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31 Jul 2012

Cuts to Mental Health Services Could Lead to More Spree Killings

Cuts to Mental Health Services Could Lead to More Spree Killings

Chilling Numbers Show Mental Illness Isn’t a Barrier to Gun Ownership

SOURCE:
AP/RJ Sangosti

Public Defender Tamara Brady, right, shows James E. Holmes documents as he appears in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colorado. Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding 58 in a shooting rampage in a movie theater on July 20 in Aurora, Colorado.


By

Donna Cooper
|

July 31, 2012

Prior to the shooting rampage at an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater earlier this month, the accused gunman sent a journal—replete with detailed drawings of his plans for the deadly assault—to a University of Colorado psychiatrist who he was seeing. The fact that the Aurora shooting suspect was in touch with a medical professional is an indication that he fits the profile of a spree killer. Typically mentally disturbed individuals, spree killers most often plan their attacks and, as a rule, generally tell someone about their plans—in many cases, a mental health professional. Unfortunately, federal and state budget cuts mean that individuals with mental illness will find that help is increasingly harder to come by.

Between 2009 and 2011, states cumulatively cut more than $1.8 billion from their budgets for mental health services, according to a report released in 2011 by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. At least two-thirds of states significantly slashed spending for services for children and adults living with mental illness.

To be sure, a person with mental illness is not de facto a violent person. Nor are they likely to cause human carnage by embarking on a shooting rampage. But spree killers share a number of traits, and one of them is being troubled. In the aftermath of one of the most infamous incidents of spree killing—the Columbine High School rampage in 1999—the Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center examined 37 school attacks involving 41 student assailants from 1974 and 2000. They found a disturbing mix of mental illness and inaction:

  • 93 percent of assailants exhibited behavior that caused a school official, parent, or law enforcement officer to be concerned before the attack.
  • 81 percent of assailants let at least one person know that they were thinking of or planning an attack.
  • 78 percent of the assailants “exhibited a history of suicide attempts or suicidal thoughts.”
  • 66 percent of attackers were known to be real threats by at least one person; in nearly every case, the person who knew this was a peer, friend, or sibling.
  • 34 percent of the assailants had a mental health evaluation prior to the attack.
  • 17 percent of the assailants “had been diagnosed with mental health or behavior disorder prior to the attack.”

Failing to appropriately treat and care for mentally ill Americans, especially young adults, puts us all at risk. Federal efforts to stem the state-level cuts and ensure sufficient Medicaid funds for behavioral health treatment must be considered a basic public-safety investment. Yet the National Alliance for Mental Illness finds that, “The magnitude of these cuts in a number of states is staggering. California cut $587.4 million during this period, New York $132 million and Illinois $113.7 million.” To make matters worse the current House Republican budget for 2013 proposes to further reduce federal funding for mental health treatment.

Continued funding cuts to mental health services will mean that an ever-increasing number of disturbed individuals will be forced to cope on their own and won’t receive the professional help they need and deserve. According to National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in four adults—approximately 57.7 million—experience a mental health disorder in a given year.

Spending cuts are likely to make it more difficult to close the gaps in the mental health information that is supposed to be reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the point-of-sale system for determining eligibility to purchase a firearm. Already the criminal justice system and mental health providers are failing to keep track of known dangerous persons. The best evidence of this shortcoming is:

  • 17 states have less than 10 mentally ill individuals listed as prohibited gun purchasers on the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
  • Six states and the District of Columbia have less than 100 mentally ill persons listed as prohibited gun purchasers on the system.

Since America’s worst spree shooting at Virginia Tech University five years ago, 14 more spree killings have cut short 135 lives and injured 167 innocent victims when mentally disturbed and heavily armed individuals have decided to wreak havoc. More alarmingly, the pace of spree killings is increasing and so too is the extent of the mayhem.

