Monday, August 11, 2003

State fails in care of mentally ill kids (Michigan)
Detroit News story - "State budget cuts are making it increasingly difficult to find and help thousands of Michigan children suffering from serious mental and emotional problems. Although the cuts have impacted every mental health program and service in Michigan, the effects are particularly drastic in children's mental health, which receives only a fraction of the money given to adult programs. Programs and treatment for Michigan's youth get only about 5 percent of the state's overall mental health budget...."  
  

Staff Memo Opposes Reduction In Beds at Williamsburg's Eastern State Hospital (Virginia)
WAVY story - "Eastern State Hospital doctors have stepped up their opposition to a proposal to eliminate 43 beds as part of Virginia's effort to move more mentally ill patients into community-based programs. Staff members at the state mental hospital in Williamsburg argued against the reduction at public forums earlier this year. Then last month, the medical staff unanimously signed a memo opposing the plan."  
  

Grants go to mental health (Minnesota)
Pioneer Press story - "Under a unique collaborative effort, five Minnesota health plans have created a $3.5 million grant program to fund new community-based projects designed to address gaps in the state's mental health treatment network."  
  

Community needs Beaufort Memorial's mental health unit (South Carolina)
Op ed piece in the Carolina Morning News by Guyla Daley, vice president of the NAMI - South Carolina - "We in the Lowcountry are very fortunate to have a 20-bed psychiatric unit in Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Since the budget cuts have decreased the number of available beds in Columbia, our loved ones would be sitting in the emergency rooms of Hilton Head Regional Medical Center or Beaufort Memorial Hospital for weeks waiting for a bed, like people in the rest of the state."  
  

Troops' medical checkups shift to a new front: mental health
Boston Globe story on Public Law 105-85 - "Many soldiers return from the battlefield with hidden scars, suffering from psychological trauma or physical illnesses that may not surface for weeks, months, or even years. The law's objective is to help them make the transition to normalcy by identifying underlying problems before they can fester. And its implementation represents the first time in US history that the effects of deployment and combat are being addressed before, during, and after a conflict."