...the Boston Globe Spotlight Team soldiers on.

Their latest:

In a state that prides itself on leadership in human services and compassionate government, it has come to this, a Spotlight Team investigation has found: threadbare policies, broken promises, short-sighted decisions, and persistent underfunding over decades. As a result, the seriously mentally ill, including those at greatest risk of harming others or themselves, are far too often left in the care of parents, police, prison guards, judges, shelter workers, and emergency room personnel — almost anyone, in fact, but professionals trained to deal with their needs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 04:18AM by RgrF.

So true. And so pervasive. One of the side effects of modern pharmaceuticals was the 'Shrink Dividend' that politicians perceived. "It's easy ! They take a pill every day, and they are fine ! We don't need state mental facilities any more !". In fact the state mental hospital system has been replaced with the local, state, and federal penal system, and... the streets. Yes, we care for our homeless or abandoned pets better than we care for our mentally ill fellow humans.

"a study by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) showing than 64 percent of local jail inmates, 56 percent of state prisoners and 45 percent of federal prisoners have symptoms of serious mental illnesses"

[www.nami.org]

And...

" People with untreated serious mental illness comprise approximately one-third of the total homeless population and an even higher percentage among homeless women and among individuals who are chronically homeless. The quality of life for these individuals is abysmal. Many are victimized regularly. One study found that 28 percent of homeless people with previous psychiatric hospitalizations obtained some food from garbage cans and 8 percent used garbage cans as a primary food source."

[www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org]

Quote
RgrF
...the Boston Globe Spotlight Team soldiers on.

Their latest:

In a state that prides itself on leadership in human services and compassionate government, it has come to this, a Spotlight Team investigation has found: threadbare policies, broken promises, short-sighted decisions, and persistent underfunding over decades. As a result, the seriously mentally ill, including those at greatest risk of harming others or themselves, are far too often left in the care of parents, police, prison guards, judges, shelter workers, and emergency room personnel — almost anyone, in fact, but professionals trained to deal with their needs.

That's a great freakin' story.

Glad they decided to report on this, but it is a problem I am all too aware of. I could only read partway through before having to stop.

A family member had mental health issues and I got to see the dismantling of the mental health care system ever since the '70's. Then there was definitely problems with the facilities, and more people were committed to them than needed to be. But the promise of alternate care facilities has never materialized since then. Some of it was funding, but another very big holdup was some of the same people who were so gung ho about closing the mental health hospitals used the NIMBY argument against local care facilities as a replacement..