Policy and Advocacy
Advocacy
for improvements in law, regulation, and funding for geriatric
mental health services is one of two core functions of the
Geriatric Mental Health Alliance. Most of our efforts focus
on changes at the state level in New York, but we also work
actively on the local level in New York City and to promote and
support other local alliances and coalitions in New York
State. We also contribute to promoting advocacy in other
states and to changes at the federal level.
The
Geriatric Mental Health Alliance has a
policy and advocacy committee, made up of over 30 statewide
advocacy groups representing the mental health, health and aging
sectors that provide guidance on the development of GMHA's advocacy
agenda and strategic direction and that join with us in our
advocacy efforts.
Testimony
- Hearing
on the NYS Office of Mental Health's 2010-2014 Statewide
Comprehensive Plan for Mental Health Services, Testimony of
Kimberly Williams before the Office of Mental Health, August 24,
2010.
-
Kimberly Williams' Joint Testimony on the NYC FY 2011 Budget to the
Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug
Abuse and Disability Services, March 11, 2010.
- Kimberly Williams'
Testimony on the NYS Deficit Reduction Plan for 2009-2010,
October 26, 2009.
- Kimberly
Williams' Testimony on the Mayor's FY 2010 Executive Budget,
May 18, 2009.
Click here to view all GMHA testimonies.
Advocacy Toolkit
The below
presentation is on how to build an effective advocacy campaign for
geriatric mental health, which includes references to a variety of
"tools", i.e., documents that we have created at the Geriatric
Mental Health Alliance of New York as advocacy tools.
You are free to use these documents for your own advocacy
campaigns. In some cases you may be able to use them as
is. In other cases you will need to adapt them to your state
or to your campaign. Please give appropriate credit for
articles, reports, and OP-EDs that we have written. When you
use data that we have compiled in our Briefing Book or other
documents, we suggest that you cite the sources we have used rather
than the Geriatric Mental Health Alliance. (We have made a
great effort to use and cite credible, independent sources rather
than claims made by advocacy organizations because policy makers
are often skeptical about such claims.)
We hope
that you find these tools useful and would appreciate your feedback
about whether you do. You can reach us at center@mhaofnyc.org.
Also feel
free to contact us with questions or for help developing an
advocacy campaign in your state or locality. We will be happy
to help you.
Click here to go to
the Advocacy Toolkit.