 Ableton On Air is sponsored in part by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering neighbors with disabilities to be at home in the community. Additional support for Ableton On Air is sponsored in part by Washington County Mental Health Services, where hope and support come together. It's important to improve the legislative process so that the system of care is improved here in Vermont. And we're going to be starting out our day with a legislative training. And with me today is Peter Mallory and Ken Liebertaugh. So let's give them a hand and we'll get started with the day. Let me start by saying Lori is amazing. This day would not happen without her. And Julie Tesler from Vermont Care Partners, who is also helping us with the sponsorship. But Lori is amazing, so give her a hand. And thank you all for getting here. We're not exactly cooperating, so that's very intrepid of you. My name is Peter Mallory. I'm the Vice President for Government Relations at the Vermont Association of Mental Health and Addiction Recovery, which is basically known as VAMHAR around here. Wow. Thank you. And I spent a fair amount of time in this building during the session and it keeps me young. I used to be a legislator here a long time ago. I don't know that it does keep me, I don't know that it does keep me young. It makes me feel old sometimes. But anyway, speaking of feeling old, I'm going to talk about Ken for a second. Ken Liebertaugh is sort of making a triumphal return today. He spent 30 years running what was then the Vermont Association of Mental Health and knows this building better than anybody and retired a few years ago. But I asked him if he would come back and help us learn something about how to do advocacy. The pamphlet that you have that Ken always says is good for insomnia is in fact very useful and we'll be working some from that today. But it's a pleasure to welcome Ken back to Mental Health Advocacy Day. Ken Liebertaugh. I did have an opportunity to say hello to the Governor this morning. And one of the things we're going to mention today is that information is power and we're going to give you some information which hopefully will turn you into more powerful advocates for mental health. But I want to make sure, I also told the Governor that I was putting out a press release as Peter said. I did work as an advocate for 30 years here and I've been retired for nine years now. But I went back in and I saw a press release I put out when Governor Snelling was the Governor and I told our current Governor that I crossed out Governor Snelling's name and I put his name in and we were demanding two and a half million dollars more for mental health services. Some things don't change all that much. Well I did have an opportunity to put together some notes so for most of you you can at another point look through this little advocacy booklet. One of the things that you can turn to immediately is page 28. The very last mention in page 28. Would anybody like to read it out loud here? I'll read it out loud. Okay. Page 28 Ken. Page 28. All right. Which part? The very last, the very lowest part. Thank you. No. Identify positive points? No. You're closed. Oh thank you very much. Always strive to make lemonade out of lemons. That's one of the things you have to do if you want to be a good advocate. You're going to learn a few things today. The weather might have been a slight disruption in our plan but we're not going to let that turn us around and before the morning's over this room will be filled and the important thing is that you're here and we're going to hear a little bit more from you as to why you're here and as part of this little opening session we definitely want to make sure we're in the right group. Are there any wimpy people who are afraid of a little bit of snow in Vermont? Raise your hands and you can leave if you want. Does anybody want to leave? This is your last chance. All right. You're committed. So there are a few basic principles that I really want to share with you and as people register I do want to tell you that in this building silence is not cold. Silence is not cold. You need to reach out not only to people in this room but you need to reach out to elected officials to share with them the reason that you're here and we'll be talking a little bit more about that. Peter has some information to share on some key committees. Now if you're not here I'm just going to tell you that in your absence other issues come to the fore and one of the ways I used to describe this is after 30 years of making my way over to the state house was if it happens to be a snowy morning and it does today qualify I think it qualifies. Early in the morning if some of you were here Peter was probably here at five in the morning getting things ready. But at five in the morning it's beautiful. It's a beautiful building. Nice pathway of prints. But by eight or eight thirty there are a lot of footprints and that happens every day of a legislative session. And if some of you have trouble sleeping because you're worried that some interests in our state are not well represented by that footprints every day if you don't think there are people coming here every day to represent business interests or banking interests or hospitals or utilities or pharmaceutical companies or schools and teachers if you're worried that they're