Dave Loebsack sets goal of removing mental illness stigma

IOWA CITY - As a congressman representing more than three-quarters of a million people in 24 Iowa counties, 2nd District Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack has several priorities, including one that is less about changing legislation than changing minds.

Loebsack, whose mother struggled with mental health issues, kicked off a 'Breaking the Stigma” tour in Iowa City Wednesday to chip away at attitudes toward mental illness.

'I will talk about this issue until I am blue in the face - certainly until I'm done with this job, but hopefully beyond that - all in an effort to remove the stigma the best I can,” Loebsack told representatives of several Johnson County programs and agencies that serve people with mental health issues.

The stigma attached to mental illness can be one of the biggest hurdles to getting the resources needed to help people, he said.

'I often say that if I don't succeed in any other way on mental health issues while I'm in Congress except to help to remove that stigma, then I will feel like I've at least succeeded on something while I was in Congress,” the six-term Iowa City Democrat said.

However, to make the case for more federal resources, Loebsack told representatives of law enforcement, human services agencies, health care and local government that he needs data to back up his arguments.

Given GOP control of Congress, Loebsack is concerned there will be 'downward pressure” on resources going to human resources programs. Data will help him convince lawmakers and policymakers to look at the problem rationally.

'They don't have to look at it rationally. Just give us the money,” Jessica Peckover, Johnson County Jail alternatives coordinator, joked.

'And we'll take it from there,” added Iowa City City Councilwoman Susan Mims.

'The problem is, there are a whole lot of people in Washington who want to give you nothing,” Loebsack said. 'They believe, I think wrongly, that these programs don't work.”

'I hate to suggest that whatever you do is driven mainly, let alone completely, by potential grant funding or money from the state or from the feds, but that's got to be a part of this because you have to demonstrate success.” Loebsack said.

Matthew Tamayo, who represents a Silicon Valley software firm called Loom, explained that the groups represented around the table plan to meet Thursday to develop plans for gathering and tracking data across their agencies to provide Loebsack with the hard data he needs.

They want the ability to track interventions 'so that you can actually assign folks intervention groups ... to be able to measure the effectiveness relative to each other and, possibly, to people who turn down any intervention whatsoever and look at the outcomes,” Tamayo said.

'That helps build a stronger story for funding to be able to show how much money interventions save,” he said.

That's a key to convincing lawmakers that 'if you don't pay now you're going to pay later and it might be a heck of a lot more,” Loebsack said.

'Politicians don't think long-term for the most part,” he said, 'because there's an election coming up or whatever.”

Loebsack has conducted similar meetings in Ottumwa, Centerville, Clinton, Davenport and Muscatine. He'll wrap up the tour on Friday in Burlington.

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