One of the most interesting and pertinent
documents on mental health services is The President’s New
Freedom Commission on Mental Health Report, published in
July of 2003. The document outlines the current status of the
mental health system throughout the United States and resulted
in six goals that need to be achieved in order to transform the
mental health system in his country. Those goals are:
Goal# 1: Americans understand
that mental health is essential to overall health
Goal#2: Mental health care is
consumer and family driven
Goal#3: Disparities in mental
health services are eliminated
Goal#4: Early mental health screening, assessment and
referrals to services are common practice
Goal#5: Excellent mental health
care is delivered and research is accelerated
Goal #6: Technology is used to
access mental health care and information
Kansas has been holding summits on each of
these goals over this past year. In these meetings providers,
consumers and other interested in system improvement in Kansas
have been meeting to discuss the particular topic goals of each
meeting. The state of Kansas has also submitted a proposal to a
federal agency this spring to be eligible for some planning
money that is available to states in looking at their service
delivery system and the technology associated with it.
This summer, the second anniversary of the
President’s report, a new report was released by the Campaign
for Mental Health Reform entitled: A roadmap for Federal
Action on America’s Mental Health. This report contains
seven steps and 28 action items in response to the goals
outlined in the 2003 report. The Campaign for Mental Health
Reform includes such national groups as the National Mental
Health Association, the Federation of Families for Children’s
Mental Health, the national Suicide prevention Network USA, and
the Bazelon Center for Mental Heal Law and the National Council
for Community Behavioral Healthcare.
According to the new report, since the
release of the 2003 report:
- More than 63,000 Americans have been
victims of suicide
- An estimated 206,000 people with
mental illnesses were admitted to state and federal prisons
- Juvenile detention centers spent $2000
warehousing children because for needed mental health
services unavailable in their community.
According to the August 1, 2005 edition of
Mental Health Weekly, The report outlines 7 steps, each
are possible only with federal-level leadership and resources.
Those steps are:
These goals certainly make sense to us in
Sedgwick County and in Kansas. COMCARE will be dedicated to
helping develop strategies to ensure that our system is
responsive and timely to those needing our services. We are
interested in your comments about these goals and ways you think
COMCARE might be more responsive.
Marilyn Cook, LSCSW
Executive Director
COMCARE of Sedgwick County
Your
Government