not getting represented you don't have to worry anymore. They're well represented. Mental health on the other hand is not as well represented but because you're here you're making a change. The fact that you're wearing, I hope everybody's wearing a little pin, a little button, sends a message. Mental health is important. And in this building keeping messages simple is really good. And I do want to say I'm really happy that you're here. So my message in terms of to folks that are here and will be coming because we're going to be sharing with some of the people who come in later. I'm going to ask a few of you to give them a little update before we end. Some of you are going to have to summarize for the people that are just getting in. So there will be a quiz? There will be a quiz. And for those of you who think you're going to get free donuts and lunch or anything, forget it if you don't pass this quiz. So one of the key things to write down is seize the initiative. Come to the state house, which is something you've done. Talk to legislators. And we'll talk a little bit about which legislators are best to talk to. You can call your legislators at home when a person gets elected. They have the assumption that they're going to hear from their constituents. And they're actually disappointed in a way if they don't hear from constituents. And one example I can give from 1983, we had a very terrible problem in this state. We had very few services for young children with mental health problems. And it turns out we were sending many of those kids to out of state programs hundreds of miles away. And I was in the House Health and Welfare Committee, and I was literally pounding the table saying this is a disgrace. We have parents here from Morrisville. We have parents here from South Wales and talking about what it's like to have your child sent 600, 700 miles away to get treatment. We need to have treatment in this state. And I have to say it was a Friday afternoon. I thought I had some impact. When I came back on Tuesday to that same committee, the federal legislators came up to me and said, you know, I was really taken with what you talked about. But I have to tell you, I didn't get one telephone call over the weekend from anybody in my area who had anything to say about this issue. And I'm telling you, you have a lot of power, but you only have power if you need it. Can I jump in for a second? Sure. Well, there are a number of ways to get in contact with your legislators. One is face-to-face, and we'll talk about that a little more. And the other is email, and the other is phone. And I just want to say, obviously, face-to-face is the best, but phone is better than email if you can do it. As a former legislator, if I came home to find three messages that pushed me on an issue, it meant more to me than anything to make sure I paid attention. So Ken's story about I didn't get a single phone call is a critical story. Okay? Yeah. So I want to share something that I learned at a 30-year experience, and I have to tell you that members of the mental health community potentially are as strong an advocacy network as any group around. Because the power comes from people who are in this room, from consumers of services, from providers of services, from family members, from survivors, and from concerned citizens who care about mental health. And so your voice, your voice is very important. Now, I want to quickly take a poll. Having heard what you've heard so far, many of you are only going to be here today and not going to do anything the rest of the year to support mental health. Raise your hand so we can identify people that are too late, I mean, not unwilling to call their local legislators, or to come back to the building, or to attend some hearings, or to come over on a Wednesday morning. And any of you come on a Wednesday morning early because the governor is available upstairs on the second floor. He has free coffee and bagels. And you can go in and introduce yourself. You can wear this, you know, a little tag if you want. And you can talk to the governor every Wednesday between eight and nine. So I'm glad to say this is an outstanding group way above average. Everybody is going to be more involved and not make this the only occasion. So getting your voice is important because it can be an intimidating building. I mean, look at some of these distinguished looking people. We don't know many of them are, but you are in one of the really fine state houses in America, and not just because it's beautiful, but because as a person who's worked in many state houses around the country, we have more access to our elected officials in this state than any other state in America. In most other states, you'd be lucky to talk to the third person down from the senator from Chittany County or the house member from Montpelier. Here, legislators are available. They're walking around. They hear every day. You can call them and say, could we have lunch? You don't have to pay for them. They'll pay for themselves. They get money to take care of some of their expenses. You don't. But you're having this. You don't want them to be holding to you unless you can convince them that mental health services are important, which they are. So just to make sure that we are not timid, I'd like a couple of people to just stand up, introduce yourselves, tell