[Sosfbay-discuss] Rally Tuesday AM v SCC Supes Plan to Slash Mental Health Funding even after Virgina Tech!!!

Mon Apr 23 17:55:31 PDT 2007

This is huge folks!  I'm planning to go and hope others will join me. 
If we want to prevent more Virgina Techs we can NOT afford to cut back
on public funding of mental health care as the County Supervisors are
planning to do!

Health care for all!

Drew

Rally to Support Mentally Health, San Jose
When: 	Tuesday, April 24 2007 @ 09:00 AM PDT - 11:00AM 	
Contact: National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 408-583-0001
Where: 	Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
70 West Hedding, San Jose

Description: 	All who are concerned about the welfare of mentally ill
people in our community are invited to join this important rally. A $34
million cut to mental health services has been proposed. We are
gathering to urge our supervisors to continue making these crucial
services possible. County Supervisors need to understand what a huge
impact the proposed cuts would have on mentally ill people and their
loved ones. These cuts would result in a discharge of about 7,200
mental health consumers who do not have Medi-Cal or other health
insurance. Budget cuts since 2002 have already resulted in loss of
services to about 4,000 clients. Over the same period there has been a
20% increase in the number of persons suffering from mental illness in
the jail population. Currently 75 persons seeking help are turned away
each day when they call the Mental Health Department. The number of
unexpected deaths of mental health clients has increased by 46% since
the 2002 cuts. The County is facing a significant shortfall, but the
proposed budget reduction to mental health services is twice as large
as those proposed for other county services. We ask members of your
churches to help us advocate for mentally ill persons in our community
and the services that are so crucial to their lives. This rally is
sponsored by National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Santa Clara
County, the Mental Health Advocacy Project, and the Association of
Mental Health Contract Agencies.
________________

http://kcbs.com/pages/366379.php?contentType=4&contentId=422254
Posted: Wednesday, 18 April 2007 1:17PM

Non-Profits Rally Against Santa Clara County Budget Cuts

new billsSAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS)  -- The Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors is facing a $238 million budget cut this year, including a
$34 million ax to the mental health budget. 

Representatives from over 40 non-profits came to the county’s Children,
Seniors and Family Committee meeting to plead their case and urge
supervisors not to “cut the safety net.” 

While supervisors say the county needs to balance its checkbook at all
costs, critics claim that keeping preventative services in place will
end up saving the county money.
_____________

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/editorial/17096856.htm
Face the real issue, untreated mental illness

By Patty Fisher

San Jose Mercury News (MCT)

Every year, 1,100 college students in America kill themselves. That's
an average of three suicides a day. Most are quiet tragedies that don't
make the evening news.

Cho Sueng-Hui made sure his death would not be a private affair. His
suicidal rampage left more than 30 people dead. And it left people
asking how the carnage could have been prevented, why the cops didn't
lock down the campus.

I think those are the wrong questions.

Instead of calling for metal detectors and key cards, Americans should
be calling for improved mental-health care.

We should be asking how weird and anti-social someone has to be before
he's identified as a danger to himself and others. We should be asking
how a severely depressed young man could walk into a Roanoke, Va., gun
store and buy a Glock 9-mm handgun.

And in Santa Clara County, Calif., we should be asking why our county
supervisors are considering cutting $34 million from the mental-health
budget next year and closing four community clinics.

It's natural in the aftermath of such an unthinkable tragedy to look
around for someone to blame. And it's natural for parents to want to
build safe cocoons for their college kids so they won't have to worry
about them.

But folks, I think the problem this tragedy highlights isn't campus
security, it's campus suicide. If anything positive is to come from the
events at Virginia Tech, it will be that our leaders finally commit to
providing adequate mental-health resources - on campuses and in
communities.

"I kept having to tell myself there is no way we could have known this
was coming," a classmate of Cho's told reporters Tuesday. "We saw all
the signs, but never thought this could happen."

Studies show that 90 percent of young people who commit suicide suffer
from depression or some other mental illness, though most don't seek
treatment. But usually, there are warning signs, cries for help.
Sometimes the signs are ignored. Often, worried friends and family
members see the signs but can't find affordable treatment in time.

Melanie Hale sees the problem every day. A counselor at Foothill
College, she meets with dozens of students each month who are suffering
from depression, anxiety and other problems that are on the rise at
American colleges and universities. Lately she's been concerned about
the number of students who are addicted to violent video games.

"They spend hours online, they fall behind in their classwork and
suffer from sleep deprivation."

Sometimes students with problems seek her out. Others are referred by
professors, parents or friends who are disturbed by a student's
e-mails, compositions or conversations.

But her office can only offer students a few counseling sessions. She
can't prescribe drugs or provide intensive therapy.

"We have to have places to refer them to," she said. "But so many
services are drying up."

Suicide is preventable, but long-term treatment is expensive. Most
medical insurance doesn't cover it. And in our area, it's going to get
worse. As part of a massive cost-cutting plan, Santa Clara County is
proposing to cut mental health services to 8,000 people - including
nearly 800 children and adolescents. The North County in Palo Alto,
which is closest to Foothill, would close.

If that happens, where will troubled students get help - before they
become desperate?

"We have to maintain our mental health services in the community," Hale
said. "And they have to be accessible to students."

Otherwise, even if we turn our campuses into fortresses, our students
will be increasingly at risk.

---

ABOUT THE WRITER

Patty Fisher is a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. Readers may
send Fisher e-mail at pfisher at mercurynews.com.

___________________

JamBoi: Jammy, The Sacred Cow Slayer
The Green Parties' #1 Blogger
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com

"To the brave belong all things"
Celt's invading Etrusca reply to nervous Romans around 400BC

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)

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