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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-04-25 Correspondence - Disability Rights MT - Youth with mental health needs and advocating to end homelessnessFrom:Disability Rights Montana - Life Beyond Compliance To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Youth with mental health needs and advocating to end homelessness Date:Tuesday, September 2, 2025 9:34:24 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. Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Every paid subscription will go toward offsetting the printing cost of our quarterly publication. This will allow us to distribute vital disability information to disabled Montanans who otherwise would not receive this information. Consider becoming a paid subscriber today! Youth with mental health needs andadvocating to end homelessness Montana is number 1! But not in a good way. We lead the nation insuicides, and we have been at or near the top of the list for 40 years!What are we going to do about it... READ IN APP SEP 2 Department of Justice is coming toMontana and wants to hear fromyou! The United States Department of Justice is currently investigating the adequacy of mental health services for Montana's children. And they want to know what your experiences have been. Suicide is the top preventable cause of death for Montanan youth. Our kids die from suicide at triple the national average. Compared to other states, our system is light on community supports and relies heavily on taking kids out of their homes, schools, and communities and puts them in one of two private inpatient psychiatric facilities in Montana and often out-of-state facilities. If you have current or recent experience with any of these services, the U.S. Department of Justice wants to hear form you. DRMT has been talking with them for a while about these issues and if you are interested in talking with them, you can reach out to me directly to get the contact info for the attorney investigators or attend one of the in-person community events they will be holding in a few communities across Montana, including one here at DRMT’s offices in Helena. I appreciate this is stressful, but I think it is worth the effort to share the experiences of our youth with these attorneys because the information we share could influence what conclusions they make and any potential advocacy they may take down the road if they conclude Montana needs to improve its mental health services for youth in crisis. Again, whether you want to talk with them privately or attend one of the meetings, the best way to connect at this point is to just email me at david@dr-mt.org and I’ll give you the info you are looking for. I want to encourage all Montanans to take advantage of a chance to talk with the offices of our federal legislators without having to travel all the way to Washington, D.C. (I mean those flights are brutal!) The National Alliance to End Homelessness is Virtual Capitol Hill Day to EndHomelessness coordinating a virtual Hill Day on September 17 to meet with your Congressional offices virtually to talk about what your community needs to solve homelessness. Meetings are still being scheduled and may take place anytime between 7:00am- 3:00pm MST, so please keep your calendar is open as possible! Join the nearly 1,000 people nationally who have signed up so far: Register for Virtual Capitol Hill Day, we want Montana represented strong! For questions about Virtual Capitol Hill Day, you can directly contact Samantha Wood, Senior Field Organizer at swood@naeh.org. Let’s keep pushing for a more inclusive and equitable Montana - together! Share Life Beyond Compliance For questions, comments, or to get involved, just reply to this email or visit our website: disabilityrightsmt.org. In Solidarity, David Carlson Executive Director Disability Rights Montana Life Beyond Compliance is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid You’re currently a free subscriber to Life Beyond Compliance. To help us build this library of content and to gain access to additional features, consider upgrading your subscription. Upgrade to paid LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2025 Disability Rights Montana1022 Chestnut Street, Helena, MT 59601 Unsubscribe