Greg Picker’s Post

I called Gov Walz, Sen Erin Murphy and Rep Melissa Hortman this morning. To orge them to fix a cut to critical access funding scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2025. PLEASE DO THE SAME! The MN Mental Health provider community, and the low income families and kids and individuals with disabilities that we serve — NEED YOUR HELP and your voice on this important topic! Today, we are joining the MN National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and other groups to make a push to call state leaders urging them to fix the upcoming rate cut and provide the much needed funding for mental health providers to do their work. 2 minutes of your time can make a world of difference! Please call: 1. MN Governor Tim Walz: 651-201-3400 2. Majority Leader Erin Murphy: 651-296-5931 3. Speaker Melissa Hortman: 651-296-4280 Message: We cannot wait to address the mental health crisis in Minnesota. We need you to raise the Health and Human Services budget target and fix the critical access rate cut this session. ✔️share your perspective as someone who works in behavioral health and to why this is important. ✔️share your perspective as someone who has been impacted by mental illness on why this is important. ✔️share your perspective as someone who cares about the health of our community and knows that cutting behavioral health care funding can lead to children and families are on months-long waitlists for services, people boarding in hospitals or languishing in jail. Providers are closing and Minnesotans are at the losing end of this lack of action by our leaders. Please share this with your networks and encourage others to contact leaders too. Sue Abderholden Nystrom & Associates, Ltd. #mentalhealthmatters #MNleg #MHLN #MinnesotaMentalHealth #MentalHealthAdvocacy #MentalHealthLegislation

Unfortunately, last week neither the MN House or Senate committees fixed the cut to critical access funding scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2025. But there is still time to make this right! The MN Mental Health provider community, and the low income families and kids and individuals with disabilities that we serve — NEED YOUR HELP and your voice on this important topic! On Thursday April 25, we want to join the MN National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and other groups to make a push to call state leaders urging them to fix the upcoming rate cut and provide the much needed funding for mental health providers to do their work. 2 minutes of your time can make a world of difference! Please call: 1. MN Governor Tim Walz: 651-201-3400 2. Majority Leader Erin Murphy: 651-296-5931 3. Speaker Melissa Hortman: 651-296-4280 Message: We cannot wait to address the mental health crisis in Minnesota. We need you to raise the Health and Human Services budget target and fix the critical access rate cut this session. ✔️share your perspective as someone who works in behavioral health and to why this is important. ✔️share your perspective as someone who has been impacted by mental illness on why this is important. ✔️share your perspective as someone who cares about the health of our community and knows that cutting behavioral health care funding can lead to children and families are on months-long waitlists for services, people boarding in hospitals or languishing in jail. Providers are closing and Minnesotans are at the losing end of this lack of action by our leaders. Please share this with your networks and encourage others to contact leaders too. Sue Abderholden Nystrom & Associates, Ltd. #mentalhealthmatters #MNleg #MHLN #MinnesotaMentalHealth #MentalHealthAdvocacy #MentalHealthLegislation

I called Gov Walz, Sen Erin Murphy and Rep Melissa Hortman this morning urging them to fix a cut to critical access funding scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2025. PLEASE DO THE SAME! The MN Mental Health provider community, and the low income families and kids and individuals with disabilities that we serve — NEED YOUR HELP and your voice on this important topic! Today, we are joining the MN National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and other groups to make a push to call state leaders urging them to fix the upcoming rate cut and provide the much needed funding for mental health providers to do their work. 2 minutes of your time can make a world of difference! Please call: 1. MN Governor Tim Walz: 651-201-3400 2. Majority Leader Erin Murphy: 651-296-5931 3. Speaker Melissa Hortman: 651-296-4280 Message: We cannot wait to address the mental health crisis in Minnesota. We need you to raise the Health and Human Services budget target and fix the critical access rate cut this session. ✔️share your perspective as someone who works in behavioral health and to why this is important. ✔️share your perspective as someone who has been impacted by mental illness on why this is important. ✔️share your perspective as someone who cares about the health of our community and knows that cutting behavioral health care funding can lead to children and families are on months-long waitlists for services, people boarding in hospitals or languishing in jail. Providers are closing and Minnesotans are at the losing end of this lack of action by our leaders. Please share this with your networks and encourage others to contact leaders too. #mentalhealthmatters #MinnesotaMentalHealth #MentalHealthAdvocacy #MentalHealthLegislation

Your Voice is Needed!! The City of Columbia is pressuring the Department of Mental Health to provide property on Farrow Road for the purpose of moving the homeless population away from downtown, and away from the services and assistance they desperately need. There is currently no plan in place to provide a support system to individuals when moved to the new location. The issues with the proposed move in its current state: - less access to transportation - isolation of community members - lack of access to food resources - no plans in place to support the community members moved - no commitment in place for resources to community members once moved - potential lack of access to services We ask the commission to say no until they receive plans and input from the community to best serve people in need. A long term strategy is vital to making sure the interests of our most vulnerable community members are met. Your voice is needed on this critical issue! Please join the SC Mental Health Commission’s meeting this Friday to help advocate against this move. Meeting details: What: Scheduled Meeting of the S.C. Mental Health Commission Meeting When: Friday, May 3, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. Where: South Carolina Department of Mental Health (DMH), 2414 Bull Street, Columbia, 29201 in Room 320

Urging Congress to include prevention in how states use behavioral health grants is a no brainer! Support Kelly Davis, Congressmembers August Pfluger and Kathy Castor, and Mental Health America in this fight for youth #healthequity. Why do we wait for kids to hurt themselves, overdose, or hear voices when by then potential lifelong effects of trauma on their brains (not to mention schooling, friendship, siblings/parents, and others) have set in? In some ways this is the legacy of both stigma - acting like those more sick aren't human beings so let's ignore prevention of THEIR illnesses - and of a behavioral health industrial complex in the US that's been largely centered around pharmaceuticals and government/PE-consolidated psychiatric facilities. We pay for pediatrics to prevent broken lives. Public health to prevent epidemics. Why not behavioral health prevention services to prevent horrible diseases clearly impacting all of our children and communities? #mentalhealthishealth. Let's get kids there by not acting like mental illness or addiction are forgone conclusions.

