IMPORTANT: Help Save 1- 800-SUICIDE

[Avalux]

Yes, Bushco has cut funding to this very important and necessary crisis hotline that has operated independently and most important, CONFIDENTIALLY. They have never given out private information, which is something the federal government wants to get their hands on. So if they can't pay their phone bill by tonite, the government will take over. Visit the site, and if you can, make a contribution. It would be a terrible shame to lose this service.

http://www.save1800suicide.org /

Time Before 1-800-SUICIDE shutdown:
00 Days 13 Hours 04 Minutes 55 Seconds.

This is our last chance to save 1-800-SUICIDE. If 1-800-SUICIDE goes down on Saturday suicidal callers will not be able to reach a crisis center counselor. Lives might be lost. It is most likely that the Federal Government will take over the line as soon as they can. Calls to 1-800-SUICIDE will no longer be confidential then. Please support our efforts to protect callers' privacy - donate now!

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD – BEFORE OUR GOVERNMENT SUFFOCATES THE NATION’S LARGEST PRIVATE & COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL HELP SYSTEM.

1-800-SUICIDE is in danger of being shut off or worse falling into the hands of the Federal Government. With teenage suicide being the 3rd leading cause of death between 18 to 24 year olds - our government should not be duplicating prevention efforts but helping fund the many local organizations and non-profits with proven track records on prevention. In addition our government should not be in the business having access to this private and sensitive information!

No other crisis hotline is owned by the federal government! Read more...

Despite the fact that almost 2 million callers have reached help and hope over the last 8 years, and a government funded evaluation stating the benefits of 1-800-SUICIDE, the 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.

[Marnieworld]

1. kick

:scared:

[Heidi]

2. Kick!

Thank you for posting this, gf. :hug:

[qanda]

3. K&R

[EFerrari]

4. K&R

:kick:

[Heidi]

7. Thank you for kicking this, sfexpat!

:hug:

:kick:

[EFerrari]

18. Heidi -- check out #16. Tom Harkin is the ranking member

And Harry Reid is on the Subcommittee.

Whaddya think?

[nolies32fouettes]

37. kick!!!

[EFerrari]

5. What committee has oversight re HHS? n/t

[Avalux]

6. Good question -

I don't know the answer; will try to find out. :hi:

[EFerrari]

16. I found the Senate Appropriations SubCom for Labor, HHS,

SUBCOMMITTEE on
Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies

The members are as follows:
Senator Arlen Specter (Chairman) (PA)
Senator Thad Cochran (MS)
Senator Judd Gregg (NH)
Senator Larry Craig (ID)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)
Senator Ted Stevens (AK)
Senator Mike DeWine (OH)
Senator Richard Shelby (AL)
Senator Tom Harkin (Ranking Member) (IA)
Senator Daniel Inouye (HI)
Senator Harry Reid (NV)
Senator Herb Kohl (WI)
Senator Patty Murray (WA)
Senator Mary Landrieu (LA)
Senator Richard Durbin (IL)

ttp://appropriations.senate.gov/subcommittees/labor/topics.cfm?code=labor

Hmm. I wonder if calling Harry Reid's office? Which way to go on this one? :shrug:

[Avalux]

19. It couldn't hurt to call.

I think I'll call Harkin too, since he's ranking member. Thanks for looking into it. :hi:

[EFerrari]

20. Sure! The website in the OP also has a great page one can blast

to buddies & get the word out.

:)

[renate]

8. check out the story at the bottom of this webpage

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Just one of the people whose lives were saved by 1-800-SUICIDE.

I should warn people who haven't heard of PostSecret that although this is a fascinating website that helps a lot of people by giving them a place to express themselves, some of the artwork is incredibly incredibly sad--rarely graphic, just sad. (And some of it is really funny. People are so creative.) I feel like a voyeur sometimes when I read it... but then, the people who contribute their work know and, presumably, hope that others will see it.

[EFerrari]

24. What a beautiful website that is!

It made me cry. It is graphic and at times scary. Just like life.

:)

[tinfoil tiaras]

9. K&R

sick fuckers...:mad: :mad:

[MessiahRp]

10. Weird that the Bushes would want to stop saving the lives

of people they could potentially brainwash into joining the military.