Mental health care is important and so too are federal efforts to put more substantial barriers in place to stop gun purchases by mentally ill individuals. The Aurora shooting is yet another reminder of the urgency for implementing federal measures to increase public safety, measures that at a minimum must include:

  • Ensuring state compliance with requirements to post appropriate mental health records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System
  • Establishing clear reporting guidelines for when and how mental health records are required to be posted in the system so that states can be held accountable for compliance
  • Requiring that all gun transactions, including private sales at gun shows and those online, include a full background check so dangerous individuals, including the mentally disturbed, cannot purchase guns legally in these nontraditional venues
  • Fully funding state technology efforts to comply with the federal background check system requirements
  • Requiring states to comply with National Instant Criminal Background Check System protocols or risk losing federal funding
  • Mandating that all federal agencies comply with a presidential executive order directing all agencies to submit records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and certifying that they have done so twice per year to the U.S. Attorney General
  • Outlawing high-capacity bullet magazines
  • Requiring campuses to establish a threat assessment process

Without question individuals determined to cause mayhem with guns may be hard to spot, let alone stop. But a mental health system weakened by shortsighted or misguided budget priorities is bound to make it even harder.

Donna Cooper is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:

Print: Katie Peters (economy, education, and health care)
202.741.6285 or kpeters@americanprogress.org

Print: Christina DiPasquale (foreign policy and security, energy)
202.481.8181 or cdipasquale@americanprogress.org

Print: Laura Pereyra (ethnic media, immigration)
202.741.6258 or lpereyra@americanprogress.org

Radio: Anne Shoup
202.481.7146 or ashoup@americanprogress.org

TV: Lindsay Hamilton
202.483.2675 or lhamilton@americanprogress.org

Web: Andrea Peterson
202.481.8119 or apeterson@americanprogress.org


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31 Jul 2012

Summer heat, storms force blood donations to lowest level in 15 years, Red …

Blood donations are at the lowest level in 15 years, the American Red Cross announced, citing a variety of factors including the severe weather conditions and lack of donor activity.

“The American Red Cross fell 50,000 units short of its needs in June and will likely fall short again in July,” it said, according to an MSNBC article.

This season is of particular concern due to the harsh storms that forced many blood drives to be cancelled, although summer is typically a slow season for blood donations anyway.

“The need goes up because there are more people traveling and there’s more accidents,” Kim Talkington, regional director of donor recruitment for Red Cross operations in Wichita, Kan., told MSNBC. “At the same time, donations fall because families are out of town on vacation.”

The low blood supply has already forced the cancellation of many elective surgeries, and may lead to more cancellations down the road.

“In a worst-case scenario, more serious procedures — things like liver transplants that require a lot of blood — will not start until there is enough blood on the shelves,” says Richard Benjamin, chief medical officer of the Red Cross in a USA Today article. “We need to do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t get to that point.”

Individuals from organizations such as America’s Blood Centers and the Blood Alliance are pulling out all the stops to encourage donation, including sending out “bloodmobiles” to sports stadiums and tracking donations with a free smartphone app.

“According to the ARC, more than 3,000 hospitals and transfusion facilities across the country need 17,000 pints of blood daily to have an ample supply,” according to a TimesRecordNews article. “The organization said blood is needed every two seconds for someone in the country.”

“We need people to think about the need for blood, because the need never goes away. The need never, ever goes away,” said Diane O’Donnell, a Red Cross representative in Oneonta, N.Y. in the MSNBC article.


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31 Jul 2012

Regal Entertainment Group Supports Charities Through Innovative Straw Vote …


KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jul 31, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
Regal Entertainment Group


/quotes/zigman/303770/quotes/nls/rgc RGC
-0.65%



, a leading motion picture
exhibitor owning and operating the largest theatre circuit in the United
States, announces the Regal Straw Vote. This election is a friendly
competition where moviegoers make their vote count by choosing a flavor
of frozen drink. Regal is donating 50 cents for every medium and large
frozen drink sold during August. Sales of cherry drinks support St. Jude
Children’s Hospital while all other flavors benefit Boys and Girls Clubs
of America. Regal has a long history of investing in American charities
and through the Regal Straw Vote moviegoers are also showing their
support.

“Throughout August Regal Entertainment Group theatres are a popular
place to take a break from the summer sun. And when you buy a big frozen
drink, your trip to the movies is even sweeter knowing that you’ve
helped a great charity at the same time,” stated Russ Nunley, Vice
President of Marketing and Communications. “With this fun and innovative
Straw Vote, Regal and our employees are filled with American pride while
making a campaign promise to help kids all across the USA through these
charities.”

