MH/DD funding is as much about who we are as who we serve

There must have been more than 100 people at yesterday's informational event about mental health legislation and funding at the Johnson County Health and Human Services Building in Iowa City.

The Community Mental Health Center for Mid-Eastern Iowa coordinated the event to help consumers, families and caregivers understand what's going on with mental health and disabilities services budgets, and give them some tools to advocate on their own behalf.

The projections are grim, as Johnson County Mental Health/Disability Services Director Kristen Artley explained. Actual statewide MH/DD funding was down to $48.7 million in FY10, down from $61.7 million in FY09. Next fiscal year is expected to be equally dry. And once federal stimulus funds stop flowing at the end of this calendar year, things will get even worse. If nothing gives, Artley estimated Johnson County will blow through their cash reserves by the end of FY11.

“We just plain don't have enough money,” she said.

And that makes 2012 really ugly -- when the department will have to start cutting into bone.

First on the chopping block will be discretionary services – those not specifically required by state code, but which daily change the lives of clients and their families here: transportation assistance and respite care.

It also includes a number of discretionary services that actually save us all money in the long run, like jail diversion programs, mobile crisis services, medication assistance and rehabilitation.

Advocates are trying to mobilize MH/DD clients and their families to bend legislators' ears. Everyone understands that money is scarce, but it's also a matter of priorities.

“To me, this is about who we are,” one parent told yesterday's group. “It's not about the people we're serving.”

“Are we going to make these kids and adults who need these services fend for themselves or not?”

A good question.