Urgent Action Needed re Adult Protective Services
Urgent Action Needed re Adult Protective Services
Please communicate with your State Senator and Representative this week about the need to include start-up funds for Adult Protective Services in next year's budget. We need to build a groundswell of support to be noticed in this busy budget season.
If you'd like a copy of a fact sheet about why the existing law isn't enough to protect people or you need additional talking points, contact Terry Roth at [email protected] or Judy Banks at [email protected].
To pass Adult Protective Services legislation this year, WE NEED YOUR HELP and we need it now.
The key to passing the legislation is finding the money. At this point, there's no money included in next year's budget to start up the system. WE MUST CHANGE THAT.
(We estimate, and the Department of Aging verifies, that first year funding will be less than $500,000 because it'll take the first year to do regulations and RFPs. After that, once the system is fully up and running it'll cost about $6 million.)
Our strategy is to work in two directions. We've been setting up some meetings in Harrisburg with key legislative leaders and their staff to ask them to include start up funds for APS in the budget and to move one of the bills. But that won't work unless the legislative leaders are hearing from rank and file Senators and Representatives that this should be a priority in the budget. That's where you come in.
We need you to contact your state senator and state representative during the week of April 28 to May 2 and the week of May 26 to May 30. Our goal is to have every member of the PA General Assembly contacted at least twice during the designated weeks.
If you lead an organization that has members from a number of legislative districts, you can contact all of the Senators and Representatives in your area. Please also ask your members to make their own contacts. If you are going as an individual (not representing an organization), you should contact your own Senator and Representative. Senators and Representatives want to hear from their own constituents and are most affected by them. (If you need help figuring out who your Representative or Senator is, go to http://www.legis.state.pa.us and fill in the "Find Members by" boxes in the top left.)
The first choice for contacts is personal meetings in district offices. (If Harrisburg offices are convenient for you, that's okay too.) If the elected official isn't available, it's okay to meet with staff. Second choice is letters. Phone calls are okay. E-mail is the last choice, but certainly better than nothing.
During both of those weeks all members of the state house will be in their districts rather than in Harrisburg. The state senators are scheduled to be in Harrisburg on May 28 through 30, but will be in their districts the rest of the time.
You should let them know that there's strong agreement on the need for adult protective services. Personal stories are powerful. Explain that PA is one of six states that fails to protect people aged 18 to 59. You can also mention that HB 361 and SB 1049 were written with the help and support of a broad coalition of disability groups-people with disabilities, family members and providers. And acknowledge that you understand that it's a tough budget year, but this is a need that can't wait any longer. Be sure to say that as a taxpayer you are willing to pay for this essential part of the safety net.
And, most importantly, this is what you want to ask your Senator and Representative to do:
"Please show your support for adult protective services by asking your leadership to include start-up funds in the 2008-09 budget to start up an APS system, and then act quickly to pass SB 1049 or HB 361."
We're attaching a copy of a sample letter which you can offer to your Senator and Representative. They don't need to use this letter; we just want to make sure that they are contacting their leadership with the message above.
Please let us know when you make contact and what commitments you receive. You can e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]. If you have questions, let us know. Also, PLEASE ADAPT THIS MEMO FOR YOUR OWN GROUP and change the contact information before circulating it to your members or listservs.
Thanks for your help.