Dismantling the Community Mental Health System And

BROKEN PROMISES

Dismantling the Community Mental Health System and Harmful General Assistance Cuts

Promise Made – Candidate Tom Corbett promised to help Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens, including individuals with mental illness and/or facing challenges of addiction.

Promise Broken – Governor Tom Corbett’s budget is recommending the most significant change and cut to the community mental health system since its inception, over 50 years ago, including: . $110 million dollar reduction to community mental health services

. An additional $12.6 million reduction to the Behavioral Health Services Initiative (BHSI) and the Act 152 Drug and Alcohol Program

. A change in the administration of Community Mental Health funding – after the 20% cut, the remaining funds are put into a Human Services Development Fund Block Grant to county government. The behavioral health funding accounts for 73% of the proposed block grant total and yet there is NO commitment to ensure that counties will spend that 73% on persons with mental illness or substance abuse issues. In addition, the budget proposes to eliminate General Assistance (GA) cash assistance and slash funding for GA-related Medical Assistance.

. General Assistance is a last-resort program providing extremely meager benefits to 68,000 Pennsylvanians with no income.

. Mental health and substance use disorder clients/consumers are approximately 30% of the users of this crucial benefit. It remains unclear how the rules are going to be applied that will result in the projected savings.

The GA cuts coupled with the reductions to mental health and substance use dollars will eliminate the safety net for thousands of vulnerable people

CHIPPs Funding

Promise Made – As PA has successfully closed state hospitals, every Governor since Governor Casey promised local communities that the sins of the 60’s and deinstitutionalization would not be repeated. Pennsylvania has been a leader in its commitment to closing state hospitals, and offering a real opportunity to individuals to live full lives in the community. State hospital dollars, or CHIPPS funding follows the individual into the community and supports their recovery and those who might have gone to the hospital.

Promise Broken – Since 1990, NO ADMINISTRATION has reduced the CHIPPs funding promised to the communities until now. Governor Corbett cuts the funding by 20% which will likely result in a return to the problems of the 1960’s deinstitutionalization including an increase in jail population, homelessness, use of emergency rooms and a return to more costly inpatient treatment. Nothing About Us Without Us

Promise Made – Governor Tom Corbett promised a transparent and open government. Essential to the success of the community mental health and substance abuse systems is the commitment to the motto “nothing about us without us”. Transparency, input, oversight and feedback by those who need and experience treatment, their families, advocates and providers are essential to a successful mental health system.

Promise Broken – The biggest system change in over 40 years is being done with NO input, NO feedback, and NO oversight by those impacted by the change. The law that has governed the mental health system for over 40 years will no longer be in effect.

Take Action – Communicate with Legislators the following messages: . Oppose the Block Grant – this proposed block grant is a major shift in public policy that was developed with no stakeholder participation. While the stated goals of flexibility and better integration of programs and services, without a considered plan of action that includes input from all stakeholders, there is no assurance that the block grant will meet these goals. The behavioral health funding accounts for 73% of the proposed block grant total and yet there is NO commitment to ensure that counties will spend that 73% on persons with mental illness or substance abuse issues.

. Oppose the 20% Cut - this cut will devastate the community mental health system. The cuts were proposed without regard to the severe consequences such as increased homelessness, elimination of life sustaining services, increased incarceration, increased use of more costly services such as emergency room visits and inpatient treatment.

. Oppose the 20% cut to CHIPP funding – As state hospitals were closed or significantly downsized, individuals and communities across PA were repeatedly promised that the Commonwealth would provide and maintain community mental health care and that individuals would not be “dumped” into the streets, into emergency rooms or into jails. Plans at the local level were developed based on these promises. The promises and plans are being scrapped as the Governor proposes severe funding cuts under the guise of reform.

. GA benefits must be restored. It is particularly critical that people struggling with mental illness and substance use disorder who are in need of services not have benefits eliminated nor be subject to expanded restrictive criteria that will limit their access to treatment.

These cuts must be restored. The block grant is wrong and should be stopped. Promises made to consumers and to communities must be kept. The proposal for massive cuts must be rejected.