As shared from our friends at Access Living...
UPDATE TO INFO BELOW..
Dear Access Living friends and allies,
We have a new development in the effort of IMD owners to expand their operations in Illinois. House Amendment 1 (HA 1) has been filed to Senate Bill 26 (HA 1), which will be heard in the House Human Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 am. SB 26 is good because it expands Medicaid benefits to people who have been uninsured, but HA 1 contains the language that would allow Institutes for Mental Disease (IMDs) to keep sucking away state dollars into large warehouses for people with psychiatric disabilities. We need your help to OPPOSE and here is how to do it.
Click on the action alert link here to quickly send a message to legislative leaders. If you already did it today, do it again. We have till 9 am tomorrow (Tuesday) to make a difference.
To "Take Action" , Community Living Services At Risk? Action Needed TODAY! CLICK HERE
Please take action as soon as possible. Your voice makes a difference and we will keep you posted.
Amber Smock
Director of Advocacy, Access Living
# # #
URGENT ACTION NEEDED!
We have a dangerous new development on the efforts of operators of Institutes for Mental Disease (IMDs) to continue doing business as usual by warehousing people with psychiatric disabilities. We need YOUR help.
Early this Tuesday morning, May 21, the Illinois House Human Services Committee will consider Senate Bill 26 (SB 26), the popular Medicaid expansion bill. While Access Living supports SB 26, we have heard that Senate Bill 45 (SB 45) may be attached to SB 26 as an amendment or rider. SB 45 is the bill that would allow some IMDs to continue to operate and keep using state money to do so.
IMDs are not cute places where people live to safely recover from mental health crises. They are often very scary, have little privacy and provide few safety measures and services for residents. IMDs are the reason why Access Living and our partners at Equip for Equality and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law filed the original Williams v. Quinn Olmstead lawsuit. IMDs are a waste of Illinois’ money at a time when more cost effective community mental health services and housing supports are fighting tooth and nail for basic funds.
SB 45 serves only one interest: that of the IMD owners. SB 45 puts nursing home profits above the rights of people with mental illness to live in integrated settings and ignores the reality that living in the community costs less than living in an IMD. It cannot be allowed to be attached to SB 26, or to pass on its own.
If you believe that people with disabilities should not have to live in institutions, contact your representative and tell him or her to oppose SB 45 and its possible attachment to SB 26. Remember, we support SB 26 but not the attachment of SB 45.
There are two action steps you can take to help.
1. Contact the leaders on SB 26 and SB 45 today. Use our easy action form to tell them that the legislation is counter to the rights of people with disabilities to live in integrated settings and that IMDs (even when they are called SMHRFs) should not be supported by the state when people can live better lives in the community, and at a lower cost. Senator Heather Steans has been the leader on both bills in the Senate. On the House side, the leader is Representative Sara Feigenholtz. The leaders of the House Human Services Committee are Representatives Robyn Gabel, Derrick Smith and JoAnn Osmond. If you are reading this in an email, click on the “Take Action” link to get started. If you are reading this on our website, scroll down to use the easy form to write one letter to all five.
2. Contact the entire House Human Services Committee. SB 26 will be heard before the House Human Services Committee at 9 am on Tuesday. You can see the entire committee list here. Click on each person’s name and it will show you their office phone numbers and e-mails, if available. Try calling their Springfield offices between 8:30 am and 5 pm MONDAY May 20.
To "Take Action" , Community Living Services At Risk? Action Needed TODAY! CLICK HERE
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
For an overview of the problems involved in institutionalizing people with mental health issues, see the University of Chicago Law School’s Mental Health Summit resource page.
# # #
For Access Living's homepage: CLICK HERE
UPDATE TO INFO BELOW..
Dear Access Living friends and allies,
We have a new development in the effort of IMD owners to expand their operations in Illinois. House Amendment 1 (HA 1) has been filed to Senate Bill 26 (HA 1), which will be heard in the House Human Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 am. SB 26 is good because it expands Medicaid benefits to people who have been uninsured, but HA 1 contains the language that would allow Institutes for Mental Disease (IMDs) to keep sucking away state dollars into large warehouses for people with psychiatric disabilities. We need your help to OPPOSE and here is how to do it.
Click on the action alert link here to quickly send a message to legislative leaders. If you already did it today, do it again. We have till 9 am tomorrow (Tuesday) to make a difference.
To "Take Action" , Community Living Services At Risk? Action Needed TODAY! CLICK HERE
Please take action as soon as possible. Your voice makes a difference and we will keep you posted.
Amber Smock
Director of Advocacy, Access Living
# # #
URGENT ACTION NEEDED!
We have a dangerous new development on the efforts of operators of Institutes for Mental Disease (IMDs) to continue doing business as usual by warehousing people with psychiatric disabilities. We need YOUR help.
Early this Tuesday morning, May 21, the Illinois House Human Services Committee will consider Senate Bill 26 (SB 26), the popular Medicaid expansion bill. While Access Living supports SB 26, we have heard that Senate Bill 45 (SB 45) may be attached to SB 26 as an amendment or rider. SB 45 is the bill that would allow some IMDs to continue to operate and keep using state money to do so.
IMDs are not cute places where people live to safely recover from mental health crises. They are often very scary, have little privacy and provide few safety measures and services for residents. IMDs are the reason why Access Living and our partners at Equip for Equality and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law filed the original Williams v. Quinn Olmstead lawsuit. IMDs are a waste of Illinois’ money at a time when more cost effective community mental health services and housing supports are fighting tooth and nail for basic funds.
SB 45 serves only one interest: that of the IMD owners. SB 45 puts nursing home profits above the rights of people with mental illness to live in integrated settings and ignores the reality that living in the community costs less than living in an IMD. It cannot be allowed to be attached to SB 26, or to pass on its own.
If you believe that people with disabilities should not have to live in institutions, contact your representative and tell him or her to oppose SB 45 and its possible attachment to SB 26. Remember, we support SB 26 but not the attachment of SB 45.
There are two action steps you can take to help.
1. Contact the leaders on SB 26 and SB 45 today. Use our easy action form to tell them that the legislation is counter to the rights of people with disabilities to live in integrated settings and that IMDs (even when they are called SMHRFs) should not be supported by the state when people can live better lives in the community, and at a lower cost. Senator Heather Steans has been the leader on both bills in the Senate. On the House side, the leader is Representative Sara Feigenholtz. The leaders of the House Human Services Committee are Representatives Robyn Gabel, Derrick Smith and JoAnn Osmond. If you are reading this in an email, click on the “Take Action” link to get started. If you are reading this on our website, scroll down to use the easy form to write one letter to all five.
2. Contact the entire House Human Services Committee. SB 26 will be heard before the House Human Services Committee at 9 am on Tuesday. You can see the entire committee list here. Click on each person’s name and it will show you their office phone numbers and e-mails, if available. Try calling their Springfield offices between 8:30 am and 5 pm MONDAY May 20.
To "Take Action" , Community Living Services At Risk? Action Needed TODAY! CLICK HERE
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
For an overview of the problems involved in institutionalizing people with mental health issues, see the University of Chicago Law School’s Mental Health Summit resource page.
# # #
For Access Living's homepage: CLICK HERE
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