us where you're from in this state. I'm assuming everybody's of a monitor because you might be in the wrong state house. Maybe you should be in New Hampshire. And tell us why you're here, what your simple message is. Don't all raise your hand at once. Up, right there. And where are you from? Where are you from? What part of the state? Thanks for getting here. I left plenty and plenty of bags. And you have a legislator who's very interested in mental health in your area. We'll talk about it later. Okay. Who else would like to stand up? Let's not be shy. My name is Boron San. I'm the host, creator, and the producer of the television program here in Montpelier. I'm from what I'm living on as well. Specifically for people with special needs called Abledon Air. And it's extremely important to communicate with your legislators because, you know, if you don't, who will? Larry, can everybody hear that? Say it again loud. If you don't communicate with your legislators and people who are here for you, who will? Larry, did we rehearse this? Excellent. Okay. I'm from Montpelier. Okay. This is a very quiet section, but we're going to break the street. There's one. I'm from Memorial County Mental Health. And I'm here because I've done a lot in my own hometown of Stowe to get more funding and more knowledge out there about mental health. And I'm here to find out how I can really push it upstairs. Excellent. And I assume you have been talking with Davy Acaboni. Oh, yes. Okay. So I'm here in support services. And I was taught that if you have complaints about the system, you should be active in conversations about the system. So that's why I'm here. I'm very passionate about the system. Great. I know there are a couple more people. Hi, everyone. Welcome. You brave the storm. Hi. I'm here too. I'm here to share my experience, strength and hope with this story at 11 in this room. Also to advocate for the Pathways Vermont support line 833 VT talks and come see me or contact Eva Dayon at the Department of Mental Health. If you are interested in the State Standing Committee or the Planning Council, there are stipends. There are mileage reimbursements and they are governor appointed positions. And I am here to just be one voice, one person, but hopefully a strong voice. Thank you very much. General Story at 11 o'clock. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being a voice. Okay. We're going to have to cut this off at some point because this is such an animated group. Please go ahead. My name is Ann Lutria. I live in Washington. I work for Washington Mental Health and I'm of other reasons. I'm here to ask for an investment in our support staff wage. Important issue. Very important issue. Okay. So let's just talk a little bit about information as power because I think all of you know that there are a total of 180 legislators elected to represent you. And I'm looking for a volunteer right now who will commit between now and the end of May to sit down with all 180 legislators. Can we have the committee? This is supposed to be a committed group. 180 legislators. Nobody is able to do it. Well, that's, oh, wait a second. Yes. It's going to split it. All right. They're going to split it. That's not bad. And also, when you're doing that, please go up on Wednesday morning and get a free coffee and bagel from the governor. That will be really good. One of the things that we're going to talk a little bit about now, and Peter's going to help me, we're going to give a few basics because really going to sit down with 180 legislators, very busy people, is not all that realistic. But we can cut that number down by telling you that you are most powerful to your local elected officials, your senators and your members of the House. And it's possible that some of you don't know the names and contact information of your representatives. There will be a quiz. And if you don't pass it by lunchtime, you're going to have to stay in this room and study that list. Not really. However, if you look in that little white pamphlet, thanks to Peter Mallory, who sort of urged me to put this in, on the bottom of page three, there is a link. Is that right, Peter? That's a link. A link. Ken still, he's not our most techno-savvy person in the building, but that's okay, Ken. It's okay. And do you want me to talk about how to use those things? Yes, please do. All right. I'm not tremendously techno-savvy, but what you do is use that link and it will send you to the legislative page for Vermont. It will teach you easily how to find a legislator either by where they're from or their name, find out if they're your legislator, find out what committee they serve on, usually get an e-mail, you will always get an e-mail for them and some of them still keep their phone number in there. So, I could do a demonstration, but it really is a very easy to use website. And Ken has used it at least twice, I think. Ken, have you used it? Yes, twice. So, one thing that you're going to come away with is knowing you are very important to your local legislators. You want to do a good job, and I think for the most part we have very dedicated people, and they want to make sure that they're meeting the needs of their local constituents, you. So, you need to go to that website if you don't know the entire list, which has contact information. So, remember we were saying how many