We Did It! 2-Week Extension for Suicide Hotline!!!!!
Submitted by ilona on August 11, 2006 - 7:43pm.
Call to Action
Update [2006-8-12 1:8:40 by ilona]:
Damn, we're good!! And yes, this is the first diary and title that I'm going to use tons of exclamation points in! If this isn't the best update I'll ever write, I don't know when that day will come! What the hell, have 2 more!! No, 3!!! I'm giddy!
This just in, caught by sardonyx at Daily Kos:
1-800-SUICIDE Gets 2 Week Extension - Thank You For Your Support!
TO ALL THOSE WHO SUPPORTED US A BIG THANK YOU!
The outpouring of support and donations was the largest we have ever received in our history in a single day. We received over 100 donations and the day is not done. We made our target of 10k to keep the line live for two more weeks. We received calls of support from people who credit the Hopeline with helping them through their most difficult times and now they wanted to help us in ours. We also received the most media coverage in our 8 year history. So many more people will learn of our service as a result of this campaign.
There is much work to be done to get our organization into a secure sustainable position but our all volunteer Board is dedicated to helping us to get there, and with the support of people like you this grassroots network of community based crisis centers can be even better and stronger than before. From all of us at the Kristin Brooks Hope Center and the members of the National Hopeline Network, we thank you for your continued support, faith in us to be stewards of the nation's suicide hotline network and belief in our mission to offer help and hope from unconditional and confidential crisis centers.
Best always,
Reese Butler, President and Founder
KBHC Board of Directors
Woo Hoo, this one is a clear victory, guys. THANK YOU ALL!
Work's not done, and they still need our help. Please do what you can (actions at the bottom)...
The personal is political.
My oldest sister, the one with that gorgeous smile and heart of gold looking over my shoulder, committed suicide nearly 6 years ago. I miss her a lot. There are still times like today that I cry over the loss of this kind and sweet lady. But she's with me every single day. Literally.
Her lost battle has been the bridge to the empathy I have for others who lose family members to suicide. She's the reason I began writing about post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] in our returning troops after reading an August 31, 2005 Seattle Weekly article. She's the inspiration for the PTSD Timeline, and she's the inspiration for the blog, and the upcoming book, and everything else that's flowed from my reporting on PTSD.
And tonight at midnight, the federal government is going to succeed in shutting down the most successful non-profit, confidential suicide hotline available. The largest private non-government suicide hotline out there, and the one that worked tirelessly the past 8 years to build up the 1-800-SUICIDE resource.
From Taylor Marsh for Huffington Post:
If you've ever known anyone in the throws of deep depression, especially someone who is suicidal, you know that reaching out for help is not easy. Depression brings with it a lot of shame, especially when you're in the throws of the deepest, blackest heart of the illness. Just ask Mike Wallace if you don't think depression is real. ...
[Reese Butler is the founder of the hotline.] According to Butler's suit, the Suicide Hotline takes in over 1,000 calls per day, approximately 60% of which are crisis calls. Butler's current provider is now threatening to shut down the hotline as of midnight tonight. I received this press release this morning.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 1-800-SUICIDE, the nation's best known, private and confidential suicide prevention hotline network, will be shut off at midnight tonight unless action is taken. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), a division of HHS, has decided to end all funding for KBHC while continuing to owe them $266,000 from over 2 years ago. Instead of sending the funds that were already allocated, SAMHSA has gone on to create their own competing crisis hotline -- which gives them access to callers' private information through phone records. 1-800-SUICIDE does not disclose its phone records to the federal government. SAVE HOPE
SAMHSA plans to take over the hotline without having to pay anything for it.
From The Raw Story:
[T]he government is hoping to direct callers to a new hotline, operated by the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services [SAMHSA].
Even in light of an outpouring of support in favor of the Kristin Brooks Help Center [KBHC], SAMHSA won't budge:
A grassroots effort called "Save 1-800-SUICIDE www.save1800suicide.org" was created to enlist supporters' help in asking the federal government to make good on their commitment. This online effort sent over 2500 emails to SAMHSA and raised over $7,000 in the past ten days -- but fell short the $60,512 in over due phone bills to keep the line connected.
