Dear Governor Strickland, Ohio Representatives and Senators, As you know, the FY 10/11 Ohio budget dramatically cuts funding for community-based mental health and addiction recovery services. I believe these cuts are unfair to the thousands of Ohio families that rely on these services. But as a taxpayer, I also believe that the cuts represent poor management of available Ohio tax dollars. I am writing to ask you to immediately facilitate — and vigorously support — a budget correction bill that will restore reasonable funding for these vital services. Undiagnosed and untreated mental illnesses and/or addictions are very expensive for Ohio’s taxpayers. Effective treatment through community-based mental health and recovery agencies is an incredible bargain when compared to the alternatives. In my community, these budget cuts will directly translate to fewer people being able to access treatment, and thus to higher crime rates, further overcrowding of jails, increased homelessness, and undue pressures on emergency rooms, courts, and law enforcement personnel. The statistics are staggering: for every dollar invested in proactive community-based mental health and recovery services, my fellow Ohio taxpayers and I save seven dollars. My specific requests include: • Assign “urgent” status to the budget correction bill process. • Ensure that the entire $65 million that was supposed to be in the ODMH budget is in the budget correction bill. • Move the $36 million from the Medicaid appropriations line item to the 505 community services line item so that it can be used for all services. • Do not allow ODMH to take the additional $31 million off the top of the 408 line item so that it can be restored for community services. • Ensure that no additional funding cuts are made to Ohio’s behavioral health system. Thank you for taking your responsibility — to Ohio’s families who rely on behavioral health services, and to Ohio citizens who expect and deserve responsible management of tax dollars — seriously.

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