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An Advocate’s Perspective: The Cumulative Effect |
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So here we are, once again, facing not only the end of a year, but the end of a decade. And hopefully the end of an era – that era being mental health reform and its legacy. We find ourselves at the dawning of a new year, a new decade, and hopefully a new era – one of transformation and true mental health revitalization.
So you see, we come to this point at the beginning of 2010 suffering from what I am increasingly calling the cumulative effect. The cumulative effect is the result of the last ten years of the “reform” of pathetic policy decisions by elected officials and those that they have appointed. It’s the cumulative effect of State dollar cuts, massive Medicaid cuts, intolerable cash flow from the State to counties and Local Management Entities, and the unbelievable rush to change, with no notice, no time to prepare, and often with change that is retroactive.
The cumulative effect is not a pretty sight when it comes to the mental health service system in NC. The cumulative effect is not looking to get better when legislators say it’s more important to get re-elected than to do the right thing because next year is the redistricting year. The cumulative effect doesn’t get better when funds are cut by nearly one-fourth to community mental health – some 20% more than to education. The cumulative effect ultimately means lives, it means jobs, and it means well being.
As we approach this New Year and new decade, the cumulative effect must now turn around. The cumulative effect must now be put into the perspective of advances in research and technology that equate to advances in treatment. The cumulative effect must now mean the restoration of dollars – not to where they were, but to where they truly should be to meet the needs of our State’s citizens. They deserve this; we all deserve this. The cumulative effect turning around means the reinstitution of jobs across the State. This is an economic disaster that didn’t have to happen, but because of short-sided political aspirations and considerations, it did. The cumulative effect should not be that those people see the inside of a State hospital, an emergency room, a jail, or a prison, but rather they would actually receive their services each and everyday in a manner that they deserve. The cumulative effect should be that these individuals are going back to work, that they are getting their own place to live, and that they are building their families, their careers, and their lives.
As we approach 2010 and beyond, let’s strive to change the cumulative effect and understand the power to build up and not just to tear down. This is one advocate’s perspective.
John Tote
Executive Director
MHA-NC
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