California Community Mental Health Program Shows Success; New Hampshire, Ohio and Oklahoma Consider System Changes

Since its creation by the California Legislature in November 1999, the Community Mental Health Treatment Program has reduced hospitalizations, incarcerations and homelessness for those with mental illnesses in Los Angeles County by offering community-based treatment, the Los Angeles Times reports. The program uses "aggressive outreach," housing and job training to "induce" participation, and offers medical attention, group therapy and "intensive counseling." The Times reports that a new legislative report found that since the implementation of the program, hospitalizations for patients dropped 77% from the previous year, while the number of days spent in jail or homeless fell 84.6% and 69%, respectively. According to the legislative report, homelessness dropped 55% and jail time fell 82% among the more than 800 participants in Los Angeles County. In addition, full-time employment for participants increased by 155%. The report also found that the money saved from reduced jail time and avoidable hospitalizations "exceeded $7.3 million." In response to the success, state officials are expanding the program to 32 other cities and counties and increasing funding from $14 million to $55 million. Assembly member Darrel Steinberg (D), who sponsored the legislation that created the program, said, "What we're doing is beginning to fulfill a promise of a generation ago to actually build a community based mental health care system" (Rivera, Los Angeles Times, 5/12).

Increases in Treatment and Funding
Other mental health news from New Hampshire, Ohio and Oklahoma is summarized below.

• New Hampshire: The state House may consider a bill (HB 672) to establish insurance coverage parity for mental health and medical services. Current state law requires insurers to pay for mental illness treatments, but only eight types of biological mental illnesses must be covered. State Sen. Katie Wheeler (D) is sponsoring a corollary measure to HB 672 that would increase coverage for substance abuse as well. Also pending in the House is legislation that would cut funding increases for state subsidized mental health treatments proposed in Gov. Jeanne Shaheen's (D) budget. But Wheeler, chair of the state Senate Public Institutions/Health and Human Services Committee, said she will work to restore some of those cuts (Morin, Foster's Daily Democrat, 5/11).
• Ohio: The Cincinnati Psychoanalytic Institute, one of 27 facilities nationwide that teaches how to provide "in-depth" mental health therapy, has received $2.75 million to increase training of child psychiatrists and to provide services to low-income families. The funding will also be used to open a community clinic that will offer care for the indigent and underinsured and to construct a new wing at the institute's offices to provide more space for treatment and training (Bonfield, Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/8).
• Oklahoma: The state House on May 10 voted in favor of a bill (HB 1518) that would appropriate an additional $12 million to the state Mental Health Department, part of which would go toward a mobile crisis intervention team in Oklahoma County. The team would be on call 24 hours per day. In addition, the measure earmarks $2 million for the Programs for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) teams, which help keep people with mental illnesses "in the community and out of prison" (Hinton, Daily Oklahoman, 5/11).