If you think your life is not touched by the issue of behavioral health, think again. Chances are you know someone who's facing a tough, maybe unseen, fight. That someone may be a neighbor who struggles with depression or a family member who lives with a substance-use disorder.
Mental illness remains a topic with some stigma (although awareness efforts are reducing that stigma), and sadly it's outside the confines of some of the dialogue related to health care. But it shouldn't be. Figures from the National Institute of Mental Health show nearly one in five U.S. adults lives with a mental illness. Also, 2016 statistics from the NIMH indicate an estimated 16.2 million adults in the U.S. had experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year. That number represented 6.7 percent of all U.S. adults.
Behavioral health and wellness may never be the subject du jour, but for me, it's an important topic. I have served for several years on the Ozark Guidance Center Foundation Board of Directors. Our organization is a not-for-profit community mental health provider, and our mission is saving and changing lives by providing compassionate, quality behavioral health services.
Although behavioral health and mental health are often used interchangeably, Ozark Guidance uses behavioral health to include not
only treatment in cases of individuals living with a mental illness, but also for prevention and intervention pertaining to substance-use disorders or addictions. Ozark Guidance provides services for more than 11,000 adults and children annually. Those services include school-based programs, efforts that give teachers tools to encourage kids to be champions in their lives, therapeutic foster care, day treatment programs for adults and children, and substance abuse and recovery programs.
I served as Fayetteville police chief and I can connect the importance of Ozark Guidance's work to events and circumstances I witnessed. In the same way law enforcement and first-responders answer emergency calls to keep people safe, Ozark Guidance is the community's 911 resource for mental health. How would we manage without 911, yet this seems to be the direction the state of Arkansas is heading as it fervently works to dismantle the statewide Community Mental Health Center system that plays a vital role in fulfilling the state mandate as outlined in Article 19 of the Arkansas Constitution to care for this population. There are 12 community mental health centers that provide services across all 75 counties.
Being the community's safety net has been part of Ozark Guidance's role since its establishment in 1970. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, state leaders were trying to implement programs for mental health care. They placed emphasis on providing after-care services for patients returning home from the State Hospital. In Northwest Arkansas, a group of physicians, social workers, community leaders and volunteers had begun efforts to provide a multi-service center that would provide outpatient, community-based counseling as part of its focus. State leaders and the planning group worked to launch what became the region's community mental health provider: Ozark Guidance.
In 2018, Ozark Guidance expanded its scope to include treatment of substance-use disorders and to serve Baxter, Boone, Marion and Newton counties. In 2019 when the crisis stabilization unit opens in Fayetteville, Ozark Guidance will be the service provider. The unit will provide care for people experiencing a mental health crisis. This tool will allow law enforcement to have another option for individuals who otherwise might be taken to jail. The unit will be one of four operating in Arkansas, thanks to support from the governor and the Legislature.
The establishment of crisis units is a good step in providing a more humane approach to those with a mental illness. Often, law enforcement officers may recognize that jail is not the right place for someone experiencing a mental health crisis. The support from Gov. Asa Hutchinson and lawmakers is a positive development for a state that previously has not been able to commit resources to mental wellness. A 2017 report examining the percentage of state-controlled funds used to support mental wellness identified Arkansas as the least generous among the 50 states. This ranking should be unacceptable for every citizen of our state.
The urgency for sustainable community behavioral health support has been magnified by the opioid epidemic. A September 2018 press release from the Arkansas Attorney General's Office states "Arkansas alone lost 401 residents to opioid overdose in 2016, and it has the second highest rate of opioid prescribing in the country -- trailing only Alabama."
The 92nd General Assembly of the Arkansas Legislature will convene Jan. 14, and lawmakers will face many issues. As an advocate for an organization committed to behavioral health, my hope is state leaders will consider steps that promote wellness of the whole person. One way to demonstrate this commitment is to partner with the 12 community mental health centers that constitute a safety net for behavioral health needs.
Ozark Guidance has a strong history of supporting wellness in all socio-economic groups. The founding committee and those in state leadership at that time recognized we build stronger communities and a stronger state when we work together.
Commentary on 12/26/2018