Action Alert from FEAT Houston regarding HB470

[Guest guest]

March 20, 2005

Dear Family Member or Interested Party,

There is a bill before the Texas Legislature that, if it passes, will have a

terrible impact on the local system that provides services for people with

developmental disabilities. It is HB470 (house bill 470). It could result in

the loss of local control, loss of funding to our area and combining our

services with services for the aging and other disability groups. There was a

hearing on this bill in Austin this past Friday, 3/18/05. The bill remains

pending and Representative asked that if anyone had input, they get it to

him by today.

I have drafted a letter that overviews and describes the areas that concern me.

Please review this letter. If any of those things concern you, please fax a

letter of your own to Representative before 5:00 pm today. You may use my

letter as a starting point and add to and subtract from it as you wish. His fax

number is .

I also recommend you send a copy of your letter to your local representative.

Attached is a list by county of the representatives. You can mail or fax that

letter. Also, please send a copy to Suzanna Hupp who is the Chairperson

Representative of the Human Services Committee of the House (info. attached).

If you wish to read the bill, you can find it on the website of the Texas

Legislature at www.capitol.state.tx.us. Look under House, Legislation, Bills by

Number.

I believe that our legislative representatives respond to input from the public,

so please take the time to express your input.

Thank You.

Jeff Enzinna

Director, MR Services

Texana MHMR Center

****************************************

March 20, 2005

The Honorable

Texas House of Representatives

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, Texas 78678-2910

Dear Representative ,

I am writing this letter to inform you that I am against HB470. I understand

you have an interest in improving MHMR services and I appreciate all the work

you have done to further that goal. I believe, however, that HB470 will

actually cause severe harm to our MHMR system.

My interest in the system is____________________(I have a family member who

receives services) or (I advocate for people who receive services) through

Texana MHMR Center. Texana serves six counties west of Houston. It also serves

as the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority for those counties.

I understand that HB470 would create regional authorities. I believe that a six

county area is already large enough. I have heard that the region Texana would

be in could serve 13 or more counties. I favor local control and design of

services, based on local priorities and the needs of the community. I favor

local access to service. I believe this is important if we want to really reach

people and remove barriers. I also believe that creating a regional system will

create another level of bureaucracy which will take funds away from direct

services.

I understand that in HB470 a community MHMR Center can not function as a

provider of services and an authority for accessing, coordinating and monitoring

services. I am aware that if they had to make this choice, Texana and most MHMR

Centers would choose to be providers of service. I am fearful of what would

happen to the authority functions in our area. Along with those authority

functions shifting, I understand the state general revenue funds will shift from

Texana to that Regional authority. Texana has worked closely with our local

community for many years to develop services based on the priorities of our

community. They have demonstrated the value of public service. They go beyond

their contract requirements to serve many more people than they have to. They

have focused on children’s services and services for people with autism spectrum

disorders even though such focus is not required. They have worked for years to

develop expertise in applied behavior analysis to

provide short term intervention for individuals with challenging behavior.

They have developed a comprehensive array of community support and training

services. They have developed service coordination and monitoring systems to

ensure quality services. I am concerned that if Texana loses its authority

functions and GR funding, these services will disappear. That would be a

tragedy.

I understand that HB470 will combine authority functions for mental retardation

services with those of aging and disability services. I think this is a

mistake. Now our mental retardation authority also has mental retardation focus

and expertise. I believe putting all those services together in one authority

will interfere with access and will diminish the professional focused expertise

the system currently has.

I appreciate the opportunity to provide input on this important bill.

Sincerely,

________________

******************************************************************

Chairperson Texas State House of Representatives Human Services Committee

Representative Suzanna Hupp

Capitol Office

Room EXT E1.414

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

FAX

Texas State Representatives by County

Austin County

House District 13 – Representative Lois W. Kolkhorst

Capitol Office: EXT E1.510

Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Capitol Phone:

District Address: P.O. Box 1867

Brenham, TX 77834

District Phone:

Fax:

Colorado County

House District 17 – Representative Robby L. Cook

Capitol Office: EXT E2.204

Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Capitol Phone:

District Address: 219 East Main Street

Eagle Lake, TX 77434

District Phone:

Fax:

Fort Bend County

House District 26 – Representative Charlie

Capitol Office: CAPS.4

Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Capitol Phone:

District Address: 13401 Southwest Fwy.

Sugar Land, TX 77478

District Phone:

Fax:

House District 27 – Representative Dora F. Olivo

Capitol Office: EXT E2.806

Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Capitol Phone:

District Address: P.O. Box 2130

Missouri City, TX 77459

District Phone:

Fax:

House District 28 – Representative Glenn Hegar

Capitol Office: EXT E2.506

Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Capitol Phone:

District Address: P.O. Box 2910

Katy, TX 77492

District Phone:

Fax:

Matagorda County

House District 29 – Representative Glenda Dawson

Capitol Office: EXT E2.312

Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Capitol Phone:

District Address: 2404 Grand Blvd. Ste 130

Pearland, TX 77581

District Phone: (281)412-9438

Fax:

Waller and Wharton County

House District 28 – Representative Glenn Hegar

Capitol Office: EXT E2.506

Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Capitol Phone:

District Address: P.O. Box 1008

Katy, TX 77492

District Phone: (281)391-8883

Fax:

M. Guppy

www.TexasAutismAdvocacy.org

Regional Coordinator for the TEAM Project: www.PartnersTX.org