Programs need funding

It’s surprising, considering the number of people who have a family member or friend with mental problems, that Kansas doesn’t step up funding for its community treatment programs. Dealing with mental illness is not only emotionally difficult for the family and friends of the mentally ill person, but also an unnecessary financial burden on taxpayers.

Too many of our jail inmates are mentally ill people who get into legal trouble and have to be housed in a county jail, where the cost is much higher than treatment in a community program.

It’s also less effective - jails aren’t designed to provide proper care for mentally ill inmates. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “Once in jail, many individuals don’t receive the treatment they need and end up getting worse, not better. They stay longer than their counterparts without mental illness. They are at risk of victimization and often their mental health conditions get worse.”

When the state closed Topeka State Hospital for the mentally ill in 1997, the argument was that, in most cases, a mentally ill person is treated more humanely by living in the community with the help of drugs and counseling programs available on an out-patient basis.

It also was argued that the savings from the hospital closure would be transferred to the community-based programs.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Signs that funding for mental programs was declining became noticeable not long after TSH was closed.

Fortunately, there are people in the state to keep reminding us of this troubling situation.

Last week, the message was sent out again in observance of National Mental Illness Awareness week. The message came from Brian Cole, director of the Shawnee County Department of Corrections, and Rick Cagan, director of the Topeka branch of NAMI.

They reported the sad news that 25 percent of Kansas jail inmates are mentally ill, compared with the national average of 16 percent - which is bad enough.

Cagan said $30 million had been cut from community services in recent years.

Taxpayers often don’t realize the amount of money being wasted with the present system. Cole said it costs about $95 a day to house a general population inmate in the jail, but the cost is often between $270 and $300 a day for someone with mental illness. Much of the extra cost is for medication.

Cagan noted that the situation is particularly dire for the homeless. He estimated that as many as 50 percent of homeless people are mentally ill.

Increased funding for community-based mental illness treatment programs makes sense. It’s another issue to put in front of candidates for election next month. What will they do to help?