people want to commit to doing nothing other than being here today, and nobody raised their hand. This is an important step for making sure you know who are your local legislators. And whether you come to the state house and set up a meeting with them, or you meet them back in a diner in your local community, or send them a letter saying mental health is important, mental health needs whatever you think it needs, then you're doing the job and you have impact. So the second important way of figuring out where to put your energy, because nobody really can possibly reach out to 180 people, would be to identify some of the key committees that are going to impact mental health and mental health services. And every year, the decisions on how much money, some of you have mentioned, salaries, monies for alternative programs, money for new hospitals, money to keep people from waiting in emergency rooms, all of these issues are money issues. And Peter is handing out a sheet. I didn't print enough because I didn't realize there would be so many intrepid people. So if you could share, we'll get enough to get around. So there's an appropriations committee in the house, an appropriations committee in the senate. And if any of these folks are in your region, and are your representatives, they are extremely important. Between now and a day in spring, they're going to come in their committee and make a final vote on whether or not to cut funding for mental health services, increase funding for mental health services, increase salaries for workers, decrease salaries for workers, put in more money for a particular program that you think is needed. So you have between now and a warm day in May that sounds good to have impact. And as you, for those who are not all that familiar with who are your elected folks in this area, you can go in in the convenience of home or convenience of wherever you're having a computer, look at the website, it's actually very useful, it's all arranged by county. You can find folks. So that's, you know, little pieces of information are important. Now another important piece of information to know is, Monday, the legislature doesn't meet. So if I had said to you, we'll meet in three weeks on a Monday here so we can see everybody, I wouldn't know what I was talking about. Because for the most part, all your legislators are back in their local communities. As you know, some of them work in other jobs. Some of them are quite available on Mondays. So just to find out, you know, who's going to do this, would anybody like to just impromptu make a telephone call to your local legislature? Just raise your hand if you'd like to do this. Right now? Right now. Right now? Here's the phone. I already saw her. I said hello. Well why don't you stand up for a minute, just a second. So here's, I'm waiting, yes, hello. I'm one of your constituents. Ah, wonderful, because immediately, immediately that legislator says, forget the Super Bowl, here's your local constituent. Go ahead. I'm concerned about our budget. Our budget does not have enough money for our designated agencies. We need more money for our designated agencies, and I don't see it in the budget. I'm telling you, this is really very good role play. If we hadn't rehearsed this yesterday, I couldn't make short, concise, to the point. But now, now comes the best part, because I know, I just can feel it, that the next part of the conversation is, could we get together for a coffee and sit and talk? Can we sit and meet sometime, maybe on a Monday when you're back in your area? Funny you should mention it, because next Monday I have nothing. How about two o'clock, and if you have any other people that want to sit and talk to me about this, would you come on over, where should we meet? Great, we'll meet at the diner, and I'll bring the two other people. Let's have a round of applause for all of you, secretly wanting to do this, but a little bit hesitant, and that's what it takes. You have to seize this opportunity, you have to make your voice heard, and this is a wonderful opportunity to do something that all of you need to do, which is to educate your elected officials as to what issues are important to you, and perhaps what you'd like them to do. And that's just an excellent example, and I have always known that it can be a little challenging to make that next step, but it really isn't that hard, is it? I mean, you just did it. It's nice to be able to meet them and then ask them about that. Exactly. Over the phone, you know, you can hear the TV in the background, and you know, screaming at the kids or something, and you know. Let me be cynical, is that right? I don't know how cynical, or if you're cynical. Well, I just wanted to say, every single one of these, every single one of you have something that that legislator wants. Your vote? Bingham, somebody said it. Your vote. And so it is in their interest to accept your attempt to reach out to them. And if they don't, and they don't on a regular basis, they are jeopardizing their job. And legislators, for all the right reasons most of the time, care about their job and care about their constituents. So at a less cynical note, remember that they work for you, not the other way around. Thank you, beauty. So the legislature, as many of you know, but some of you may not, generally runs from early January to May. So if