Utah gets a D on mental health report card

Despite its "tremendous potential for good," Utah is ill-equipped to meet the needs of its mentally ill citizens, according to a scorecard released Thursday by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

NAMI gave Utah a "D" for its overall mental health system, including access to information, infrastructure, services and recovery support.

The grade, though dismal, mirrors those across the nation in NAMI's first state-by-state analysis — five states received B's, 16 and the District of Columbia got C's, 19 received D's and eight got F's. No state received an A, and two didn't respond to requests for information.

Sheri Wittwer, executive director of NAMI UTAH, said the scores are indicative of a system that needs a nationwide overhaul.

"There are things that as a state we need to work on, and there are also things that we do well," Wittwer said. "But without a doubt, there is room for improvement."

For key players in Utah's mental health system, adequate funding tops that list. According to Thursday's report, Utah ranks 29th in the nation for per capita mental health spending and 34th in total spending.

"We know that treatment works, we know that recovery is possible," Wittwer said. "But helping people to access mental health treatment is the difficulty, and that is a funding issue."

Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, agreed. "The unfortunate thing is the fact that it does take money to provide services," said Davis, also a public relations coordinator for Valley Mental Health, which serves Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties.

The senator was one of several lawmakers on the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee who fought for up to $4 million in additional funding for community mental health centers.

The legislative committee ultimately recommended $2 million in ongoing funds, as well as $2 million in one-time monies. The Executive Appropriations Committee, however, awarded just $1.5 million to mental health, and one-third of that is earmarked for expansion of an existing center rather than direct community care.

The funds would have helped replace some $7 million lost last year through federal changes to the Medicaid program. The cuts, which forbid the use of extra Medicaid dollars for mental health services for those not eligible for the government insurance, caused 4,500 Utah mental health consumers to lose services.

The Legislature in 2005 allocated $2 million in one-time funding to address the problem, which allowed about 1,000 of those people to get back into treatment. But with that cut in half this year, many poor Utahns will lose services once again.

"All of a sudden they're out in the cold," Davis said.