For Immediate
Release
November
17, 1999
Contact:
Melissa Forsythe or Mark Pfeiffer (502)
564-2611
Frankfort, Ky. -
Calling it a great day for people in the Commonwealth with mental retardation and
developmental disabilities and the biggest step ever for state government on the issue,
Governor Paul Patton today announced his support for a comprehensive plan to boost mental
health services in Kentucky.
“We’re
going to do this because we’re a compassionate people. We’re going to do this
because it’s the right thing to do,” the governor said to cheers and applause
from the group of legislators and mental health advocates gathered in the Capitol Rotunda. “We simply must make the commitment to
care for the most vulnerable of our citizens. And,
I’m here to tell you that I’ll find the money and it’ll be in my budget
when that budget is submitted to the General Assembly.”
The proposed
legislation, sponsored jointly by Representatives Jimmie Lee and Steve Nunn would create
the Kentucky Commission on Services and Supports for Individuals with Mental Retardation
and Other Developmental Disabilities. The
commission would advise the Governor and the General Assembly concerning the needs of
persons with mental retardation; develop a statewide strategy for the regionalization of
those on the waiting list for services, assuring equal access in every region of the
state; assess the need for specialized out-patient clinics; evaluate the effectiveness of
the service delivery system; and develop and recommend a comprehensive ten year plan with
funding in the next biennium to begin to address the plan.
In the first
year, Governor Patton proposes approximately $4 million in state general funds, which,
when matched with federal funds, will create more than $13 million for community based
services. $8 million would be set aside in the second year of the biennium, when providers
have had an opportunity to build upon their existing capacity. When combined with the federal share, the funding
over the two years will create over $40-million in new services.
Governor
Patton told the group that the increased funding and services won’t eliminate the
waiting list, “But it’ll serve everyone on the emergency waiting list and
hundreds more and give us the resources we need to respond to new emergencies when they
occur, instead of months or years later.”
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