Taylor supports healthcare issues

By Janna Taylor

If you read my columns you know that I closely watch the state spending. Usually I think that state agencies are not careful with taxpayer’s money. Well last Friday I found five bills, each requiring money, that I support!

Mental health problems have become a serious crisis in our state. What do our small communities do when faced with these incidents? Our hospitals are not equipped to handle serious mental illness. And to guarantee their safety, our sheriff’s office has to drive 170 miles to the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs. According to our Sheriff, 300 individuals a year are detained by the county for mental health assessment.

Five mental health bills are part of a package that will not only save money in the long run, they will help Montanans. We need to find humane care that includes crisis intervention, preventative care and jail diversion plans. People suffering with mental illness serve longer jail sentences and face more frequent arrests.

HB 24 (Rep. Scheiner D, Great Falls) would fund a 16 bed state run mental health group home for crises stabilization. Our state hospital at Warm Springs has had lots of problems, and over-crowding is one. Build for 32 it now houses 50. Other states have found that transitional group homes are very effective. We will still need the state hospital, but with many fewer patients and at $650 per day we can save $300 to $400 per day using transitional homes.

HB 33 (Rep. Ehli R, Hamilton) gives matching grant money to counties for crisis intervention instead of jail.  

HB 34, also by Rep. Ehli, would help communities build secure psychiatric facilities. We heard about Hope House in Bozeman, Journey Home in Helena and Hays Morris in Butte. The Community Crisis Center in Billings has 8,000 visits per year. Of these only 12% needed to go to the state hospital. Community crisis centers can save taxpayers thousands of dollars yearly and treat people where they live, where they have family support.  

We have a crisis center planned for Polson. The Lake House will be an emergency detention and voluntary crisis stabilization facility. St. Joseph’s Hospital has donated land for the facility near the hospital. Patients will not use this crisis center for long term in-patient treatment.

HB 35, another of Rep. Ehli’s bills, would allow for voluntary inpatient mental health treatment for up to 14 days to avoid a jail sentence.

 Lastly, HB 47 (Pease-Lopez D, Billings) would fund up to six projects for youth treatment. Right now the state of Montana has 41children with serious mental illness treated out of state at a cost of $400 per day. We need to keep children home and out of the system if at all possible.

Here’s the bottom line, $4 million per year, however this will cost us much less in the long run and provide for preventative treatment, especially of children. There is no dollar amount for these compassionate choices.  And did you notice that these bills are carried by members of both parties.

Continue to keep in contact. Leave me a message at 406-444-4800. My cell 253-8766 is usually off. E-mail sen.janna.taylor@mt.gov. 

Janna Taylor is a state senator from Dayton.