El Paso County Commissioner Veronica Escobar was one of the speakers at a Capitol press conference today advocating an $88.3 million increase in state spending for mental health services.

The conference coincided with the Senate Finance Committee’s budget discussion of Health and Human Services appropriations.

Escobar, as well as advocating for the statewide funding request, was keen to stress the impact of BRAC on the already strained mental health services in El Paso.

 The argument has been made before; in May, a Texas House-Senate committee met in El Paso to discuss issues associated with BRAC, including mental health. [Bringing the stress of war back home, July 3, 2008]

“In El Paso, we’re about to see a population explosion with BRAC. We’re going to see a lot of soldiers returning from Iraq for example, who have been on back-to-back deployments. But it’s not just the soldier returning from Iraq who deals with post-traumatic stress disorder - it’s the children living in a stressed-out household, it’s the wife living in a stressed-out household … all of that will create a greater demand,” said Escobar.

State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, agreed.

“I think that is an accurate assessment … When you increase population, you’re going to increase the need for services in all areas. When we talk about BRAC, there has been a tie-in with transportation needs, with education needs, with infrastructure as a whole. A part of that puzzle is also mental health,” said Moody, whose district includes large parts of Northeast El Paso near Fort Bliss.

“When we have young men and women coming back from the front lines, there are going to be issues that are associated with (mental health), and we need to make sure that we do our best to address those issues,” added Moody.

But state Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, cautioned that the city
needed more money for mental health services, period -- regardless of BRAC expansion.

“We need more support for the children and adults in El Paso. There is a need to serve the folks we have. We’re serving more people than we can afford now. We need more funding,” said Pickett, whose district includes Fort Bliss and flanks its east and south edges. As such, Pickett said he welcomed Escobar’s request for extra funding and was glad the issue was on the county’s radar.

Mental Health America of Texas, which hosted the press conference, wants an extra $88.3 million from state coffers to expand mental health services, and according to state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, the cash is there, despite the bad economic weather Texas is currently enduring.

“There’s this idea that Texas doesn’t have any money…it’s just not true,” said Coleman, citing the $9 billion state rainy day fund and the projected $24 billion in federal stimulus aid Texas could receive in 2009/10. As such, for Coleman, there will be no excuses when it comes to expanding mental health services in Texas.

Texas is currently ranked 48th in the nation for mental health funding per capita, down from 43rd in 2002.

“The cuts in 2003 left a huge hole…As we move forward people ought to ask what the need is out in the community,” said Coleman, pointing out that when communities fail to meet mental health needs, they foot the bill anyway.

He argued that if people with mental health issues do not receive proper care, they simply consume other taxpayer-funded services instead: The emergency room and the county jail.

“Jails and emergency rooms are not the appropriate setting for Texans with mental illness to receive care,” said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who supports the efforts of MHA Texas to create a less “crisis-driven mental health system” through better-funded day-to-day services.

The 80th legislature appropriated $82 million to fund mental health services for people in crisis, money well spent according to MHA. This session’s exceptional item request for $88.3 million would further expand crisis services, but also provide “transitional” and “ongoing” services aimed at helping people before their symptoms become critical – and thus before they end up at the crisis center, emergency room or county jail.

Nancy Weaver, who suffers from mental health issues, gave her testimony at the press conference. Weaver had spent months bed-ridden, reclusive, constantly sobbing, seeing monsters and hearing screaming voices that demanded she kill herself. She spoke of how when she sought help, she was turned down from an underfunded crisis center in San Marcos because she had not (yet) attempted to commit suicide. MHA Texas argue that such situations can be avoided by providing more funding for crisis centers (so they don’t have to prioritize who they can help) and by shifting the focus from crisis centers to ongoing services.

“People who needed early treatment weren’t getting it, which stops them staying stable and makes them more susceptible to a crisis,” said Coleman. Weaver now describes herself as stable and balanced, thanks to day-to-day mental health services that provide counseling, job training, medication and other help. But the Texas Department of State Health Services report that 63 percent of clients seeking crisis assistance are not linked up with day-to-day care programs.

The $88.3 million request would better fund day-to-day programs and better link people to them.

“Expanded availability of community mental health services will help alleviate the burden local communities face in treating their citizens in crises,” said Lynn Lasky Clark, president of MHA Texas, again referencing the costs associated with mentally ill people ending up in jail or the emergency room.

“Investing $88.3 million for this care will be a positive return on the state’s investment,” said Clark.