Heard in the Halls is an email service of NAMI North Carolina to provide updates on state legislative and policy issues. Heard in the Halls is produced for community advocates at least monthly and more frequently during sessions of the General Assembly. To be added to the Heard in the Halls list send a message to heard@naminc.org with just "subscribe" (no quotes) in the subject header. Because of the variety of e-mail servers, Heard in the Halls is sent in plain text and as a formatted attachment. Previous issues of Heard in the Halls can be viewed a www.naminc.org

November 20, 2002

When the General Assembly packed up to go home in October they made some cuts that impact MH/DD/SA services but left it to the Governor to find $139 million in cuts to balance the state budget. The impact of the cuts made by the General Assembly, combined with those being inflicted by the Governor, is starting to emerge and the picture isn’t pretty.

• One reduction contained in the budget was one to "reduce layers of management". The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) received a $4.1 million cut. About half ($2.2 million) will be taken from the Division of MH/DD/SA. The cut will come from staff reductions at the central office where between 40-45 positions will be eliminated, a reduction of about 20%.

• The Governor’s Efficiency Commission identified a $25 million cut across state agencies. DHHS took a hit of $6.5 million and $5.5 million of this amount will be taken from the Division of MH/DD/SAS. This reduction is very painful because it is a reduction in recurring money and, given that staff positions already have been slashed, means that funds will have to come from programs that rely on state funds. While no decisions have been made top candidates would be the state institutions or programs such as the Comprehensive Treatment Services Program (CTSP), the program for at-risk children (formerly Willie M.)

• The Governor is asking state agencies to revert $41.5 million back into the General Fund as part of the effort to balance the budget left by the General Assembly. The reversion is considered a one-time reversion (for now). The Division of MH/DD/SA anticipates that it will have to revert $19 million (approximately 3.5% of the Division’s operating budget). While decisions on where this will come from have not yet been made it would be from items such as vacant positions and institution lapsed salaries.

Why, you may be asking, is the Division of MH/DD/SA being required to take such a disproportionate share of these cuts? The explanation given was that the Department attempted to divide cuts based on the proportion of state dollars contained in the budget of each Division. In the calculation community funds were not included but the state institution budgets, with approximately $270 million in state funds, were. Thus, the proportion of cuts given to the Division of MH/DD/SA was high.

Regardless of the explanation, these cuts are unacceptable and the Governor needs to hear from us.

Action: Write to the Governor

• write to Governor Easley and send a copy to Secretary Hooker Odom
• write a letter-to-the-editor of your local newspaper

TALKING POINTS

• Once again the Governor is targeting budget cuts at the system that supports some of our most needy citizens, a system that is already chronically underfunded.

• The General Assembly did not intend for massive cuts to be taken from the MH/DD/SA system. The budget passed by the General Assembly contained very limited cuts to the MH/DD/SA system because of the recognition of the critical needs of the system.

• These cuts undermine reform efforts. While significant cuts to community programs have so far been avoided it was anticipated that funds "saved" through staff reductions and other cost saving measures would be "redirected" to community services. These cuts mean there will be little, if any, money to redirect.

Governor Mike Easley
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

You can email the Governor by going to: http://capwiz.com/cdpmi/officials/state/?state=NC

Carmen Hooker Odom
Secretary, DHHS
2001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-2001
Carmen.hookerodom@ncmail.net

Want to write a letter to the editor? You can use contact information provided in your local paper or go to the following site to send an email letter: http://capwiz.com/cdpmi/dbq/media/?command=state_search&state=NC