Call To Action: The Mental Health White Paper

If you care about mental health services for the indigent, please join me today in emailing or phoning the legislators involved.

Here's a sample email (please cut, paste, and edit to make it your own):

Dear Senator ________:

Please correct your recent cut of mental health funding for North Carolina's mental health service providers. The budget cuts of the last five years have taken their toll on the service providers who remain in business.

The recent 33% cut in community support services reimbursements is irresponsible. Of course, those service providers who are defrauding the state should be dealt with. However, it makes no sense to cut fees retroactively to organizations who use that amount to make the budgets. It will result in cuts of services for the least able to defend themselves for the ridiculous reason that a few providers have abused the system.

Do you realize that the state is already ranked 50th in per capita mental health funding? Among other unacceptable scenarios, these recent cuts will result in untrained police officers having to deal with the dangerously untreated mentally ill.

Please immediately restore the $61/hour payments to those qualified.

As to the future, it's obvious that North Carolina legislators need to completely overhaul our mental health system. The current system is negligent, irresponsible, unacceptable, and unChristian.

Thank you so much for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Name, address, phone.

 
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.” So enjoy the drama.

Senate and House reps contacted.
One man with courage makes a majority.
- Andrew Jackson

Jan Lee at state Senator Martin Nesbitt's office say that the senator has tried to work with Secretary of Health and Human Services Carmen Hooker Odom and that she is uncooperative and rarely even attends any meetings. Ms. Lee suggested I call Odom as well as Governor Easley's office.

I'm now on hold with the assistant to Secretary Odom (919-733-4534). No one at this department seems all that aware of the situation. I have to repeat myself at least four times. Then I got a truly artificial woman named Jean Parrish who, after not really wanting to know much about my interests, directs me to call "Citizen Services." She said, "This is the office the Secretary has designated to receive her calls."

I said, "How does the Secretary find out what kind of calls she is getting? Does the office of Citizen Services send her some kind of report?"

"Uhhhhh. They might do that, yes."

"Well, if she actually gets the report, will she read it?"

Jean said, "Well, thank you for calling." I kid you not. It was the worst faux-sugar brushoff I've ever gotten. She said it several times as I asked questions. It took me four questions just to get her name.

Nice talkin' to ya, Jean.

Off to Citizen Services 800-662-7030. This should be fun. God help the mentally ill with these people at the helm.
 
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.” So enjoy the drama.

but it didn't work. It has that tone for no good numbers but it's just busy. I called back to health and human services and got 919-855-4400. I'm getting one of those long lists. I've been on the line for two minutes and have gotten lists and get a message saying all our "specialists are busy." Now, I'm getting awful music and the repeated "all our specialists are busy." I feel guilty for wasting a specialist's time when I should be getting through to someone who works on the budget (or assists someone who has a say in the budget.)

God help our mentally ill citizens.
 
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.” So enjoy the drama.

to leave a message that Secretary Odom won't get, I'm thinking more kindly of my friend, Jean. At least she didn't lie and say the secretary would get the message I'm now waiting to leave with a specialist who probably has better things to do than talk to me about something over which he or she has absolutely no say.
 
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.” So enjoy the drama.

I need to talk to her supervisor, a Jo Paul, who is not available right now. I'm getting her voice mail. I've asked for a direct number but no response yet on that one. I am being given the number I have already called on (855-4400) and told it's a direct number. I've left a message, basically, "what can I do to impress upon the secretary the need for more funding for the mentally ill? I want to help and have been directed to this office."
 
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.” So enjoy the drama.

If you call Sen. Malone, be sure to pass along your sympathies for him. His wife died less than two weeks ago.

http://www.ncdp.org

The legislators need to be left alone. The problem starts with the Governor and Odom. They're destroying the system deliberately. I'll post more when I have it lined up. But first, I'm going to remove all the legislator's names and post the numbers for Odom and Easley.
 
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.” So enjoy the drama.