Please support SB 24, Senate Amendment #1 | Ben Gordon Center

There is a bill in the Senate now that has the mental health supplemental in it ?and you may want to urge Illinois senators to support it.

See message to senators below- ?Please support SB 24, Senate Amendment #1, Page 85, starting at line 17, Sec. 130:

?The sum of $34,450,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the Health and Human Services Medicaid Trust Fund to the Department of Human Services forawards and grants to developmental disabilities and/or mental health programs?

?Why? -?Cuts to Critical Mental Health Services Were Beyond the Intent of the General Assembly

• ?Due to insufficient revenue in certain funds, the Division of Mental Health was forced to cut funding from critical community mental health crisis programs and psychiatric services.?
• ?These cuts were not the intent of the General Assembly or the Governor in the FY13 budget.
• ?This, at a time when the state?s mental health system is in shambles due to previous cuts over several years, and when providers are stretched so thin many have gone under, leaving thousands struggling with mental illness without the services they need to get well.
• ?Action is needed in the lame duck session on the supplemental appropriation to preserve these services this fiscal year.

?These Cuts Will Cost the State

• ?Given the state?s exposure to lawsuits due to the lack of a community mental health safety-net (which resulted in the Williams and Colbert consent decrees), the General Assembly must ensure that the funds they intended to appropriate are restored to provide critical crisis and psychiatric services to persons suffering from mental illness.?
• ?The state will be exposed to future litigation costs (by failure to comply with the Williams and Colbert consent decrees, and the failure to reinvest funds from the closure of the Tinley Park and Singer facilities in community services) if the community mental health infrastructure is not maintained to support persons with severe mental illness living independently in the community.

Thanks

How to find your State representative for the IL House or IL Senate:

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Districts in the NAMI DKK area for the IL General Assembly are:? 49, 50, 65, 70, 75, 83, 84, 97

You will find district maps to help you find your house representative at:
http://elections.il.gov/votinginformation/2011representativedistricts.aspx

Contact information for your House Representative can be found at:
http://www.ilga.gov/house/default.asp?sortby=DistrictNumber&sortbyformer=&sortbyGA=97

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IL State Senate Districts in the DKK area include: 25, 33, 35, 38, 42, 45

Maps to help you find your senator can be located at:
http://elections.il.gov/votinginformation/2011senatedistricts.aspx

Contact information for your state senator can be found at:
http://www.ilga.gov/senate/default.asp?sortby=DistrictNumber&sortbyformer=&sortbyGA=97
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If I?ve missed anyone you can locate your district on the overview map of senate and house districts at:

http://www.elections.il.gov/gis.aspx

Source: http://www.bengordoncenter.org/2013/01/04/support-sb-24-senate-amendment-1/

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