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9 <br />MENTAL HEALTH TASK FORCE REPORT <br />budget cuts. This information is posted on the OPC web page (htt~•//www opcareagrogram com/) and will be <br />updated as changes occur. <br />All of us who care about the availability and provision of quality mental health/developmental <br />disabilities/substance abuse services view this turn of events as a major and serious blow to efforts of local <br />citizens, policy-makers, advocates and providers to improve care in our community. <br />V. Task Force conclusions and recommendations <br />It is difficult to identify concrete, meaningfu/ways that we at the local level can have an impact on either <br />state system reform or the particular choices made by legislators to address the budget shortfall. Certainly, <br />we can add our voices to those of active advocates for change at the state level (e.g., our local legislators; <br />NAMI; Mental Health Assodation; other professional organizations). In addition, we believe that efforts to <br />more fully educate and sensitize state legislators and policy leaders would be enhanced if local providers were <br />to come together, develop an advocacy/education agenda and speak collectively. The providers in our <br />community have been working against the tide for many years. Aside from the families and clients <br />themselves, who better understands the devastating impact of over-regulation and under-payment, service <br />gaps and fragmentation, Medicaid cuts, barriers to information-sharing and the litany of other system flaws? <br />While we understand that time spent toward system improvement is not reimbursable and might be viewed <br />as "taking away" from client service, we believe that a strong, collective provider voice could, in fact, <br />significantly "add value". <br />Ultimately, it was the Task Force's conclusion that our own efforts were best directed to identification of <br />local actions that might be taken by citizens and leaders of our community to improve awareness, <br />coordination, capacity and delivery of mental health, developmental disability and addiction services within <br />the Orange County community. Within an environment of extreme constraint, we believe that the following <br />recommendations, if implemented, could lead to positive local change, in the form of 1) additional service <br />capacity and 2) increased community awareness of and sensitivity to the needs and challenges of the <br />mentally ill AND greater inclusiveness. <br />7 <br />