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SAMPLE ADVOCACY LETTER

January 27, 2009


The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger, GovernorThe Honorable Karen Bass, Assembly SpeakerThe Honorable Darrell Steinberg, Senate President pro TemporeThe Honorable Senator ______________
The Honorable Assembly Member ______________

Dear Governor, Legislative leaders and local elected representatives:

(Insert I or Name of Organization/Association am/are) writing today on behalf of the more than 600,000 Californians served by the State’s public mental health system and the many more who desperately need and deserve services, we are writing to communicate our strong opposition to the Governor’s proposal to unravel the voter-approved Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). The Governor’s FY 2009-10 budget proposal amounts to a shameful attack on people living with mental illness who literally have no other option for services and shelter. It also represents a dramatic attempt to undermine the voters’ clear call for additional services to help thousands more people living with mental illness access recovery and support in their own communities.

Despite the Administration’s characterization of his proposal to redirect $226.7 million in MHSA funding to reduce the State’s obligations to the Medi-Cal Managed Care Consolidation Program as “one-time only,” the Governor’s FY 2009-10 proposal would completely and permanently eliminate General Fund support for this program. The fiscal and operational consequences of this proposal would be catastrophic to counties and the clients they serve. What’s more, the Governor’s call for a ballot initiative to reverse critical provisions of Proposition 63 would permanently lock California into the inadequate mental health financing system which existed before the landmark measure’s approval by voters.

If approved, the Governor’s proposal to redirect MHSA funds and reverse critical provisions of Proposition 63 would have the following disastrous consequences for California communities:

Cause immediate harm to the most vulnerable in our state who rely on the Medi-Cal Managed Care Consolidation program for their most basic mental health services.
Exacerbate the cash crunch counties are already experiencing in the current economic downturn by forcing them to direct sharply declining MHSA dollars into Medi-Cal services.
Threaten counties’ ability to continue providing services to more than 200,000 new clients who have been served with Mental Health Services Act funding, literally forcing thousands of vulnerable Californians out of treatment and shelter and onto the streets.
Stop short the dramatic gains California has made under the MHSA to expand mental health services to the many people in our communities who desperately need care.

As you know, Proposition 63 was approved overwhelmingly in 2004 by voters who recognized the dire need to address decades of inadequate state funding to meet the most basic needs of mental health consumers in communities across California. By calling for the redirection of MHSA dollars into existing state and county programs, the Governor’s proposal completely undermines the intent of the voters to expand mental health services to reach thousands more who need services but who cannot be served without additional funding.

In short, the Governor’s proposal threatens the tens of thousands of people who rely on state-supported mental health services for their basic survival and ability to live safely in their communities, and it turns the clock back on California’s efforts to reach the approximately 60% of people living with disabling mental illness who have not historically been served by the State’s mental health system.

(Insert I or Name of Organization or Association) urge your immediate rejection of the Governor’s proposed redirection of MHSA dollars to the Medi-Cal Managed Care Consolidation Program, and the accompanying ballot proposal.

Sincerely,



(Insert Name, Title and Organization as Appropriate)