Mental health discussion heating up in NC

WILMINGTON — The discussion about the state’s failing mental health system is heating up. Tuesday Gov. Easley asked state legislators to give his administration more authority to fix the system, a system which local agencies say is plagued with problems.

A shortage of state funds for mental health, substance abuse and developmental disability treatments means some people are left without the proper treatment.

Kenny House oversees several programs at the Coastal Horizons Center, including the drug treatment program. With state mental health funds on the decline, people who aren’t considered to have an urgent condition, may lose the help they need. House said, “It may be someone who has a substance abuse problem but isn’t in the immediate need needing to be assisted with detoxification, someone who may not be experiencing immediate withdrawl symptoms.”

House said a significant amount of the center’s roughly 1,000 clients rely on state funding.
Coastal Horizons is setting up alternative programs so those in need won’t fall through the cracks. He said, “It’s just difficult for those folks who don’t have insurance, don’t have medicaid, don’t meet those urgent criteria, who oftentimes really need treatment.”

House hopes the state funding crisis will be fixed by the start of next fiscal year, beginning in July. In the meantime, he doesn’t want to turn anyone away and said he and his co-workers will do what it takes to give people the care they need. “We want them to be able to get counseling right when they’re ready for it because that’s the time to engage them in the recovery process. We don’t want to to wait till it’s more severe,” House said.

Governor Easley announced Tuesday he wants to return accountability to the state’s mental health system and make it more responsive to patients’ needs.

Kenny House encourages people who are affected by the funding shortage to call local facilities, such as Coastal Horizons, to see if they are offering alternative programs until the shortage is alleviated.