Advocating for Innovative, Cost-Effective Care
In a continuing effort to advocate for expanded, innovative and cost-effective services for children, families and adults whose lives have been touched by mental illness, addictions and trauma, CHR leaders recently testified before the Connecticut General Assembly.
In testimony before the Appropriations Committee, Heather M. Gates, President and CEO of CHR, argued against legislation that would stop the conversion of services from the state to cost-effective non-profit providers. “Non-profit providers deliver services at significantly lower costs than when the state delivers the services directly. In the current budget climate, Connecticut needs to accelerate the pace of converting services to the non-profit sector, not slow it down,” she said.
A few days later, Coleen Dobo, Senior Vice President of Adult Services, made a passionate plea to maintain funding proposed by Governor Ned Lamont to phase in Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for all inmates with opioid addictions.
“More than half of the men and women who die from overdose deaths in Connecticut every year have a history of incarceration,” she said, in support of starting MAT services while individuals are incarcerated. “The financial resources dedicated to providing this treatment will be recouped by the many savings that emerge when people are stable in treatment,” she added, citing fewer emergency room visits, lower crime rates, reduced recidivism, lower prevalence of Hepatitis C and more.
To add your voice to CHR’s advocacy efforts, please follow this link and contact your local legislators.
About CHR: CHR is Connecticut’s most comprehensive, non-profit behavioral healthcare agency, offering a broad array of services for adults, children and families whose lives have been touched by mental illness, substance use, trauma and more. Founded in 1966, CHR has a vibrant outpatient network of services as well as intensive and specialized services to address complicated needs, including residential and community-based programs. Learn more at www.chrhealth.org.