Agenda - 12-15-2009 - 3b - Laserfiche WebLink

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8 MENTAL HEALTH TASK FORCE REPORT 2. Over-reliance on University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill resources as both first and last resort. 3. The attraction our area holds for people with mental health issues, both because of UNC and the general climate (e.g., free transportation; lower unemployment; richness of resources). 4. The difficulty families and individuals experience with navigating the mental health system. Often, they do not have knowledge/capabilities to make their way through the system and there is no simple road map to help with this. 5. The advantage for access to services held by individuals with Medicaid coverage. HOWEVER, qualifying for Medicaid coverage takes a very long time. Those with private insurance often find themselves having used up allotted hours or unable to afford the co-pay. 6. An inadequate supply of safe, affordable housing -adding to the challenges faced by those served by the mental health system. N. The newest challenge: A shrinking resource base During the period in 2008 when the Mayor was planning for and convening this Task Force, the full extent of the recent, national economic crisis had not yet been revealed. Unfortunately, as we were reviewing the local impacts of an already weak state mental health system, members of the Task Force both withessed and directly experienced the tightening grip of recession. Within a month or two of her election in November 2008, the new Governor was anticipating a $2 billion budget revenue shortfall and the Department of Health and Human Services was contemplating reduction of the Medicaid budget by some $224 million, as well as sharp cuts in mental health services -including shut-down of the Wright and Whitaker schools for disturbed children. In August 2009, the Legislature approved the 2010 state budget, which includes major cuts (approximately $75 million) to the mental health/developmental disabilities/substance abuse service system - including elimination of community support services. (See Attachment J.) According to OPC, This translates into $2,250,518 in cuts to the state funds available for services in Orange, Person, and Chatham Counties. This represents approximately 21.5% of our non-crisis state service funding. These cuts in service dollars limit the amount of state dollars available to serve adults and children who do not have health insurance, but are in need of mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse services. In addition, reductions in Medicaid services will affect people with these challenges as well. We have included in Attachment K a detailed Question and Answer document put together by OPC to address the many questions that local citizens and governmental officals may have about the impact of state