you're thinking, well, you know, I'm kind of busy, or whatever, next fall would be a great time to come here and really get going. There are still things you can do, but you have the next few months, not weeks, not days, you have months, until this session proceeds and comes to an end. And it's really, really useful to have this advocacy day in January, because it gives you plenty of time to be impactful over the next coming months. By the way, there's also an advocacy day disability advocacy day in February as well. There are other events, you know, that piggyback this and will amplify some of the same issues, but you have until the end of May, the end of May, usually, to have real impact, and that's a great opportunity. Now, let's just say, Josie decides to run for the legislature. Okay? And who would vote for Josie, because she's here today? Let's see. Josie got elected. She's a member of the House from where? Willison. Willison, all right. So Josie comes to the city house like a lot of new legislators do. You're a little intimidated, though, too, because you don't know exactly how everything works here, right? I mean, to be honest, you know, you may be a no at all, but, you know, you're not a no. So, for the most part, a lot of legislators would get, a lot of people would get elected, because for the first time, as you know, we vote every two years, and come, as you know, people who have come to this rally have actually become legislators 10 years later. And the first thing they'll say is, I never thought I would do this, so Josie, keep it in mind 10 years from now. So Josie comes here, and for the most part, Josie, how many staff people do you think are going to be helping you as a new legislator? One, three, or five? All right, Josie, you said four. The reality is that most legislators really have no staff support that you need as you consider how you're going to become a real advocate. The first skill, which is really important, is to speak from your experience. You know, you're not an expert on everything. You may be. You may think you're an expert on everything, but very few people, some legislators think they're experts on everything. We can identify them, but you have to pay money to get their names. But you are experts in the field that you work in, or the experience as a consumer of services. You're an expert on what works and what doesn't. So whether you're a consumer of services, whether you're a provider of services, whether you're a family member, you need to be able to talk from your experience and to talk from the heart. There's nothing wrong with being strong and emotional. And in this very room, over the last 35 or 40 years, we have had some outstanding representatives of consumers and parents and steering citizens come to this room where there are many hearings and passionately talk about their family or their own experience, good, bad, or indifferent, but they've been willing to come here and do that. So talking from your own experience is what is really important. Now one of the things about legislators and maybe all of us, they're really busy people. Those of you who are going to be here in lunchtime will be able to confirm that this is a pretty busy place. How many people know what a beehive is like? Well, I want you to tell me after you experience the luncheon program upstairs in the cafeteria, I want you to tell me whether it sort of sounds like a beehive. People clustered around, everybody talking, but there's plenty of interaction that can happen. So you need to make sure that you are front and center. So a couple of other things as we conclude. I urge you to talk about what the cost will be of not having some of the services that you want or some of the treatment that you want or some of the funding that you need, for example, for salaries because staff turnover is ruining organizations. There is nothing wrong. You don't have to be an expert in the whole budget. You'll have people coming in now who can throw figures at you, 35% more here, 15% more here. But you can definitely identify what the cost will be to you if there isn't adequate funding or services or programs. So I urge you to do that. So I think that the last thing that I'll mention is that as simple as it is and it won't be possible probably for today, but my advice is whenever you come to the State House or whenever you meet with your local legislator or communicate through the mail, you have a one-page handout and you have on it your name, your contact information and maybe a paragraph or two as to what the message is. We've heard some messages, crisp, clear, concise, even if we want more funding for mental health. Very, very important. Legislators hear from dozens and dozens and dozens of people every day and they're well-meaning, but they're no smarter than any of the rest of us. Often sat there at hearings during the day on mental health and they'll hear this dramatic and wonderful testimony, but at the end of the day, a legislator will come up to me and I'm sure it's happened to Peter. I got confused, who was that person? I'd like to contact them again, but I don't really know how to do that. So a very simple technique is to have just a one-page handout, whether it's handwritten, it doesn't have to be glossy or anything else. It needs a sum of the little techniques that will make you effective. So... I don't