WHEREAS:

AFSCME is the leading union representing employees working in institutional and community-based facilities servicing mentally retarded, mentally ill and developmentally disabled people. Over 200,000 members serve as caregivers for our nation's most vulnerable population; and

WHEREAS:

AFSCME has been a leading advocate of high-quality institutional and community-based services for disabled people, and has led the fight against budget cuts and attempts to weaken quality standards; and

WHEREAS:

AFSCME has continued to oppose states that abdicate their responsibility to provide publicly accountable quality care by understaffing institutions, neglecting physical conditions and failing to upgrade services. Newspapers around the country document the consequences of deinstitutionalization to unprepared communities. Instead of planning comprehensive community-based service delivery systems, states continue to dump clients and contract out services; and

WHEREAS:

Numerous newspaper accounts and studies document the need for improved institutional and community-based services for the chronically mentally ill; and

WHEREAS:

There is considerable support among advocates and experts in the fields of mental health and mental retardation/developmental disabilities for a core institutional system as a part of a continuum of residential and treatment services.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME's strong commitment to a continuum of publicly operated services and community private non-profit services, including both institutional and community-based care, continue; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will work on common goals with advocacy groups, parent groups and professional groups, breaking down past barriers and planning actions in support of quality care and against irresponsible closures and contracting out of vital services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will work with councils and locals to organize the unorganized in community-based residential facilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

1. That AFSCME will try to expand its successes in the mental health and mental retardation fields (such as the development of state-run community-based mental retardation services in Arizona, Colorado, Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts) to other areas by providing technical assistance to councils and locals working on the development of such services. In particular, the International Union will continue to foster government-funded grants and projects designed to study and implement state-operated community-based facilities and services.
2. AFSCME will continue to support the rights of employees such as the reauthorization and implementation of employee protections through federal law for major financing programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the improvement of staffing ratios, career ladders, training programs, and employee protections on the state and local level.
3. AFSCME will closely monitor interpretations and guidelines regarding Medicaid disallowances, active treatment, and federal audits which directly affect working conditions and quality of institutional care in MR/DD facilities.
4. As new service delivery systems are developed, AFSCME will work to ensure that existing institutions and community-based facilities receive the funding and attention required to provide quality care.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

1. AFSCME will work to ensure that the core institutional system is adequately funded to provide a safe, attractive, and therapeutic environment for the chronically mentally ill who must remain institutionalized.
2. AFSCME will work on common goals with advocacy and professional groups to prevent "deinstitutionalization" which results in homelessness for the chronically mentally ill.
3. AFSCME will continue working to eliminate injuries to institutional workers, focus public attention on this issue, and provide assistance to councils and locals to eliminate overcrowding, understaffing and inadequate training through labor/management committees, collective bargaining, legislative action, regulation, and litigation.

SUBMITTED BY:

International Executive Board