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Support SAMHSA Reauthorization!

January 18, 2008

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is scheduled to consider legislation to reauthorize the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on January 30th.   The draft bill includes a package of important initiatives that NAMI has been working on for years, including:

• Expansion of suicide prevention programs,
• Prevention of custody relinquishment,
• Services for homeless individuals with mental illness and
• Efforts to further reduce the use of restraint and seclusion of young people.

ACT NOW!

One of your state’s U.S. Senators serves on the HELP Committee and it is now critical to contact their office to press them to support this draft SAMHSA reauthorization bill.  Call or email your Senator today, and urge them to vote in support of the reauthorization on January 30.

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Call Instructions:

Find your Senator from the list below, and call the number:

State          Senator                               Telephone

AK	Lisa Murkowski	202-224-6665
CO	Wayne Allard	202-224-5941
CT	Christopher Dodd	202-224-2823
GA	Johnny Isakson	202-224-3646
IA	Tom Harkin	202-224-3254
IL	Barack Obama	202-224-2854
KS	Pat Roberts	202-224-4774
MA	Edward Kennedy	202-224-4543
MD	Barbara A. Mikulski	202-224-4654
NC	Richard Burr	202-224-3154
NH	Judd Gregg	202-224-3324
NM	Jeff Bingaman	202-224-5521
NY	Hillary Rodham Clinton	202-224-4451
OK	Tom Coburn, MD	202-224-5754
OH	Sherrod Brown	202-224-2315
RI	Jack Reed	202-224-4642
TN	Lamar Alexander	202-224-4944
UT	Orrin G. Hatch	202-224-5251
VT	Bernard Sanders	202-224-5141
WA	Patty Murray	202-224-2621
WY	Micheal B. Enzi	202-224-3424

Talking Points

Remind your Senator that the SAMHSA Reauthorization bill includes the following critical provisions for children and adults living with mental illness and their families:

• Renewal of expansion of the Garrett Lee Smith Act that support state and local efforts to replicate successful strategies for youth suicide prevention and college-based mental health programs,
• The Keeping Families Together Act (S 382) that authorizes planning grants for states to implement strategies designed to address the tragic and unnecessary policy of families relinquishing custody of a child in order to access mental health services,
• The Services for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act (SELHA, S 593) that authorizes services in permanent supportive housing for individuals with mental illness and co-occurring disorders that have experienced chronic homelessness,
• Efforts by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and others to expand federal efforts to curb the inappropriate use of restraint and seclusion, particularly for adolescents placed in juvenile facilities and correctional schools, and
• Expanded requirements for states to collect data regarding expenditure of federal mental health block grant funds and their relationship to specific outcomes.

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Join NAMI today!

When you become a member of NAMI, you become part of America's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness. And now you can join online.