Here is an update from the Children's Alliance on our letter writing campaign. Now there are additional things we must do to keep the message alive.
Please, everyone, take the time to do the three action items listed below. And, if you can attend one of the Town Hall Meetings on the schedule below, please do so. We have speakers already but need a show of force for our issues.
This is so important. Please take a few minutes and vote on the Governors Survey, write your legislators and those in key positions on the attached list and come to the Town Hall Meeting near you if possible.
William K. Smithwick, D.Min.
President & CEO
Breaking News:
Our letter writing campaign seems to be working!! Because Governor Fletcher heard from so many individuals asking him to support our issue, he coordinated a meeting between Secretary Mark Birdwhistell and the Children’s Alliance. Several Alliance members along with Brad Case and Denise Vaught from the Board Member Advocacy Council met with Secretary Birdwhistell and staff on Wednesday morning, January 10, 2007. The meeting was a huge success and the Cabinet was very receptive to our proposal. Wow, your efforts paid off and we are gaining momentum. Thanks so much for taking the time to write and encouraging others to do so.
Call to Action:
So, now we have our work cut out for us!!! In order to achieve our goal, we must rally everyone together and gain the support of the General Assembly by completing these 3 tasks. We need to communicate the following message:
"Allocate $15 million State General Fund dollars which would bring an additional $15 million Federal dollars to Kentucky to increase the DCBS Alternatives for Children Budget. This increase would bring the clinical services in residential treatment to a level that is now necessary to meet the therapeutic needs of Kentucky’s children. It is critical that Kentucky fund the treatment services required to care for our children with substance abuse issues, as well as other severe treatment needs."
WHAT WE MUST DO!!!
Everyone needs to do 3 things before February 6:
- Write a letter to your legislators and General Assembly Leadership.
- Contact your legislators personally.
- Complete Governor Fletcher’s Online Survey. (see link below)
WRITE MORE LETTERS
Yes, we must all write our legislators and the leaders in the General Assembly to gain support for our request.
Please take the time to draft a personal letter to your Legislators. For points to include in your letters to Gov. Fletcher and your legislator, see the end of this post.
Again, this is urgent!!! Please write and encourage everyone who supports the children we serve to write a letter today! To be most effective our letters need to reach Legislators prior to the beginning of session, February 6. As we have seen by our efforts with our letters to the Governor, it is effective. Please take the time to write.
NOTE: Once you have written your letters, please contact us and indicate when you sent your letter and which legislators you wrote. This is essential in measuring our effectiveness.
COMPLETE THE ONLINE GOVERNOR’S SURVEY
The Governor has developed an online survey to solicit responses from the public on how best to spend the $279 million dollar surplus. To participate go to http://www.governor.ky.gov/your_money . Click, “Take the Survey.” Select “Other” and indicate this would be your “First Choice” then select “Social Services” and then in the empty text box type in the request of “$15 million State General Fund dollars to increase the DCBS Alternatives for Children Budget.”
We do not want to use this survey instead of letters and meetings; however we want our voices to be heard everywhere. Please complete the survey and encourage others to write letters, contact Legislators and complete the online survey, as well.
This is critical – please encourage every person you know and who supports your agency to complete the 3 Call to Action items before the session begins February 6, 2007 and don’t forget to keep Michelle informed of your action so we can gauge our progress. Thanks for your participation and assistance, the children of Kentucky will be better served because of you!
We need every agency to actively participate if we want our efforts to make a difference!
We have another opportunity for our message to be heard and it is critical that we are represented at these town hall meetings!!
Governor Fletcher is visiting cities around the Commonwealth soliciting input from citizens about how to best use the $279 million dollar surplus. Governor Fletcher has already visited several cities and listed below are the cities he plans to visit in the near future. Locations are added almost daily, so please watch the Governor’s website for current listings. http://www.governor.ky.gov/your_money/townhall.htm
The voiceless children of Kentucky need you and everyone else who supports the children we serve to attend these forums ! We have people to speak but need people in attendance to show support!!
The next meetings are:
1/17/2007
Bowling Green
5:00 p.m. Central time
WKU's Carroll Knicely Conference Center Rm 138
2355 Nashville Road
Bowling Green, Ky
1/18/2007
Elizabethtown
5:00 p.m. Eastern time
Historic State Theatre
209 West Dixie Avenue
Elizabethtown, Ky
1/22/2007
London
5:00 p.m. Eastern time
London Community Center
529 South Main Street
London, Ky
Talking points for your letter:
Over the last several years, more of Kentucky’s children have been coming into the out-of-home-care system with increasingly complex treatment needs. At the same time, our private provider agencies are required to comply with additional State and Federal mandates. The result is a significant difference in their reimbursements due to the stricter standards and increase in every day operating costs. The rates paid to private child care providers, who care for almost one half of Kentucky’s children in out-of-home-care, are not adequate to meet the needs of the children in their care, much less allow them to strive to increase the quality of care they provide.
Residential services alone are under-funded by over $12 million dollars annually. Based on the 2004 Cost Report, residential agencies incurred allowable costs of well over $68 million whereas the State only reimbursed agencies just over $56 million. This discrepancy in reimbursable costs continues to expand. The State’s reimbursement for this vital service is years behind. Our private providers cannot continue to subsidize the state’s responsibility to care for these children at the current levels.
There is a huge increase in children’s treatment needs. The number of children who need the most intensive therapeutic services has increased 71% between 2001 and 2005, indicating there are three times as many children needing a higher level of service than when the rates were originally established.
These children need individualized and special services. Children who are sexually reactive, chemically dependent or have a borderline IQ require very specific services to maintain their stability. Add-on services would allow the State to provide for the needed services for that individual child.
Kentucky’s children are routinely sent out of state. The lack of funding for specialized care and services contributes to the increased number of children and youth being served out of state and in psychiatric hospitals. These services are extremely expensive and disruptive for our children. Additional resources allocated for specific clinical services will allow private child caring facilities to effectively serve most of these children.
Our children should be served in the least restrictive settings. Data indicates that in the year 2001, 512 State committed children were served in psychiatric hospitals. This number has steadily increased to 934 State committed children being served in psychiatric hospitals in 2006.
Children are moving unnecessarily. The number of children in out-of-home-care who have experienced multiple moves continues to increase. Inadequate resources for residential treatment have led to greater instability for some of these youth.
We need to step up and take adequate care of the children now in the legal custody of the state and the private sector that serves them.
Bottom line: Allocate $15 million State General Fund dollars, which would bring an additional $15 million Federal dollars to Kentucky to increase the DCBS Alternatives for Children Budget. This increase would bring the clinical services in residential treatment to a level that is now necessary to meet the therapeutic needs of Kentucky’s children. It is critical that Kentucky fund the treatment services required to care for our children with substance abuse issues, as well as other severe treatment needs.
On behalf of the thousands of voiceless children across our State, please support increasing the DCBS Alternatives for Children Budget before the private child welfare infrastructure we rely upon is irreparably damaged as well as the at-risk children they serve.
Thank you.
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