Boys and Girls Clubs of America and St. Jude Children’s Hospital are
mobilizing their friends, fans and followers to show support by choosing
the appropriate flavor of frozen drink at Regal Cinemas, United Artists
and Edwards Theatres during August. Through this cause marketing
campaign Regal will donate up to $600,000 in total contributions. To
find election results and to cheer for a favorite charity, go to Regal’s
Facebook page where weekly updates and vote totals will be posted. To
watch the Regal Straw Vote public service announcement seen in theatres
visit: youtu.be/zQehx0X6QiE

About Regal Entertainment Group: Regal Entertainment Group



/quotes/zigman/303770/quotes/nls/rgc RGC
-0.65%



operates the largest and most geographically diverse theatre
circuit in the United States, consisting of 6,566 screens in 520
locations in 37 states and the District of Columbia as of July 26, 2012.
The Company operates theatres in 43 of the top 50 U.S. designated market
areas. We believe that the size, reach and quality of the Company’s
theatre circuit not only provide its patrons with a convenient and
enjoyable movie-going experience, but is also an exceptional platform to
realize economies of scale in theatre operations.

Additional information is available on the Company’s Web site at
www.REGmovies.com .

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50361420lang=en

SOURCE: Regal Entertainment Group


        Russ Nunley
        Vice President of Marketing  Communications
        Regal Entertainment Group
        russ.nunley@REGmovies.com
        865-925-9539

Copyright Business Wire 2012

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add Add to portfolio

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31 Jul 2012

Hmong garden praised for mental health impact

Counties receive money for the wellness programs from Proposition 63, a 1% tax on millionaires as part of the Mental Health Services Act approved by state voters in 2004. By law, 20% of the money must be spent on prevention and early intervention.

Fresno County has spent $164,193 to build seven community gardens. Next fiscal year, the county has budgeted $171,620 for the gardens.

The Rev. Sharon Stanley, executive director of the interdenominational ministries, said the garden program has served about 750 people in the past year. Gardeners and their families can attend mental health workshops each month that include information about mental illnesses and resources available in the community, she said. The ministries oversee five of the seven gardens. In addition to the Hmong, gardens have been planted for Slavic, African-American, Hispanic and Punjab communities.

In a county survey of garden participants, 69 people from the five gardens managed by the refugee ministries responded to questions. When asked if they think less about suicide, 89% said they agreed or strongly agreed. Most respondents also said they have a better idea of where to go for help.

Donna Taylor, director of the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health, who attended Monday’s release of the disparities report, said alternative programs sometimes are a form of treatment. “I don’t always believe traditional treatment always works,” she said.

Prop. 63 provided the $1.5 million for the Asian Pacific Islander mental health disparity report, as well as reports for African-American, Native American, Latino and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations.

Cheng, the Asian Pacific Islander report author, said many of the Asian and Pacific Islanders don’t know about services or have trouble accessing them. The state also lacks culturally appropriate services and enough culturally competent workers.

Many of the refugees in Fresno County struggle with issues of trauma from living in countries ravaged by war, and living in refugee camps, Cheng said. Often, they have become isolated, home-bound and depressed and the garden program brings them outside their homes, where they can rejoin the community.


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31 Jul 2012

Mental health eval ordered in kidnapping case

OROFINO, Idaho — A judge has ordered a mental health evaluation for a 56-year-old Lewiston man charged with kidnapping a 6-year-old child and holding him at knifepoint while demanding a ride into Orofino.

The Lewiston Tribune reports ( http://bit.ly/R3zRNJ) Magistrate Judge Randall Robinson granted a motion from Roger Dale Ehler’s attorney to have Ehler evaluated to determine if he is competent to assist in his own defense.

Ehler had been staying with a relative of the child’s near Orofino on July 14 when he demanded that the boy’s father give him a ride into town.

Ehler is charged with first-degree kidnapping, aggravated battery, injury to a child and possession of methamphetamine along with several misdemeanors.

Clearwater County Prosecutor E. Clayne Tyler agreed with the motion for the evaluation, but asked that Ehler’s bond remain at $600,000.


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31 Jul 2012

Top CEOs donate to Romney over Obama by 4-1 margin

 

The chief executives of America’s top corporations have thrown their financial support to Mitt Romney over President Obama by more than a 4-1 margin, according to a review of federal records conducted by NBC News.

The presumptive Republican nominee’s presidential campaign has received almost $322,000 in direct donations from the CEOs of the companies listed on the annual “Fortune 500” list of the biggest U.S. companies.

Charles Dharapak / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivers a specch in Jerusalem July 29.

