Correspondence
1 Danielle Habr
From: Danielle Habr
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2022 1:56 PM
To: Michael Harris
Cc: June Catalano; Juanita Davalos; Geoff Gillette; Bryan Hill Subject: AB 988 Update and Request for Continued Support - Barbara Pennington Attachments: AB 988_Senate Policy Sample Support Letter.docx Mayor Harris,
We will add this item to the agenda for Monday’s meeting.
Thank you,
Danielle
From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2022 10:41 AM
To: June Catalano <[email protected]>; Danielle Habr <[email protected]>; Juanita Davalos <[email protected]>; Geoff Gillette <[email protected]> Subject: Online Form Submittal: Email the City Council
If you are having problems viewing this HTML email, click to view a Text version.
Email the City Council
Please note that all emails submitted through this website will be shared with all Councilmembers and certain City staff members. These emails are considered public records under the California Public Records Act (Govt. Code Section 6250, et seq.)
Name:* Barbara Pennington
Street
Address:*
36 Sandra Ct
City* Walnut Creek
Phone
Number:
Email:* [email protected]
Subject:* AB 988 Update and Request for Continued Support Question
or
Comment:
Dear Mayor Harris, Vice Mayor Flaherty, and Councilmembers Carlson, Noack, and Rinn, I am contacting you again on behalf of the Miles Hall Foundation, whose mission is to support and protect families living with mental illness. We emailed each other in 2021 about Pleasant Hill's support for Assembly Bill 988: The Miles Hall Lifeline Act 988 Suicide and Mental Health Crisis Hotline. We are grateful for the letters you sent supporting AB 988. The 9-8-8 number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline was officially launched nationwide on July 16, 2022. However AB 988, the California bill to provide funding to support around the clock non-police crisis intervention, has not yet passed. We ran into a delay last year because of the recall! We need you to assist us with crossing the finish line. The 9-8-8 number provides call and text services for people in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors. It does NOT provide mobile mental health non-police crisis services. AB 988, the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act, will significantly enhance the new 9-8-8 call number. With the passage of this legislation, callers will be connected with around-the-clock intervention, including mobile crisis 2 teams staffed by trained mental health professionals and trained peers instead of law enforcement.
The bill also funds interoperability between 9-8-8 and 9-1-1, allowing calls to be transferred between the two so that the most appropriate services can be provided for mental health emergencies. AB 988 is headed to Senate Appropriations when the legislature reconvenes on August 1st. It is essential that the Miles Hall Lifeline Act be passed so that all California moves toward access to a 24/7 non-police mobile response for those experiencing a mental health crisis. The Miles Hall Foundation has a fact sheet about the bill https://www.themileshallfoundation.org/ab-988 I've attached a sample letter for you to use if you wish. The portal to submit letters of support is https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/ It is important to the Foundation that the city of Pleasant Hill continues your support for AB 988. Please let me know if you need further information, and please let me know when you decide to continue your support! Thank you for considering this and thank you for your service to the citizens of Pleasant Hill and Contra Costa County.
Upload File
Attachment
here
AB 988_Senate Policy Sample Support Letter.docx
* indicates required fields.
View any uploaded files by signing in and then proceeding to the link below:
http://www.pleasanthillca.org/Admin/FormHistory.aspx?SID=16512 The following form was submitted via your website: Email the City Council Please note that all emails submitted through this website will be shared with all Councilmembers and certain City staff members. These emails are considered public records under the California Public Records Act (Govt.
Code Section 6250, et seq.):
Name:: Barbara Pennington
Street Address:: 36 Sandra Ct
City: Walnut Creek
Phone Number::
Email:: [email protected]
Subject:: AB 988 Update and Request for Continued Support Question or Comment:: Dear Mayor Harris, Vice Mayor Flaherty, and Councilmembers Carlson, Noack, and Rinn,
I am contacting you again on behalf of the Miles Hall Foundation, whose mission is to support and protect families living with mental illness. We emailed each other in 2021 about Pleasant Hill's support for Assembly Bill 988: The Miles Hall Lifeline Act 988 Suicide and Mental Health Crisis Hotline. We are grateful for the letters you sent supporting AB 988.
The 9-8-8 number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline was officially launched nationwide on July 16, 2022. However AB 988, the California bill to provide funding to support around the clock non-police crisis intervention, has not yet passed. We ran into a delay last year because of the recall! We need you to assist us with crossing the finish line.
3 The 9-8-8 number provides call and text services for people in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors. It does NOT provide mobile mental health non-police crisis services.