Rp

[ComerPerro]

64. he wants to have it given over to radical Christian fundimentalists

so they can get government funding to have access to people who are literally on the edge, and convert them to their radical version of Christianity.


I am kind of suprised he isn't using it as a military recruiting tool.

[Bluerthanblue]

11. suicidal ideation is a rather healthy response to living in this

mess that has become "life in the USA"-

(in my admittedly screwed up opinion)

People who are aware, awake, and connected to reality can't help but feel depressed, defeated, and hopless when you step back and look at what has befallen us.

But talking it out- putting your feelings and thoughts out there to another person can mean the difference between LIFE and DEATH. And saving the lives of people who aren't drinking the kool-aid wouldn't fit in with bushco's plans.

How sad, and telling this is.

DU has been a life-line for me- Knowing you are not alone, and having people to connect with can mean so much.

k&r

thank you for this heads-up.

blu

[Bozita]

12. Saving the taxpayers $266,000 -- a fraction of a penny for every taxpayer

What'll you do with your share?

The "Culture of Life" strikes again!

[Bozita]

15. That's less than one and a half minutes spending in Iraq

At $300,000.000 per day being spent in Iraq, it's $208,333 per minute.

We're talking about less than a quarter-million here, folks.

[EFerrari]

26. Not saving the money! Check #25: the money has already been

allocated but has not been released!

We pay for the program we don't' have -- just as Dean said.

[Bozita]

13. Hey, I found this thread on page 2

It belongs on page 1.

[zippy890]

14. this is important big kick

:dem:

[Synnical]

17. 8 Hours, 56 minutes

:kick:

[EFerrari]

21. This is blackmail. The funds for this prog have ALREADY been

allocated.

Here is a link to the Org Board at SAMHSA -- the office responsible for Planning, Policy and BUDGET:

http://www.samhsa.gov/About/orgcharts/org_oppb.aspx

The Director is Daryl Kade.


Organization DHHS/SAMHSA/OA/OPPB
Job title Director
Building 1 CHOKE CHERRY
Room 8-1083
Duty station Rockville MD
Mail stop 1 Choke Cherry
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]*0*
Internet e-mail [e-mail]

/oops

[Avalux]

23. Explain?

The funds have been allocated but not released to the agency....are you saying the money's being held to force them to agree to give out personal info? :shrug:

[EFerrari]

25. I believe that is what this says:

To protect the callers to suicide crisis hotlines the management of 1-800-SUICIDE has refused to turn over the control of the National Hopeline Network to the SAMHSA. As a result it is in danger of being completely shut off to the almost 2,000 individuals in crisis who reach out daily because our government has not only ended all funding but also continues to owe $266,000 in overdue bills to the Hopeline from 2 years ago. (This is not new funds – but money that was already allocated!).

[Avalux]

27. Yes, OK.

Bastards. I called Harkin's and Reid's offices and talked to staffers. Urged the Senators to please look into what's going on with the $$ and find out why it hasn't been released when it's clearly been allocated. Honestly though, I don't expect anything to happen before tonight.

[EFerrari]

28. Update: I called Barbara Boxer's office and was put through

to one of her staffers. She LISTENED TO ME! And, she offered her help to the Hotline. I called the hotline, got the director and gave him the contact name and number info.

I don't know if Barbara can help but, at least now, she can try.

:toast:

[Avalux]

29. That's fantastic!!

Good job - let's keep our fingers crossed she can do something! Thank you so much! :toast: :bounce:

[EFerrari]

31. I got so lucky!

If we can get two or three other Senators to make a call, that would REALLY HELP the hotline feel AND be supported.

We can try!

:toast:

[EFerrari]

22. Get back up there!

:kick:

[EFerrari]

30. SOMETHING YOU CAN DO: CALL SAMHSA

and let them know you are committed to keeping that hotline UP AND ACTIVE.

240-276-2130 This is their office of Communications. Call! Make a dent!

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[EFerrari]

32. SOMETHING ELSE YOU CAN DO: CALL YOUR LOCAL FISH WRAP!

Go to your paper's website and figure out who does the health reporting. Call or email that reporter and ask, do they know about this story?

