Posted on September 4, 2018
HARTFORD – State Representatives Doug Dubitsky (R-47) and Kathleen McCarty (R-38) were joined by fellow Democrat Senator Cathy Osten (D-19) and House member Kevin Ryan (D-139) late last month to say goodbye to the Eastern Regional Mental Health Board (ERMHB) as their contract with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) came to an end.
Despite the official partnership between ERMHB and DMHAS concluding on February 23rd, 2018, the board met with the attending lawmakers at the Southeastern Mental Health Authority’s facility in Norwich for one final time on Thursday, August 9th to celebrate their many accomplishments over the last 43 years together.
“I want to sincerely thank the members of the Eastern Regional Mental Health Board for their many years of dedicated service to help those with mental health issues,” Rep. Dubitsky said. “Although it is sad to see the board go, I am grateful for the great work it has done for so many people over the years, and know that its members will continue their invaluable service in other capacities.”
ERMHB is a non-profit planning and evaluation agency for Connecticut state-funded mental health programs that serves 39 towns in Eastern Connecticut. According to ERMHB, their goal is “to promote the recovery of people with severe and persistent mental illnesses by evaluating existing and proposed state funded mental health programs and services under state mandate (CGS 17a 463-464) and by educating the public about mental health and illness.”
The Regional Behavioral Health Action Organizations in region III will now absorb ERMHB and all of its functions.
(L-R) Senator Cathy Osten, Deborah Walker, Acting Director of the ERMHB , State Representative Kathleen McCarty, State Representative Doug Dubitsky, State Representative Kevin Ryan, Kati Mapa, Former Executive Director, and ERMHB President, Howard Beatman.