Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

More of what Romney’s budget cuts have done

By

  • Closing admission to the state mental health hospital system to all new patients and cutting 57 nurses and mental health workers and 16 pyschiatrists — a move which may jeopardize the hospitals’ national accreditation.

  • Cut 40 positions — 37% — of all DMH workers who provide direct care to seriously ill children and teens. This cut comes in spite of Springfield Federal Court Judge Posner’s very recent Federal court order directing the state to INCREASE availability of community services to seriously mentally ill kids so as to keep them OUT of hospitals.

  • 96 mentally ill persons will lose in-home supervision and support that makes sure they take their medications and maintaining housing and activities of daily living.

  • 90 families with severely mentally ill parents will lose support and intervention services.

  • 243 persons who receive assistance through programs run by such entities as the Pine Street Inn which rehabilitate the homeless mentally ill will lose their supports.

  • The gutting of the Court Clinic system, which provides outstanding forensic psychiatric and psychological services to judges every day by evaluating over 6,000 adults and juveniles each year.

    I do not know which feeling is stronger — anger at the utter callousness of these cuts or fear for the health and welfare of my clients and my wards who receive DMH services. I am not sufficiently informed of Deval’s ability to immediately reinstate funding once he is sworn into office — but I know that influential people like Levy will get the word to him. We must speak out, too.

    Please share widely!
    fb-share-icon
    Tweet
    0

    • Comments

    1. Hi MetroDem,

      <

      p>
      I have worked on an inpatient DMH unit for over twenty years.  The current situation is not great, and could use much improvement in terms of resources to treat the most severeely mentally ill people in the Commonwealth.  The $7 million cut at this point in the fiscal year decimates inpatient services with a nearly $2 million hit, adult MH services with nearly another $2 million hit, forensic services with $500,000 hit along with the massive cuts in childen/adolescent services. Of note, the administrative budget only got a slightly less than $500,000 hit.  I have always believed that no direct care person or service should ever be cut until the structure of DMH is simplified and streamlined.  Lots of money could be saved there.

      <

      p>
      I think this is all grandstanding. At least I hope it is.  The commissioner has said that starting this Wednesday we will not be admitting any more patients from acute care facilities that no longer require acute care, but cannot be safely discharged into the community.  The court system will also be screaming with these cut backs.  The commissioner has finally done something I respect, which is she is showing the real life consequences of these cuts.  We will have to wait and see what happens, but I think the funds will be restored.

    2. What Romney did is obscene and the silence from legislative “leadership” is deafening.

      <

      p>
      Political posturing and playing political hot potatoe with the budget absolutely trivializes the needs and services of so many vulnerable people and entire polulations.  Ho hum.  So what else is not new in Massachusetts politics?

      <

      p>
      Deval Patrick can’t be sworn in a millisecond too soon.

    Archives