Take three minutes to help fund youth mental health promotion! 📣Submit Mental Health America's Action Alert to encourage your members of Congress to support the EARLY Minds Act. ➡️ What is it? H.R. 7808, the Early Action and Responsiveness Lifts Youth (EARLY) Minds Act, would provide states with flexibility within the Mental Health Block Grant to offer education, outreach, supports, and services to young people before they reach severe distress or crisis. ➡️ Why does it matter? The block grant is the primary source of federal funding to states for mental health services; however, it's restricted from being used to help individuals when signs of a mental health condition first start. This means it requires significant distress and disability for funds to be used. We are investing in equipping young people, families, and communities with the tools and knowledge to talk about mental health and ask for support. Let's make sure they do not have to wait until they are in severe distress or crisis to get it. Learn more and submit here:

Many agree that our mental health care system can be improved to better deliver prevention and early intervention activities, especially for young people. States currently have no dedicated federal funding source to help children and families before significant emotional distress, and even after becoming eligible for funding it is often difficult for families to find needed care nearby. That is why MHA has fought for introduction of H.R. 7808, the Early Action and Responsiveness Lifts Youth (EARLY) Minds Act, legislation to provide states with flexibility within the Mental Health Block Grant (MHBG) to offer education, outreach, supports, and services to young people before an emergency. The MHBG is the primary source of funding to states for community mental health services and it is restricted from being used to help individuals when signs of a mental health condition first start. It requires significant distress and disability for funds to be used. Over 15,000 people participate daily in Mental Health America’s online screening program to assess their mental health and nearly 40% of screeners are 17-years-old and younger. Their screening results reflect severity levels that are higher than other age groups. And, while Congress has held over 50 hearings and markups on mental health policies in the last several years, the EARLY Minds Act has not yet been enacted. This is where you come in – would you take a moment today to reach out to your members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor this critical bill? The most important voice they hear is yours, their constituent, and by making your support for this legislation known they will be more likely to support its passage.

Many agree that our mental health care system can be improved to better deliver prevention and early intervention activities, especially for young people. States currently have no dedicated federal funding source to help children and families before significant emotional distress, and even after becoming eligible for funding it is often difficult for families to find needed care nearby. That is why MHA has fought for introduction of H.R. 7808, the Early Action and Responsiveness Lifts Youth (EARLY) Minds Act, legislation to provide states with flexibility within the Mental Health Block Grant (MHBG) to offer education, outreach, supports, and services to young people before an emergency. The MHBG is the primary source of funding to states for community mental health services and it is restricted from being used to help individuals when signs of a mental health condition first start. It requires significant distress and disability for funds to be used. Over 15,000 people participate daily in Mental Health America’s online screening program to assess their mental health and nearly 40% of screeners are 17-years-old and younger. Their screening results reflect severity levels that are higher than other age groups. And, while Congress has held over 50 hearings and markups on mental health policies in the last several years, the EARLY Minds Act has not yet been enacted. This is where you come in – would you take a moment today to reach out to your members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor this critical bill? The most important voice they hear is yours, their constituent, and by making your support for this legislation known they will be more likely to support its passage.

This week, I'd like to focus on mental health. We’ve made progress in Indiana because of sustained investment and committed leadership. Unfortunately, our republican legislative leaders have publicly signaled an intention to walk back these investments, and we need legislators in the statehouse ready to fight back. In office, I will ensure these services continue to be supported - especially for veterans and our youth. I am committed to maintaining and increasing our investments in mental health to continue our success and provide necessary support to those in need. Here is some proof that when we invest success follows: - We now have non-police mobile crisis teams responding to mental health issues in 59 out of 92 counties relieving the burden on our police and fire departments. - Our 988 crisis response system is ranked 4th in the nation with a 95% answer rate.  - Overdoses have decreased by 17% across Indiana. - And we have six state hospitals that are serving over 700 of our most vulnerable Hoosiers. Despite these successes, the one party supermajority at the statehouse has signaled they intend to “curtail investments on our critical healthcare safety net” without any pushback from my opponent. This move threatens to undermine the progress we've made. A new study revealed that the economic burden of untreated mental illness in Indiana results in $4.2 billion spent annually. After two decades, it’s time to bring balance back to the Statehouse in November. VOTE!

The state of mental health care in Arizona is harrowing, heartbreaking, and deeply concerning, ranking 49th in the nation for adults according to Mental Health America. Local advocacy groups and charity foundations are investing significant amounts of time, money, and resources into expanding services. But Arizonans seeking care continue to face barriers through no fault of their own. A growing body of evidence shows that integrating mental health into primary care increases access to services that improve clinical outcomes, increases patient satisfaction, and reduces costs. And evolvedMD is leading the way, expanding access to integrated services to over 2,350,000 Arizonans at their preferred primary care practice. Our unique approach is the best way for Arizonans and their families to get the care they deserve and live happier, healthier lives. If you're a primary care leader who wants to meet their patients' whole health needs—physical and mental health—partner with us today to combat the state's persisting mental health crisis. #IntegratedCare #Arizona #MentalHealthMatters #PrimaryCare