From the Save 1-800-Suicide website:
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), a division of Health & Human Services, has decided to create their own government run system where they would have direct access to confidential data on individuals in crisis. ...
KBHC network covers more than 200 crisis centers with 20 different distinct peer support hotlines such as the Youth America Hotline, veterans hotlines, postnatal depression moms hotline, etc... 1-800-SUICIDE stands firm in its commitment to provide the best hotline support network with complete confidentiality of the caller's identity.
"I created this hotline in honor and memory of my wife and wanted it to have the utmost in integrity to the caller and to their family. It is unfair that SAMHSA is simply not paying the bills from 2004. They punish not only me for not giving them access to the data -- but the calls that need help, will not get answered" stated Reese Butler, founder of KBHC.
These are the action items they have available to us:
- Tell the government to keep their commitment to 1-800-SUICIDE and send the $266,000 that was already allocated.
- Help Fund 1.800.SUICIDE. We need to raise $266,000 for our bills with AT&T to keep the Suicide Prevention Hotline running privately. Once we pay off AT&T for our old phone agreement We have to pay roughly $30,000 per month for the next 6 months in order to come out of debt.
- Keep Suicide Prevention Private and Confidential Petition. Our Government should not duplicate the efforts of the Hopeline - but help with training of social works, education and awareness of the issues of mental health.
- E-mail your friends.
Have taken the action steps.
Yes, it is so puzzling how their limited government wants to take over private functions. But little they do makes much sense. Sigh. . .
* * * *
Your sister is beautiful.
Our work never ends, does it?
Blogging on PTSD Combat
I just found out about this, and was coming here to post it myself. Glad to see that others have heard about it. I can't figure out why it's not on the news. It makes me very sad.
This is the first I've heard of it, too, and it seems almost hopeless if they're honestly going to shut it down at midnight -- a few hours from now.
Blogging on PTSD Combat
http://pabloonpolitics.com/index.htm
Wes Clark Teaches Barnstorming 101 in Texas
the government considers depression subversive state of mind.... pre-criminal state for violence to self or others....
are we evolved or what ....... UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE USA
why not????????????????????????????
I have a younger family member who was depressed and suicidal she had all the health care she could ever want but not someone trained ( and anonymous ) to talk to ..... she couldn't go to her professional services for counseling... it might have risked her professional career ... and her direct family... not a choice... and her friends and family that reached out to her she pulled away from... her husband not going to happen... and a professional counselor... well she didn't take that advise... she tried and failed... just barely survived... did take some counseling required... but my point is ... she had healthcare but we don't help effectively emotional states of mind in what ever you want to call our health care system... and we don't have access to any anonymous trained counseling more or less... I work with the public and never heard of this 800 phone line... well the way it is going US ... if you fall behind because of health care crisis or emotional crisis... you are not going to be getting back up.. social Darwinism... the Fox audience laughing at death and war ......edit don't want to leave it on that note because I know we have to have universal healthcare and that some public officials and representatives know it otherwise US will not be competitive in the world... and as a political football that it is between two entrenched political ideologies... we have practical reality..... does our country wish to lead and survive ... have to have healthy population to do it
With our for-profic mental healthcare system, sometimes having healthcare is worse. I've heard so many stories of young members of my family ending up on medication and even locked up when there was clearly nothing wrong with them, because they were bored (and maybe a little spoiled) kids, and the doctors saw that they could make a lot of money off of them. Then of course, they become dependent on the medication, and they're told that they may try suicide if they go off of the medication, when there was nothing wrong with them before.
http://pabloonpolitics.com/index.htm
when you have what we call 'healthcare' these days.. if you are vulnerable then some corrupt healthcare provider bleeds the insurance dry ... old people... very ill people.... desperate parents.... young people... we cannibalize through hyper predatory captialism.. we ran off the rails long time ago ... I think seriously in the 19th century and early 20th and have not really directed ourselves-country in a 'healthy' way for the most part since then.....
aristocracy vs. democracy
thieves vs. democracy
... that has to be solved
http://pabloonpolitics.com/index.htm
psycho tropic drugs cause obsessive and increased feelings of self destruction.... I think health industry has an agenda -- because we have a history of it ...we have a eugenics agenda woven in here and there.... not all but I think the status quo does not change easily; and it is a simple matter of doing your history homework to find out about the eugenics health - mental care movement USA
our work really is never done. And so many are so tired. And I believe THAT is part of the agenda of the Radical Regressives, Neo-Theo-Cons, shuksters, hucksters, greedy unconscious thugs -- to throw so much out constantly and consistently, that no one could possibly keep up with all they're doing.
