A mental health task force made up of state house representatives released a report last week on how to improve the state’s mental health care system.
The task force, Community Access Resources Education Safety, or CARES, was comprised of seven Republicans and seven Democrats. The group took five months to travel around the state, taking testimony from Michigan residents, healthcare providers, and mental health advocates.
House Speaker Tom Leonard assembled the taskforce. He said improving Michigan’s mental health care system is a top priority.
“We’ve got a corrections budget that is costing us two billion dollars per year and nearly a quarter of those that are incarcerated suffer from mental illness. When they do the costs are nearly triple the average inmate. Not only is this the right thing to do but it’s also a budget practice if you will.”
Leonard said now that the recommendations have been released, legislators will begin drafting bills.
“We released the recommendations this past week and now you’ll see them put into legislation. Much of these are going to have to be vetted, some of these may come with a cost so they’ll have to work their way through the legislative process, we’re going to have to determine what the cost may or may not be and whether they are worthy of pursuing.”
Leonard said the state’s mental health care system needs an overhaul.
“I believe that there is so much work to do that even if we make substantial progress over the next year it’s probably going to be nothing more than a few raindrops in the ocean compared to what we need to do. However, it’s time to get the conversation started, it’s time to get going on this, I’m very proud that this house chamber is working on this.”
Leonard said recommendations include greater funding for substance abuse, early intervention screenings for children, and training law enforcement for crisis intervention.
You can read the full report here: https://house.mi.gov/PDFs/HouseCARESTaskForceReport.pdf