together to reduce and prevent substance abuse and violence in Davidson County. 

NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities announces the opening of a crisis stabilization unit in Knoxville. The CSU will provide 24-hour, 7 days a week, short-term stabilization services for individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues and serve residents of 14 counties including Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Union, Roane, Sevier, and Scott. The Helen Ross McNabb Center will operate the first CSU in Knoxville.