Blunt talks about mental health in St. Joe visit
St. Joseph News-PressOct 13, 2017
Blunt gave an overview and update on the Excellence in Mental Health Program. In 2014, legislation was passed on the Excellence in Mental Health Act, which gives states the opportunity to develop innovative behavioral health delivery models, use a prospective payment system for better reimbursement and have seamless integration of mental and behavioral health services.
Blunt praised Family Guidance as one of the 15 community behavioral health centers and 200 overall locations in the state that is forward leaning in the cause of providing integrated mental health services.
"It's great to see
Blunt said in the last 40 years law enforcement and the emergency room have been the de facto mental health delivery system for the country and how that's unacceptable. Nobody is well served by that, Blunt said.
He said that understanding behavioral health is part of understanding overall health, and that's really what the Excellence in Mental Health Act is about.
And the need is great. Blunt said that according to the
"So this isn't one isolated group dealing with a behavioral health challenge," Blunt said.
He added that in the last half dozen years there has been more of a willingness to talk about and understand that behavioral health is a health problem.
"I think we're going to see what happens in our state and other states is what I've seen happen in some pretty large county studies around the country, that you actually spend less money on health overall if you deal with behavioral health problems like all other health problems," Blunt said.
"As a certified community behavioral health center, we take our responsibility to participate in the behavioral health-care system seriously," Hammond said.
In the next few months, as part of the Excellence in Mental Health program, Family Guidance will begin working with
Hammond praised the work between Famiy Guidance, the
"Over the years we have become partners working together to safely decriminalize mental illness and addiction," Hammond said. "In particular, our community mental health liasion has done a great job of partnering with the police and sheriff departments about behavioral health issues through ride-alongs and CIT training. CIT training can help officers safely de-escalate potentially dangerous situations."
Hammond added that for the first time in its more than 100-year history of operation, Family Guidance has served more than 5,000 people in the past fiscal year.
___
(c)2017 St. Joseph News-Press (St. Joseph, Mo.)
Visit the St. Joseph News-Press (St. Joseph, Mo.) at www.newspressnow.com/index.html
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.