I am in complete support of the 1115 Demonstration Waiver Amendment to complete funding for the CRC in Woodbridge in Prince William County! By not approving this amendment application, folks would be effectively condemned, and as an extension the communities they live in, to an unjust and inhumane form of living.  All people have a right to be treated with dignity and respect; even those who have fallen or been knocked down.  To effectively refuse safe harbor for them, and a chance to rehabilitate and heal, they are being stripped of the chance to be full and complete members of our community, and society as a whole! Using the excuse of mental illness as a loophole to not spend the money actually harms the community the original IMD thinks it’s helping. Thinking of saving the money passed for this facility by invoking the IMD is ignorant. The money being put into this needed CRC is far less than the money spent yearly on putting these folks in jail, in a hospital or in the ground.  Be a healing place for people searching for help and then they can contribute to society. They can work, pay taxes, and be active consumers!  Buy cars, a home... the money that can be put back into our community, not to mention the healthy, active humans, will far outweigh whatever actual reason there may be for wanting to stop funding by using the IMD!   

I am a felon. I was incarcerated in the PWC ADC on and off between 2011 and 2016. I’ve seen first hand the effect that properly administered and prescribed medication can help people who need it! And I’ve also seen inmates who came into the facility as unstable and incapacitated, were treated medically and psychologically while inside and became different people! The medicine and counseling make these living human beings into the people they are intended to be. But then guess what? When they have served their time and are released from incarceration, they are let go with no lifeline, no follow-up and no meds! What do you think happens?? They again become unstable and non-contributing members of our community. Resources are used, whether it be medical, police, fire and rescue; to support these folks when a more common-sense, proactive response is found in the CRC!! Please please support this Amendment!! Please allow all human beings the chance to live in a way that enhances and completes their lives and our communities!! 

Thank you again for this opportunity to voice my strong support for the 1115 Serious Mental Illness Amendment Application.