AFSCME District Council 48 Mental Health Forum

Workers
Serving
Milwaukee

Human Stories Dominate
Mental Health 'Speak Out'

By Dominique Paul Noth

When Council 48 first organized a community forum on the future direction of Milwaukee County mental health services, there was a strong element of job protection involved. County administrators were tossing around some heart-wrenching proposals to pursue bifurcation and privatization of many functions in an effort to meet some of the administrative mandates to reduce costs.
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum.

From left: Carol Casamento, editor of the Milwaukee Labor Press, State Assembly members Antonio Riley and Shirley Krug, the Milwaukee Labor Council's Sheila Cochran and AFSCME 48 board member Lee Henderson were among those attending the mental health forum.

     In the face of both community reaction and union common sense, administrators backed off of the most potentially damaging schemes -- for now. Don't be surprised if the schemes resurface in future budget thinking. Still, job losses were minimized.
    Actually, that resulted in a "Community Forum and Speak Out" much more focused on the value of county-centered mental health services, a moving set of unorchestrated testimonies that clearly impressed a notable range of state and local officials in attendance.
    The event Oct. 2, 2001, at Cross Lutheran Church demonstrated virtues of continuity and caring that are seldom reflected in county documents and budget breakdowns. It was not psychiatrists, nurses and other medical personnel who took the lead in anecdotes about the benefits of the county's deep involvement and diverse in-patient and out-patient programs.
     It was clients, who reminded officials of why its cohesive county system was the envy of other states.
     It was relatives who told stories of how county involvement had taken a troubled family member from the ranks of the unproductive to working contributors to society.
     It was receptionists, housekeepers and similar support personnel at the county facility who spoke of the clients as individuals they get to know over a period of time, talk to and help, and how this long-term environment has helped speed the return of clients to balance and productivity.
     Many who spoke were clearly unaccustomed to relating these anecdotes to public officials. There was no orchestration, which often proved more revealing than a formal set of presentations.
     An impressive array of officials listened, along with administrators from the county. Among those attending were State Assembly members Shirley Krug (District 12) and Antonio Riley (District 18), and Milwaukee County Supervisor Mark A. Borkowski. Also participating were Peter Misko, Deputy Inspector of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department (and recently announced candidate in the next race for the sheriff's position) and District Atty. E. Michael McCann.
     There were reasons for the strong law enforcement presence. Many of the relatives and clients who spoke had high praise for sheriff's deputies who had to intersect with a mentally troubled family member, but pointedly emphasized that these law enforcement officers showed sense and compassion because they knew how to refer the person to the programs of the county facility or understood the person was already under treatment and that experts were involved.
     But several also told horror stories about what happened when a manageable, treatable mental patient was thrown into the justice system without understanding or support. There was an ironic timing in their stories because it came at a time when the Wisconsin courts ordered the state to remove from its Supermax prison mentally ill patients who shouldn't have been there in the first place.
     Cuts in comprehensive county services, many of these speakers argued, would lead to more people suffering from mental illness winding up incarcerated rather than treated. This process leads not only to more expense for taxpayers and a greater burden on the courts and prisons, but it also prevents the treatable mentally ill from recovery.
     While backing away from the more extensive reductions in county mental health services once contemplated, the budget still calls for cuts and elimination and would leave several jobs vacant. This attitude angered several speakers.
     "I'm becoming ashamed of Milwaukee County," said one relative of a county client at the "Speak Out." "We should be able to find the money for this when you consider what we actually find money for. Every time I walk past our new (Downtown) jail and look at it, it breaks my heart. I think of how it will be filled with people who could have been stabilized instead."
     Money is not only an issue in governmental budgeting but also in coverage by family group health plans. Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.) also sent a letter of support to the "Speak Out" and urged participants to pay attention to Senate Bill 543, which he has signed aboard as a co-sponsor.
     Within the bill's "mental health parity" act are important concepts that represent progress for group insurance holders. The Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act, which has strong senate support and faces a harder road in the House, is a major step toward eliminating health insurance discrimination.
     Specifically, Senate bill 543 would prohibit health insurance plans from imposing inpatient hospital day and outpatient visit limits and from applying different deductibles, co-payments, out-of-network charges and other financial requirements for mental health treatment. It would require coverage equal to medical/surgical care for all mental health conditions listed in the official manual. Interested parties can contact their Congressional representatives.
     The evening "Speak Out" was organized and sponsored by Council 48 with the valuable co-sponsorship of the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, AFL-CIO.