DMH CUTBACKS: CASE MANAGERS AND CLUBHOUSES

The state Department of Mental Health, facing a more than $9 million cut in its budget, this month laid off about 100 case managers. This represents nearly one quarter of the case managers who supervise people with severe mental illness and make sure they get the services they need. State officials said about 3,000 clients would lose their current case managers. Those clients will be shifted to other case managers among the remaining 350, said Kristina Barry, spokeswoman for the Department of Mental Health.

The state has also cut $1 million from the budget for 32 clubhouses across Massachusetts. Clubhouses serve people with mental illnesses ranging from schizophrenia to persistent serious depression and addiction. Members learn, or relearn, how to interact socially and develop the skills they need for employment after what are often years of hospitalization and isolation. Elliot House, a clubhouse run by Riverside Community Care, has had to cut evening hours on Mondays and Fridays, leaving just Wednesday night open for those who cannot make daytime counseling. And rumors are rife that some clubhouses may soon be forced to close.

In addition, the department eliminated its Services for Employment and Education program, day rehabilitation, and social clubs.

The mental health cuts and layoffs are part of the $1 billion in budget cuts that Governor Deval Patrick is making in response to revenues lost in the economic crisis. Further cuts are expected, and advocates say people with mental illness have been hit so hard by the cuts that they should be excluded next time. "We feel that the first round of cuts is disproportionate for mental health and are adamant that the next round of cuts should spare mental health consumers," said Toby Fisher, policy director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Massachusetts.

The state is laying off mainly newer case managers with fewer than seven years of seniority, union officials said. The cuts also include 20 administrative staff members, Barry said.

"Case management is a really key element of recovery and getting proper treatment," said Karl Ackerman, president of the Transformation Center, a Roxbury-based nonprofit run by people in recovery from mental illness. "When you're overwhelmed with a psychiatric disability, it's very hard just to show up at an appointment, if you have an appointment, let alone try to juggle various appointments with clinicians, with services, housing issues - all those kind of necessary elements that are just the basic needs of anybody." Even before these latest cuts, he said, "There weren't enough case managers. People going in to receive Department of Mental Health case management services were waiting months."

Additional cuts are expected this year. "The governor made the decisions he could in a very difficult time," said Barbara Leadholm, Commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health. "He didn't have a wide number of choices."

-Adapted from: “ Mental health liaisons laid off; Agency loses 100 case managers; more cuts feared” By Carey Goldberg, The Boston Globe,  January 8, 2009, at http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/08/mental_health_liaisons_laid_off/ retrieved 1/8/09 and “ Feeling the pinch; Local facilities are reducing services to mentally ill in wake of state budget cuts, and fear more on horizon” By James O'Brien, The Boston Globe, January 22, 2009 at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/01/22/feeling_the_pinch/ retrieved 1/22/09.

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