Bless you for continuing to fight, and for taking the grief and desperation of losing a loved one and turning it into good and light.
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia
KBHC was granted operational costs of $266K to perform its duties. This activity by SAMHSA, a federal agency, to withhold payments should be unlawful, since it's already allocated (disbursed by our government) to KBHC! In the very least, this activity is highly unethical!!
But the question is, ... "Where is the money?" To my understanding, federal budgets are appropriated for 1 year, any remaining "balance" must be returned. In other words, either the balance of SAMHSA FY'2004 appropriation budget was returned; or it was "illegally" spent!
...about just this point. The best answer to this is found on their FAQ page in this series of Q & A's. In the interest of public education, I'm going to snip a larger portion than I normally would. Someone please let me know if it's too much, and I'll edit it down:
Who Started 1-800-SUICIDE?
On August 16th 1998 the Kristin Brooks Hope Center founded the National Hopeline Network 1-800-SUICIDE. Over 1,000 people from across the USA call 1-800-SUICIDE every day. It’s a toll-free confidential hotline that connects the person in crisis to one of the 200+ crisis centers closest to the caller so that emergency services will be provided if necessary. This network of existing crisis service providers have joined together as the National Hopeline Network under the leadership of the Kristin Brooks Hope Center.
How did the government get involved?
The Federal Government got involved through the efforts of the late Senator Paul Wellstone after hearing the plea of 1-800-SUICIDE's founder H. Reese Butler II to Congress to help support the National Hopeline Network. Butler had called for the increase in funding to provide enhanced and expanded crisis center certification, training of crisis line workers, and support for the actual network and the organization that runs it. On June 28th, 2000 Congress appropriated (added to the federal budget) $3 million dollars to the SAMHSA annual budget to support and evaluate a national hotline network of suicide crisis lines and to train and certify crisis line workers.
What was the money supposed to be used for?
Clearly the intent of Congress and the late Senator Wellstone was to “support and evaluate a national hotline network of suicide crisis lines and to train and certify crisis line workers” since that was the language in the amendment.
What was SAMHSA supposed to do?
To write a Request for Proposals (RFP) and solicit applicants for a three year grant to support and evaluate a national hotline network of suicide crisis lines and to train and certify crisis line workers. As Hopeline was the only national hotline network of suicide crisis hotlines it was the only applicant in partnership with the American Association of Suicidology which certified crisis line workers. Next upon awarding the grant their role was to support and provide grant management oversight to the grantees.
Why has Hopeline not received the money related to the grant?
The Prime Contractor, American Association of Suicidology (AAS), rejected over $266,000 in legitimate grant related expenses from Feb.2003-Dec.2004. In Jan. 2005 Hopeline filed a claim against AAS. AAS has since given permission to Hopeline to seek these funds directly from the Federal Government.
Where is the claim today?
In August of 2005 Hopeline filed its claim directly with the SAMHSA. Typically federal agencies respond within 90 days by either rejecting, accepting in part or in whole claims filed against them. It has been 11 months and still no response from the SAMHSA. That is why we are asking the public for support to ask the agency to move the claim along fairly.
What is SAMHSA doing today?
We are not sure but they have had the claim for the 266k since they ended our funding in 2004. SAMHSA has since started their own suicide hotline network which they own and have access to all the data from.
thanks ilona,
I just sense there's been some "inappropriate" appropriation of National Hopeline Networks' money. There's some accounting to do,... which should directed at "someone." And since this is about "accountability" (lack thereof), this should be neither a surprise nor a coincidence, since its absence is normal under the Bush administration.
I signed the petition. Now I'm moved to donate. Thanks for the update!
"Some of them put on their cowboy boots and put their feet up on the desk." -Wes Clark
I have these little two minute windows in which to check in at CCN these days-- and I stumble upon this. I keep finding my words strangled, my eyes blurry and wet lately.
