A Safety Net for the Community
Mental illness represents one of life's most difficult challenges. It disrupts daily routines; interferes with personal, school, and work relationships; and in severe cases results in long term disability. The causes are frequently elusive, and often difficult for even professionals to adequately explain to the mentally ill and their families. The cost is high, in both personal and economic terms. Mental illness is, in fact, one of the most costly illnesses in our society, both in terms of the expense of treatment, and in lost productivity.

Barriers to the treatment of mental illness are also considerable. Persons with modest incomes often find treatment beyond their means, and insurance unwilling to pay. The need for emergency mental health treatment is unpredictable and frequently occurs at night or on weekends. Those with the most severe forms of mental illness, require highly specialized and intensive forms of treatment, rarely found in most community health care settings. Johnson County Mental Health Center functions as a safety net for members of our community who face those barriers when seeking treatment. So, exactly what is that safety net?

As a beginning point we assure that every county resident has access to mental health treatment regardless of financial status. Last year, of the nearly 7500 persons served by the Center, 77% had annual family incomes of less than $25,000. A high percentage of those served also had either no insurance or extremely limited insurance coverage. The average hourly fee charged to county residents for treatment services was $9.04.

Also, Mental Health Center staff work nights, weekends, and holidays to respond to persons with mental health emergencies that occur after business hours. In 2002 Center staff responded to 11, 576 crises calls during those non-working hours. Nearly 1000 of these calls staff being dispatched to hospital emergency rooms or other locations to respond to a crises situation.

Finally, the Mental Health Center operates complex and intensive treatment programs for both adults and children who experience the most severe forms of mental illness. These programs require a level of expertise, and commitment of resources, that does not exist elsewhere in the community. During 2002, over 700 adults with severe and persistent mental illness were served in our intensive treatment program for adults (CSS), while 430 children with a severe emotional disturbance were treated in the Center's intensive program for children (Family Focus).

The Mental Health Center is part of a network of local public agencies and institutions charged with sustaining a safe and healthy community. The safety net provided in serving those who frequently have no place else to turn for mental health services is one of the most important ways we seek to meet that responsibility.

David Wiebe
Executive Director