San Francisco Co. Residents: Urgent Action re Drug Treatment Funding

[EFerrari]

911: The Mayor has convened a special Task Force on Methamphetamine, but his budget calls for cutting outpatient substance treatmentalmost in half. My kid can’t get treatment from a task force. Can yours?

The Mayor has proposed making these cuts by making all outpatients substance abuse treatment programs bid competitively for funding. The Dept of Public Health will reduce outpatient substance abuse treatment funding to about half of what it is currently.

By doing it this way, they avoid naming any specific programs. We need to lobby for continued funding of the whole system of outpatient substance abuse treatment since no individual programs have been named. We need to give the Mayor and the Board these four facts:

FOUR FACTS MAYOR NEWSOM AND THE BOARD OF SUPES NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FUNDING OUTPATIENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT IN SAN FRANCISCO.


1. TREATMENT ON DEMAND IS THE OFFICIAL POLICY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY.

Although the City never achieved the goal of Treatment on Demand, funding for substance abuse treatment was increased significantly in the late 90s which meant many more people were able to get help in a timely manner.

Cutting funding for outpatient substance abuse treatment almost in half means negating Treatment on Demand. Many more people will be told that they have to wait to get help. And, as we all know, that will mean many will not get any help at all since they will give up before a treatment slot is available.

2. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE OUTPATIENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT TO THE SAME NUMBER OF PEOPLE AT HALF THE COST.

The Mayor and Mitch Katz, MD, the Director of Public Health, are saying that this is a "restructuring" to reduce per unit costs. This is not “restructuring”, this is gutting our outpatient substance abuse treatment system.

3. OUTPATIENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT WORKS AND IS NEEDED.

Some of the justification for these cuts is either that treatment has not been proven to work and/or that people can just go to Twelve Step meetings. There is ample evidence in the research literature that treatment does work. In fact, there was a study done by the state of California seven or eight years ago that showed that the state saved $7 in hospital costs, jail costs, etc., for every dollar spent on substance abuse treatment.

4. WE WILL LOSE FEDERAL FUNDS

Two of our programs, Stonewall and STOP, are the recipients of federal Targeted Capacity Expansion funding for methamphetamine treatment which the County was awarded and is intended to do just that - expand capacity. It is not meant to replace local funds and, in fact, the Feds are likely to rescind this grant if the local funds are cut.

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED BEFORE MID JUNE HEARINGS:

PLEASE CONTACT the Supervisors on the Budget and Finance Committee which hears the budget first: Tom Ammiano who is the Chair, Chris Daly, Sean Elsbernd, Fiona Ma, and Jake McGoldrick. (Contact info follows)

PLEASE ALSO CONTACT any and all of the Supervisors because the full Board votes on the City budget.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR RESULTS IF POSSIBLE: Elizabeth Ferrari [e-mail]

Thank you for supporting a sane drug treatment policy in San Francisco.


Michela Alioto-Pier
District 2
[phone]
[e-mail]

Tom Ammiano
District 9
[phone]
[e-mail]

Chris Daly
District 6
[phone]
[e-mail]

Bevan Dufty
District 8
[phone]
[e-mail]

Sean Elsbernd
District 7
[phone]
[e-mail]

Fiona Ma
District 4
[phone]
[e-mail]

Sophie Maxwell
District 10
[phone]
[e-mail]

Jake McGoldrick
District 1
[phone]
[e-mail]

Ross Mirkarimi
District 5
[phone]
[e-mail]

Aaron Peskin - Board President
District 3
[phone]
[e-mail]

Gerardo Sandoval
District 11
[phone]
[e-mail]


The USPS address for all the Supes is:

City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689

[JoMama49]

1. Thanx 4 posting this! Please come to the Rally on 6/20

Hi SFexpat2000!

