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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-19-24 Correspondence - Disability Rights Montana - Hundreds of Montana families have been torn apart and their children won't be home for Christmas Dear Bozeman commissioners, The holiday season can be hard on many of us. The stress of getting everything right, remembering those who have passed, looking for stability in a busy time can all negatively impact our mental health. But for hundreds of youth, this time is even harder than for most because they are spending it in a psychiatric facility hundreds of miles from their family and friends. About 240 Montana youth are currently placed out-of-state to get mental health services and hundreds more are in-state getting mental health services in inpatient and residential settings out of their family homes. That's HUNDREDS of Montana families torn apart because we do not have more intensive in-home and in-school services or sufficient local crisis and high acuity services. Disability Rights Montana wants this to change. We want to hear from you about your experiences. Please fill out the survey at the link below to tell us how you, your child, or patient have been or are currently forced to leave home to get needed mental health care. * A note about the title of this email - It is taken form a photo essay of people with intellectual disabilities held in institutions in the 1960s called “Christmas in Purgatory.” As I thought about youth with significant mental illness who cannot be home this Christmas, I thought of this haunting book. You can look at an electronic version below. I am not suggesting that the conditions of those old facilities are in any way similar to what is going on today in the settings youth are being held in. But youth are not with family and that can change, that must change. The introduction of "Christmas in Purgatory" starts: “‘They cover a dung hill with a piece of tapestry when a procession goes by.’ Miguel de Cervantes From:David CarlsonTo:Bozeman Public CommentSubject:[EXTERNAL][SENDER UNVERIFIED]Hundreds of Montana families have been torn apart and their children won"t be home for Christmas.Date:Wednesday, December 18, 2024 8:30:14 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Survey for youth, families, and providers There is a hell on earth, and in America there is a special inferno. We were visitors there during Christmas, 1965.” The book consist of pictures taken in four bad institutions and then followed with pictures from a good institution. I used to review this book every year right before Christmas. I thought it was a good reminder of why I do this work, and the impact of protection and advocacy systems like Disability Rights Montana. I still think that is true and therefore am sharing it for those of you who are interested in seeing it. However, I don’t review it every year anymore. I decided to stop, because it is traumatizing, just as I think the work of Disability Rights Montana is traumatizing, and I don’t think it is healthy to wallow in trauma. So please only take a look at the book at this link if you are in a good headspace for it and think it might be informative or motivating. https://www.canonsociaalwerk.eu/1966_Kerstmis/Xmas-Purgatory.pdf I sincerely thank each of you for your support this year. Let's work together so Montanans with disabilities can have healthy and fulfilling lives of their own choosing alongside the people they care about and who care about them. Please donate today to help our ongoing advocacy. Follow Us Disability Rights Montana protects and advocates for the human, legal, and civil rights of Montanans with disabilities while advancing dignity, equality, and self-determination. Copyright © 2020 Disability Rights Montana, All rights reserved Disability Rights Montana 1022 Chestnut Street | Helena, Montana 59601 406-449-2344 | communications@DisabilityRightsMT.org Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser Unsubscribe or Manage Your Preferences DonatetotransformMontana!