Albany Advocacy Days

Unique People Services (UPS) participated in Albany Advocacy Days by lobbying state lawmakers and officials with The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies, Inc. (The Coalition) on March 5 – 7, 2012.  You can read The Coalition's full article below. Pictured with other Advocacy Days participants are UPS staff members:  Anne Marie Ama and Confesora Castoire (Supported Housing), Cynthia Isaac-Gueye (Haven Apts.), Marlon Powell (Haven/Hunter), Arthur Simmons (Hunter Apts.).
The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies, Inc. Coalition Briefs
An Evolving Semi-Monthly Update on Community Behavioral Health in New York
                       March 14 , 2012

Coalition Just Back from Albany for Advocacy Days

Coalition members and staff brought our message to Albany last week, calling on state lawmakers and officials to protect and reinvest in community-based services. During our Albany Advocacy Days last week, The Coalition met with senior staff from OASAS, OMH and DOH on Day 1. At the meetings, we discussed issues related to Medicaid redesign, the rollout of Health Homes, reinvesting state savings accrued from care coordination and other initiatives, as well as OASAS/OMH collaborations. On Tuesday, March 6th, we met with legislative leaders and key committees in the Senate and Assembly on reinvestment, and other issues, including the Governor’s proposal to cap executive compensation & administrative service caps for all providers in the health and human services world. Among the lessons derived from our visits is that The Coalition will need to aggressively advocate for the preservation of the continuum of behavioral health services before the transition to managed care takes place.

Budget Update: The Coalition’s Albany Advocacy Days were planned just in time. On Friday, March 9th, the Assembly released its one house budget proposal, and the Senate released its version over the weekend. Legislators in both houses were in session on Monday afternoon, March 12th to cast their votes on the related budget bills. Legislators in both houses were in session on Monday afternoon, March 12th, and have since passed their own budget resolutions. As of Wednesday evening, March 14, a deal seems near between the two chambers and Governor Cuomo for an early budget adoption.

 

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