[NYAPRS Enews] MHW: MH Advocates Object to Additional Cuts to Local Services

[Harvey Rosenthal]

NYAPRS Note: Mental health advocates will be raising their efforts this
week to try and prevent the proposed 6%  additional cuts to local
services proposed by the Governor. 

As we said in an Albany news conference last week, "Our members are
reporting on the first round of 2% cuts to Local Assistance we're just
now getting details about and the news is threatening. ....(the recent)
COLA is being wiped out by the impact of the first round of cuts. Even
small cuts in critically needed services that are struggling to survive
cut deep and threaten to take the whole program down. Some examples
include threatening cuts to:

*	An innovative emergency room diversion program in Westport
*	A popular consumer run drop in program in Geneva
*	A cut to a highly acclaimed Compeer program in Elmira 
*	A loss of vocational services in Newburgh to an agency with
mounting mileage reimbursement costs that could jeopardize visits and
support to people in need in rural areas
*	A drop in homeless prevention services in Buffalo
*	A decreased capacity to offer case management services in Glens
Falls
*	A serious hit to children's services in Binghamton
*	More cuts to a Niagara Falls agency that already has had to
fundraise over $400,000 dollars to fund homeless shelter, food pantry
and soup kitchen services for which no public funds currently exist
*	A serious hit to a Syracuse based rehab center that has done
exemplary work in helping people stay out of hospitals and detox centers
and to get and keep community housing and employment

2% cuts to hard pressed services that were already on the brink......2%
cuts that have already virtually wiped out the long awaited COLA for
seriously underpaid, dedicated community staff...has already jeopardized
our mental health safety net. Now the Governor is proposing a 6% cut on
top of that, along with cuts to critical services for underserved groups
like adult home residents and veterans and the specter of greater
barriers to get psychiatric medications many rely on. 

Especially during difficult fiscal times, state leaders must maintain
their commitment to protect safety net services for our most vulnerable
citizens. We must have a more balanced strategy that avoids causing more
pain and cost in the long run. Weakening critical supports will drive
people to emergency, shelter, hospital and forensic settings that are
ultimately far more costly to people with disabilities and taxpayers
alike."

Stay tuned. 

 

 

N.Y. Budget Crisis Forces Governor To Call Emergency Session

Mental Health Weekly  August 18, 2008

 

Governor David A. Paterson last week called on state lawmakers to make
$600 million in 2008-2009 reductions. He also imposed a hiring freeze
and cut state agency spending by an additional $630 million in order to
address a potential shortfall in the current fiscal year, according to a
press statement.

 

Although New York legislature ended its session in June, Governor
Patterson has asked legislators to return for a special emergency
session of the legislature on August 19.

 

New York mental health advocates have expressed disappointment over the
governor's proposed state budget announcement, which they contend would
cut funding for mental health services and program for individuals with
psychiatric disabilities. 

 

Advocates say the items proposed for cuts by the governor are several
million dollars in mental health funding. Included in his proposal is a
6 percent cut to local assistance programs for consumers of mental
illness. Paterson's proposal also includes cuts that he said would
control state Medicaid spending. 

 

Among the programs slated to be cut if the budget is approved are
clubhouse programs, case management services, children's mental health
services and suicide prevention programs, said Glenn Liebman, chief
executive of the Mental Health Association in New York State. "We have
sent a letter to the governor urging him not to cut mental health
funding," Liebman told MHW.

 

The association has also sent a letter to the New York Senate Majority
Leader and the Assembly speaker, he said. "Our rationale is
several-fold," said Liebman. "In these unsettling economic times more
and more individuals are seeking mental health services. By cutting
mental health services you are creating a perfect storm that will
greatly impact thousands of New Yorkers who have psychiatric
disabilities."

 

"What happens now for the people already in community mental health
programs? If those programs are cut, less people will be getting
services," said Liebman. Reducing community-based services would
undoubtedly shift costs to emergency rooms, the prison systems and other
institutionalized care, he said.

 

At a time when people are dealing with unemployment, bankruptcy,
foreclosure and are experiencing increased anxiety or depression as
well, he said.

 

"We're very concerned," Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the New
York Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS), told

MHW. "We understand this is a tough environment. Many providers around
the state are feeling the pinch."

 

The governor had previously proposed a 2 percent cut to the state's
local assistance programs. His new budget request last week now includes
6 percent in addition to the previous cut. "If 2 percent is painful,
then 6 percent is untenable," added Rosenthal.

 

Rosenthal said NYAPRS has asked the governor and lawmakers to balance
the cuts with increased revenues. NYAPRS is advocating with state
offices and the state legislature to raise the income tax for New
Yorkers who earn over $1 million, he said.

 

The governor's budget proposal also included a change in the state's
Preferred Drug List, he said. Paterson is proposing to expand the
Medicaid

Preferred Drug List to include antidepressants. People in the public
mental health system who need mental health medications, such as
antidepressants currently have access without having to go through the
prior approval process, Rosenthal noted.

 

Rosenthal said advocates will continue their campaign efforts when
lawmakers return on August 19. 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kilakwa.net/pipermail/nyaprs_kilakwa.net/attachments/20080818/18c824f7/attachment.html>