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By Edith Brady-Lunny
and Gordon Woods
CLINTON -- A new state funding plan for mental health services could leave
the most seriously mentally ill without services, said Cheryl Lietz,
director of the DeWitt County Mental Health Center.
The Clinton-based agency has organized a forum for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at
Vespasian Warner Public Library to discuss the impact of the proposal.
Gov. Rod
Blagojevich's
office has proposed a funding change that could halve the center's funding
for the treatment of chronically mentally ill people, she said. Lietz
estimated that as many as 30 percent of the clients now receiving services
in the county could be left without assistance.
"The most seriously
and chronically ill clients would be most affected," she said.
Susan Locke,
ombudsman for the Department of Human Services, said the state's poor fiscal
condition and continuing discussion about how the state pays for mental
health services prompted the proposal.
The change will
allow the state to collect more federal money for the care of Medicaid
recipients, she said.
"This has been a
recurring issue, Locke said.
" The
state's fiscal situation did not demand us to recapture federal dollars to
stay afloat" in the past.
Mental health
advocates are seeking support for state House Bill 5000, a measure that
would delay implementation, now set for July 1, until further study is
conducted.
The cuts could
amount to $125,000 of the agency's $250,000 budget for services to
chronically mental ill people.
The agency's total
budget is $1.13 million for all mental health services. Under the new plan,
mental health agencies would be paid on a fee-for-service basis, a plan that
will cover some, but not all, costs of services. Agencies now are paid a
lump sum grant that covers all services, including transportation, which
Lietz said is important in rural counties.
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Illinois
