Mental Health Care Advocates Gather To Discuss Impact Of State Budget On Their Field

People who work in mental health care gathered in Madison on Tuesday to discuss the impact of the most recent biennial budget for Wisconsin, which made significant investments in their field.

Barbara Beckert, who directs the Milwaukee office of Disability Rights Wisconsin, called the state funding bump historic, and pointed out that the investments were sorely needed.

“I hope that we’re at a turning point,” Beckert said. “Historically, we’ve had very inequitable access to community-based services and we’ve had an over-reliance on crisis, emergency and institutional services.”

A report released by the state Department of Health Services earlier this year found that, in 2011, 49 percent of people living with a mental illness in Wisconsin did not access treatment.

Additionally, Milwaukee’s mental health care system has drawn criticism for its reliance on emergency room psychiatric care. Gov. Scott Walker called the system a “natural disaster” earlier this year.

The biennial budget investments to combat those problems totaled nearly $30 million and included the expansion of community-based care and pilot programs for peer-run treatment centers.

Beckert said that as those programs are implemented, stakeholders are discussing other prospective changes, such as amping up state programs that keep mentally ill people out of correctional facilities.

“Far too many people with mental illness are inappropriately ending up in the corrections system, and we need more opportunities for diversion,” she said.

Beckert said she hopes those needs will be addressed in the upcoming legislative session.