By comparison, the Obama campaign has raked in $75,500 in contributions this election cycle from CEOs of the companies included on the list, according to records through the second quarter of 2012 on file with the Federal Election Commission.

While the sums are but a drop in the bucket relative to the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by both campaigns, they paint a picture of where the upper echelons of corporate America’s sympathies might lie at this point in the campaign. Overall, the Obama campaign has raised about $300 million in total, and the Romney campaign has collected roughly $153 million.

Federal records indicate that 147 CEOs have made some level of contribution directly to either the Obama or Romney campaign. Eighteen of those individuals contributed to Obama; 129 gave to the Romney campaign. Many of the CEOs – though not all of them – donated the maximum $5,000 to their candidate of choice, hewing to laws limiting contributions to $2,500 each for the primary and general election campaigns.

“People who support Mitt Romney do so because they support his pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda for the country,” Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said. A spokesman for the Obama campaign declined to comment for this story.

 

These donations only paint a small part of a broader portrait of how the business community has sized up the election. Some of these donors have contributed thousands more to joint fundraising committees for either Obama or Romney, which funnel donations to the respective national party infrastructures and to state parties. These funds weren’t included in NBC’s tally because they aren’t directly under the control of either presidential candidate, and conceivably could be used for other candidates, like Senate races.

Romney’s advantage with these CEOs isn’t surprising. This same group of 500, not all of whom were CEOs of their respective companies in 2008, also favored Republican presidential nominee John McCain over Obama that year by a nearly 2-1 margin, $205,800 to $93,300. Fewer of the CEOs on the 2012 Fortune 500 gave in 2008; 112 total donated, 31 of whom gave to Obama and 81 of whom gave to McCain.

While Republican presidential candidates have traditionally raised more money from corporate America than Democratic ones, some business leaders have complained about the federal health-care law and Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform pushed by the Obama administration. What’s more, Romney is a familiar figure to many in the business community and has stressed his business background at Bain Capital as one of his chief credentials in his current White House bid.

To that end, some of Obama’s 2008 CEO donors have, so far, declined to cut a check for him this cycle. But a sizable chunk of McCain’s 2008 chief executive donors haven’t given to Romney, either.

There are some executives who switched sides, too. Three of them – Massachusetts Mutual’s Roger W. Crandall, Norfolk Southern’s Charles W. Moorman IV and Baxter International’s Robert L. Parkinson Jr. – switched from supporting Obama in 2008 to Romney in 2012.

One CEO, Paul E. Jacobs of Qualcomm, supported McCain in 2008 but has donated only to Obama in 2012.

While the two presidential campaigns have received almost $400,000 in direct support from the CEOs, it’s likely that corporate involvement in the presidential election is even more extensive. In addition to donating the maximum to Romney or Obama, some of the CEOs have contributed additional thousands to victory committees, which distribute additional funds to the national parties and several state party organizations.

The ascendancy of super PACs – which can accept unlimited contributions – in the time since the 2008 election opens the door to greater corporate involvement, too.

For instance, Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson checks in at No. 278 on the Fortune 500 list, though existing FEC records reflect no direct contributions to the Romney campaign this cycle through June.

That isn’t to say that he hasn’t impacted the 2012 election. Adelson singlehandedly contributed $5 million to the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future (this after investing even more in a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich during the Republican primaries). Adelson has suggested he’s willing to spend as much as $100 million to defeat Obama this fall.

Many super PACs have also established twin, nonprofit groups as so-called “social welfare organizations” that, under existing federal law, can spend and receive millions on advocacy work, as long as they don’t directly support or oppose a candidate. There’s no way to know how much these groups – like Crossroads GPS, the 501(c)(4) arm of the conservative American Crossroads super PAC or the pro-Obama Priorities USA – have received from these CEOs or other corporate titans. Additionally, a corporation itself can give directly to these groups.


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31 Jul 2012

Report urges changes to federal charity program

The CFC was 50 years old in 2011, when Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry formed the CFC-50 Commission. Its mission: Make recommendations to strengthen “the integrity, the operation and effectiveness” of the campaign. During its half-century, federal employees have donated more than $7 billion to charitable organizations.

Recent trends, however, haven’t been good. The economy might have had something to do with pledges dropping to $272.7 million in 2011, after peaking at $282.6 million in 2009. Last year, less than 24 percent of the federal workforce participated, and the average pledge is $284.

