Texas ranks last in mental health funding-1/3 state average.

[ErikJ]

Texas ranks last in mental health funding

by JANET ST. JAMES
WFAA-TV
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 5:04 PM

DALLAS — We may never know why Adam Lanza went on a shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday, killing 27 people — including 20 children.
No one knows either if the 20-year-old was in active treatment for whatever mental illness he may have had when he went on the killing spree.
But in Texas, those who need help often face great challenges getting it.
The national average for spending on mental health services is $109 a person, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities. Texas spends just $36, ranking the state 51st (including Washington DC) — last in the country — when it comes to mental health funding. --see graphic below.

"And our area — Dallas — is ranked at the bottom of the state," said Matt Roberts of Mental Health America of Greater Dallas.
His organization helps about 180,000 North Texans each year, many of them children.
Roberts said it is not unusual for those who are fresh from a crisis situation to slip through the cracks because of a lack of funding.
"Right when folks come out of jail... right when folks come out of higher level of care, the hospital... we would like for them to get care, and it's a challenge for that to happen sometimes," Roberts said.

In their last session, Texas lawmakers cut nearly $25 million from mental health services. The Texas Department of State Health Services is requesting a $100 million increase when the legislature meets again in January.
Many experts say getting more more money for mental health services is a long shot this session. Gov. Rick Perry turned down a federal match for Medicaid in a political fight over the Affordable Healthcare Act. That means Texas will have to make up about $800 million on its own.

Health experts say more funding is needed in order to help the next Adam Lanza before mental illness turns deadly..

http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/Mental-Health-Funding-in-Texas-183851011.html#




After shootings, question arises: What do states spend on mental health?

Posted by Jenny on December 20th, 2012

By Geena Martinez, NewsWest9, Dec. 18, 2012

Mental health issues are making headlines after the shootings in Connecticut and Oregon. When it comes to treating those patients, Texas comes in dead last for funding mental health services.


According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the national average on spending for mental health services per person is $109.

But in the Lone Star State? It’s just $36 a person.


SMHA Expenditures Per Capita – Kaiser State Health Facts
“What worries me the most is that an individual will find a hospital to go to but that stay is gonna be dramatically shortened by the amount of funding out there,” Mental Health Therapist, Cheryl Harrah, said. “A person who really needs a few weeks of treatment may only get a few days of treatment.”

Harrah, who works at Samaritan Counseling Center, says this makes it even harder for people needing treatment.

“The brain that you depend on to help you with the willpower to get better is exactly what’s dysfunctional at the time it needs the help,” Harrah said.

........................

“Research actually shows that more violence happens against people with mental illness than those with mental illness committing violent crimes,” Harris said.

“What we do with treatment is we help increase the quality of a person’s life and everybody deserves to have joy and happiness,” Harrah said.
http://www.mentalhealthportland.org/?p=17645
Lawmakers have already slashed millions from mental health funding in the last legislative session but the Texas Department of State Health Services plans on asking for an increase in funding when they reconvene in January.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. 2 weeks of warehousing in a county hospital with no actual therapy.

Friend of mine was depressed.
Checked into county hospital (urban area) in Texas.

No drug/alcohol addictions, no smoking addiction, no hallucinations. Just normal situational depression from lots of things going wrong.

Total therapy: One hour a WEEK of playing Pictionary with others.

Three days of evaluation and interviews about life history, medical history and so forth. But they didn't do anything with that information.

[easttexaslefty]

2. Oh yes.

It is HELL being mentally ill in Texas. If there's one thing I know for certain, it's this.

[hobbit709]

3. In some categories TX ranks 51st in a field of 50.