Thursday, November 06, 2003

Senate Panel Convenes Hearing on White House Mental Health Commission Report
Brief item at the NAMI web site noting the November 4 hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services. A page at the US Senate web site indexes transcripts of testimony, including the testimony Tuesday of Ann Buchanan, a member of NAMI Maryland.  
  

Community Leaders Call Current Mental Health Treatment System Major Problem
US Newswire press release - " A recent Peter D. Hart Research Associates survey of community leaders from the fields of law enforcement, education, business and health care, found that a majority agreed that the U.S. mental health treatment system is severely flawed and fails to provide adequate diagnosis, treatment, and services for adults and young Americans with mental illness. The failure of the system costs the nation more than $70 billion annually to lost productivity, and when the costs of the police officers, teachers, doctors and others acting as the front line in the mental health treatment system are added in, the cost rises to as much as $300 billion per year." The press release also references NAMI's Campaign for the Mind of America announced last month. The Campaign is "a multi-year effort on many fronts to promote investment in recovery and to prevent the abandonment of yet another generation of Americans with mental illnesses to neglect and hopelessness. The Campaign highlights the need to build a comprehensive, efficient system to screen, evaluate, diagnose and treat mental illnesses at every stage of life." See also the page at the NAMI site on the Mind of America Foundation.  
  

More fed aid sought for states' mental health programs (Nevada)
Las Vegas Sun story - "Nevada's mental health agency chief says Congress should provide more money to help the states deliver a coordinated system of services to people with mental problems. Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, told the House subcommittee on substance abuse and mental health services on Tuesday that the current system for helping mentally ill and addicted people is fragmented."