How Can You Help Advocate on Behalf of Children’s
Mental Health?
There are many things you can do to help make a different and bring awareness to the issues surrounding children and adolescent mental health. Getting involved is one of the first steps to making a difference in the lives of many. Here are a few things you can do to take action!
1. Call legislators to convey your position. This is a quick and easy way to advocate for your cause.
2. Write a letter to your state legislature advocating for your cause. Remember that legislators receive hundreds of written letters and emails so make sure that your letter or email stands out.
3. Travel to Annapolis and meet with a legislator in person to advocate for your cause.
Mental Health & Drug Treatment Programs Rally
Shouting the slogan "keep the doors open," several hundred supporters of Maryland's mental health and drug treatment programs rallied outside the State House in Annapolis Wednesday to protest proposed cuts in the budget for compensating care providers. Mental illness patients, recovering drug addicts ad parents of children with those problems were among the speakers as members of the Behavioral Care Coalition gathered to seek the restoration of about $23 million. Those funds were trimmed from such programs under the Hogan and O'Malley administrations as a means to close a revenue shortfall.
Cathy Meyers, who runs the Center for Children mental health care services provider in Southern Maryland, compared the state's budget-cutting to the shipping line that operated the Titanic. "We as providers no longer have lifeboats. We no longer have longstanding crew members who are ready to go down with the ship," she said. Meyers said her 26-year-old center provides help to about 3,000 patients in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties. But she said she's had to cut staff hours and deny raises because ofstate budget cuts to the amount the center is compensated. "Where do these 3,000 children and families go when we close our doors?" she demanded. Other speakers found a contradiction between Hogan's emphasis on fighting what he calls a heroin epidemic and his budget's cuts in compensation for drug treatment providers. "How can we say on one hand it's an epidemic and a state of emergency and then take money away?"
The Baltimore Sun (exert) 02/25/2015
Michael Dresser