Hundreds of Hoosiers gathered at New Directions Church in Indianapolis on Saturday to urge Congress to fully fund Senate Bill 1to enhance access and services to mental health care statewide.
bill prepared by Senator Michael Crider (R-Greenfield), which has bipartisan support. It cleared a Senate committee unanimously last week, but only after it was stripped of funds. SB 1 originally included $30 million for an expanded mental health crisis response system. This amount is already well below his $130 million, which the Indiana Commission on Behavioral Health suggested was needed to address the growing mental health crisis in Indiana.
Anthony Harvey of Faith In Indiana said:
Dozens of religious leaders, lawmakers and city representatives joined their supporters as the Indiana Senate prepared to debate the bill Monday afternoon.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said, “What’s here today is the realization that this problem affects not just the city of Indianapolis, but the entire state.” Every demographic, every background can be affected. That’s what drives the surge of support to expand access to care.”
Community advocates said an unfunded SB 1 would be futile in the face of a growing crisis in Indiana that continues to feed mental health into the prison pipeline.
“[If] We don’t marry money. My name ends up on the bill which isn’t half of what it can do and I don’t want that to happen.
powerful testimony
As veterans, Rick Mosclip and his best friend have returned to the United States after years of military service. They were facing mental health struggles. His friends were in danger, he said, and when the police responded and sent him to prison, they forgot to unlace his shoes. Killed himself in solitary confinement and committed suicide.
Mosclip has been struggling and said last year that he felt “life is no longer worth the effort”. In danger, he sought help from a Veterans Hospital.
“I called VA, a hospital, for help, not 911. When she asked, I explained the situation. I told her I had two long guns. The VA sent police officers to my house, but they found my weapon still safely locked in the case,” he said.
Still, Moskrip said his children, ages 13, 10 and 4, had to watch the police take their father away.
“On top of the confusion and terror my children experienced, the stereotypical and shameful combat veterans just added another layer of trauma,” he said.
When he finally got the help he needed, he said, “It worked a miracle.” Moscrip said he recognizes that he is one of the lucky ones.
Jody Moser’s brother, Adam, struggled with mental illness, including alcohol abuse, depression and anger management. I called 911 in desperation to help. Moser said police turned up at Adam’s house in a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida, and officers shot him dead.
“Our system is broken, and something has to change. Our calls for help deserve to be heard,” she said.
Tasha King, from Gary, Indiana, said she attended the event because she saw her sister’s painful and ongoing struggle with mental illness. , usually by the police. And it hardly helped her.
It was only after her sister was locked up in prison that she was asked for special help.
charity hurstwho has an autistic son, started an NPO. Youth Empowered Co., Ltd. Ensuring children have access to safe mental health services and support. She said she was usually advised to call the police when her son suffered an autism-related “meltdown” in public. She said she needed a reliable, accessible, non-police response system.
“It’s not because there’s a lack of respect for first responders. But it’s probably because they’re not fully equipped. And like therapists, they’re trained and know how to help children. I need someone who is,” she said.
growing crisis
Saturday’s rally was organized by the Faith in Indiana Group, “call for careProponents want a statewide crisis response system that provides a phone number, someone to come and a safe place for everyone in a mental health or substance use crisis.
In its original form, the bill’s funds would be channeled into mental health crisis mobile response units and clinics, and Indiana’s 988 Mental Health Crisis HotlineThe federal government has committed funds to expand hotlines nationwide in October 2022. But there is no ongoing federal funding. It will soon be up to each state to keep it sustainable. Indiana’s Department of Family and Social Services estimates that 988 and its peripheral systems will require about $130 million annually.
Now that SB 1 is stripped of funding, its funding is subject to state budget debate. This concerns mental health advocates across the state as the crisis continues to escalate.Several Law enforcement personnel are making a phone call Boone County Sheriff Mike Nielsen is calling for an overhaul of the system that has turned some prisons into “pseudo-mental health centers.”
according to report According to the Indiana Behavioral Health Commission, nearly a quarter of police shootings in 2015 involved a mental health crisis. 37% of people in state prisons and 44% of people in prisons have been diagnosed with a mental illness.
according to mental health americaIndiana has the 11th highest prevalence of mental illness among adults in the United States reportUntreated mental illness is estimated to cost the state more than $4 billion annually.
Another bill of this legislative session, HB1006which aims to create a system for law enforcement to refer people to mental health centers, where they will be evaluated by a mental health professional within 48 hours and scheduled for a hearing before a judge within 24 hours. It has been.
“This is a landmark moment.
She said the Indiana Behavioral Health Commission has adopted a crisis model that, if implemented, would allow those at risk to go to safety. , the SB 1 ends up looking like a shiny new car without an engine.
“So will you join me in answering the call for care today? Because mental health is not a partisan issue,” Hessemann told lawmakers in attendance.
Indiana Public Broadcasting’s Brandon Smith contributed to the report.
This article was written with the Indianapolis Recorder side effects public media — Public Health News Initiative under WFYI. Please contact Farah at [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter: @Farah_Yousrym