The 24 recommendations in the report, released Friday, “range from opening the CFC to additional communities of potential donors to achieving greater efficiencies by taking better advantage of new technologies,” the commission co-chairs, Tom Davis, a former Republican congressman from Virginia, and Beverly Byron, a former Democratic congresswoman from Maryland, said in a letter transmitting the report to OPM.

Berry praised the work of the commission. In a statement, he said, “we have already taken administrative actions in a number of areas addressed by the Commission. The Administration supports the direction of the recommendations and will consider regulatory changes as appropriate.”

Some recommendations could have a significant, and perhaps controversial, effect on the CFC’s structure. For example, the commission wants to shift “the burden of CFC costs from donors to participating charities.”

“Commission members believe many potential donors are opposed to giving to the CFC because administrative expenses are deducted from the funds being sent to charities,” the report said.

Under the commission’s recommendations, a charity would get 100 percent of its donations, but it would be charged a participation fee to cover administrative expenses.

The commission acknowledges that if a flat fee was adopted, fewer charities might seek inclusion in the CFC. That could result in some donors choosing not to give.

There are alternatives to a flat fee, including pegging the size of the fee to the amount of money the charity expects to receive.

Byron said in an interview that the intent of the recommendation was that more money would go to the actual work of the charities.

Another recommendation, to “consolidate PCFO [Principal Combined Fund Organizations] back office functions” into regional centers or a national office, would reduce the number of CFC middlemen. PCFOs administer local campaigns.

“The Commission notes, with concern, the cost of the CFC is driven up significantly by having numerous PCFOs engaged in similar back-office functions like processing receipt and distribution of contributions,” the report said.

Global Impact, the combined fund organization for employees in the Washington area and overseas, has a different view.

“A streamlined infrastructure would appear desirable, at least on the surface,” Renee S. Acosta, president of Global Impact, said in a letter to the commission. But she said centralization could “limit the flexibility to tailor the campaign to local and regional needs and desires.”

In the course of presenting its recommendations, the commission pointed to a number of issues that could negatively affect the CFC’s performance.

For example, the gap between the number of federal employees who are asked to contribute and those who do is growing “wider and wider,” according to the report. Currently, only active employees may donate. The commission recommends that retirees and others be allowed to participate.

The commission also recommended that the CFC get better acquainted with the digital world.

“Paper has been and continues to be a major aspect of CFC operations, driving up costs to charities and CFC administrators alike,” the report said.

Paper dependency also can turn off some potential donors, said Steve Delfin, president and chief executive of America’s Charities, a coalition of organizations that participate in the CFC.

“Despite federal paperwork reduction acts and electronic signature requirements, CFC rules still require paper-based, hard-copy signatures on most pledge forms and all applications from more than 20,000 charities,” Delfin said in testimony to the commission. “Most federal employees still do not have basic access to electronic means to support charities — something that is commonplace in the private sector.”

This, he added, “may partially account for the lower participation rates because younger employees live and breathe in the digital world.”

Previous columns by Joe Davidson are available at wapo.st/JoeDavidson. Follow him on Twitter: @JoeDavidsonWP.


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31 Jul 2012

Mental Abuse of Kids Leaves Lifelong Scars

MONDAY, July 30 (HealthDay News) — Constantly belittling,
threatening or ignoring children can be as damaging to their mental health
as physical or sexual abuse, according to a new report from a
pediatricians‘ group.

But, with no bruises to spot, pediatricians, teachers and family
members may have trouble recognizing these and other forms of
psychological abuse. Not only are there no obvious physical scars, there
is no universally agreed-upon definition of what constitutes psychological
maltreatment of children, and a fine line can exist between not-so-great
parenting and outright abuse, experts say.

“The main message for child health clinicians and people working with
children is that psychological maltreatment is just as harmful as other
types of maltreatment,” said report co-author Dr. Harriet MacMillan, a
professor in the departments of psychiatry, behavioral neurosciences and
pediatrics at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

“We know that exposure to other types of maltreatment like physical and
sexual abuse can be associated with a broad range of types of impairment
in physical and mental health, and cognitive and social development,” she
said. “Similarly, we see these types of impairments associated with
psychological maltreatment.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics‘ report is published online July 30
and in the August print issue of Pediatrics.

Estimating the prevalence of the problem is difficult, in part because
of the lack of a universally accepted definition of psychological abuse,
MacMillan said. Studies in Britain and the United States estimate that 8
percent to 9 percent of women and 4 percent of men report severe
psychological abuse during childhood.

