Lawmakers deserve recognition for mental health efforts

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By Grace Hammond

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-In many communities, the people that need the most care are the least visible. Community members struggling with mental illness are at best marginalized and at worst criminalized. Police departments, as well as public and social service organizations, fight an uphill battle to keep these folks off the street and, ultimately, out of the public eye.

In Wyoming, where the suicide rate is twice the national average, a community like this one could easily fall prey to this attitude. After all, Jackson has a reputation to maintain - a slick sheen, a happy-go-lucky ambiance that keeps tourists (and seasonal employees) coming back. People don’t come to Jackson seeking gritty reality. People come to Jackson to get away from it.

With this in mind, the county and the state should be applauded for doggedly pursing mental health issues rather than turning a blind eye to them. State Rep. Keith Gingery, co-chair with Sen. Aullman of the Select Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, pushed an amendment through the House of Representatives this session for 90 new Crisis Stabilization Beds for the mentally ill. Those who experience a mental health crisis will soon have more opportunities to stay in their own communities rather than be sent to the State Hospital in Evanston. Gingery called this “part of the ongoing effort to regionalize the delivery of mental health services in our state.”

When I lived in South Dakota, I once took a friend to the Emergency Room following a suicide attempt. After receiving medical care, she was placed in county jail rather than placed in treatment. Gingery stated that this situation is the kind this amendment seeks to address.

“Some counties [in Wyoming] are still having this issue,” he said. “But in Jackson, we have such a great relationship with St. John’s, which has two lockdown rooms. It is very clear in Teton County that you never, ever, ever jail a mentally ill person.”
Niobrara County had come up with creative solutions in the meantime. “They have no money so they actually rent a hotel room and position a Sherriff’s Deputy outside until someone can come and pick [the person] up,” Gingery said.

Teton County got a boost last year when the Jackson Hole Community Counseling Center (JHCCC) opened the doors of its new $3.2 million facility. This is a step in the right direction, Gingery said, and he hopes that in the future services for mental illness and substance abuse can be combined in Teton County. “Understanding that relationship between mental health and drug abuse helps us to not treat those users as bad people, but as people who are self-medicating,” he said.

In Jackson, the JHCCC functions within a network of social services, including Teton Youth and Family Services, the Curran Seeley Foundation, Community Entry Services, the Community Safety Network and the on-site Mountain House.

Mountain House, Gingery said, allows for people dealing with mental illness to avoid isolation. “Every time I visit they are doing things as a group like baking cookies,” he said. “The objective is for them to interact with their community, and to let them know they do have dignity as a human being and are not being treated differently.”

Teton County boasts resources available in few states and even fewer rural areas. We should be proud of the county and our lawmakers for continually providing assistance where it is needed the most, and encourage them to stay the course.
PERMALINK:
Lawmakers deserve recognition for mental health efforts | Planet JH News Article: Editorial

Leave a Comment