Maintain mental health funding

Mental illness strikes as many as one in five families, yet treatment and care for those who suffer from mental illness is all but ignored by the state of Illinois.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) conducted a state-by-state comparison of mental health services, and in that comparison Illinois fares very poorly. One of the deficiencies the study noted is the inadequate funding Illinois provides to its mental health system.

As a result of this inadequate funding, many people in Illinois who have mental illnesses are homeless or in prison. We would not condemn cancer patients or people with diabetes to homelessness or prison, so why do we treat our mentally ill this way?

Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders, defects in the way nerve signals are transmitted from nerve to nerve. These brain disorders cannot be overcome through will power and they are not related to the person's character or intelligence. But they do respond to modern treatment.

And treatment translates into increased productivity, as many of these people are able to return to jobs and a normal life in the community.

The 40 percent cuts in mental health funding proposed by the governor will seriously jeopardize the community mental health services. Where will these people go? They will go to hospital emergency rooms, jails, prisons and nursing homes. This is not a responsible nor humane way to treat some of our state's most vulnerable citizens, and not good for the general public.

Understanding that the state is in financial trouble, and mental health funding will be reduced, we urge our legislators to vote to maintain current funding levels and require timely payments to community mental health providers with state contracts.

Laurie Huske

Board president

NAMI Kane County

Elgin