Psychological maltreatment of children can take many forms. It can
include chronically belittling, humiliating or ridiculing a child for
showing normal emotions. There is also neglect, such as leaving an infant
alone in a crib all day, except for feeding or changing.

Other forms of psychological maltreatment can include withholding love
and warmth from a child, putting children in dangerous or chaotic
situations, having rigid or unrealistic expectations accompanied by
threats if not met, or confining a child and restricting social
interactions. Limiting a child’s access to necessary health care for
reasons other than affordability is another example, according to the
report.

Sometimes, but not always, psychological abuse goes hand in hand with
physical abuse.

“I once had a child who talked about being hit by his dad,” MacMillan
said. “The child said that the dad says things about me that make me feel
badly, worse than the hitting.”

One of the keys to spotting abuse is the pervasiveness of it, experts
say.
A single bad parenting day probably isn’t abuse. But near-constant
ridicule, telling a child he or she is unloved and unwanted, is abuse,
MacMillan said.

Similarly, there is “suboptimal” parenting — in other words, no one
is going to nominate these moms or dads for parent of the year vs.
parenting that is so damaging it rises to the level of abuse.

Telling the two apart can be difficult, experts say.

“Psychological abuse is so insidious, and is not as easily recognized
by the victim or other family members,” said Alec Miller, chief of child
and adolescent psychology at Montefiore Medical Center, in New York
City.

“If you see someone getting beaten, we all know it’s against the law,”
Miller said. “It’s demarcated as illegal and very unhealthy. Some of these
other things are a little more slippery. If there is no bruising
physically, it’s harder to be convinced there is abuse.”

Research shows the effects of psychological abuse and neglect can be
profound and long-lasting, ranging from problems with brain development
and a failure to grow properly, to problems with behavior and relating to
others.

Some parents who are psychologically abusive aren’t even aware that
their words and actions are harming their child, experts said.

For example, consider parents going through a very difficult divorce.
“The child is subjected to major conflict between the parents and told all
sorts of things about the other parent and made to choose an allegiance,”
MacMillan said. “These sorts of things can be psychologically abusive to a
child.”

Suspected cases of psychological should be reported to child protective
services, the authors say. They also urge pediatricians to look for signs
of emotional maltreatment in their patients.

More information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has information on
recognizing the signs of child abuse.


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31 Jul 2012

A mental health facility in Jackson’s district is forced to stop services – Chicago Sun

BY MARY MITCHELL
marym@suntimes.com

July 30, 2012 6:18PM




Updated: July 31, 2012 2:18AM

While U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson is seeking treatment for mental problems at the famed Mayo Clinic, an iconic mental health facility in his district is being forced to stop providing services.

This irony helps explain why agencies like the Community Mental Health Council Inc. are finding it difficult to hang on.

Dr. Carl C. Bell is recognized internationally for his work in the area of race, culture and ethnicity on behavioral health care, including depression. He is also one of a handful of black men in the city who have led institutions that provide low-income patients with holistic services.

But because Bell has focused on an underserved population, patients that could have helped boost the council’s reputation and his fund-raising efforts overlook him.

“I’m qualified enough to treat a Jesse Jr.,” Bell told me on Monday.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed reported on Saturday that Jackson was transported by private plane to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., last Wednesday.

Allegedly Jackson is being treated for depression, possibly related to his duodenal gastric bypass surgery.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson told reporters over the weekend that the Mayo Clinic “is the best in the world at treating what [his son] is dealing with.”

Poor people in this predicament don’t have choices.

Frankly, the state couldn’t have picked a worse time to pull the plug on a community mental health center.

Jobs are scarce. Houses are boarded up. Homicides are skyrocketing. It’s a miracle that a lot more people aren’t trying to dull the pain with illegal drugs.

Bell understands this, as well as the stigma many attach to mental illness, especially in the African-American community.

“They know me,” said Bell who has appeared on “60 Minutes” and “Nightline” and has been featured in the New York Times and People magazine.

“People know that because I have been there, I know what ‘shake and bake’ is. I know about ‘Harold’s.’ I’ve been there, and they know I’ve been there, which makes it easier for me to treat them.”

But after 37 years, the council is being forced to close its doors because the state decided not to renew its contract.

A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Human Services told the Sun-Times that the agency is “fiscally mismanaged.”

