[OCSC-news] This Thurs: Oregon Senate & Mental Health Client Empowerment

Mon Mar 16 18:49:31 CDT 2009

TO OCSC NEWS:

Hi Oregon Consumer/Survivor Coalition News list:

BELOW is a forwarded news alert about *this* Thursday, 19 March 2009,  
and a public hearing about an Oregon Senate Bill 368 to support voice  
and self-determination of mental health consumers and psychiatric  
survivors in Oregon. OCSC suports SB 368.

Please forward the below far and wide, and we hope to see many of you  
there in three days, this Thursday morning at 8 am in Salem!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MindFreedom Oregon News Alert - please forward

    Will Oregon State Senate Empower Mental Health Clients?

    SB 368 Public Hearing in Oregon State Capitol this Thurs., 19  
March 2009

    Your Action is Needed Now!

A public hearing in Oregon's State Capitol in Salem could boost the  
state-wide voice of mental health consumers and psychiatric  
survivors. You can help!

The Oregon Senate Health Care and Veterans' Affairs Committee will  
hear testimony this Thursday on SB 368, which would create an Oregon  
Office of Mental Health Consumer Affairs and an Ombudsman.

To read the bill go here:

http://tinyurl.com/oregon-sb368

This bill is supported by Oregon Consumer/Survivor Coalition (OCSC),  
a state-wide nonprofit coalition of more than a dozen Oregon groups  
run by mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors, including  
MindFreedom Oregon.

Said David Oaks, director of MindFreedom International, "During tough  
times with major cut-backs it's especially crucial to hear from those  
on the receiving end of mental health care. Oregon is one of the few  
USA states to have zero support for the state-wide voice of mental  
health clients, even while moving forward on building new huge  
psychiatric institutions with an estimated price tag of more than  
half-a-billion dollars."

Because Oregon's Governor Ted Kulongoski once again put zero (0) in  
his budget for the state-wide voice of Oregono's mental health  
clients -- as he has in every budget since he was elected -- this  
bill will require extra support to pass.

You can help!

~~~~~~~~~~

    * ACTION * ACTION * ACTION *

*** ATTEND PUBLIC HEARING:

When: This Thurs., 19 March 2009 at 8 am. This Senate Health Care  
Committee will hear testimony on another matter first, so the start  
time of SB 368 hearing is not known.

Where: Hearing Room B in the Oregon State Capitol.

*** PROVIDE WRITTEN TESTIMONY:

Whether or not you can attend the public hearing, please submit  
written testimony to the attention of "Oregon Senate Health Care  
Committee" in support of SB 368 c/o the committee chair, Sen. Laurie  
Monnes Anderson at sen.lauriemonnesanderson at state.or.us and copy to  
Committee Administrator Robert Shook at robert.shook at state.or.us.

*** CONTACT EACH MEMBER OF THIS SENATE COMMITTEE

SB 368 will be heard in front of the Oregon State Senate Health Care  
and Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Please contact all five members below wherever you live.

NOTE! If you live in areas represented by these State Senators --  
Gresham, Roseburg, Ashland, Springfield or Albany -- you have special  
clout, and you are especially encouraged to act now!

You can use the below e-mail addresses, or find the office phone  
numbers or postal addresses for each legislator via their web sites.

Oregon Senate Health Care and Veterans' Affairs Committee

CHAIR: Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson (Democrat, Gresham - District 25):
e-mail: sen.lauriemonnesanderson at state.or.us
web: http://www.leg.state.or.us/monnesanderson

VICE-CHAIR:  Senator Jeff Kruse (Republican, Roseburg - District 1):
e-mail: sen.jeffkruse at state.or.us
web: http://www.leg.state.or.us/kruse

Senator Alan C. Bates (Democrat, Ashland - District 3):
e-mail: sen.alancbates at state.or.us
web: http://www.leg.state.or.us/bates/

Senator Bill Morrisette (Democrat, Springfield - District 6):
e-mail: sen.billmorrisette at state.or.us
web: http://www.leg.state.or.us/morrisette

Senator Frank Morse (Republican, Albany - District  8):
e-mail: sen.frankmorse at state.or.us
http://www.leg.state.or.us/morse

COMMITTEE ADMINISTRATOR: Robert Shook e-mail: robert.shook at state.or.us

*** CONTACT YOUR ELECTED STATE OFFICIALS

A bill like SB 368 gives you a chance to directly communicate with  
your elected State Senator and State Representative about supporting  
the voice of mental health clients.

Find *your* elected officials by putting in your address in this  
"Find Your Legislator" web page, then scroll down to State Senator  
and State Representative:

http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/

~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** OTHER NEWS AND MORE INFO on supporting the voice of Oregon's  
mental health clients

MindFreedom Finds Lack of Mental Health Client Representation on  
Oregon State Hospital Replacement Project Stakeholder Committee

Back in 2003, when he first took office, Governor Kulongoski started  
a "Stakeholder Committee" to advise him about building the new,  
expensive, huge state psychiatric institutions that are budgeted for  
more than half-a-billion dollars.

The Governor promised this Oregon State Hospital Replacement Project  
Stakeholder Committee would have adequate mental health consumer  
representatives. But now, six years later, a MindFreedom Oregon  
investigation discovered his Stakeholder committee has three empty  
consumer slots.

MindFreedom discovered that the Governor's staff "accidentally"  
counted attorney and advocate Bob Joondeph of Oregon Disability  
Rights as a "mental health consumer" in order to try to make their  
quota on the Stakeholder Committee!

Bob has politely explained to the Governor's staff it's untrue, and  
he never identified himself as a mental health consumer, and he is not.

Unfortunately, this lack of support for the state-wide voice of  
mental health clients is a pattern with this Governor.

MindFreedom encourages you to join us in asking, "Why Zero, Ted?"

Ask Ted Governor Kulongoski to support the state-wide voice of mental  
health consumers!

Read a brief article in a national mental health industry newsletter  
about how Oregon's Governor Ted Kulongoski continues to be one of the  
few USA Governors to recommend zero (0) for the state-wide voice of  
mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors in his budgets --  
year and after year -- ever since he took office:

http://tinyurl.com/kulongoski-mental-health

For more info about the "Why Zero, Ted?" campaign to ask Gov.  
Kulongoski about his lack of support go here:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/zero