I enclosed my reply to a very negative article regarding monies spent on preventive programs. So please support the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), Prop 63 for providing innovative prevention programs. These programs work! Please pass this on... 1 out of 4 families are affected by Mental Illness' challenges, we need preventive programs to continue & expand. Preventive measures saves money and lives.
Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers, and in joining me and the families of the Mentally Ill's journey.
With Sincere Gratitude,
Lara
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"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" Benjamin Franklin, 1736.

A focus on prevention of mental illness saves both lives and dollars. The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), Proposition 63, passed in 2004 to provide stronger and more effective services for people with mental illness. Recently this funding source for county mental health programs has been criticized for providing money for innovative prevention programs.
The MHSA seeks to expand successful, innovative service programs for children, adults and seniors, including culturally and linguistically competent approaches for underserved populations. These programs have already demonstrated their effectiveness in providing outreach and integrated services, including medically necessary psychiatric services, to individuals most severely affected by or at risk of serious mental illness. No parent should have to give up custody of a child and no adult or senior should have to become disabled or homeless to get mental health services.
I am the first Filipino American to serve as Chair of the San Francisco Mental Health Board. I sit in a family member seat because I have a daughter with mental illness. In my culture there is great shame and stigma about mental illness, delaying people from seeking help and learning about resources. The culture of our people and religion is intertwined. We seek the advice of our religious support first before seeking professional and medical help, because we trust the clergy totally to keep our "secret". Moving to the United States where we no longer have the support of our large family and the understanding clergy, we feel lost and keep the illness in the family. The innovative programs provided by the MHSA engage members of my community in safe and supportive ways so that we can seek help before our mental health problems become severe.
The majority (80%) of MHSA funding is dedicated to treatment services. but 20% of the funding goes to programs effective in preventing mental illnesses from becoming severe and reducing the duration of untreated severe mental illnesses. This commitment to prevention and early intervention is historic and moves the mental health system towards a “help-first” instead of a “fail first” strategy.

M.Lara Siazon Arguelles
Chair, S.F. Mental Health Board