AB 988, the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act, will significantly enhance the new 9-8-8 call number. With the passage of this legislation, callers will be connected with around-the-clock intervention, including mobile crisis teams staffed by trained mental health professionals and trained peers instead of law enforcement. The bill also funds interoperability between 9-8-8 and 9-1-1, allowing calls to be transferred between the two so that the most appropriate services can be provided for mental health emergencies.
AB 988 is headed to Senate Appropriations when the legislature reconvenes on August 1st. It is essential that the Miles Hall Lifeline Act be passed so that all California moves toward access to a 24/7 non-police mobile response for those experiencing a mental health crisis.
The Miles Hall Foundation has a fact sheet about the bill https://www.themileshallfoundation.org/ab-988 I've attached a sample letter for you to use if you wish.
The portal to submit letters of support is https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/ It is important to the Foundation that the city of Pleasant Hill continues your support for AB 988. Please let me know if you need further information, and please let me know when you decide to continue your support! Thank you for considering this and thank you for your service to the citizens of Pleasant Hill and Contra Costa County.
Upload File Attachment here: AB 988_Senate Policy Sample Support Letter.docx Additional Information:
Form submitted on: 7/28/2022 10:41:07 AM
Submitted from IP Address: 66.234.197.235
Referrer Page: https://www.pleasanthillca.org/582/Contact-City-Council-Staff Form Address: http://www.pleasanthillca.org/Forms.aspx?FID=137 [Insert Organization Logo or Letterhead]
1 June [XX], 2022
The Honorable Anthony Portantino, Chair
Senate Appropriations Committee
California State Capitol, Room 412
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 988 (Bauer-Kahan) The Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act – SUPPORT
Dear Chair Portantino:
[Insert Organization Name] strongly supports Assembly Bill 988 (Bauer-Kahan), known as the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act, to implement the national 988 behavioral health emergency response system in California so that everyone experiencing a behavioral health crisis can access life-saving care.
In October of 2020, both chambers of Congress unanimously passed, and the President signed historic legislation, the National Suicide and Mental Health Crisis Hotline Designation Act, establishing a new phone line (988) for suicide prevention and immediate behavioral health crisis response nationwide.
States are tasked with creating the framework and funding the systems to receive and respond to calls and deliver appropriate crisis care for those experiencing a behavioral health or suicide crisis.
Here is the challenge: This month, the 988 phone number became available in California and across the country. We have the opportunity to create a sustainable system that ensures California leads the nation in crisis response. Initial federal and state investments prepared California for the launch of the number, but they aren’t enough to build the sustainable crisis response system that is needed in response to those phone calls. As the calls come in, Californians in crisis will find themselves at the mercy of a county-bycounty ad-hoc approach to crisis response. With a simple call to 988, all Californians should have someone to call, someone to come, and somewhere to go. AB 988 addresses this challenge, by ensuring:
Sustained funding for crisis centers and mobile response: Ongoing costs to sustain the 988-crisis response system are significant. To create an effective crisis response system that every Californian has universal and reliable access to, it must have a permanent and sustainable funding source. AB 988 introduces a small telephone surcharge, as permitted in federal 988 legislation, set at only $0.08 per line per month for the first two years with a lifetime cap of $0.30 per line per month to fund the California crisis centers and mobile crisis teams. Current 988 funding does not include sustained funding for these critical elements of transformational crisis response.
Coordinated implementation and long-term planning: Currently inconsistency is the only consistency when it comes to crisis response in California. Right now, a person in crisis in Los Angeles County is guaranteed a vastly different response from someone in Modoc County. Comprehensive system reform is required to ensure first responders, behavioral health agencies, call centers and healthcare providers are all providing consistent and compassionate crisis response across the state. Investments in 988 coming from various federal and state sources will further complicate efforts to coordinate crisis response. AB 988 tasks the Office of Emergency Services (OES) with creating a technical advisory board at OES to inform the integration of 988 and 911. AB 988 also tasks HHS with developing a 5-year implementation plan for 988. While the Health and Human Services Agency will be undertaking a planning process for broader crisis intervention, a distinct technical planning process for 988 is imperative. [Insert a few sentences about your organization and why this bill is important to you].
AB 988 enjoys bi-partisan co-authorship from nearly one-third of the Legislature. The bill is also supported by a wide range of consumer advocates, health care providers, and others including the National Union of Health Care Workers, the National Association of Social Workers, NAMI of California, Mental Health America of California, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, California 2 Psychological Association, and the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network as well as more than 2,500 individuals.
California has an extraordinary opportunity to transform our behavioral health crisis response system and save countless lives by expanding access to vital behavioral health resources all through one easy-toremember three-digit number.
For these reasons, we strongly support AB 988 and respectfully request your support. Should you have any questions, you can contact us at [insert contact information].
Sincerely,
[Signature]
[Name]
[Title]