NAMI Asks Editors: Are You Covering Your State's Mental Health Budget Crisis?
WASHINGTON, April 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) released a three-month sample of headlines from national and state media on America's mental health crisis in the face of massive state budget cuts.
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"Many newspapers, television stations and radio networks around the country are covering the crisis," said NAMI executive director Michael J. Fitzpatrick. "Some are taking editorial stands."
"We want every editor, producer, state capitol reporter and health reporter at every level simply to pause and ask themselves: Are they covering their state's mental health crisis and all its implications?"
"Here are samples of what colleagues elsewhere are doing."
"Mental health cuts end up costing all of us more through lost jobs and careers, broken families, more homelessness, higher insurance costs, more welfare and much more expensive costs for hospital emergency rooms, nursing homes, schools, police and courts, jails and prisons," said Fitzpatrick.
"State legislatures are still making decisions in many parts of the country."
NAMI provides background for both advocates and the news media through its State Advocacy 2010 Web site, including a table comparing the number of adults with serious mental illness in each state with the number who receive state mental health services. The site also provides estimates for the number of children who live with serious mental health conditions in each state.
Headlines and Links
March 2010
The Roanoke Times, 3/20
State cuts may cripple mandated reforms
Bloomington Pantagraph, 3/16
Mental health service providers on Quinn's chopping block
The Tennessean, 3/15
Mental Health System Faces a Severe Crisis
San Francisco Examiner, 3/15
Budget cuts put strain on city's mental health services
Greenville News, 3/15
South Carolina budget cuts shift care of mentally ill to families, communities
Idaho Statesman, 3/15
Idaho cuts hit state mental hospitals
Minnesota Public Radio, 3/10
Budget shortfall leads state mental health programs to cut 200 positions
Arizona Republic, 3/10
Judge OKs a pause in state mental health case
Chicago Tribune, 3/12
Don't cut any more in human services
Lake Expo (Missouri), 3/7
Social service agencies fear impact of state budget cuts
San Jose Mercury News, 3/7
Longmont Daily Times, 3/7
The Washington Post, 3/7
Virginia's backsliding on mental health care promises
Los Angeles Times, 3/6
Overtime pay may be putting a dent in state's furlough savings
Orlando Sentinel, 3/3
Shortchanging mental health a costly and heartless proposition
San Antonio Express, 3/2
Budget cuts shouldn't include mental illness safety net
Greenville Daily Reflector (North Carolina), 3/1
Mental health cuts, reforms leave frustration
WJTV (Mississippi), 3/1
Advocates fear impact of mental health cuts
February 2010
The Omaha World-Herald, 2/27
Clarinda included in proposed cuts
Orlando Sentinel, 2/26
More misery for poor and uninsured; mental health patients turned away
The Tennessean, 2/14
Editorial: mental health services suffer
Rutland Herald (Vermont), 2/13
Expert decries lack of progress on mental health
The Tennessean, 2/8
Tennessee's mental health cuts deepen
January 2010
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.), 1/28
Orlando Sentinel, 1/26
State is Failing Its Mentally Ill
The Free Lance-Star (Virginia), 1/22
State cuts threaten aid to mentally ill
The Independent Record (Montana), 1/20
Don't cut mental health services
The Oklahoman, 1/15
Examiner (Washington, D.C.), 1/13
Budget slashes loom as Va. Lawmakers return to work
Disability Scoop, 1/12
States shift financial woes to people with disabilities
Kaiser Health News, 1/11
Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger plans health cuts; news outlets report on Medicaid funding issues
The State (South Carolina), 1/10
$59 million cut from mental health
CNN, 1/9
Surviving with less: real-life consequences of state budget cuts
San Francisco Chronicle, 1/9
Governor plans deep cuts to programs
WCHS 6 (Maine), 1/7
NAMI Maine asks for moratorium on proposed cuts
KOSU Radio (Oklahoma,) 1/7
Mental health cuts may affect Okla. communities
Chicago Tribune, 1/6
Federal funds ease anxiety at South Side mental health agency
Other Resources
Grading the States 2009: A Report on America's Healthcare Systems for Adults with Serious Mental Illnesses: www.nami.org/grades
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) www.nasmhpd.org
SOURCE National Alliance on Mental Illness
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