I don't have anything to say that would be of any special value on this page, other than I will take the steps, sign the petition, do what is needed.... I understand much about this subject from many different perspectives -- it touches me deeply.
I have been on the helping and the receiving side of the equation, I have been on the losing side too. Yet I am rendered speechless....
And yes, your sister is beautiful and the picture speaks volumes. You are doing her proud.
LJM keeps telling us how the Republicans have a YOYO mentality--- You're on Your Own and the Dem's a WITT- We're in this Together.....
We're in this together.
That is so coooool-- Just as I was posting my very sad comment I see the new UPDATE with such GOOOOOOD news! The kind we all need these days.
How very wonderful and I will sleep so much better knowing this.
We are really starting to get this organizing thing down to a nice art, aren't we? ;-)
Now, if we can keep up the pressure, and some attorneys take up the case, maybe we can save this org from the *#(&#%(*&@#%'s!!
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia
There is a genocide happening right here in the USA. People who require assistance are not needed and they are unwanted. Why let a non-profit agency keep you alive? If you are suicidal, go ahead, do it. We don't need you. Get a job and pay taxes. If not, leave. Same goes for alcoholics, drug users, elderly. We don't want you.
Though they don't put it that bluntly, this is how Republicans think and feel.
"Some of them put on their cowboy boots and put their feet up on the desk." -Wes Clark
It's always so hubling to read how someone who has experienced such a painful personal loss turns it around to try to help others.
Thanks for sharing the information and providing the updates to us here.
Proud to be an American.
Bring Democracy to Washington DC starting Sept 5th
The Art of Being Kind (for Laurie) from "Home to Love" CD by Kristina Olsen
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/downloads/ArtofBeingKind-forLaurie.mp3"
Thanks, early-bird. Beautiful voice, song, expression. Btw, the second link isn't working; but the top one does just fine.
Thanks.
Blogging on PTSD Combat
at http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/ bottom right of page link to other music by artist that is working :-)
sentimental nostalgia music for me - very beautiful and healing
Audio - Happy News
Ilona,
I am really sorry to read that you lost your sister, and it is really great to read that they have extended the Suicide Hotline. I think it's very brave of what you are doing by taking your own personal lost to help others. I am surprised to read that the hotline was going to close. I really hope they don’t close it permanently. How can they do this, do they know what it’s like to go through a mental illness?
P.S. That is a great picture.
ILona,
Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. I am a member of the Disabilities Network of NY (dnnyc@yahoogroups.com), which gets out emails and alerts on issues of concern to People With Disabilities (PWDs) very quickly.
I also STRONGLY support www.StemCellCandidates.org, a GREAT site that highlights and promotes candidates who SUPPORT stem cell research funding. I urge everyone to go there and take action - you'll be interested to see who's on their list of "Stem Cell Champions!"
Let's get some great Dems elected, and NOW.
Thanks, everyone.
IN WITH THE BLUE 2006
This is one issue that I have taken truly to heart, and I will NOT let it rest until we get this fully and SOLIDLY done in early 2007.
Were you surprised to see who is a "Stem Cell Champion?" :)
There are other people who are leading much more than I am on this very, very important issue, but I thank you for them, and for all the good people who will benefit from seeing this through.
Please encourage everyone you know to link this superb site to everywhere they can. I know we have some terrific tech folks here (unlike me!). You will be amazed and surprised to see how quickly the numbers add up!!
IN WITH THE BLUE 2006
This is one issue that I have taken truly to heart, and I will NOT let it rest until we get this fully and SOLIDLY done in early 2007.
Were you surprised to see who is a "Stem Cell Champion?" :)
There are other people who are leading much more than I am on this very, very important issue, but I thank you for them, and for all the good people who will benefit from seeing this through.
Please encourage everyone you know to link this superb site to everywhere they can. I know we have some terrific tech folks here (unlike me!). You will be amazed and surprised to see how quickly the numbers add up!!
IN WITH THE BLUE 2006
So many things that we shouldn't have to fight for. This organization was successful. I thought the Republicans were for limited government, not larger government. Sigh.
Don't know why I picked this specific picture of Sue and me. It was taken in the late 80's when that big hair and flashy wardrobe we all love and know was all the rage. I think it was her smile and the memory of that day together that said, 'This is the one to share'.
Blogging on PTSD Combat