Program cuts won't save money

Anna Madrzyk did an excellent job of describing the impact state budget shortfalls are having on agencies that provide care to our disabled neighbors.

But the problem will be even worse if the state legislature adopts Governor Quinn's budget proposals for next year. The Governor has proposed a $91 million cut in state funding for mental health programs. Coupled with a loss of federal matching funds that will results from these cuts, his proposals will mean a 40% cut in mental health funding. This is on top of deep cuts in the previous two years.

The Illinois Division of Mental Health itself stated that if the Governor's proposals are enacted,

70,000 individuals with mental illness will lose access to basic medical care, including medications, psychiatry and case management;

As many as 83 community mental health agencies will be forced to close. Entire areas of the state will be without any basic community mental health services; and 4,000 people with mental illness will be displaced from community residential settings.

But these cuts won't actually save money. Many of the people dropped from these programs will end up in hospitals, homeless shelters, jails and nursing homes, adding expenses to those areas of government, expenses far in excess of any savings the initial cuts could bring.

How can the State do this to its most vulnerable residents? The answer is that Illinois is broke.

To prevent these cuts, the state needs more revenue. Income tax increases of the sort outlined in HB 174, which passed the state Senate last year, will help reduce the need for these devastating budget cuts.

NAMI Barrington urges the General Assembly to pass HB 174 or the equivalent and to join us in saying "No more cuts to mental health programs."

Hugh Brady

President, National Alliance on Mental Illness

Barrington