Thursday, August 07, 2003

Social services deals with budget cuts, director resignation (Maryland)
Story at Gazette.net - "There are more concerns with the Frederick County Department of Social Services than just the sudden resignation Monday of its director James A. Hart. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s (R) $11.7 million cuts last week to the state's Department of Human Resources, the agency that oversees social services, just compounds problems at the local agency. Without leadership, state officials know it will be difficult for social services to address the recent reductions."  
  

University of Georgia research describes mental health among Guatemalan refugees 20 years after Civil War
University of Georgia press release at EurekAlert - "Twenty years after the 36-year long civil conflict in Guatemala, a University of Georgia-led research team found many refugees in Mexico still suffering from a variety of mental illnesses including Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. They attribute a variety of factors including human rights violations, traumatic events and refugee status. The research was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association." See also the full text of the article, Factors Associated With Poor Mental Health Among Guatemalan Refugees Living in Mexico 20 Years After Civil Conflict, part of the "theme" issue on violence and human rights noted here yesterday.  
  

Tax increase considered to boost mental health budget (Iowa)
Newton Daily News story - "Although all three members of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors have indicated that they are very opposed to raising taxes, Central Point Coordinator Julie Bak gave them some reason to believe that they may have no choice. The county's mental health levy has been lowered each of the last six years and is now too low to maintain the mental health budget, Bak contends."  
  

US Immigrants Face Obstacles When Dealing with Mental Health Issues
Voice of America story, focusing on a Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago - "...Although one in six people will experience a major episode of depression in their lifetime, fewer than half will seek treatment. According to the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health, stigma prevents many from seeking care. But among American immigrants, poverty and language barriers also stand in the way.... "  
  

Mental health reform plan needs more participation (Washington)
Story at the Star-News - "As the state reforms its mental health system, it needs interested citizens to evaluate the plan, provide guidance and generally ride herd on the process. The aim of the reform, as I understand it, is to give consumers – that's the word for people who get help with mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse problems – more say in how they're treated. We'll try to see them as whole, real people, not just a cluster of interesting symptoms. As much as possible, consumers will be moved from large state mental hospitals to smaller, more flexible facilities in the towns they came from..."  
  

Mental health crisis
Opinion column by Jenelle Wilson in The Battalion, the newspaper of Texas A&M University on the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's report - "The report could have remarkable and extensive effects on how the mentally ill are treated in the United States, if the national government follows through and applies the changes. Mental illness is too serious a problem and the system is too damaged to let the opportunity this report represents slip by..."