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Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Crass, Shameless) is using Ft. Hood to promote his mental health bill
H.R. 3717, the so-called "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act", is being heard in committee the day after Ft. Hood! 
http://www.dbsatennessee.org/1/post/2013/12/action-alert-sen-murphy-bill.html
The bill, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (H.R. 3717), introduced by Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, would cut funding for the Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI grant) by 85% and restrict DLAC from engaging in systemic or public policy advocacy.
The bill, in part, is a reaction to testimony at a Congressional hearing in which scant anecdotal information presented in a totally one sided manner portrayed the PAIMI program as part of the problem instead of, as we know it to be, part of the solution. The implication was that PAIMI programs were using their resources and authority to keep people with mental illness from getting necessary treatment. We know the opposite to be true – PAIMI programs have been at the forefront of advocating for people with mental illness to receive appropriate treatment ever since President Ronald Reagan signed the PAIMI Act into law in 1986. Unfortunately, Rep. Murphy, who ironically is a proponent of evidenced based policy making, is ignoring the well documented evidence of 27 years of successful advocacy by PAIMI advocates on behalf of people with mental illness.
Among the many changes contained in its 135 pages, the bill would defund mental health consumer networks, a model in which people with psychiatric disabilities have opportunities to develop independence and personal growth in supportive environments with their peers; deny mental health block grant funding to any state that has not adopted a forced treatment regime (“Assisted Outpatient Treatment,” a euphemism for Involuntary Outpatient Commitment); and amend HIPAA law to make it easier to access the records of people with a mental health diagnosis. This legislation would essentially move the clock back on decades of progress in mental health, promote discrimination and stigma, use coercion and drugs as the blunt instruments of care, silence the advocates and keep people away from seeking the treatment they need.
We are convinced that the only way Rep. Murphy’s misguided bill can succeed is if the people who know the truth about the PAIMI program remain silent. We need people who have benefitted from the PAIMI program, our allies, and members of DLAC’s Board and advisory councils which have guided our PAIMI program to speak up – to share what they know to be true - that DLAC and the PAIMI programs throughout America have been dedicated and effective advocates for people with mental illness.
The bill, in part, is a reaction to testimony at a Congressional hearing in which scant anecdotal information presented in a totally one sided manner portrayed the PAIMI program as part of the problem instead of, as we know it to be, part of the solution. The implication was that PAIMI programs were using their resources and authority to keep people with mental illness from getting necessary treatment. We know the opposite to be true – PAIMI programs have been at the forefront of advocating for people with mental illness to receive appropriate treatment ever since President Ronald Reagan signed the PAIMI Act into law in 1986. Unfortunately, Rep. Murphy, who ironically is a proponent of evidenced based policy making, is ignoring the well documented evidence of 27 years of successful advocacy by PAIMI advocates on behalf of people with mental illness.
Among the many changes contained in its 135 pages, the bill would defund mental health consumer networks, a model in which people with psychiatric disabilities have opportunities to develop independence and personal growth in supportive environments with their peers; deny mental health block grant funding to any state that has not adopted a forced treatment regime (“Assisted Outpatient Treatment,” a euphemism for Involuntary Outpatient Commitment); and amend HIPAA law to make it easier to access the records of people with a mental health diagnosis. This legislation would essentially move the clock back on decades of progress in mental health, promote discrimination and stigma, use coercion and drugs as the blunt instruments of care, silence the advocates and keep people away from seeking the treatment they need.
We are convinced that the only way Rep. Murphy’s misguided bill can succeed is if the people who know the truth about the PAIMI program remain silent. We need people who have benefitted from the PAIMI program, our allies, and members of DLAC’s Board and advisory councils which have guided our PAIMI program to speak up – to share what they know to be true - that DLAC and the PAIMI programs throughout America have been dedicated and effective advocates for people with mental illness.
