Holding a Legislative Event Jim LaGraffe Executive Director Keystone Human Services of Lancaster

A little background and a plug to attend the PCPA GRI or have someone from your agency do so My newness to Pennsylvania Really valuable insights into the workings of Harrisburg Caveat, I am no expert in this stuff

What We Did We is- The Lancaster County MH/MR/EI Providers Association Held a Elected Officials Candidates Information forum Attended by Federal Congressional Candidates from our district, and state representatives and state senator candidates Close to 20 agency representatives also attended

The Lancaster County MH/MR/EI Provider’s Association Our Usual Meetings We were afraid of the proposed budget Desire to increase our Political strength Competing strategies- non-unified position We had no idea who we are, our economic impact, number of people supported, number of total staff We lacked direction and clarity on policy issues

There is nothing better than a common issue to unite people -prospective revenue adjustments, proposed budget reductions

Getting Organized- creating an Identity Strength in numbers- 20 agencies, no one ever really counted before  We used Survey Monkey to collect data on ourselves- really easy The member agencies provide over $60,000,000 in community services employ nearly 2000 staff support over 4500 of our counties citizens Survey of all the services we provide

Deciding on a message We needed to come together on our position Chronic underfunding of services have made the proposed cuts in this year’s budget unacceptable, and here are the reasons why

Getting Started Deciding on a location Deciding on a format Deciding on who to invite  All announced candidates Getting the names- the GOP and Dem Committees are kind of helpful Making 1 st contact  No one knew who we were  They knew our individual agencies

The Forum Held at Lancaster Regional Medical Center, gave us a little panache Presentation- followed by a short Q and A session

Getting Commitments No one really says OK right off the back, except those who are real long shots All wanted written materials to review  They love charts  Questions ahead of time  Make it local to their district

A History of Funding Fiscal Year MH/MRCOLAHHMBI** Difference 93 ‐ % 0.00% ‐0.00% 94 ‐ % 2.83% ‐0.83% 95 ‐ % 2.75%‐3.66% 96 ‐ % 2.59%‐6.39% 97 ‐ % 3.15% ‐7.77% 98 ‐ % 2.88%‐8.91% 99 ‐ % 3.73% ‐11.08% 00 ‐ % 4.25% ‐13.98% 01 ‐ % 3.45% ‐16.06% 02 ‐ % 3.18%‐20.15% 03 ‐ % 3.31% ‐24.55% 04 ‐ % 2.99% ‐26.40% 05 ‐ % 3.45% ‐28.97% 06 ‐ % 3.40% ‐31.60% 07 ‐ % 3.30% ‐33.01% 08 ‐ % 3.00% % **Home Health Market Basket Index.---Source: Global Insight. $10,000,000 in services in ’93 now costs $16,080,000 and we are only getting $12,550,000

Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Per Capita Paid in 2007 by County Data provided by PA Department of Revenue PIT Report

Per Capita of Mental Health Base 90/10 Funding Allocations by Pennsylvania County for Fiscal Year 2008/09 Data provided by Pennsylvania’s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

Getting Commitments No one wants to be ambushed, especially those currently in office  We needed to make them feel safe We provided our questions up front No one wants to be the only one attending from their district We needed to show legitimacy as a group

The Forum Short presentation Short statements from those involved Open discussion session Be prepared for the tough question

What We Learned Our Legislators are really concerned and want to do the right thing for us as agencies We need to be succinct in our information We need to be persistent- it took several calls and s to most candidates to get them to attend- their time is very limited It really helps when you can land 1 or 2 “big” names and then play off of that

What We Learned Get to know the staffers, they are key  Maintain the relationships afterwards Advocacy is contagious  The Kevin Bacon Game  Everyone is much more connected then you think  A newer member steps forward with a key contact Our visit to Harrisburg – June 22nd  Sen. Brubaker, Sen. Vance, Sen. Smucker, Sen. Corman, Sen. Peliggi, Sen. O’Brien

What We learned Stay involved- keep the momentum  Call for assistance  Visits to offices Steal information from everyone  There is a ton of information, it really needs to be weeded and managed Keep Visible  DSP Awareness Proclamation

Any Questions?