It doesn't hurt and if they're interested, they'll take it from there.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Avalux]

33. kick!

:kick:

[Blue_Tires]

34. k+r

[EFerrari]

35. Votes and kickers. Lookin' for kickers and votes heah.

This is for Marissa, my sister in law. 1959 - 1985

[EFerrari]

36. Okay, I blasted this to my "thinking friends" and media contacts.

I can't figure out how to send it to Keith.

Does anyone know how to do that?

TIA!

[Synnical]

38. SAMHSA was targeted by fundies . . ."faith based" suicide prevention?

Well, now, isn't this interesting?


http://www.pamspaulding.com/weblog/2006/07/1-800-suicide-targeted-for-extinction.html

-800-SUICIDE targeted for extinction by Bush admin
Thursday, July 27, 2006

(Welcome, Americablog readers...)

Terrance at http://www.republicoft.com/2006/07/27/save-1800suicide/">The Republic of T. has a call to action on yet another program being unraveled by the Bush adminstration that affects many people at risk, including LGBT youth.

The 1-800-SUICIDE line is in trouble. The government has ceased its funding for this important resource and wants to roll services into one of its agencies.

With teenage suicide being the 3rd leading cause of death between 18 to 24 year olds - our government should not be duplicating prevention efforts but helping fund the many local organizations and non-profits with proven track records on prevention. In addition our government should not be in the business having access to this private and sensitive information!

Despite the fact that almost 2 million callers have reached help and hope over the last 8 years, and a government funded evaluation stating the benefits of 1-800-SUICIDE, the 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.

You might recall SAMHSA, which came under fire from the fundies back in February of last year. Agency officials were forced by the Bush admin (after the WH received hopping mad calls from Family Research Council's Tony Perkins) to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27202-2005Feb15.html">remove all LGBT references from a federally funded suicide prevention conference in California and to kill gay-positive content from the SAMHSA site.

The Bushies also suggested a session on "faith-based" suicide prevention, and threatened the conference's funding. The wingnut admin functionaries backed down after an outcry for sanity from response from mental health professionals.

SAMHSA also took a big hit when its web site featured a section called "Celebrating the Pride and Diversity Among and Within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations" which flew in the face of the flat-earth science often promoted in government under Bush that seems to either ignore or condemn homosexuality. The SAMHSA link above is to The Memory Hole, btw. My original post on this was called How long before a Bush drone puts a stop to this?

The answer was 12 days. That's how long it took for a Bush drone to scrub a government web site of gay-positive content.

Since the neutered agency is now under the complete control of the administration's fundamentalist Base, an independent resource like 1-800-SUICIDE is ripe for the picking. Do you want suicide prevention in the hands of the Bush administration? Terrance throws it down.

Do I need to mention the Bush administration’s record on gay & lesbian issues? Probably not, but I do feel the need to mention the administration’s office of faith-based initiatives, which I posted about earlier as being overrun with overrun with evangelicals and lacking in oversight. It's to the point where it's basically turned into a gravy train for Bush's religious supporters to get federal dollars with which to proselytize and discriminate based on religious beliefs.

It doesn't take much imagination, given all the above, to envision 1-800-Suicide being reborn under the Bush administration as a grant to a Bush-backer through the White House office of faith-based initiatives, to do suicide prevention. Given that, it doesn't take much more imagination to envision, say, one of Pat Robertson's outfits or part of James Dobson's empire getting into the suicide prevention business.

[EFerrari]

39. Excellent catch. Thank you. n/t

[Synnical]

48. Trying to do what I can

This is terribly important.

[Chimichurri]

40. this is a travesty. Nothing is sacred to these gluttons.

k&r

[EFerrari]

41. Thank you, Chimichurri. The WORST part is, most people who use

this hotline will use it because they can call anonymously.

The Feds are taking that away or, they are trying to.

:nuke:

[EFerrari]

42. a little kick here

http://www.hopeline.com/

[Avalux]

43. Kick!

:kick:

[EFerrari]

45. Update: I talked again with Reese Butler, the director

Gave him my contact info and verified that he is in touch with Boxer's office.

Thank YOU, Barbara!

But we can't stop here. Please let's try to hook him up with our Senators, with our local press guys, with prog talk hosts.