I work for one of the outpatient programs that is on the chopping block, plus I am a member of the contractor's association. We are staging a rally on the steps of City Hall on Monday, June 20th from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Hundreds of folks in recovery will be there with their picket signs and voices. There will be speakers, and we hope to impact the Mayor and members of the Board of Supes who will be opening the budget hearings on this subject that very day.

If you can help spread the word about the rally and get as many people to participate as possible, i know it will help. As you probably already know, the Mayor and head of the health dept., Dr. Katz, are tennis partners. It seems Dr. Katz has convinced Mayor Newsom that self-help groups such as NA or AA, and methadone maintenance, can take the place of outpatient programs. They came up with some kind of research that says outpatient treatment is not effective, or is just as effective as self-help groups and methadone. We beg to differ, and there is lots of data and research showing that comprehensive outpatient treatment is what helps folks maintain their recovery over time.

Several members of the Board already support outpatient treatment and know that these programs are effective. Others tend to go along with Dr. Katz' position because they are ignorant about recovery issues. If you have any research which refutes their position, it would be a good idea to share it with the Board, and also with the Health Commission. Let's join forces so we can save outpatient treatment in the City!
JoMama.

[EFerrari]

2. Hey, are you set for speakers? I could get Doug out for this and

he's great at it. Big booming voice, lol!

I sent it to everyone I could think of, including our list of Program friends who all support it. And, if you tell me who on the Board is waffling, I'll focus on them. I don't see Tom or Chris or Jake going that way. Fiona is my Sup and I'm calling her because I don't know her very well.

What's the deal with Katz? Wasn't he the same (expletive deleted) who put actingout young people UNSUPERVISED in Laguna Honda?

[JoMama49]

3. Who is Doug?

Hi,
Is Doug someone in recovery who could speak to the issues? If so, we are asking everyone who wants to speak to email Jenny Wiley at Friendship House. She will put your name on a list, and then they will call folks up to speak at the event. She asks that everyone limit their remarks to 3 minutes. Jenny's email is [e-mail]

I work for the Epiphany Center, and a number of our women graduates are speaking about their experiences in outpatient treatment. We will all be there in purple T-shirts.

As to your question about the Board of Supes, I know that Bevan Dufty, Fiona Ma, Tom Amiano and Sophie Maxwell are in our court. The others need educating, especially the new ones. Thanks again for helping!
JoMama.

[EFerrari]

4. Okay, good! I'll focus on the others.

Dougala is a comedian who owes a great deal to the STOP program and who might be able to get us some press. I will email Jenny now!

[EFerrari]

5. I think we may also have Chris, Jake and Ross.

Also, I have a call in to the Police Officers Association, to their PR or media guy. Am really curious to see if they have a position on this. They are really influential in town and it can do no harm to ask.

Have a good weekend,
Beth

[JoMama49]

6. Thanks again, Beth ......

I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be the one accompanied by a Nun, who is actually my boss, and carrying a sign that says "Please don't cut my Program"
JoMama.

[EFerrari]

11. Here is the Chron article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/22/BABADIGEST4.DTL&hw=Mayor+Budget&sn=007&sc=536

[EFerrari]

7. RALLY TODAY CITY HALL STEPS 11A.M.

PLEASE JOIN US AND HELP US SAVE A SANE DRUG TREATMENT PLAN IN SAN FRANCISCO!

[JoMama49]

8. Good turnout at Rally!

Hi Beth,
Wow, I thought the turnout was good - about 200 folks there when I counted at about noon time.

I'm hearing a rumor that there's an article in the Chronicle - something about the Mayor rescinding some of the cuts. Have you heard nething?
JoMama.

[JoMama49]

9. Oh yeh, BTW

Doug was great! He really loosened up the crowd. And, having the Public Defender show up and speak was also a good thing. I also saw Jim Stillwell in the crowd. He's one of the budget people down at the Health Department - so at least ther listenin'.
JoMama.

[EFerrari]

10. I looked but I couldn't find. Do you know when the votes are?

It would be good to know how much time we have.

Doug had a great time, btw. :hi: