Legislative Changes Proposed
Most of you are aware of the changes The Department of Mental Health has proposed for services to people with Developmental Disabilities, in that they will be significantly reduced or eliminated all together. Several parents, staff and self-advocates from our area are planning to attend the Legislative Oversight Committee meeting in Raleigh next Thursday as our legislators discuss these changes. All in attendance would be observers, it will not be an open floor; but at the same time, the number of folks attending would speak volumes for our advocacy efforts. The Arc of NC will be in attendance, as will many others affiliated with MH/DD/SA across the state. The meeting will be held at the Legislative Building in Raleigh beginning at 9:30 am. The DD discussions will be first on the agenda. For those interested, we are planning to meet locally and carpool to Raleigh for the meeting. The time and location has not been determined as of yet, but will be soon. For more information about these changes, please log onto the following link:
http://www.arcnc.org/action_alert/index.shtml.
If you or someone you know is interested in making this advocacy trip with us, please let me know by email. This would be easier for me to keep up with everyone involved.
The following links download a petition as well as a draft letter to use as an example.
Please print the petition information and get as many signatures as you can. There is room for 60 signatures per page, copy these as needed. If you are not able to attend the meeting in Raleigh, but have a signed petition or letter, please bring it/send it to the Arc office NO LATER than Wednesday 25th at 3:00 pm. I will be presenting all correspondence to our Gaston County legislators after the meeting.
Also, if you would like to email our representatives, please log onto the following link:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/counties/counties.pl?county=Gaston
Please also forward this information to anyone you feel would contribute to this effort.
Sara Osborne
Executive Director
“You are valuable because you exist.
Not because of what you do or what you have done,
but simply because you are.”
Max Lucado
