foolmenot.comThis should do it… Governor Granholm has ignored pleas and recommendations to offer anything at all to resolve the negative impact that is being experienced by those with mental illness… In this article, as well as the Ann Arbor News article I printed last week, the media points towards her growing list of ineffective state bureaucracies, and her non-responsive attitude..
In the editorial, below, the Free Press points to ample evidence of the personal tragedy of mental illness. In the Ann Arbor editorial, they point to ample evidence of the public and social impact of mental illness; crimes being committed and jails overflowing. Apparently the negative evidence is so bad the Ann Arbor News intimated a return to pre-1970’s “incarceration”… For them to use terminology such as “incarceration” may be a bit extreme and is probably more of an emotional response; it does however, indicate the growing frustration everyone is feeling.
These concerns cannot be a surprise to the Governor, she has been told. Her protection of ineffective bureaucracies is becoming a troubling aspect of her administration.
Leadership seems to be failing on many levels for Governor Granholm. With her job on the line this 2006 election year, one can expect a response to these editorials... If her track record is any indication she probably has a fib of some sort all ready for the occasion.
Full article follows…
Editorials
Detroit Free Press
Mental Health
Legislators must take up where governor left off
January 3, 2006
Someone needs to take charge of fixing Michigan's mental health system this year, and that person ought to be Gov. Jennifer Granholm. But the signs are not encouraging: The governor has let an unacceptable 14 months slip by without a sizable initiative since she got a host of recommendations from a commission she herself appointed.
A December report card found only tiny signs of progress since Granholm's Mental Health Commission reported in October 2004. Meanwhile, the Department of Community Health's spring response was so full of bureaucratese, it's unclear how change could possibly come.
Concerned legislators may have to take over as a result. Both the Senate and the House have experienced members with a deep interest in mental health. A bipartisan caucus, even a small one, ought to be able to deliver.
Before term limits wipe out the current expertise, the following steps should be taken this year:
Insurance parity. Employers and insurers are slowly waking up to the fact that mental health benefits on a par with those for other illness cost little -- most studies peg the increase at less than 1% -- and can save money if early treatment fends off a bigger crisis. It may also reduce employee absences and improve productivity, changes that don't show up on the same balance sheet with insurance costs but ultimately help the bottom line. Lawmakers should not let old fallacious rhetoric about the cost deter them from bringing Michigan into the majority of states that insist on parity for mental health benefits.
Setting treatment standards. Michigan's community mental health associations operate like loose cannons, with no guarantee that people with similar problems get similar services from one county to the next. If the administration won't corral them, legislators should. The state, which either supplies most of the money or channels it through from the federal government, can and should insist on uniformity.
Arguably, the state budget probably can't cope with statewide standards that are as thorough as they should be. But lawmakers can lay out a step-by-step plan, making it clear they intend to expand the scope as the budget allows.
Protecting the vulnerable. Children and the elderly, those least able to speak up for themselves, do not get the care they deserve. Meanwhile, too many people end up in jail cells for lack of proper mental health care. Better focus in these areas could yield quick, tangible improvements.
Erasing the stigma. Granholm could work wonders if she and her surgeon general spoke out repeatedly about mental health, stressing that a diagnosis of a mental illness is no more shameful than a physical one. Michiganders need to hear repeatedly that recovery is the rule, not the exception, once they seek help for themselves or their loved ones.
Indeed, Granholm's commission noted that removing the stigma remains the top job. Otherwise, too many people continue to cower in the corners -- not just those who need help but also the very people in Lansing who should be stepping up to fix the system. The more who come forward now, the sooner Michigan can approach a full state of health.