House Bill 897, signed into law by Gov. Haley Barbour, creates a panel to study issues surrounding delivery of the state's mental health services and make recommendations for improvement.

Ed Legrand, director of that state Department of Mental Health, hopes that the commission will deal with the shortage of community-based programs in Mississippi to treat patients before their symptoms warrant stays in hospitals or other treatment facilities, according to an Associated Press story published in the Sun Herald.

Legrand, who has been asking for the legislation for a couple of years, said it will clarify the roles and responsibilities of the different components of the system, including his agency, community mental health centers and private facilities.

Legrand said he's hopeful the committee will encourage a revision in state laws to "change the delivery of services to a community-based system rather than continue to rely on inpatient."

More than 100,000 people are served in community mental health centers each year. Legrand said less than 20 percent served by those centers required hospitalization.

"It's about raising awareness, removing the stigma associated with mental illness, and providing additional resources for mental treatment, including suicide prevention," Legrand said.

A 2008 report from the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee recommended that the Department of Mental Health begin offering more community-based services as hospitalization alternatives.

Previous Comments

ID

146437

Comment

As A NAMI member and someone that has been touched by mental illness, I am so glad to see this.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2009-04-28T22:34:29-06:00