NY families lobby state legislature on mental health issues

From the Legislative Gazette:

Families Together in New York State brought families and youth to Albany on Jan. 9 to meet with legislators to discuss the challenges faced by parents and their children with special needs.

The parent-run Families Together organization, which represents thousands of families across the state, has a legislative policy agenda for this year that pushes for youth and families to receive timely and affordable access to mental health services and for education in the least restrictive environment possible. The parents also want to be assured they will never be forced to relinquish custody of their children in order to receive mental health services.

"We don't want to give our children to the foster care system; we don't want our children to end up in the juvenile justice system. We want to have our children at home in our communities getting the coordinated services they need with the support of our families," said Families Together Executive Director Paige Pierce. "In this state families still relinquish custody of their children in order to receive mental health services in residential settings. This is not acceptable."

Pierce, who recently testified on behalf of Families Together at a joint legislative budget hearing on proposed 2010-2011 state spending for mental health and hygiene, said the organization is made up of family members and youth receiving mental health, substance abuse, special education and child welfare services.

Pierce has an 18-year old son who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome 15 years ago and knows of the problems families and youths face when trying to find treatment for children's mental disorders and addictions.

The theme for the organization's policy agenda sprouts from the state's 2008 Children's Plan. The state Office of Mental Health Web site says the plan charts a course of action to improve upon the services and supports provided to children and their families in New York.

According to Pierce, commissioners from all child-serving systems in the state have signed onto the plan, including the Office of Children and Family Services and the Council on Children and Families.

Kristen Riley, deputy commissioner for children and family services at the Office of Mental Health said that with the Children's Plan, the organization has started working on a program they are calling "the promise zone" to establish a framework for all of the state's agencies to work better with schools to assist children with special needs.

The program is aimed at helping to reduce dropout rates and keep children in schools and learning.

Kristen Proud, representing Gov. David A. Paterson's office at the Families Together lobby day event, said the governor has supported the organization's goals and has worked to push legislation to help families around the state.

"Until I came to the governor's office I didn't have as full an appreciation as I now have for just how complicated all of our systems are and the needs of our individuals from across the communities in New York, and that's something I have learned a lot from Families Together," said Proud. "People need a lot more than what any one agency in the state or the local level can provide for them … We are trying to coordinate things and break down barriers."

Family Together's Bill Przylucki, who was recently named director of the Children's Plan, said work is being done to improve communication between families with special needs children and the organization. Przylucki said he wants to assure parents that improvements in areas such as community services and making sure children are not placed into foster care will be achieved through the plan. "This will not become a shelf document," said Przylucki.

Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, D-Buffalo, who chairs the Assembly Subcommittee on Autism Retention and was presented with an award from Family Together for his efforts, spoke at the organization's event about legislation he is sponsoring to improve the lives of children with special needs and their families.

"We have created five bills related to mental health, in particular autism, and this committee is coming here to Albany on March 9 as champions of the bills to convince the Legislature it's the right thing to do," said Schroeder.

Those bills are: (A.8996/S.5986) to mandate teacher training and ensure educators are certified in the area of autism teaching; (A.9075/S.6200) to address the problem of children and adolescents with behavioral health issues not receiving appropriate care because of a lack of integration of services and funding streams; (A.8998/S.5985) to create universal consent forms for transferring children's mental health care records to health care providers;(A.8251/S.6201) to mandate pediatric care providers screen for autism; and (A.8625a/S.5831a) to direct the state commissioner of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to study and report the costs to the state for the early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and the long-term treatment for individuals with autism.

Families Together is also lobbying in support of measures that would save peer-run family support groups from budget cuts, reform of the juvenile justice system for a safer environment and restore proposed budget cuts to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families after-school programs. The organization also wants to see mental health clinic services funded for those without Medicaid and the reinstatement of a quality local diploma for those students unable to meet the requirements for a Regents diploma.