Open letter to Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom, cc: Gov. Easley

Submitted by Drama Queen on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 1:52pm

Dear Madam Secretary:

It's obvious you are dismantling the mental health system for the entire state of North Carolina.

You and Governor Easley have been cutting the budget for mental health services for the last five years. We already had the lowest per capita expenditures in the entire country. So, this week, when you cut the hourly reimbursements for community support services by a whopping 33 percent (effective retroactively), you knew exactly what you were doing. You were destroying the system.

I hope no babies die from mothers with untreated post partum depression. I hope no one kills a police officer or no police officer ends up being forced to kill some untreated mentally ill individual, an individual to whom you helped deny services.

I call on you to restore the fee schedule immediately and resign your position. If you have ties to a company that might take over services in North Carolina in the near future, you'd better hide them.

And Governor Easley, I call on you to overhaul the state's mental health system starting now. I don't see how you can run for office or serve in any official capacity in the future with a resume that includes the damage you are doing to our weakest citizens, the mentally ill.

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Front paged by Anglico

Submitted by James on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 1:55pm.

who just happens to be one very pissed off liberal right now.

Do good. Be nice. Have fun.

Please, please

Submitted by James on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 1:59pm.

Send this letter or a link to this post to everyone you can think of. Ask them to contact Easley and Odom immediately. Ask them to write letters to their newspapers and to their representatives. The legislature HAS to step in and fix this, and they have to do it now.

Do good. Be nice. Have fun.

Keep up the pressure guys!

Submitted by gsodem on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 3:55pm.

I've called the governor and emailed Odom.

From a social worker to the entire BlueNC community: Keep up the good work. This is what progressive action is all about.

I'll be spreading the word to my social work classmates. We will be graduating in a month and this decision will have a significant impact on our ability to get jobs. And those that do find work in community agencies are facing a work environment harsher than what even social workers have come to expect.

As I mentioned in a blog post, clerical and support staff are already being let go. That means that the social workers will be spending more of their time with administrative and paperwork tasks (which is already practically overwhelming) and less on client care.

I put up a blog post about reaching out to Beverly Perdue. She's a social worker who wants to be governor. She surely doesn't want to inherit the mess that Easley is foisting on the people of North Carolina.

That's a great point

Submitted by Drama Queen on Thu, 04/12/2007 - 12:00am.

Does anyone know how to get to the Bev?

Here's her email: ltgovernor@ncmail.net

and phone: 919-733-7350
 
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.” So enjoy the drama.

For the record

Submitted by Marshall Adame on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 2:20pm.

I have sent my own letter to Gov. Easley demanding that he restore the fee schedule and remain on a path that is part and parcel of the Democratic plateform of health care for all, including Mental Health care. It should not be necessary to remind him of who he is.

Furhtermore an impact study should be carried out detailing the impact of the Budget reductions in Mental health in North Carolina.

There was a time when NC was far behind most of the rest of the Country in mental and medical health care, particularly "public" assistance in these areas. Lets not go back to those days.

Marshall Adame

Thanks Marshall

Submitted by Blue South on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 2:43pm.

I think we may still be behind the country. I would love for a study like that to be commissioned.

Draft Brad Miller -- NC Sen ActBlue :::Petition

"Keep the Faith"

Easley email

Submitted by James on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 2:24pm.

Do it now.

Do good. Be nice. Have fun.

done. thanks for the link.

Submitted by Linda on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 2:34pm.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

Here's another one

Submitted by James on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 2:36pm.

for Mrs Puff.

carmen.hookerodom@ncmail.net

Send away.

Do good. Be nice. Have fun.

here

Submitted by Blue South on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 2:41pm.

When you were appointed by the governor to your position you were given a sacred trust by the people of this state. When you accepted the appointment you promised every citizen of this state that you would protect our health and safety. Your move to deny adequate funding to our Mental Health workers is a dereliction of duty. We are already doing a horrible job of funding our Mental Health system. And yet, this week you decided to make the problem even worse. This is one of the greatest states in the country, and we deserve more than this. I hope that you not only will reverse your cut in funding, but I hope that you will work hard to fully fund our Mental Health system. Every dollar you choose not to spend on our mental health system is dozens that we must spend on other programs. Please, do not doom this state.

Draft Brad Miller -- NC Sen ActBlue :::Petition

"Keep the Faith"

done

Submitted by Blue South on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 2:36pm.

Our Mental Health System in this state is disgusting. Before this week we were in the bottom 5 for per capita spending. Thanks to the actions of your administration we are marching as quickly as possible towards being last. When we choose not to fund Mental Health we say that crime and homelessness are not important concerns. When we choose not to fund Mental Health we say that the lives of our citizens our not worth as much as a quarter point decrease in the income tax. You are the governor. You were elected to take care of our state. You are working very hard on failing at this charge.

Draft Brad Miller -- NC Sen ActBlue :::Petition

"Keep the Faith"

how fitting

Submitted by Blue South on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 3:07pm.

some message from the governor's office got into my spam box. i think it was simply the autoresponse saying we got your mail. sadly ill never know

Draft Brad Miller -- NC Sen ActBlue :::Petition

"Keep the Faith"

Done!

Submitted by momoaizo on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 7:05pm.

Wrote to Easley and copy and pasted into my blog (tipping my head-band to DQ of course). Added links to our local reps along with Easley's contact info and Hooker-Odom's email Anglico listed above.

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

Progressive Discussions

Good job

Submitted by James on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 7:07pm.

Thanks.

Do good. Be nice. Have fun.

Yes!

Submitted by Gordon Smith on Wed, 04/11/2007 - 9:30pm.

Bloggers gettin' it done!

We're going to Secretary Odom's office in the morning. Your emails and phone calls are making it happen. There are a lot of folks up here from the mental health community banging on doors and working behind the scenes to capitalize on all the heat you've helped create.

Scrutiny Hooligans - http://www.scrutinyhooligans.us