Just wanted to send you this article on the mentally ill in Texas. After working on the Ramsey County Mental Health Advisory council for almost a year now (see you at the NAMI Booth at the Ramsey County Fair) I can tell you that we are moving in the direction of Texas.
There are more and more mentally ill being housed in our jails and prisons and more and more are homeless. Cutbacks at the legislature each year hit the mentally ill hard. Legislators would rather pay to put them in prison, execute them (death penalty) or punish them for being mentally ill than pay for their medicine, doctor, and care so they can be productive citizens. What a sick society we live in. And all I've been trying to do is to get the police in St. Paul and Ramsey county to be more in tune with the increasing numbers of mentally ill people they come in contact with (because of the social program cutbacks) and learn better ways to deal with them. Seems like a logical request. But then, I'm just a person with a mental illness making the request. What do I know? Ren�e Jenson Como http://bipolar.about.com/od/socialissues/a/040628_texas.htm Mental Illness be Damned from Marcia Purse (excerpt) That's the message the government of Texas is sending to its citizens. Unless a mentally ill person has plenty of money and/or is fortunate enough to have health insurance with decent mental health benefits, Texas would just as soon kill him as help him. In 2001, Texas ranked 46th in the nation in mental healthcare spending. In 2003, the Texas legislature slashed millions of dollars from the state's 2004 mental healthcare programs. Under the 2004 budget, Medicaid will no longer pay for adults to visit: a.. Psychologists, b.. Licensed counselors, c.. Social workers, or d.. Marriage and family therapists. The 2004 budget originally included drastic reductions in children's mental healthcare benefits. Fortunately, these cuts were disapproved by the Federal government. But other cuts and changes include: a.. Complete elimination of In Home and Family Support for mental health, b.. 11% reduction in services for mental retardation, and c.. 61% reduction in In Home and Family Support for mental retardation. "A lot of bad people" These budget cuts are only the latest evidence that Texas is a dangerous place to live. For years advocacy groups have been urging the courts, legislators and governors of Texas to re-examine the state's policies regarding mentally ill and retarded criminals. It would seem that Texas Judge Michael McCormick of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals summed up the state's attitude when he said, "The reason we have so many people on death row is plain and simple: We have a lot of bad people committing capital murders, and we are doing something about it." _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
