28 States plus Difficult Child cut $1.7 *billion* in MH funding since FY 2009

slsh

member since 1999
And the top 3? Illinois, California, and New York cut $1.2 billion just among themselves. This is non-Medicaid funding, so doesn't include cuts that Medicaid has made, nor does it include services that may have been cut under other headings (housing assistance for mentally ill or services through DCFS, etc.).

They had a hearing a couple weeks ago about IL's plan to shut down a local mental health facility. While the legislators were trying to assure folks that they were in "talks" with- local hospitals to pick up the slack, when push came to shove, they couldn't name a single hospital they were talking to. At the same time, the weekend before the hearing, mentally ill patients were spending 2-4 *days* in local ERs waiting for a bed to open. How is this saving money? 2-4 days in an ER is going to be far more expensive than having an open mental health facility - to say nothing of the absolutely criminal lack of appropriate medical care for mentally ill patients and other patients. If you have to have staff sitting with- an unstable patient, that's less staff to care for trauma and acute patients.

This is *so* penny-wise, pound-foolish.

Meanwhile "A $646 million state capital investment grant announced Thursday will be combined with other state, local and federal funds to invest $1 billion in repairing and rebuilding the CTA's Red Line, which operates north and south of the city and circulates through the Loop.


Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn announced Thursday that the project will create more than 2,700 jobs while overhauling the CTA line that accounts for nearly 40 percent of all ridership on the rail network, according to a release."

I'm thinking that people's priorities are completely out of whack. At least the mentally ill will have aesthetically pleasing CTA stations to stay warm in.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
I'm shocked Ohio wasn't in the top 3, to be honest. It's bad here, too.

The criminally insane are balancing our budgets...
 
H

HaoZi

Guest
That's an insult to the insane, Step. They're criminally stupid and greedy.
 
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