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The Bazelon Mental Health Policy ReporterVolume III : Issue 4 : May 6, 2004
What's in this issue?Feature Article: Appropriations Are Key to Transforming Mental Health Newsbytes
Appropriations Are Key to Transforming Mental Health(May 6, 2004)—When the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health released its final report last July, it called for a fundamental transformation of public mental health systems. Now, as the appropriations season heats up, the time has come for lawmakers to provide the critical federal dollars needed to begin realizing the Commission’s vision. Testifying before the House appropriations subcommittee charged with approving much of the federal government’s mental health services funding, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) administrator Charles Curie last week stressed the importance of the President's budget priorities, including millions in new money to help states act on a key recommendation by the Commission. In its interim report, the Commission acknowledged states’ critical role in addressing the nation’s mental health crisis. The President’s budget requests $44 million dollars for State Incentive Grants for Transformation—money states could use for a planning process to end persistent fragmentation in their public mental health systems and for services and supports to address unmet mental health needs. Under the President’s proposed budget, 14 states could receive grants in fiscal year 2005. In anticipation, some states have already formed commissions tasked with developing plans to restructure their crumbling public mental health systems into efficient, effective and "seamless" service-delivery systems for adults and children with mental health needs. The grants won’t fully address the dire need to reform disintegrating state mental health systems, but even limited funding of the State Incentive Grants for Transformation is a vital first step toward realizing the Commission’s important vision of a transformed public mental health system. Working with the Campaign for Mental Health Reform, the Bazelon Center is urging Congress to adequately fund mental health and especially these important grants. Many priorities will compete for lawmakers’ support in this election year. However, the President’s Commission on Mental Health has made clear that fundamental transformation of the nation’s public mental health system is urgently needed. Congress must now respond accordingly and support state efforts to address America’s mental health crisis with essential funding for the State Incentive Grants for Transformation. Take action NowUrgent action is needed to support the Commission’s vision for transformation of the public mental health system. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to be connected to your lawmakers. Urge them to support the Commission’s vision by fully funding the State Incentive Grants for Transformation proposed in the President’s budget and to provide needed increases in existing community-based service grants available through SAMHSA. You can also send a message to your Member of Congress at democracyinaction.org. The House and Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittees will play a key role in deciding funding. It is especially important that you contact your Senators and Representative if they are listed below. If your Senators or Representative are not on one of the subcommittees, ask them to contact a subcommittee member to express support. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education: Alren Specter (R-PA)-Chair House Appropriations Subcommittee for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education: Ralph Regula (R-OH)-Chair NewsbytesSenate Passes Family Opportunity ActThe Senate today passed S. 622 by unanimous consent. The bill, sponsored by Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA), would allow families to "buy in" to Medicaid on a sliding scale to cover a child who meets the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) definition of disability. A family with access to employer-sponsored health care that contributes at least 50% of the premium must elect this coverage and use these benefits first. The child's Medicaid coverage would then supplement the private health insurance policy. The Family Opportunity Act would also provide a needed fix to Medicaid's home- and community-based waiver to allow children with serious emotional disturbance who are at risk of being placed in a residential treatment center or who are currently receiving services in such a center to access services under the waiver. (Only children in or at risk of placement in a hospital are now eligible for services under the waiver.) Senate Prepares for IDEA DebateThe Senate appears ready to take the next step toward reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), with Majority Leader Bill Frist expected to bring up IDEA reauthorization as early as next week. The Senate bill (S. 1248), which was approved by committee last summer, is likely to reach the floor for debate this month. Advocates believe the full Senate will pass S. 1248 with few substantial changes from the committee version. The House approved its own version of the legislation last year, but that bill takes a very different stance on refining the special education law. The House bill includes discipline provisions that would make it frighteningly easy for school administrators to deny children with mental or emotional disorders the free and appropriate public education to which they are entitled under the IDEA. Disability advocates are urging key House and Senate education leaders
to maintain the important monitoring and enforcement provisions now in
the Senate bill when compromise legislation is negotiated between the
House and Senate versions. Senators Seek Improvements in TANF BillReauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Children program (TANF) also awaits Senate approval. Disability advocates continue to press for language in the bill to better address the unique barriers TANF recipients with disabilities and their families face in securing and maintaining employment. The committee-approved TANF renewal bill now awaiting floor consideration would allow recipients to count participation in rehabilitative activities, such as substance abuse and mental health services, toward the program’s work requirement for up to six months, so long as some core work activity is combined with these rehabilitative services in the second half of that period. The House-passed version is even more limited, allowing only three months of participation to count toward the work requirement. Legislation introduced by Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR), Jim Jeffords (I-VT) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) would give states significantly more flexibility to help recipients overcome barriers to employment. S. 1523 would allow states to count participation in rehabilitative activities toward TANF’s work requirements beyond six months. The bill would require individuals to participate in core work activity for at least half of their time to retain TANF eligibility.
National Conference Planned on Mental Health & HousingThe Mental Health Association in Tulsa (MHA-Tulsa) is sponsoring a national housing conference, A Place to Call Home: Exploring Innovative Approaches to Housing for People with Mental Illness. The conference—which will take place September 29, 30 and October 1, 2004 in Tulsa, Oklahoma—will focus on six primary areas: planning and development, fundraising, coalition building and consensus reaching, model housing options, community services and supports, and clinical wraparound services. The MHA in Tulsa is sponsoring the conference in collaboration with several organizations, including Habitat for Humanity International, NAMI, the National Mental Health Association and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Michael Allen, senior staff attorney at the Bazelon Center, will speak about what integrated housing means for people with mental illnesses, focusing specifically on what the Olmstead decision requires and on housing models that are consistent with the President’s New Freedom Commission recommendations. Learn More: To learn more about this event, including the preliminary agenda and
financial assistance opportunities, please visit www.mhat.org or email
zarrowinfo@mhat.org. Support the Bazelon Mental Health Policy ReporterYour tax-deductible contribution helps us keep you informed on the latest developments in mental health law and policy. Please make a donation now. |
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