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April 5, 2007Budget
Scorecard The items we advocated for included:
In Legislation, we have advocated for:
Budget Though the overall mental hygiene table was limited to $15 million, many of the priorities of MHANYS were addressed including: Funding
for Community Mental Health Service Providers ($500,000)
There was a $500,000 increase in this year’s budget that is specifically earmarked for community mental health providers who have emergency capital needs situations. This will be done through a Request for Proposal (RFP) mechanism. We will work with the legislature to disseminate the legislative intent of the language and then work with The Office of Mental Health around implementation issues. We have already had some initial conversations and will keep you posted. The specific language in the budget states, “For services and expenses associated with the needs-based request for proposals initiatives (to) assist community recovery providers efforts in critical physical plant improvements, transportation amelioration and/or renovation and rehabilitation enhancements.” This is an issue that we prioritized in this year’s budget adds and made the case about the lack of community services to the legislature. Though we did not get back the funding that has been lost to the system over the years, I think we made a strong case for future funding initiatives as well as greater recognition of the need of community services. We will continue to make the argument to the administration that in next year’s executive budget, there should be increases that reflect the loss of funding for community services over the last decade. Please stay tuned for ways you can help us to make that argument with the administration. We would also like to acknowledge the work of Assemblyman Rivera and Senator Morahan and their staffs for insuring that this funding remained in the budget. We would also like to thank NYAPRS for collaborating with us on this issue. Parents with Psychiatric Disabilities (PWPD) ---$850,000 In many ways, this is the landmark piece in this year’s budget. For over a decade, there has been no new funding for this important program. At MHANYS, we have funding to develop capacity for PWPD and have had several trainings in recent years identifying best practices in the field. Advocates will be working with the Office of Mental Health to insure that there will be additional funding to increase capacity building, infusion of best practices into the program, more funding for legal and lay advocacy and highlighting of the significance of recovery focused training for stakeholders. MHANYS has been working on this issue for many years and through the feedback of our affiliate network, we will advocate strongly with the New York State Office of Mental Health. The specific language in the budget states, “For grants to community based organizations providing support to parents with psychiatric disabilities. The Office of Mental Health shall contract through a request for proposal process with community-based organizations for services and expenses of the following programs:
Of the amount appropriated herein no less than $200,000 and up to $350,000 shall be made available for transfer to the Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities to increase legal services for parents with psychiatric disabilities through a request for proposal process. As we did with community mental health funding, we worked very closely with our colleagues at NYAPRS in fighting for this funding. It was very significant that both organizations spoke with the same voice on this issue. I would like to commend Harvey Rosenthal, the Executive Director of NYAPRS, and the other leadership of the organization for making this a top priority item in their agenda and working so hard to see it come to fruition. Anti-Depressant Carve Out Restored ($13.2 million restoration) One of the significant budget additions is restoration of the proposed elimination of anti-depressants from the mental health medication carve out in the Preferred Drug List (PDL). In this year’s executive budget, there was language that called for the elimination of anti-depressants from the mental health medication carve out. Advocates argued that the elimination of anti-depressants would have led to poorer clinical outcome because individuals would not have access to the medications that would help in their recovery. The best clinical care for individuals with psychiatric disabilities is determined through access to a wide range of options including access to all medications without cost as an integral part of the equation. We thank the leadership of Assembly members Rivera and Gottfried for advocating strongly on this issue as well as Senator Morahan for his efforts. Suicide Prevention ($1 million) MHANYS has worked closely with the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to insure that suicide prevention remains a major priority to policy makers in New York State. We were pleased to see that in this year’s budget there was an addition of $1 million for public awareness and education campaigns that are specifically focused on young Latina and elderly Asian women. This money will be implemented through an RFP process through the New York State Office of Mental Health. Cultural Competence Centers of Excellence ($2 Million) Another advocacy agenda point for MHANYS was the support of two Centers of Excellence for development of best practices in delivery of cultural and linguistically competent mental health services. This funding is going to be provided to New York’s two research facilities---The New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research Both the suicide prevention initiative around these targeted populations and the Cultural Competence Centers of Excellence helps to recognize the needs of vastly underserved populations. We are appreciative of the leadership of Assemblyman Rivera on these significant issues. What Didn’t Happen in the Budget?
