Please take a moment & complete the survey that applies to you:

• One is for Individuals who have lost some or all of their services within the MHDDSA system (includes residential and vocational). If the individual fears losing services but hasn’t yet, fill out now and then again if/when the ind. Does lose some or all of their services.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=FtqhlyR35b3AZF4BtjcnNg_3d_3d

• One is for Employees (current or former employees of MHDDSA providers) who have lost or experienced reductions in hours, salary, benefits etc.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Kxb0NR66Dj3G9IAup3VCBg_3d_3d

• One is for Providers of the MHDDSA system who have cut services, employee rates, benefits, hours, etc.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=sQUpoOcdR6aI6GrWef8jnw_3d_3d

These surveys will be active between December 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.

June 10, 2010

CURRENT UPDATE

The Senate passed its budget in mid-May.  The House rejected that version and passed its own version late last week.  Any items that are not in agreement – like this one as there are slightly different versions – are in contention.  A conference committee of House and Senate members has been appointed to work out differences with a goal of passing a budget by June 30.

IMPACT OF BUDGET ON MH/DD/SA

The Coalition recognizes that North Carolina has not yet experienced the full benefits of the economic recovery and will face funding shortfalls.  This does not relieve the state of its responsibilities to provide support for people affected by MH/DD/SA.  North Carolina must build community MH/DD/SA services and supports so that people have the opportunity to recover and to live, and will not need to rely on crisis services, emergency rooms, hospitals, and institutions. Additional reductions and continuation of the worst of these cuts will cause irrevocable harm to people with disabilities and the nature of the programs that support them.  Additionally, continued reductions will further harm the economic recovery by eliminating important community-based jobs.

MESSAGE

• Support the $40M for community services in the Governor’s and Senate budget – reject the House proposal of $18.8m.
• Support the $12M for inpatient community beds in the Senate budget
• Reject the provider rate cuts in Medicaid which are part of re-basing – these will severely impact the ability of Medicaid recipients to obtain services
• Do not support the enhanced mental health services cut of $41M – it will reduce availability and disrupt services

TAKE ACTION NOW!

RecoveryNC is hosting the First Annual Statewide Festival to celebrate North Carolinians in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction on August 21st in Greensboro.

The Festival will be a great opportunity to engage those in early recovery in a drug and alcohol free social atmosphere and for everyone in recovery to celebrate with family and friends.  Ways your program might participate include:

• Advertise the event at your program
• Bring  a van full of people from your community
• Join us with your staff, families and friends
• Identify musical talent to perform
• Become an exhibitor or vendor
• Identify arts and crafts vendors from former clients or friends
• Nominate a person from your community to tell their story as a speaker

Below is additional information about the festival — including a press release, copies of fliers and information for vendors. Please feel free to disseminate this information far and wide.

You can download the press release here: RecoveryNC Festival Press Release [34.0 KiB]

You can download flyers here: RecoveryNC Festival Flyer [22.8 KiB]

You can download Vendor information/registration here: RecoveryNC Festival Vendor Registration [217.4 KiB]

The Coalition held their Annual Advocacy Day and Rally on June 1^st, 2010 at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.  Although it was a rainy morning, large numbers of people turned out for the event, totaling 300+.  Jack Register of the NC Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers led two advocacy trainings in the morning before rally participants visited their legislators.  At Noon, Jennifer Mahan, Chair of The Coalition and Dave Richards, Co-Chair of the Budget Committee, opened the Rally with passionate words on the state of NC’s MHDDSA system.  The message was clear, funding for developmental disabilities, addictive diseases, and mental illness is not optional and these life saving treatments and services must be maintained at adequate levels.  Rep. Weiss, Rep. Brisson and Rep Insko were also in attendance and assured rally participants that their demands were not falling on empty hearts.

The Coalition recognizes that North Carolina has not yet experienced the full benefits of the economic recovery and will face funding shortfalls. This does not relieve the state of its responsibilities to provide support for people affected by MH/DD/SA. North Carolina must build community MH/DD/SA services and supports so that people have the opportunity to recover and to live, and will not need to rely on crisis services, emergency rooms, hospitals, and institutions. Additional reductions and continuation of the worst of these cuts will cause irrevocable harm to people with disabilities and the nature of the programs that support them. Additionally, continued reductions will further harm the economic recovery by eliminating important community-based jobs. In light of this, the Coalition has the following priorities:

May 2010

1915 (b) and (c) managed care waivers should not be done to save money and any savings need to be re-invested in services and supports.

Savings from waivers need to be re-invested in services, supports and appropriate management, not taken out of the budget as called for by the Governor’s Budget of March 2010. The state clearly needs to invest in services and supports that allow people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and addictive disease to live and remain in their home communities, live as independently as possible, and achieve life goals and recovery. North Carolina needs to invest in prevention and ongoing services and supports to prevent the use/misuse of crisis services, large institutions, and large residential settings. Waivers that remove funding are doomed to failure.

The Coalition believes the state should separate the behavioral health and developmental disability portions of the managed care waivers and deal with each population individually.  Read More

The Coalition’s 40 member organizations are acutely aware of the continued fiscal crisis that North Carolina faces.  Families and individuals with developmental disabilities, mental illness and the disease of addiction throughout North Carolina have felt the effects of this unprecedented crisis and the budget cuts imposed by the General Assembly.  In December of 2009, The Coalition launched an online survey tool to collect public input about the impact of cuts to services and supports to people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, and addictive disease, as well as the impact to their families, organizations providing those supports, and the people on the front lines.  The Coalition followed this by sponsoring a series of town hall meetings to allow the public to speak.

Our survey has so far garnered 1400 responses; the majority about the effect of cuts to services and supports on individuals served. Our first 5 town halls had more than 400 participants with members of the public speaking in support of services for people with addictive disease, mental illness and developmental disabilities. As we move forward to address these very serious issues, The Coalition stands ready to assist policymakers in their efforts to find the most appropriate and least damaging solutions. Our members and leadership have decades of experience with this system and can provide a unique insight to potential solutions. Include The Coalition in creating solutions.

The following is a sampling of the responses to our survey and town halls. We urge you to read through these quotes from people across the state.  Read More

BY MICHAEL BIESECKER AND MARK JOHNSON – staff writers

RALEIGH – As North Carolina’s leaders struggle to balance its budget, they are considering proposals to outsource parts of the state’s troubled mental health and probation systems.

Lanier Cansler, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said this week that he is considering privatizing the care of about 80 mental patients at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh in a unit for patients accused of crimes, including rape and murder. The patients are awaiting trial or have been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

“We’re not saying this is a road we particularly want to go down,” said Cansler, who was previously a lobbyist for private contractors working for the agency he now heads. “But when we’re dealing with budgets and all the issues we’re dealing with, we continue to look at ideas for how we might do something different or better or save money.”

Read more

Click here to read the report.

Raleigh, NC — The Coalition, a group of 40 statewide organizations advocating together to meet the needs of North Carolinians living with the disease of addiction, developmental disabilities and mental illness, is calling for local community action in addressing the MHDDSA crisis affecting thousands of North Carolinians. With the NC General Assembly to convene on May 12th, The Coalition is encouraging local people to develop community organizing initiatives to spotlight the most pressing needs in their region and promote a dialogue to address these concerns.  Read More

Read More