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N.M.Gets C-Minus for Overseeing Mentally Ill

Posted on: Thursday, 2 March 2006, 18:00 CST

By James W. Brosnan BROSNANJ@SHNS.COM / (202) 408-2701

WASHINGTON -- The National Alliance on Mental Illness today gave New Mexico a C-minus for its treatment of adults with mental illness, but 29 other state programs got D's and F's and not one received an A.

As a whole, America rates a D said the mental health advocacy group in what it billed as the first comprehensive survey and grading of state mental health systems in more than 15 years.

"Nationally, because of a range of barriers, less than one-third of adults with diagnosable mental illnesses receive treatment," often because it costs too much, NAMI said in the report.

"First responders in times of psychiatric crisis often are police," it said.

That was the case in Albuquerque last year. John Hyde, a diagnosed schizophrenic, is accused of killing five people, including two police officers, Aug. 18. Police say Hyde stopped taking his medication.

NAMI gave New Mexico top scores for its willingness to provide prescription drugs under Medicaid and for innovation and prioritizing services.

The report praised Gov. Bill Richardson for launching a Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative to coordinate mental health services provided by 15 agencies, although it said the jury is out on whether the program will work.

It also said the state made progress with a mental health court in Albuquerque and a crisis intervention team.

"The bad news is that New Mexico has many strikes against it. The state has the fifth-highest suicide rate in the nation and the second-lowest spending per capita for state-directed mental health services," said the report.

"Poverty and rural ruggedness contribute to its precarious position. Compared to other mountain states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of uninsured citizens below the federal poverty line."

Karen Meador, director of the Behavioral Health Services Division at the state Department of Health, said the low grade came as no surprise.

"I think that's sort of what we expected and what we're trying to improve upon," Meador said.

New Mexico might have moved into the B range were it not for an F in the category of information access. NAMI volunteers try to access state Web sites and telephone information systems to learn about mental health services. New Mexico got one out of 10 points.

Meador said her department knew from its own surveys about gaps in coverage in the state, in part because New Mexico is so rural and services are fragmented. The collaborative is revamping its Web site and planning to transform how services are delivered, she said.

The state is also starting to use long-distance "tele-health" services, Meador said.

The NAMI report says New Mexico falls short of meeting the needs of its citizens "despite being home to U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, one of the true national champions on mental health issues."

Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican, said in a statement to The Tribune, "While our efforts so far have raised public awareness about mental health issues, it's clear that more needs to be done."

Domenici said the Legislature should have passed Kendra's Law to allow a patient's family or doctors to obtain a court order requiring the patient to get treatment. The law is named for Kendra Webdale, a New Yorker killed by a schizophrenic.

Meador said the Legislature did approve a bill that lets patients make "advanced directives" on how they should be treated, for instance, if they go off their medications.

Richardson also last week signed into law bills to require humane care of people being treated for mental illness and to address a shortage of behavioral health professionals by easing some licensing barriers.

Meador said the collaborative this summer will hold hearings on what types of preventive services the state needs to avoid the need for police and other interventions.

Connecticut and Ohio earned the only B's in the report. Maine, South Carolina and Wisconsin got B-minuses.

Eight states flunked: Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Colorado and New York were given U's for unresponsive when state officials refused to answer a NAMI questionnaire.

Source: Albuquerque Journal

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