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Brash and insensitive reforms have brought us to this precious moment in time. Your action or inaction will directly shape events to come.

Mentally ill patients are "survivors" just like heart attack and cancer survivors. We do not like to be called "consumers" and we do not like to be referred to as merely "beds" in your research findings and reports. Would you demean cancer and heart patients like that?

Some of your colleagues do not want to explain their urgency and zeal in rushing through this plan. Do not be intimidated. Unite and be informed. You have the fate of these patients in your hands.

One day soon this growing list of mental health patients may include you or members of your family, if it does not already. Is your family worth this risk or not?

Steve Church

Willow Spring

Volunteer for NAMI -- Wake County

Free enterprise fails

Where I fear we are heading in our mental health "reform" is toward a system in which as much money is spent policing the private providers as was once spent giving direct care. The state seems surprised that for-profit companies found a way to make profit.This will always be so. Moving away from the notion that all things are most efficiently done through free enterprise will be an essential first step in reforming our "reformed" mental health system.

Our old county mental health center system had many strengths. The centers were for the most part run by and staffed with dedicated professionals, who over time came to understand the needs of their clients. While there was significant room for improvement, this system was not broken. A reconsideration of this system, which was originally designed to decentralize care, might be in order.

George Stephens

Chapel Hill

Know what it takes

As someone who has worked in the mental health system, I have to say that this reform is an extremely bad idea. The funding that has been wasted is extraordinary, and the sad part is the clients and their families suffer. Every time I read an article pertaining to the reform, more money is being wasted "studying" what needs to happen.

Many people have started "mental health programs" in the hopes of making money with no forethought as to what it takes to serve the mentally ill population. Being in the mental health business will not make you a millionaire. I understand that someone starts a business to make money, but these are indigent and low socioeconomic populations that just cannot afford to pay for services.

As a social work professional and a licensed clinical addiction specialist, I and many others have worked hard and paid many large students loans for our education. We should be paid for our education and experience. High school graduates who have no idea how to deal with these difficult populations were hired so the business owners could have a more profitable bottom line.

On-the-job training without an education to provide guidance is a recipe for disaster, as the state has discovered with the community support service. I work in a facility in which our clients must have community support service in place before clients are accepted. (This is a state criteria.) This holds up our intake process by several weeks! Turnover occurs daily, which then leaves our clients in the lurch.

Let's get back to mental health centers where all treatment providers are located under one roof. Clinicians can then spend time doing treatment with clients instead of acting like businesspeople and the clients are first priority. If you want to talk evidence-based services, I will guarantee client outcomes would be much improved if they know where to find services, how to find them and when (24/7).

Karenmarie Bryant

Wake Forest

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