Budget cut opponents launch Web site

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER
Leaders of local non-profits and community based organizations that are opposing proposed cuts to Santa Barbara County’s Department of Alcohol, Drugs and Mental Health Services have launched a Web site dedicated to their effort.
The Web site, currently available at www.spcsb.org/08/all4cmh.html, was developed by a group called the Association of Local Leaders for Community Mental Health (ALL 4 CMH). According the Web site, the association was formed in early February to “promote improved delivery and increased efficiency of mental health services and housing supports in Santa Barbara County.”

At a March Board of Supervisor’s meeting, ADMHS officials unveiled a “preliminary budge and restructuring plan” that proposed $8.2 million in budget cuts for the 2008-2009 budget.
Nearly $6 million of these cuts could come from the budgets of local non-profits — a number many say would have catastrophic results.
“The draconian budget cuts proposed by a frightened, slash and burn bureaucracy threatens to rip giant holes in a safety net that is already frayed,” said Annmarie Cameron, executive director of Mental Health Association in Santa Barbara County. “This is not the way we do things in Santa Barbara.”
Documents given to non-profit leaders by county officials indicate as many as 800 mentally ill adults could lose services if the cuts are finalized.
A spokesman from the county said during a recent interview with the Daily Sound that $8.2 million is the amount in cuts that need to be made in order for the department to have a balanced budget, which is mandated by the state.
Non-profit leaders have acknowledged the need for cuts, but disagree with the route the department is taking.
Mike Foley, executive director of the Casa Esperanza Homeless Shelter, has said he and the rest of the non-profit community wanted to help redesign the department, but the process was cut short.
As the cuts stand, the majority could come from non-profits, with just more than $2 million being cut from the department itself, most of which would be cut from county operated health clinics.
In an April 7 Daily Sound story, Foley said if the county really wanted to balance the budget, they’d allocate the same or more resources to non-profits, which can often provide services more efficiently than the county.
The Board of Supervisors will receive an update on the department’s budget on April 22 from ADMHS Director Ann Detrick.
The association’s Web site will eventually be available at the address: www.savementalhealth.org.
“At savementalhealth.org, the people of this county will find all of the information and tools they need to join the cause of keeping the mentally ill free from this impending un-natural disaster,” Cameron said.