This year’s budget was the best in many years for housing. There were 2,000 beds added this year for housing. Largely due to this window of opportunity, the advocacy community has requested that five hundred of these beds be used specifically for adult home residents who want to leave their existing homes. The rational is that despite more attention and resources being spent on adult homes, there has only been limited funding and resources spent to the more independent housing needs of these residents. There are still many residents who strive for a more independent setting but never leave the home because of the lack of housing options. Even though adult home residents are a priority population in the SPOA process, it is rare when a resident actually has an opportunity to leave the home. The way to change this is by earmarking specific beds for adult home residents. Though this has not happened through legislation, we are having conversation with the administration about changing policy. Last week a group of us representing the New York State Coalition of Adult Home Reform met with Commissioner Hogan to make our case for the needs of adult home residents. We will continue to push this issue with the administration. Geriatric Mental Health Funding Unfortunately, there was no funding in this year’s budget for Geriatric Mental Health Demonstrations. Through the leadership of Michael Friedman and the Geriatric Mental Health Alliance, we will continue to make the case that there is a significant population of older adults who have mental health related issues and funding is needed to increase the number of demonstration projects. Permanent COLA Last year, Governor Pataki proposed a three year COLA for all workers in the human services field. Year One funding was distributed after the passage of the budget. We were pleased to see that Governor Spitzer included Year Two funding in the budget. As opposed to fighting for this COLA on a yearly basis, we have advocated for a permanent COLA. Unfortunately, this has not yet occurred but this will continue to be an advocacy position that we will be taking in next year’s legislative budget. What Did Happen That We Didn’t Want To See Happen
As we have mentioned on several occasions, the legislature passed and the Governor signed a civil commitment bill. This bill will have ramifications for years to come in the mental health system. We have to work with the Office of Mental Health on implementation issues. We are very concerned that much of the future funding for mental health services will be utilized to pay for costly inpatient care for sexual offenders in psychiatric facilities and not utilized for the needs of the hundreds of thousands of individuals with psychiatric disabilities in community services. However, we have the ability to monitor that aspect of the law but one aspect of the law that will be impossible to monitor is public perception about equating sexual offenders with individuals with psychiatric disabilities. We fight stigma on a daily basis and now our struggle is even greater with the presumption that many in the public will hold that people with mental illness are also sexual offenders. This is one of the sad realities of this legislation. Summary: This year started off as a strong budget year for mental health. We were pleased that Governor Spitzer included 2000 units of new housing as well as the funding commitment for treatment and housing programs for people with psychiatric disabilities in prisons, the second year of the COLA, and additional funding for adult home residents through EnABLE grants. As always in an era of limited resources, there was still not enough funding for many initiatives both new and old that impact people with psychiatric disabilities. Though the Mental Hygiene Table was small, we were still able to get additional funding in several areas that have been highlighted. The Legislative chairs and their staffs have been responsive to the needs of our community. Our work continues during the rest of the legislative session as we fight for a ‘Boot the SHU bill’, a Housing Wait List Bill, a Bill that calls for Family Health Plus and Children’s Health Plus to become part of Timothy’s Law. For next year’s executive budget (it is not too early to advocate for next year), we will continue to fight for additional community funding, a permanent COLA, funding for geriatric mental health, housing for underserved populations including adult home residents and several other priority areas. The positive changes would not have occurred without your grassroots efforts. Your work on these issues is greatly appreciated. As we learned first from reinvestment and recently with Timothy’s Law, nothing changes without a strong grassroots movement.
MHANYS’ Spring Event
Join us as we recognize and celebrate MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH Reception, Silent Auction & Featured Speaker, Pete Earley, former Washington Post reporter and author of "CRAZY: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness" Date/Time For more information visit our website, www.mhanys.org.
