Feb. 21, 2008
Friends, I want to talk to you today about a topic that isn't discussed nearly enough in our state: Mental Health. There is still a nasty stigma surrounding mental illness that has prevented us from acknowledging and addressing the millions of our fellow North Carolinians and their family members who cope with psychological disorders. Our collective silence cannot continue: We must begin an honest conversation about how we can improve mental health care statewide.
This Monday, ten of the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor will take a step in that direction by participating in a forum sponsored by The Coalition, an association of dozens of agencies involved in mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse issues.
I want to commend these groups for organizing this important event and encourage you all to attend. While you're there, I hope you will join me in thanking our mental health professionals for the hard work they've done to support the citizens they serve, often in the face of severe understaffing, budget cuts and a chaotic bureaucracy.
Our mental health system is in crisis. North Carolina is ranked 43rd in the nation for per capita mental health spending. Privatization of the system in 2001, hailed as a solution, has resulted in the closure of hospitals and clinics and ultimately made it harder for many North Carolinians to get help. Our current mental health system is a haphazard array of chronically under-funded programs that have failed all North Carolinians, but most especially our rural residents and veterans.
Untreated mental illness takes an enormous emotional and economic toll on our state. It taxes our schools, emergency rooms and criminal justice system, which has inexcusably become a default care provider for our fellow citizens struggling with mental illness. Many of the problems faced by North Carolina, from substance abuse to homelessness, are rooted in untreated mental illness.
As a veteran, I care deeply about this problem, and believe we need to approach it with urgency and compassion. We need to immediately increase state funding and support for community-based initiatives, including emergency clinics and outreach programs. Through a collaboration of state and local leadership, we can fix this system and finally do right by all the citizens of North Carolina.
I look forward to sharing more of my ideas with you at the forum this Monday at the RBC Center in Raleigh. I will begin speaking at 9:15 a.m. I hope to see you there.
With best wishes, I am sincerely,
Pat Smathers
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