More federal aid sought for mental health

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003 | 9:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's mental health agency chief Tuesday called on Congress to provide more money to help the states deliver a coordinated system of services to people with mental problems.

Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, told the House subcommittee on substance abuse and mental health services that the system for helping mentally ill and addicted people is fragmented.

In previous public hearings in Nevada, Brandenburg said the state has increased the budget of his division significantly in the last two sessions of the Legislature.

This year's Legislature approved a biennial budget of $367.6 million for the mental health division, an increase of 32.2 percent. Of that $244.8 million comes from the state.

Brandenburg also said a state commission looking into the problem has learned about "the large barriers encountered by individuals with mental illness who are chronically homeless."

But Brandenburg added that all levels of government must work to establish "an extensive and coordinated state system of services and supports that work to foster consumer independence and their ability to live, work, learn and participate fully in their communities."

He added that no state "can do this without significant assistance on the part of the federal government." He said more federal money is needed to plan and to "fill the enormous gaps in care for people with mental illness."

Despite increases in state funding in recent years for mental health care, Nevada is still playing catch-up from the early 1990s, when the state slashed support for mental health programs in response to an economic recession.

Mental health care professionals say their programs have not kept pace with Nevada's rapid population growth and remain understaffed and under-funded. Examples can be found in the state-run mental health clinics that dispense medicine to uninsured and under-insured clients.

In 2001, one-third of all new clients had to wait at least 15 days for their first medication appointment following referral. This year, half of all new clients have had to wait at least 15 days.

Metro Police have been seeking increased state funding to help support a mental health triage center in Las Vegas that is aimed in part at keeping mentally ill individuals from filling up local jails. If more state funds are not allocated, the center may have to shut down.

Emergency room physicians have also complained that local hospital emergency rooms are filling up with mentally ill individuals who have nowhere else to go, a situation caused by a shortage of hospital beds for those patients.

The state Mental Health Division received $4.8 million in federal funds last fiscal year and is expecting to receive $4.9 million this fiscal year and $5.1 million the next fiscal year, according to the Legislative Fiscal Analyst Division.

"Even in Nevada, where we have been uniquely fortunate to begin the transformation process, we will not be able to do it without federal funding," Brandenburg said in his prepared remarks in Washington D.C.

Brandenburg also said, "We have been struck by the fact that too many Nevadans do not know that mental illness can be treated and that recovery is possible."