think Kent ever came into this building without a single sheet and ask a few people. Very rarely, anyway. Under your arm. Ready and able. I fooled Peter, it was actually my shopping list that I usually had. That's okay, it sounds good and it's a good... You know, we kind of don't have a real ending to this presentation because it blends into the rest of the program and the rest of the day. Your being here is what's important. Your continuing to be a voice is important. So don't let anybody turn you around. Mental health, mental health services, alternative programs, new programs, better funding, that's what's needed. And you are the potential voice to make that happen. You know, turn around. There are a lot of important people in this room, in this building. And I'll just end by saying this is a PowerPoint of the important people right here. Thank you very much for being here. Upstairs had to leave today so he is not going to be able to be with us. But we do have the Secretary of Human Services who is going to be the first of our guests. And there he is. The Secretary, Al Gobey. Is the Governor font that he reads from. So we're going to keep that aside there. So let me start off with the proclamation and then I'd like to say a few words. So, a proclamation. Whereas one in five individuals are living with a mental health condition in the United States. And whereas Vermont, like the rest of the nation, is addressing mental illness and substance use challenges by combining effective promotion, prevention, treatment, and recovery support. Focusing on strengths and promoting resilience. And whereas the health, well-being, and quality of life of all Vermonters is impacted by these chronic, yet treatable health conditions. And virtually all Vermonters know someone in their network of family or friends who is affected. And whereas Vermont's mental health organizations continue to educate the public and lawmakers about the effects of mental illness and substance use and the value of treatment and long-term recovery. Building capacity for trauma-informed care and best practice intervention and supports for people living with developmental disabilities. And whereas Vermont's mental health advocacy day is designed to remind all Vermonters that mental health and substance use conditions can respond to proper and timely intervention, treatment, and recovery support services including the support from peers who have had successful recovery experiences. And that people living with developmental and intellectual disabilities are equal members and willing contributors to their needs. Now, therefore, I, really him, Phillip B. Scott, Governor, hereby proclaim January 30th, 2019 as Mental Health Advocacy Day in Vermont. So, here, here. It tends to go fast and it seems like such a short time ago, which was just only two years that I came before you on Mental Health Advocacy Day the crisis that we faced as a state. I must say that we've made progress but we haven't solved the crisis. I'm really excited to see all of you here. There's so many people in the room that I know and there's so many people in the room that over the last two years have worked really hard to do good work. And there's just a couple of people I want to mention because I'm kind of proud, not you but thanks for coming up here. Oh, yeah, it's alright. I think your voice is big enough. So, shamelessly, I want to say thank you to some people and they don't even know it but where's Emily? Emily took over as the head of our hospital in Berlin and ever since she took over she's done such an amazing job that I just, I literally told her a couple months ago she allows me to sleep at night and I just want to publicly recognize you and thank you. Let's see, where's Fox? Don't be hiding. Sure can. So, Fox is here. He is the deputy commissioner and I just want to give him a big thank you. When Commissioner Bailey chose to leave for the Philadelphia Eagles Morty Fox stepped up and he's done a great job. We now have Commissioner Squirrel she's going to be speaking this morning but I just wanted to recognize Morty Fox for his efforts on behalf of Vermont and all that you do. What I want to tell all of you is that the people that work at the Agency of Human Services are so dedicated to Vermonters that I just wish you could see how hard they work and how much they care like I do and I just wanted to say that publicly. So thank you anyone here from AHS. Next, I just want to also give a shout out to all of the folks that work at the designated agencies and specialized service agencies. The work that they do day in and day out in the communities is just absolutely to be applauded and so I suggest we do that now. Last and most importantly I want to talk to everyone in the room that has been impacted by personally or by someone in their family with a mental illness. Every single one of us I don't want to do a show of hands has been impacted and it's only through understanding and through compassion and through patience that we get through these issues that we have in our lives and so to all of you in the room whether you are a peer recovery person whether you are somebody who is still suffering whether you have a family member who is suffering just know that I think about you all the time and that I hope today in some small way gives a voice to you and that we all can hear you so