Sunday, March 1, 2015

Help us pass HB65 - Tim Morton ACT

TOLL-FREE MESSAGE LINE TO LEGISLATORS: 1-800-372-7181 

I alone with many others, have advocated for a revised and "more humane outpatient treatment law" to replace the KRS202A.081, for over 5 years. HB65 is the 5th bill that has been sponsored in the past 3 years and is the combination of HB221 and SB50 from 2014

It has been debated and chiseled into a bill that Ky's mental health agencies have adopted to support in the 2015 general assembly … including the support of the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition KMHC, (with over 90 statewide agencies including NAMI Kentucky.)  

For more information why HB65 it has been renamed after Tim Morton, click here: http://changementalhealthlawsinky.blogspot.com/2015/02/hb65-would-have-given-my-son-tim-right.html



ADVOCACY ALERT
from NAMI Kentucky and KMHC

YOUR CALLS MAY DETERMINE THE LIFE OR DEATH OF THIS BILL

I can't emphasize enough how important it is for you to make calls or send emails.

1. Over the weekend and on Monday: To House A and R Committee: Please hear HB 65 as soon as possible and vote passage with amendment that removes fiscal concerns.

2. On Monday and Tuesday: To House Leadership: The fiscal concerns about HB 65 have been resolved. Please move the bill quickly through A & R and a vote in the House!!

3. Once the bill is heard in A and R: To All House Members, Please pass HB 65 to improve mental health treatment for those with serious mental illness.


Feel free to talk more about the bill if you wish. We just need to let them hear from lots of us.

TOLL-FREE MESSAGE LINE TO LEGISLATORS: 1-800-372-7181

LEGISLATORS' FAX NUMBER: 1-502-564-6543

THIS IS THE HOUR!!! THIS IS THE TIME!!

Ella Hunter
NAMI Kentucky
Public Policy and Research Chair
859-338-2517 (Call if you have any questions)

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2/27/15:  IMPORTANT INFORMATION – UPDATE ON HB 65 – OUTPATIENT TREATMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS
WITH SEVERE AND PERSISTENT MENTAL ILLNESS

As you all know, HB 65 passed the House Health & Welfare Committee unanimously on 2/12/15 and we thought it was headed for a quick passage by the full House, as it was placed on the Consent Calendar.  Unfortunately, nature intervened with snow, ice and cold…and the House did not meet during the week of 2/16 – 2/20/15.

On 2/25/15, we learned that the bill had been taken from the Consent Calendar and sent to the House Appropriations & Revenue Committee (never a good sign).  Our bill sponsor, Rep. Burch, immediately went to work to find out what had caused this reassignment and we learned that a significant fiscal impact had been described by the KY Department for Public Advocacy (public defenders).

Yesterday morning, there was a meeting with Ed Monahan (Director of DPA), his assistant, Damon Preston, Chairman Burch and his assistance Tom Schwab, the LRC Budget Reviewer, Steve Shannon and me.  It was a long and intense meeting as we tried to resolve the legitimate concerns raised by DPA around the AOT portion of the bill.  We, of course, made the arguments that public defenders would likely be dealing with these individuals with SPMI anyway and that we were trying to have that intervention be before hospitalization, rather than during or after! 

Chairman Burch was very strong in his resolve to move the bill out for passage, stating that we needed to put some new approaches into practice here in Kentucky to address these unmet needs.  Steve and I weighed in strongly as well, that we had defined this approach narrowly and it needed to be tried.  One of the major concerns expressed by DPA was that currently, they handle MIW cases in 7 District Courts (counties) across the state, not in all 120 counties.  They estimated that they would have to add a significant number of public defenders to provide statewide coverage…hence, the cost impact which would kill the bill.

compromise was reached which, when amended to the bill, will remove the fiscal impact statement and allow the bill to go forward.  The AOT portion of the bill (old SB 50) will be implemented in the following counties:  Boone, Christian, Fayette, Hardin, Jefferson, Kenton and Perry.  These counties cover approximately one-third of Kentucky’s population and allow DPA to use their attorneys who are already covering cases at ARH, Central State, Eastern State, and Western State hospitals.  We also agreed to add to the criteria that AOT would be available to individuals who have previously been hospitalized (a condition in most of the other AOT laws).

bonus in amending the bill at this point in time is that we can name it the Tim Morton Act in loving memory of Tim and as a tribute to the incredible advocacy of Faye Morton and her family.

Next Steps:  The bill needs to be heard (briefly) in the House A&R Committee so the amendment can be made and the fiscal impact removed.  That should happen on either Monday or Tuesday.  We will need to get the bill heard and voted on in the House ASAP after it is moved out by A&R.   Once out of the House, we will have to move it very quickly (hopefully) to Senate Health & Welfare and then out of the Senate.  Time is our big enemy at this point…but there is still sufficient time to get it done!

Thank you for your tremendous advocacy on this important bill!    
Sheila

Sheila A. Schuster, Ph.D.
Advocacy Action Network
120 Sears Avenue, Suite 212
Louisville, KY  40207
502-894-0222 phone