IN THE NEWS Note from Glenn Liebman: Tom O’Clair, father of Timothy and a MHANYS Board Member, has received the prestigious regional Jefferson Award. He will go on to Washington to participate in the National Jefferson awards. As someone who had the honor of watching him in action throughout the struggle for Timothy’s Law, I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this honor and recognition. Congratulations Tom!! Jefferson
Nominee to Be Selected - Capital Region Entry for Public Service
Award to Be Chosen From 6 People COLONIE -- One person will be selected tonight to represent the Capital Region in a national competition for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes community and public service throughout the United States. Each year, about 100 people are nominated in the Capital Region, and that number was narrowed to about two dozen. They will be honored tonight in ceremonies at the Desmond hotel. Locally, the awards are sponsored by St. Peter's Health Care Services, WNYT Ch. 13 and the Times Union. One Capital Region honoree, to be be chosen from among the six medalists profiled below, will continue on to national ceremonies in June in Washington, D.C. Margaret Buckley, (Latham) Every day for the past seven years, Buckley has gone to the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society to walk the dogs. In fact, she started the dog walking program at the shelter. Buckley also launched a program now known as Special Animals In Need of Thee. SAINT started out placing senior dogs (those 7 years or older), then expanded to senior cats and now also takes animals with special needs, such as blindness. Buckley sponsors the full adoption fee of every senior animal at the shelter. When she encounters an old, infirm dog that is not adjusting well to shelter life, she takes it home and cares for the animal until it is adopted. Her commitment has saved many animals. A retired teacher, Buckley also volunteers at her church's soup kitchen and visits nursing home residents. Jim Fitzgerald (Clifton Park) Fitzgerald is the founder of Sports Are For Everyone, an athletic program for children with special needs. He created SAFE 15 years ago when he realized that his son's disabled friend, Kent McCloskey, could only attend ball games, not play in them. SAFE allows disabled children to have fun taking part in team sports, including soccer, basketball, flag football, baseball and tennis. Thanks to Fitzgerald, many children are able to participate and feel productive with other kids. He has been instrumental in securing playing space for the program and keeping insurance in place. When grant money doesn't go far enough, Fitzgerald funds programs out of his pocket. His service to the community has endeared "Coach Jim" to many. Joe Mooney (Troy) Mooney, 16, has volunteered his free time to serve area disabled children, sharing his love of basketball and football. He has volunteered at the CYO during basketball season since he was 8. He helps members of the challenger team by playing with them, teaching them the game and supporting them by being there. After basketball season is over, Mooney keeps his spirit of community active by volunteering with the Burke Adams challenger team. For three years, he has been pushing players in wheelchairs on the field, teaching them the game, helping the coaches and by being there for the players. He also spends private time with some of the athletes with whom he has become friends. Mooney spent the summer of 2004 as a volunteer at an Easter Seals summer camp for disabled children. He was there from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. five days a week for seven weeks. At the end of that summer, he volunteered to return the following year. Mooney has been there every summer since. He is also active in Tae Kwon Do, in which he holds a third-degree black belt. He competes at state and national levels and has earned many medals. He shares his love of this martial art by teaching younger children. Ned Norton (Albany) Norton was managing a gym and training athletes including Jeff Blatnick (who went on to win a gold meal at the 1984 Olympics) when six people with spinal cord injuries were referred to him. With Norton's assistance, one of the six made tremendous progress and was profiled in the Times Union. Because of that, Norton's phone rang off the hook and in a short time he had 40 warriors. In 1988, Norton formed Warriors on Wheels Inc. Many of the athletes who have spinal cord injuries are referred to him from Albany Medical Center. He raises grants and finds sponsors so the program can be offered to anyone who wants to participate. Norton's program has strength and conditioning exercises for daily activities for people in wheelchairs or who have other disabilities. The confidence building component of the program produces even greater results than the physical. Thomas O'Clair (Schenectady) O'Clair has worked tirelessly for five years to bring attention to the lack of sufficient mental health coverage in the state's health insurance system. O'Clairs' son, Timothy, committed suicide in 2001 after his insurance coverage had run out. Tom O'Clair then became an advocate for mental health parity and suicide prevention. His dedication and persistence resulted in Gov. George Pataki signing Timothy's Law, which requires health insurance companies to cover mental illnesses as comprehensively as they cover physical ailments. O'Clair also volunteers as a support group facilitator for suicide attempt survivors and is a board member of the Capital District Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. O'Clair turned his personal pain and grief into a voice for mental health parity, suicide prevention and providing support for those left behind after a loved one's suicide. Samuel Aronowitz Strasser (Elsmere) Strasser was honored for his half-century of service to The Workshop Inc. Based in Menands, the organization that provides work force training for people with disabilities got its start in a local basement. Over the years, it has grown into Northeast Career Services with branches in seven counties. Today, it places 400 disabled workers each year. Strasser, an Air Force veteran, received the NAACP's President's Award in 1992 to honor his 25 years as a member of the civil rights group. Strasser has been vice chairman of PEARL, the National Coalition for Public Education And Religious Liberty, which works for separation of church and state in public schools. Strasser helped Ethiopian Jews emigrate to Israel as fundraising chairman for the United Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York. He has also planted trees outside Chapel House, the University at Albany interfaith center, where he has served on the board for 15 years, six of them as president. In 1994, Bridge Builders of the Capital District gave Strasser its Thurgood Marshall Award for "lifelong community service" and "his extraordinary contribution to building |
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