When thinking of what to comment, the word that sticks out most in my mind is saddened. I am saddened that people who I have had the pleasure of making a difference for may no longer get to benefit from the service that has been truly life changing. As a mental health provider, I was so grateful to get to work in a community setting, because I have been able to help clients avoid psychiatric hospitalization while being in their own home, surrounded by familiar things and social supports. I feel strongly that when clients who have come to depend on this service for mental stability for many years will decline rapidly if they are suddenly left without services due to not meeting new criteria. Long term, I am saddened by the clients who once avoided hospitalization may seek it just to become eligible for services again, or because they have experienced a sharp increase in symptoms after losing such services.

Many clients I have had in the past have needed stabilization services due to changes in their lives, and for those who lose services, this may be one of the toughest changes they have faced. On top of that they will be forced to deal with the change without support from agencies that they have depended upon. it saddens me to think that the state is turning their backs on those people; the people who genuinely need help instead of the people who abuse the system.

Virginia has had many hard hits in the mental health community, most widely known being Virginia Tech in 2007 and Gus Deeds just recently. This is not the time to drastically change the face of community mental health in Virginia. This is a fragile mental health system in need of being built up, much like the clients we serve. To tell so many that they no longer qualify is a mistake I feel will have grave consequences on Virginia's mental health community, the judicial system, the health system, and the lives of those for whom we are called to "do no harm."