thank you very much and let's give some applause. Thank you Secretary. Sometimes during the day we get visits from legislators who deserve our particular service and so I'm delighted to introduce one of my senators Senator Jane Kitchell who is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a great friend of ours so senator. I get turned off. Well good morning everyone it's great you're all here on some kind of a snowy day I wish the traveling was a little better for you as Peter indicated I do chair the Appropriations Committee in the Senate and I hope that it is very obvious to all of you in the room that the stance of our mental health delivery system and treatment system has been a top priority for my committee. The last two years we've been able to put together money to address begin to address reimbursement and the financial status of the designated agencies. Your work is very very critical and I know that sometimes decisions made around the budget make you feel like are we really do people really care does the work we do isn't really valued. And the other thing that I want to bring to your attention last year when we had some additional money we put in the budget five million dollars to really be used to put together a plan to address our workforce shortage and that is everything from how do we get the kind of education and training opportunities available how do we take our workforce many many dedicated people start out at one level would really like to move up through and acquire more training and credentialing so we are in the process of working with the University of Vermont and our Vermont State College system as well as to put together a plan that would help us address our workforce shortage. I am of the view that we have got to grow our own we are not going to import the solution and we have very many talented and committed Vermonters who really would benefit and I believe that our service delivery system would benefit as well. So that is another example of what we are trying to do with our resources to begin to address the challenges that all of you face as you do our work as you do our work on behalf of the citizens of the state so I won't go on I don't have a proclamation I don't even have a prepared speech I am running in from transportation but I just wanted to again thank the community of the state house and to say thank you for your hard work and to say that we do want to do our very best within the resources we have this summer our president and the senators from various areas actually visited the designated agencies to hear directly from you also we are trying to figure out the impact when we are using millions of dollars we want to make sure that it is in fact stabilizing the workforce that it is helping the recruitment reducing our vacancy rate and improving the quality of staff and treatment so we have another challenge ahead the budget situation is tough but the designated agencies I will point to Mary she's been very helpful to us in this process we really had to rely on the designated agencies to help us provide the financial information to do as much as we have been able to do in the budget and so that support and involvement has been you have all benefited from it so I wanted to simply say thanks to Mary and her staff for working so closely with us to put this together so I will turn it over to whomever is your next I'll I'll take care of it and when you say that it's like music I'll take care of it I know well I'm always humble because remember I always remember that when you sit at the end of the table and you chair the budget process I feel like an equal of vendor opportunities because it's very hard with so many competing needs and how you make those decisions and how you set priorities but I just want to say not what I just don't listen to me look at what the legislature has attempted to do over the last several years and I think that is perhaps the best example for a validation of our commitment and our interest and we really do need to bring mental health up into the same level we've had a lot of language around parity and the importance of mental health and yet we kind of cut the body off at the head so we'll continue to do our work and you'll continue to do yours and you thank you very much thank you senator very much for giving us some time I am wondering whether I've just been told and this is remarkable given the weather that the sergeant at arms just told me we got too many people in this room that's okay that's just fantastic in my opinion I was looking for okay is Sarah Squirrel here Sarah how are you? Sarah Squirrel is our oh you're on your way okay hi Missy okay just hardly needs introduction the speaker of the house Missy Johnson it is fantastic to see so many people here especially given the weather who are stepping up to come to the state house to make sure that all legislators and Vermont's government know that mental health mental health services and mental health parity are important to this state so thank you so much for an amazing can't quite get through the door turnouts Ableton on Air is sponsored in part by Green Mountain Support Services empowering neighbors with disabilities to be at home in the community additional support for Ableton on Air is sponsored in part by Washington County mental health services where hope and support come together