From Senator Amanda Ragan –
Public safety and medical professionals say Iowa has a mental health crisis. Legislators have been tackling that problem by improving the way mental health services are provided in our state. This year, the Senate took steps to:
• Make more emergency psychiatric beds available (SF 401).
• Create a psychiatric bed tracking system so that medical professionals and law enforcement can quickly find openings (HF 449)
• Help Iowans access mental health and substance abuse treatment services closer to home (SF 440).
• Streamline the employment, qualifications and duties of mental health advocates (HF 468).
But Governor Branstad may be making Iowa’s mental health crisis worse. With a stroke of his veto pen, the Governor nixed a bipartisan plan to keep all four of Iowa’s mental health institutes (MHIs) operating (SF 505, HF 666).
Republican and Democratic legislators reached an agreement to keep open the Mount Pleasant MHI, which provided mental health and substance use disorder services, and to transition the Clarinda MHI to a private nursing facility for hard-to-place patients with aggression or other psychological conditions.
The Governor justified his veto of funding for the two MHIs by saying they are outdated and services can be provided more effectively and efficiently by private agencies. Unfortunately, those services are not yet in place. With the Governor’s unilateral decision to close the Mount Pleasant and Clarinda facilities, Iowans in need of mental health services may find even fewer options available to them.
Health service providers, public safety officers, religious leaders and advocates worry that mentally ill patients with substance abuse problems will end up in emergency rooms, jails or worse—rather than getting treatment.
As we continue redesigning Iowa’s mental health system to better serve those in need, I will be looking for ways to patch the holes left by the Governor’s vetoes so that Iowans have better access to mental health services when they need them.
Is she wearing Hillary’s clothes ? Probably !!!
Hitlary and Ragan are a lot alike. They both lie every time their lips move.
LVS-You must have no-one you care about with mental health issues. If you did you would understand the lack of care in this state and appreciate any support you could get, democrat or republican. You have taken a serious issue, the lack of opportunity for non criminal people with mental health issues, and turned it into a political bashing party. You should try being part of the solution and quit being part of the problem. I am not a liberal so save your insults for your liberal friends.
Just like I said you must have no-one you care about that deals with mental issues because if you did you would be more compassionate toward people who do. I really hope you are not as selfish as you make yourself appear.
I’ve been down this road with LVS before. He doesn’t have much compassion for those people with mental illnesses. I asked him once to quit using the word retard because it was offensive to many people not just those of us with mentally disabled people in our families. He refused, called me names, and basically said to hell with political correctness. Don’t hold out hope that he will change.
Come on man. Name calling isnt necessary.
Wow how creepy of a guy do you have to be too bad mouth people with mental illness?
@bodacious-for once you have it right. I have very little sympathy for whiners and cry baby’s who want everyone else to take care of their problems. They can either climb up on their hinds legs and be grown ups and take care of their own problems or they can become liberal retards and live on the government dime. Don’t expect me to sympathize with someone who won’t help themselves. No one ever helped me or mine. We take care of each other.
@Knows-You “KNOW” nothing about me but still think it is OK to shoot off your whiney, liberal mouth about something you know nothing about. You cry baby liberals make me sick. You take no responsibility for anything. I take care of my own and always have. I don’t go crying to the government every time I have a hangnail or about someone pretending to have mental issues just so they can get away with crap. I go visit the nursing homes every single week and talk to the people there who can’t help themselves. But, they don’t whine in public about their situations.
In Iowa you get tax payer funded mental health care if you are in prision, but not trying to live successfully in the community. WTF is wrong with this picture?
See ginger !! Hahaha
Grammar seriously.. That’s ur argument !! Typing with one ginger in my phone I’m surprised it’s not worse .. Don’t be an idiot . Try to make a point . Don’t puss out on grammar !!
Just like Hillary proposing to depend billions on college education .. When you subsidized education the price goes up !!!! That’s he problem now !!! Idiots !!!! Besides there is no money 4 it !!! 20 trillion in debt !!!
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/exercises/grammar/elementary-english-grammar.html
That was the liberal idiots that let them all out of the facilities because it was to mean to lock them up. So now there homeless wondering he streets. This started in New York City years ago. How soon those liberal idiots forget !!
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/exercises/grammar/elementary-english-grammar.html
Based on Gov B’s logic we should also limit Cancer Treatment, Cardiac Care and other primary illness groups from receiving any and all state dollars (and there are tons of state funding streams) given the fact that mental illness is just as pervasive.
Sort of ironic ??? Was’nt Regan president when they closed all the government backed mental institutions and more or less threw these people out on the street ?
If we have a surplus that is close to the billion dollar mark, why is Gov Branstad hoarding my tax dollars? Either put that money to use or lower my taxes.
They had better do something with it before Ragan spends it on one of her pet projects.
The sad thing is this state gives convicted felons more opportunities to have a better life than people with mental health. I agree she spends too much most of the time but she makes some good points on the lack of help for people with mental issues.
Lets start with her. She is the biggest mental case in thee area. SPEND-SPEND-SPEND. Tell them what they want to hear and then spend, spend, spend.