Norman — Lawmakers and mental health workers who are worrying aloud about the loss of inpatient beds and dozens of employees at Norman’s Griffin Hospital say the recent service cuts will lead to long-term community problems.
Untreated, mental health consumers with alcohol and drug dependencies end up in county jails, in public hospital emergency rooms and in homeless shelters. Some turn to crime to support habits and to feed themselves.
“The Norman community is being hit with a double whammy,” state mental health commissioner Terri White told The Transcript this past week. Another 600 persons statewide are on waiting lists for drug and alcohol addictions and mental illnesses.
The $20 million in cuts impacting mental health may be deeper in fiscal 2011. The state will pay, too. Ms. White said the state is now poised to treat consequences rather than treating people.
Oklahoma ranks in the bottom tier of state spending on mental health. One rating put us at 44th but increases in the past few years have raised that ranking. Cuts of 10 percent or more next year would set programs back.
Although this year’s budget is set, next year’s remains fluid. We challenge lawmakers and mental health advocates to find the money in the state’s $6 billion budget and to have a constructive dialogue with legislative leaders about the consequences of inaction.