Bell denies the state’s claim and says the agency’s troubles started because of the state’s practice of slow pay.

He is considering showing up at the shuttered facility on the South Side on Wednesday to catch patients who might not have received notice that the facility has been shut down.

“I feel an ethical, spiritual and moral obligation to be there,” Bell told me.

“I’m thinking about pitching a tent on a strip of land next to the street and sidewalk and camping out.”

During tough times, mental health services have often been targeted for cuts or downsizing.

Last year, the state announced it would close the Tinley Park Mental Health Center in July as part of a cost-cutting move. At the time, Gov. Pat Quinn claimed the move would lead to more patients undergoing treatment at local facilities.

Meanwhile, this spring Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to consolidate 12 city mental health clinics into six led protesters to barricade themselves inside a South Side mental health clinic.

Only a few agencies in the African-American community are able to raise the level of private funds needed to help survive a serious financial crisis.

“Who is going to give money to a black organization that is helping black people who are mentally ill, abusing substances, poor and sometimes slow?” Bell asked.

“I had two MBAs on staff . . . but we’ve been doing stuff with no adequate funding for a good two years. We spent every nickel on patient care,” Bell said.

I’m sure Congressman Jackson will work out his mental issues and emerge a better man. But I’m not so sure about what will happen to the 1,000 mental health patients dependent on the Community Mental Health Council.

Bell is asking that the state provide bridge funding to help transition his patients to alternative treatment programs.

“I’m asking that we don’t leave the patient hanging,” Bell said. “Let us close out our business in a way that is not going to hurt patients.”

After 37 years of Bell standing in the gap, that’s not too much for him to ask.


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31 Jul 2012

Banks supports donation reform

John Banks

Asset sale may occur before Waitangi Tribunal report – Key

Alcohol Reform Bill changes again

People not judged on sexuality: Key

Christchurch council asset sales on the cards

Head to head: Same-sex marriage

Thaw in New Zealand – Fiji Govt relations

Key hints at continued support for gay marriage bill

Christchurch blueprint unveiled today

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Under fire Act MP John Banks says he “absolutely” supports reforms to the rules of local government campaign donations.

Police last week said there was not enough evidence to charge the Epsom MP over anonymous donations to his failed Auckland super city mayoralty campaign.

Police found Banks solicited money for his campaign from MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom but were unable to establish he knew two $25,000 gifts recorded as anonymous on his electoral return, were from the multi-millionaire. The return was compiled by volunteers.

Police were also found Banks solicited radio advertisements declared as anonymous. They were unable to consider other charges because they fell outside the time limit allowed in the Local Electoral Act.

Both Prime Minister John Key and Labour leader David Shearer today said there should be changes to the law under which Banks had received the donations.

Banks, today making his first public appearance since police announced they would not charge him, appeared reluctant to answer questions about his case.

On his way in to Parliament, he walked away from reporters asking him questions.

He eventually said he ”absolutely” backed the calls for reform.

“As I said from day one, I operated at all times within the Local Government Elections Act 2001 put in place by the Labour Party,” Banks said.

“We’ve had an extensive police inquiry and I have been cleared.”

Key this morning said candidates were allowed to solicit donations and Banks had not broken the law.

“The law may be very loose as I’ve said before, and the law may well need reforming and that’s something we’ll consider in due course but I’m comfortable with what he’s done,” Key said.

The same law had applied to central government until it was reformed by the former Labour government.

“There was a pretty strong case that it should have done it for both local and central government.”

Anyone could “drive a bus through the law,” he said.

“The law literally is an ass in this particular case.”

Just because someone said they were going to give a candidate money, didn’t mean they ultimately did, Key said.

“Lots of people tell you they are going to vote for you, it doesn’t mean they ultimately do.”

However, no one was arguing the law was not substandard, he said.

“It’s just a question of getting rid of it and having time to change it.”

Labour leader David Shearer said Banks had gotten off on a technicality.

“He approached the donor, asked for the money, reached out his hand and took the cheque from Sky City. Anybody in New Zealand watching that would know that he knew exactly what was happening.

“That’s why he couldn’t remember anything because if he did remember anything he would’ve out himself in real jeopardy.”

Banks was “advised to forget”.

Police had done as much as they could, Shearer said. He agreed there were too many holes in the law and said Labour was open to working on a cross-party solution.

– © Fairfax NZ News

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