House Appropriations to Meet About Budget Today

The House Appropriations Committee will meet this afternoon and vote on June 28 on a budget that fully eliminates MA/cash benefits for 70,000 Pennsylvanians and decreases human services funding by 10%.  The Governor was not able to gain support for the block grant, but the block grant may reappear in a piloted format. We are happy that Rep. DiGirolamo championed our cause in opposition to the block grant.

What can you do? 

- Contact Rep. DiGirolamo’s office and thank him for opposing the block grant.

- Contact your legislator and the House AppropriationsCommittee today and urge them to express their support for funding at the current year’s level for mental health and substance abuse funding.

-Share with them how this would affect you and/or the individuals that matter to you.  

Call Your LOCAL Legislators Today

Contact Your Legislators and ask them to: 

--Express their opposition to the block grant and support for funding at the current year's level for mental health and substance abuse funding to the House and Senate Republican Appropriations Chairs and the House and Senate Majority Leaders.

--Express their opposition to the block grant and support for maintaining the current mental health and substance abuse funding levels in their respective caucus meetings on the budget.

Democratic Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Vincent Hughes (pictured right), announced yesterday in his budget overview that the Human Services Development Fund (HSDF) block grant "is still in flux, not a done deal" and there is support for increasing the amount of the 50 percent restoration of human services funding. Sen. Hughes stressed the urgency to contact your local legislators TODAY (and every day until we have a state budget passed).

We are down to the wire with budget negotiations. The republican leadership and the governor have agreed to spend the number of $27.65 billion, and the details are being worked out as you are reading this.

Thanks to the Better Choices for Pa. Coalition for hosting the call with Sen. Hughes and thanks to each of you for your ongoing budget advocacy efforts! 

Organizational Members of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania

Would you like to become part of a natural network of caring peer support, which can be an invaluable community resource? Consider becoming an Organizational Member of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania and join the first group of Organizational Members listed below. You will receive membership benefits including five individual professional memberships to NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania, discounts on events and priority access to NAMI speakers, trainers and materials. For details, contact Darcey Garda at dgarda@namiswpa.org or (412) 366-3788 ext. 23.

2012 Organizational Members
Allegheny HealthChoices, Inc.
The Alliance for Infants & Toddlers
Autism Education and Research Institute
Community Care Behavioral Health
Community Guidance Center
Family Behavioral Resources
Familylinks
Fayette County Behavioral Health Administration
Gateway Rehab
Heritage Valley Health System
Pace School
PMHS Mercy Behavioral Health
SPHS Behavioral Health
Southwest Behavioral Health Management, Inc.
Value Behavioral Health of PA
The Watson Institute Friendship Academy
Wesley Spectrum Services
Westmoreland Casemanagement & Supports, Inc.

Mission in Action!

Our bus trip last week to Harrisburg for Capitol Day perfectly illustrated how NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania lives its mission of support, education and advocacy. On Tuesday, June 5, our mission was ADVOCACY. We coordinated a bus trip for 50 NAMI staff and members to the state capitol to take part in a rally and make personal visits to all of our state legislators. Our goal was to ask our legislators to:

--STOP the 20% funding cuts to community mental health services.

--STOP the block grant that puts community mental health dollars in jeopardy of being spent on other services.

--STOP the elimination of General Assistance cash benefits and cuts to General Assistance health care benefits.

While the day was successful, our work is not done! Now more than ever YOUR voice must be heard. Contact your state representative and reiterate the three points listed above. To find your state rep, click here. Every phone call, every visit and every email truly does make a difference! Call the NAMI office at (412) 366-3788 if you have questions.

The gang's all here! Our group of advocates took on Harrisburg for Capitol Day!

Executive Director Chris Michaels, Associate Director Debbie Ference and
Marketing and Development Manager Darcey Garda pose with Rep. Gene DiGirolamo. 

Sen. Vincent Hughes stirs up the crowd!

Largest turnout we have ever seen for a state budget rally.

Executive Director of NAMI Southwestern PA Chris Michaels and NAMI PA Director Jim Jordan ask the legislature to "Save Our Services!"

NAMI's Sharon Miller, Sara Levine and Alan Corn join the rally.

Alan Corn and Paul Freund want their voices to be heard in Harrisburg!

The PA Independent interviews Chris Michaels

 

NAMI meets with Rep. Dan Deasy.

After lots of other visits to legislators, the NAMI advocates return to the bus
for a late drive home to Pittsburgh and Butler.

Til next time...

June Education Conferences

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It's not too late to sign up for these upcoming conferences in June. The conferences are coordinated by the Mental Health Conference Planning arm of the Office of Education and Regional Programming (OERP) of Western Pyschiatric and feature top faculty and staff, as well as noted experts from throughout the world. See individual program descriptions for further details.  

Body Dysmorphic Disorder Conference
Thursday, June 14
The Chadwick, Wexford, PA
Click here for program details

Wellness and Prevention: Common Ground for Integrated Care
Monday, June 18
Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA
Click here for program details

19th Annual Pennsylvania Case Management Conference
"Case Management -- The Common Thread"
Monday, June 22
Doubletree Hotel, Monroeville, PA
Click here for program details

For a complete list of OERP trainings, click here.