Excellent Letter to the Editor on mental health funding

From the Oregonian, Friday 6/22/07, emphasis mine):

“It is particularly worrisome that as the final days of the legislative session draw near, legislators have not committed to funding critical programs that will enhance our state’s community-based mental health services.

Without full funding for all of the components of Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s recommended community mental health services budget, the state’s large investment in a new state hospital system will be doomed to fail even before the doors open.

As a member of the Advisory Committee for the Oregon State Hospital Phase II Master Plan, I believe the success of the mental health system depends on the availability of services designed to prevent hospitalization. If the state doesn’t fund preventative services, people who could be treated in their communities are committed to the hospital unnecessarily and their duration of stay is longer.

Oregon’s state mental health hospitals are already overcrowded; taking away community alternatives will only worsen the conditions for people with mental illness. And it will surely cost the state more money in the end, as hospitalization is always more expensive than preventative mental health services.

The current debate over increasing the tobacco tax to fund the Healthy Kids Plan also leaves us wondering whether more of our most vulnerable children in the state and their families will have access to community mental health services.”

My comments: Indeed, let’s wise up. As I noted when discussing funding for the new state hospitals, the outcomes of the scenario Ken Allen describes are predictable, just as those of closing Dammasch without adequate community facilities were obvious.

Documented incidence of mental illness is on the rise, in part due to more people seeking help because the stigma is less than forty years ago. Medications that truly work wonders are available, and they work without the horrible side-effects of those prevalent just twenty years ago. Long-acting monthly injections help patients who might otherwise forget to take multiple daily doses. And there is greater recognition that mentally ill people need structure and support within the community, and that neighborhoods are safer when people with mental illnesses are provided with secure, properly-staffed group homes and/or adequate caseworker monitoring.

Funding the new state hospitals is a good start, but the real challenge is creating a system in the community that helps people stay out of the hospitals while protecting both sufferers and their neighbors. Nice letter, Mr. Allen.