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Mental Health Budget Cuts Affect the Lives of Children
Result:
I wanted to say thank you to everyone who signed the petition.
Sincerely,
Natasha Lyles
Sincerely,
Natasha Lyles
Governor Mark Sanford
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12267
Columbia, SC 29211
January 21, 2009
Governor Sanford:
We the undersigned, as families and concerned citizens, urge you to reconsider your administration’s recent decision with regards to cuts in the budgets of the Departments of Mental Health and to strongly urge you to forego any other reductions in funding for South Carolina’s behavioral health system for children and youth.
While we can appreciate the need for responsible spending at a time when we are all challenged by economic conditions cutting behavioral health for our children and youth only leads to increased pressure on an already strained system of care and results in increased costs in areas such as state hospitals, community emergency services and community hospitals, the criminal justice system, schools and the child welfare system. If the goal is to do more with less in times of economic difficulty, cutting funding to mental health services is counterproductive.
Research has proven that services in the community are far more cost effective to states than the high cost of hospitalization, residential treatment and worst case scenario incarceration. If children do not receive the intervention and treatment at the community level we risk spending tens of thousands of dollars to treat one child when the same amount or less can be used to treat many children.
Clearly, these are difficult economic times. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that meeting the basic needs of the most fragile children among us has to be the priority of government, even if it means that additional cuts are made elsewhere in the budget. Our system is already struggling to keep up with the growing demand for services in counties throughout South Carolina.
Governor Sanford we implore you to prioritize services for South Carolina’s most vulnerable citizens as you make your budget decisions.
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12267
Columbia, SC 29211
January 21, 2009
Governor Sanford:
We the undersigned, as families and concerned citizens, urge you to reconsider your administration’s recent decision with regards to cuts in the budgets of the Departments of Mental Health and to strongly urge you to forego any other reductions in funding for South Carolina’s behavioral health system for children and youth.
While we can appreciate the need for responsible spending at a time when we are all challenged by economic conditions cutting behavioral health for our children and youth only leads to increased pressure on an already strained system of care and results in increased costs in areas such as state hospitals, community emergency services and community hospitals, the criminal justice system, schools and the child welfare system. If the goal is to do more with less in times of economic difficulty, cutting funding to mental health services is counterproductive.
Research has proven that services in the community are far more cost effective to states than the high cost of hospitalization, residential treatment and worst case scenario incarceration. If children do not receive the intervention and treatment at the community level we risk spending tens of thousands of dollars to treat one child when the same amount or less can be used to treat many children.
Clearly, these are difficult economic times. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that meeting the basic needs of the most fragile children among us has to be the priority of government, even if it means that additional cuts are made elsewhere in the budget. Our system is already struggling to keep up with the growing demand for services in counties throughout South Carolina.
Governor Sanford we implore you to prioritize services for South Carolina’s most vulnerable citizens as you make your budget decisions.
This petition is now closed.
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