Viral, anyone? :evilgrin:

:kick:

[Synnical]

47. Thanks to Senator Boxer's office!

That's good news.

No Health reporters at my local newspaper, they just re-post AP articles.


:kick:

[EFerrari]

51. We still have a couple. Let's see if we hear from them!

:)

:kick:

[EFerrari]

44. kick

[EFerrari]

46. sample letter to blast:

Friends,

Today I learned that SAMHSA/ Health and Human Services is
shutting down the very effective suicide prevention hotline 1 800
SUICIDE because the org that runs the hotline will not turn over
confidential information to the Feds. So, the Feds will simply not pay that phonebill even
though the funds have already been allocated.

More here: http://www.save1800suicide.org

PLEASE contact your Senators, your local paper's health
reporters and any progressive talk hosts you can. They are attempting
to shut this down under the radar AFTER we paid for the program. Do
not allow this tool for prevention to be taken away from vulnerable
people.

Please have the media and your reps contact:

Reese Butler @ 202.536.3200

Full account here: http://www.save1800suicide.org

[Synnical]

49. There's also a thread in LBN

LiberalHeart Fri Aug-11-06 09:13 AM

1-800-SUICIDE to Ring Busy After Midnight if Phone Bill Isn't Paid

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2450456&mesg_id=2450456

35 comments, 19 recs

[EFerrari]

50. Kick

[varkam]

52. kick

:kick:

[EFerrari]

53. Kick

[EFerrari]

54. Kick

[EFerrari]

55. They got an extention! Link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2452286&mesg_id=2452286

[Random_Australian]

56. K&R.

[klook]

57. Thanks for bringing this to our attention

I was totally unaware. This is vitally important. This thread should have 10,000 recommendations for the Greatest Page!

[EFerrari]

58. Hi there, klook. Late last night, we were told that the hotline

has been given a two week extension.

:)

[Avalux]

59. YAY!

Thank you again for your efforts - I wasn't around at all last night and just now saw this. :toast: :hug:

[EFerrari]

60. It's awesome!

:toast:

:grouphug:

[klook]

61. Yes, I saw that! Fantastic news.

I've sent emails (from the website) encouraging support for the hotline, and will be contributing $ and notifying all my friends as well. It's truly sick that our govt. would wait for this to fail so they could a) take it over (or replace it with some watered-down fundie version), and b) collect information about callers to the heretofore confidential hotline.

The federal government can bail out the airline industry to the tune of millions of dollars, and spend billions annually on the fiasco in Iraq, but can't fork over $266k (a pittance in terms of the federal budget) to save the national suicide hotline??? We need to shame them into it. Yet one more reason for a change in management this November.

[mopinko]

62. my email to dick durbin

dear senator durbin,
i recently learned that samhsa/health and human services is forcing a shut down of the very effective suicide prevention hotline 1 800 SUICIDE, reportedly because the organization that runs the hotline will not turn over confidential information to the feds. so, the feds will simply not pay that phone bill even though the funds have already been allocated. as a member of the oversight committee for this agency, i beg you to look into this matter, and see that the funds are dispersed AND that the personal information of callers is kept strictly confidential.
as someone whose family has, unfortunately, but touched by mental illness, i am painfully aware of the necessity for such services. and also aware of the stigma that is still attached to such illness. confidentiality is, unfortunately, therefore, vital.
this tiny microcosm of the abuse of power that is de rigeur is telling only in the depth of it's depravity. i have stopped wondering if this administration can go any lower, but i am quickly progressing to the point of being beyond shock at each new revelation. i am surprised, still, tho, at the repeated failure of the legislative brand to fulfill it's duties to check these kinds of egregious abuses of power. i am well aware of the math involved, and the difficulty of the minority to control the situation. but, an appropriate level of outrage and commitment by the dems could put the brakes on this insanity. at this point, the people's business is no longer being done. no harm would come to the people by shutting down this illegitimate government. only the rich and powerful would be affected. it is past time for them to be afflicted instead.
the tide of public opinion is turning against not only the executive branch thieves and killers, but against those that enable them. stay on the right side of history, friend. keep your spine stiff.
sincerely,

[EFerrari]

63. Yes! Great letter!

:toast: