We need your action now! 

Attached is a "Dear Colleague" letter begin circulated by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. It is addressed to Dr. Donald Berwick, Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid. The letter supports FFTA's (and many other national child welfare and mental health organizations' request that the Obama Administration create a baseline definition for TFC. 

Please contact the Congressional offices on the attached for ALL Members of Congress listed for your state. These are the offices we are targeting. Do not worry if that office is not your congressional district. You serve children, provide jobs, and have offices in various congressional districts and in that broad interpretation, all congressional offices are offices that you serve and that serve the children in your state. 

Personalize the email below (cut and paste) to those offices. Send with a copy of the Dear Colleague Letter to CMS. Ask each Member of Congress to sign-on to the letter and note the deadline of Oct. 14th. 

Since time is so short we ask that you get this email sent ASAP, hopefully today or tomorrow. Please no later than Friday Oct. 7! 

Ask your colleagues and staff to do same. If every office targeted could get 3-6 requests, we will have wonderful success. It is up to you! 

CMS has the regulatory authority to define TFC for Medicaid agencies nationwide. This simple, no cost clarification will promote accountability, identify state optional financing options for TFC, and drive personnel training and qualification standards.  It will give you the assurance you need that TFC is recognized nationally and can be implemented and reimbursed by your state.  We know that such protection is crucial for our survival going forward. In 2006-07, the Bush Administration attempted to erase TFC. We cannot allow that risk again with any future Administration.  

Please act NOW. 

With many thanks, 

 Laura

Laura W. Boyd, Ph.D.
Public Policy & Government Relations Consultant
Foster Family-based Treatment Association

http://policyandperformanceconsultants.com/Blog.aspx  

Personalize the sample email below with your Congressman's name (Mr. ______ or Ms. _______).  You are sending this to the staffer on the attached spread sheet and you are personalizing with your Member of Congress' name within the body of the email.  Sign with your name, title, agency. Ask other colleagues/staff to do same ASAP. Thank you!

Dear (name of staff member) ___________________, 

Attached is a "Dear Colleague" letter from Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin which you should have received October 4th for Mr./Ms. (name of Congressperson).  

As a provider of therapeutic foster care services in our state, my agency supports foster children and foster parents and provides jobs for professional therapists in your area.  

While nearly 80% of the 440,000 youngsters in the nation’s child welfare system have diagnosable mental disorders, a smaller group of 40,000 children are served by TFC agencies similar to my agency. We treat the trauma and provide the behavioral health  services of high-needs foster youth who struggle with the most serious mental and emotional disturbances, including Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD) and major clinical depression.  We keep these youth in community and in specialized foster homes as opposed to placing them in higher levels of care, and  as such, we save precious dollars while still obtaining positive outcomes. 

However, there is great uncertainty from state to state (and county to county in some states) in understanding what baseline services constitute TFC and what services are medically reimbursable. We are asking Mr./Ms. _______________________  to join this effort as stated in the Dear Colleague letter. A uniform, baseline definition of TFC for providers, public child welfare agencies, and state Medicaid administrators will promote accountability, identify state optional financing options for TFC and drive personnel training and qualification standards for the benefit of these vulnerable TFC foster youth.

 Sincerely,

Your name, title, agency 

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An email newsletter of the
Georgia Association of Homes
and Services for Children
as a public service.                        
Normer Adams, Editor
___________________________________

GAHSC membership
training events  - Individualized Education Plans (IEP)
Georgia Conference on Children and Families - November 15-17, 2011

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