Last night, Amendment #536, sponsored by Senator Cindy Friedman, was adopted in the Senate budget. This budget amendment requires DMH to submit monthly reports to the Legislature that include the number of active and inactive client cases, the waitlist for case management services, and the number of applications that are accepted or denied for services, among other data.
Under this amendment, DMH must also notify the Legislature 90 days before changing its care delivery model and submit a “report and a catalogue of best practices for publicly-operated case management services.”
While this is not the exact language we were advocating for, it provides a level of protection before the administration makes any changes to the case management care delivery model. This language removes management’s ability to unilaterally change the service model without legislative oversight, putting us in a stronger position than we were last week.
As the budget heads into the Conference Committee, we want to make sure legislators continue to hear from us – not just in support of this amendment, but in support of what we’ve been fighting for all along: no cuts to case management services and no layoffs.
Please stay tuned for ways to take action and make your voice heard in the Conference Committee fight!
