RALEIGH, N.C.—Community Support Services Providers and Recipients will hold a rally on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Legislative Building Halifax Mall. The rally is being held to bring attention to the state’s proposed mental health budget cuts.

“We are banding together to exercise our civic responsibility to oppose the proposed dismantling of Community-Based Mental Health Care in North Carolina,” says Bobbie Ghaffar who heads the Native Angels Homecare Agency in Pembroke, the 2007 National Small Business of the Year.

The General Assembly has proposed cutting community-based services by more than $59 million for FY 2009-10 and more than $115 million for FY 2010-11.

Supporters, those receiving services and mental health advocates are asked to join the agency to let the legislature know that continued state support for these services is vital.

“If you receive these services or know of someone who does, or if you are a mental health advocate please join us as we band together to preserve these much needed services in our communities,” says Ghaffar.  “North Carolina has long been known for its compassionate care for those with mental illness. Eliminating community based programs puts those individuals receiving these services and their families at  much greater risk.”

RALEIGH, N.C. - Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that she will work with Attorney General Roy Cooper to increase the transparency of state mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse facilities by making more information in death records public.

“In North Carolina, the welfare of our citizens always comes first,” said Gov. Perdue. “Ensuring that important information in death records is public will make state facilities more accountable for the people in their care, restore public confidence and rebuild public trust.”

Gov. Perdue made the announcement today in a Sunshine Week video presentation to the North Carolina Open Government Coalition.

Perdue and Cooper’s proposal would require the following information regarding deaths in state facilities to be public information:

The name, sex, age and date of birth of the deceased;
The name of the facility providing the report;
The date, time and location of the death;
A brief description of the circumstances of death, including the manner of death if known; and
A list of all entities to whom the event was reported. 
 
“Patients must receive quality care in state facilities that are safe,” Cooper said.  “The law should be changed because more public input and scrutiny can help fix the problems.”

“It is important that we have the ability to be open and transparent in dealing with issues within our facilities,” said DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler.  “While we want to make sure we protect the rights of the individuals we serve, we also want to make sure the public has access to information about problems in the facilities and our efforts to correct them.”

Gov. Perdue’s other ongoing efforts to make state government more transparent include:

• Enabling the public to track the use of North Carolina’s $6.1 billion in federal recovery funds online through NCRecovery.gov.
• Launching NC Open Book so taxpayers can track all state contracts and grants more than $10,000.
• Developing State Stat, a web site that mathematically measures the efficiency and effectiveness of state agencies.
   

“When taxpayers are footing the bill, they have the right to know what they are paying for and if it is working,” said Perdue.

Will reports on deaths in the mental health system be more available under a new administration?