KELLY WESSELMAN: Advocates collaborate to protect mental health funding

At the recent Mental Health Day at the state Capitol, more than 1,000 people showed up to urge legislators to rethink harmful cuts to mental health services. Sadly, politicians had taken a mental health day of their own, including Gov. Brian Kemp, who spent his day off quail hunting in Albany.

What stood out at the 2020 gathering was that — for the first time in more than 20 years — a coalition of advocacy groups hosted the event. This cooperation among members of Georgia’s Behavioral Health Services Coalition and their allies speaks to the willingness of people in the recovery community to collaborate to improve mental health services in Georgia.

Judging by a key House committee’s reported decision to reject many of the cuts Kemp proposed, the coalition’s efforts may have had some impact on the legislative process.

The coalition’s guide to Mental Health Day at the Capitol listed nine priorities, including protecting mental health funding in the FY 2020 budget. Advocates were urged to ask their legislators to protect mental health funding, including:

— $10.5 million for community service board Safety Net services to meet increased demand;

— $1.129 million for residential services that develop life skills and community integration, and

— Revenue needed over the next five years to increase funding for Safety Net and preventative services to match increased need.

This opportunity to meet with fellow advocates and to discuss mental health issues with legislative staffers was enhanced by a powerful, day-long leadership training NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Georgia hosted the next day amid a light snow in Atlanta.

NAMI is a nonprofit organization of volunteers that has 1,307 support groups in Georgia and has served more than 30,000 people since May 2018.

In an effort to improve the recovery community’s involvement in NAMI, the first workshop focused on recovery. Bill Carruthers, chair of NAMI Georgia’s recovery council, said a person in recovery is not a client in a service but a person in the community.

Recovery-oriented care demands a “backyard revolution,” Carruthers said. “People create solutions with their own hands.”

An especially compelling speaker put a new spin on what effective advocacy looks like. Tod Citron worked 16 years as the CEO of the Cobb County Community Service Board. When he started out, members of the local NAMI chapter pounded him, going around him to get influential politicians like Roy Barnes to make changes.

“When I got my sea legs, I pushed back,” Citron said. He was confident he had effective programs that were recognized nationwide.

While NAMI is a strong advocacy group that often confronts community service providers, Carruthers recommended a different approach.

“You can do more with honey than vinegar,” he said. “Collaboration is the most effective way to get into relationships with dealmakers and get a seat at the table.”

Local NAMI leaders brought home the importance of mental health awareness in a presentation to the Dougherty County Commission Monday.

Debbie Richardson, a retired psychiatric nurse in Dougherty County public schools and a member of the advisory council for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities, updated the commission on NAMI’s legislative priorities.

She and NAMI Albany organizer Jere Brands spoke briefly about Mental Health Day at the Capitol. Commissioners had several questions about mental health care in Dougherty County.

One of NAMI’s priorities is to end unnecessary incarceration of people with mental illness. Richardson said 30 percent of people in the Dougherty County Jail have mental illnesses. This population has access to mental health care only four hours once a week.

District 5 County Commissioner Gloria Gaines thanked Richardson for that information. “It paints a picture that is pretty dire,” Gaines said.

Brands responded that mental illness is a chronic disease and, like diabetes, “It is treatable.”

One positive footnote to local advocacy efforts is State Representative CaMia Hopson’s proposal to make a NAMI license plate that could benefit the nonprofit organization.

“We’ve got to find creative ways to subsidize budget cuts being imposed on various service agencies,” Hopson said.

Even more positive news came out of the Capitol Tuesday. Georgia Public Broadcasting Radio reported a key House committee voted to reject many of the painful cuts Kemp had requested for the current budget year.

Committee members voted unanimously to add back full, or at least partial, funding for many of their top priorities, including behavioral health.

In the end, education remains the best tool to fight the stigma of mental illness. NAMI Albany hosts family-to-family workshops throughout the year. In the eight-week training, family members learn to navigate the clinical, as well as judicial, systems. Equally important, people learn to develop skills to take care of themselves and effectively advocate for their loved one. Contact NAMI Albany, (229) 329-1444, about future workshops.