On Sunday evening Oct. 30, the Nassau County Legislature met to approve Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi's proposed county budget for 2006. The two major additions to the county executive's $2.6 billion spending plan address the needs of our residents for public safety and public health.

Approximately 100 additional police officers will be added to the ranks of the Nassau County Police Department and $1.3 million has been added to fund community-based mental health services. Although the county will be reinvesting $4.5 million into Human Services countywide, mental health services have received the bulk of this funding, approximately thirty percent, and frankly, it's long overdue!

On Wednesday evening, Oct. 26, I had the privilege to address the Nassau County Legislature during their budget hearings on behalf of the Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies of Nassau County. Despite the partisan bickering that often takes place at meetings of the legislature, my testimony was received first, and with the undivided attention of all nineteen legislators. I'm confident that the testimony provided on behalf of our coalition has some impact upon the legislators' decision and the county executive's new commitment for people in need.

The following is the complete text of my testimony:

"I appreciate the opportunity to address the members of the legislature this evening on behalf of the Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies of Nassau County. As many of you know, our coalition represents 22 not-for-profit mental health agencies that combined provide a comprehensive network of community-based mental health services to more than 25,000 of our county's residents on an annual basis.

"In 1999, our local mental health system suffered a 50 percent reduction in county funding as a result of a fiscal crisis that required the county to balance its budget at the expense of those least able to afford a reduction in services. Nearly seven years later, our industry is still struggling to maintain quality community-based mental health services for all county residents in the wake of the $6 million reduction we experienced.

"Seven years later, we still do not have the ability to meet the needs of all of Nassau County's vulnerable populations, and don't have the quality workforce required to serve those individuals who do not meet state priorities. And we still do not have the means to stabilize our infrastructure or to develop new programs to meet the needs of a growing and changing population.

In June of this year, our members came before the legislature's Health and Human Services Committee to make our case for a complete restoration of the $6 million cuts over the period of the next four years.

"As you analyze the county executive's proposed spending plan for 2006, I would like to encourage you to consider restoring at least $1.5 million to our local mental health system. Mental health services in Nassau County are vital services for our citizens in need. We continue to serve children, adults, families and communities that fall victim to a host of problems and issues that ribbon throughout our entire human services network: victims of drunk driving accidents; victims of gang violence and school violence; victims of domestic violence and child abuse; the frail elderly and their family caregivers; people with chemical dependencies and addictions; the dually diagnosed; people with health insurance; people without health insurance; those with inadequate health insurance; the unemployed; and our veterans.

"As you debate the most appropriate way to fund our suburban quality of life and to continue to bring our county's fiscal health back in a bipartisan effort, I ask that you seriously consider how we might maintain a commitment to our residents whose quality of life has been jeopardized by mental illness and other psychological problems, by restoring the funding necessary to bring our mental health system back."