Report: Ohio one of many states to cut mental health funding since 2009

Ohio cut nearly $58 million in mental health spending in spending between 2009 and 2011, and, according to a new national report, the state is not alone (Source: “State Mental Health Cuts: A National Crisis,” Columbus Dispatch, March 9, 2011).

The National Alliance on Mental Illness report found that states slashed more than $1.8 billion in mental health funding in the past two year.

"Treatment works - if it's available," said Terry Russell, interim director of the NAMI Ohio chapter. "The single-most important therapy in serving the mentally ill is medication, and that wasn't the case 25 years ago. Compliance of patients - taking their medications - is the second-biggest factor in staying well."

Gov. Kasich’s budget proposal for the next biennium calls for limiting the hours of psychiatric treatment, counseling and diagnostic assessment that mental-health patients receive, a move the administration expects will save more than $135 million in avoided costs.