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A Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, supporting Pennsylvania Senate Bill No. 1006, the "Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Program Services and Supports Act," and encouraging the Senate to pass and the Governor to sign this legislation with all due speed.
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WHEREAS, the care of Pennsylvanians with mental illness and mental retardation has been a core responsibility of State government for more than a century; and
WHEREAS, the adoption of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of 1966 established a community-based system of supports and services for people with mental disabilities; and
WHEREAS, since 1966 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has implemented a policy of de-institutionalization, shifting the focus of care from large State-operated facilities to small, community-based homes and services; and
WHEREAS, the community-based system today provides over $3 billion of services annually to hundreds of thousands of people with mental illness or people with mental retardation; and
WHEREAS, the continued development and operation of this community-based system of supports and services requires the adoption by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of a fiscal policy that consistently supports said system; and
WHEREAS, the value of the State's funding for this community-based system of supports and services has declined by over 33% during the past ten years, resulting in a significant erosion in the quality and quantity of services available through the community system; and
WHEREAS, since fiscal year 2002, there has not been any provision for a cost of living adjustment within Allegheny County's community-based mental health and mental retardation programs;
WHERAS, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has already passed the Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Program Services and Supports Act, which would require that funding be provided by the Pennsylvania Depa...
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