From the AJC:
"Perdue announces $580 million state budget surplus"
Say what??????
So why are we turning mentally ill people away from services?
The jails are full of them. Our state psychiatric hospitals have revolving doors. "Community care" is not in place.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Why not restore MH cuts if GA has a $$$ surplus?
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3 comments:
I don't buy it. I think he's been finagling the numbers both about what he inherited from Barnes and about what we have on hand now.
But if he wants to insists on pushing those numbers, I say we ask him this very question. Along with why are schools not being fully funded?
The mental health clinic in Crawford County is just one of the local fatalities. The Day Treatment program has shut down in Warner Robins. And I talked with an elderly lady (older than me!) from Peach County Monday who asked the sheriff to take her mentally ill grandson to Central State because she was frightened that he might be a danger to self or others. He was kept three days. According to her, she was told that they were unable to provide the treatment he needed there. He thinks he is an emperor...also he's on dope...needs to dry out from that stuff and stay on his psychotropic meds. I am worried about HER...the grandma. Must we have tragedies before something is done???
The criminal justice system is now the largest provider of mental health services in Georgia. This is the most expensive and least effective intervention. We have a family member whose medicine costs over $300 a month and has no insurance because of pre-existing conditions. Thousands of Georgians faced with that situation have no choice. They can't afford their pills and end up in the hospital, on the street or in jail. Often, street drugs are cheaper and they pick that up to deal with overwhelming anxiety better managed by the "real" meds. The worst part is that the solution is more affordable than the current approach. So, why are we not addressing the problem? A powerful few are profiting. That's why.
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