10-R376

2010 -- S 2769

Enacted 06/25/10

 

J O I N T R E S O L U T I O N

RECOGNIZING RHODE ISLAND'S MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION TREATMENT PROGRAM

     

     

     Introduced By: Senator Rhoda E. Perry

     Date Introduced: April 07, 2010

 

     

 

 

     WHEREAS, On April 7, 2010, Rhode Island’s community mental health and addiction

treatment providers will host their first annual “Rhode Island Behavioral Health Day”; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s mental health and addiction treatment organizations have

been providing prevention and treatment services to Rhode Islanders in need for over 30 years;

and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s mental health and addiction treatment organizations play an

essential role in their communities by working with primary care practitioners, pediatricians, law

enforcement, hospitals, our criminal justice system, schools, and other partner agencies to provide

a range of services to those in need; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s community mental health and addiction treatment system

offers a vital safety net to some of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable residents-the uninsured, the

homeless, children in foster care, older adults, veterans, and their families; and

     WHEREAS, Untreated mental illness drains our national economy of more than $80

billion each year in lost wages and decreased productivity, accounting for 15 percent of the total

economic burden of all disease; and

     WHEREAS, Alcohol and drug abuse contributes to the death of more than 100,000

Americans each year; and

     WHEREAS, People with mental illnesses die 25 years earlier than those in the general

population; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s mental health and addiction treatment providers served over

70,000 adults, children, and families in communities across our state in 2009, and employ almost

3,500 Rhode Islanders; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence

Plantations hereby extends our sincere appreciation and congratulations to the Drug and Alcohol

Treatment Association, The Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Organizations,

and their member organizations for all that they do to keep our citizens healthy; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Rhode Island Council of Community

Mental Health Organizations.

     

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LC02393

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