Mental Health Town Hall talks progress, challenges

FARMINGTON/FARMINGTON HILLS — Oxford parents Julie and Bob McReavy, 73, have been to hell and back dealing with a mental health system they feel abandoned their 43-year-old son, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

“The system is designed to fail,” Julie McReavy said during a Mental Health Town Hall hosted by state Rep. Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, on May 14 at the C. Robert Maxfield Education Center in Farmington.

The McReavys said that last December, their son and 29 others who have mental illnesses were “dumped” on the streets after a mental health program was shut down for what they say was no reason.

“Something has to change in this state,” she said. “It is amazing how you can treat a mentally ill person the way my son was treated. We fought for a year like mad trying to get our son the services he needs.”

She added that the event taught her that there are some people who are sympathetic and would like to help, but obstacles keep them from doing so.

“I think their hands are tied, and they have to ask questions, as we (do),” she said of mental health experts after the event.

The town hall discussion featured a panel of mental health experts who discussed the challenges that families affected by mental illness deal with.

Featured speakers at the town hall included Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority Executive Director Willie Brooks, New Gateways Inc. Executive Director Lynn Maginity, The Arc of Oakland County Executive Director and attorney Thomas Kendziorski, Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Oakland County President Fred Cummins and author Mike DeCenso.

With rebasing — or redistributing funds from one county to the next — budget cuts, staffing shortages and more, the local mental health community, especially in Oakland County, faces a number of challenges.

Brooks said that a year ago, political leaders did not know what the term “rebasing” was.

“Now, not only do they know the term, but it draws emotion. ... Many people truly understand what that is,” he said. “Rebasing is the process of switching funds from one county to the next as it relates to mental illness and disability. The question is, why is it occurring?”

Brooks said his organization delivers services to 23,000 residents, including adults with severe mental health issues.

He said that instead of adding money to the system, taking from some and giving to others is “harmful” and “destroys” one infrastructure to build another.

“We need a state solution that not only impacts Oakland County, but the state,” Brooks added.

Kendziorski said that with an increase in demand for services, there needs to be more concern for the pay of mental health employees.

“Nine dollars an hour is not a whole lot of money to pay the people that take care of our loved ones — something needs to be changed in how they are compensated,” he said.

Maginity said the mental health system is “extremely fragile.”

“Just a small change creates a huge catastrophe,” Maginity said. “Advocacy efforts must continue. ... Get parents to advocate more; providers advocate more.”

DeCenso said that as a Grosse Pointe special education high school educator teaching students with severe autism, he wants to see a transitional-type program to help his students make it beyond school.

“It dawned on me that we really don’t know what it looks like when they leave school,” he said. “We don’t know if we are even making the right recommendations. We need to know.”

He added that some of his students end up falling by the wayside because they are trained to work or further their education, when many with severe autism don’t have that choice.

Greig asked DeCenso if there is a set standard for high school transition.

DeCenso said that everyone is compliance-driven, but if students are not vocationally oriented, they are being failed.

Brooks said he believes the No. 1 problem is that the people he serves are devalued.

“The people we serve are not recognized,” he said. “It is very important that we raise that value level.”

He added that if funding for schools were cut the same way the mental health programs are cut, people would be outraged.

“We have to change the culture of how we administer services,” he said.

The overwhelming statement of the night was to advocate for change in the mental health field.

Greig said in an emailed statement recently that some people talked that night about how they were impacted by cuts to food assistance. Food assistance cuts were enacted in 2014 due to federal changes to the Farm Bill. Congress cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to Michigan by $183 million, which resulted in cuts to 170,000 households, she said.

SNAP benefit recipients include 43 percent of children and 26 percent of the elderly.

State Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, and state Rep. Gretchen Driskell, D-Saline, submitted two resolutions, House resolutions 0081 and 0082, to address the issue to preserve SNAP benefits. The second resolution urges Congress to enact legislation to reverse recent cuts to SNAP. Greig co-sponsored both resolutions, she said in the email.

She added that many people have shown her that they are concerned about mental health issues.

“I thought this was a good way for me to get educated on the issue, and also to connect people with mental health issues,” Greig said. “(It was a) full house, and that is how many people are hurting from the way we fund things, the way we organize our services, and something has to be done.”

She added that legislators have this responsibility to connect personally and directly with residents to figure out a solution.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Jennifer Smith did not comment by press time.

For more information, go to www.occmha.org.

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