“Scapegoating one bureaucrat for recent misjudgment does not conceal a mental health system that was undermined by many hands over many years. It began in the 1960s with an unsustainable government promise establishing a statewide system available to all. It evolved into a complex nightmare in the 1980s, when that same government’s controls and inefficiencies generated costs of service double that of private providers. It ended with the abandonment of earlier promises and a bungled transition to a state-funded hybrid system morphing a safety net into a mineshaft. Not one of the host of players — elected or appointed — who were complacent or complicit in the demise, is being held accountable. The consequences, as usual, are reserved for the victims.” Carl Mumpower is a military veteran who currently serves on the Asheville City Council in Asheville North Carolina. His op-ed piece was posted online August 29, 2007 at 12:15 am in the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Well Carl if we are victims it is the victims of the stupidity and stigma from chronically normal people, but we do not accept the role of victim hood. We are organized into groups of brotherhoods and sisterhoods all across this country. You would just have to look at such places as Rebel’s, 9Muses, and PEER Center in South Florida as examples of places operated by consumers of mental health for consumers to know we are not victims, but rather folks capable of doing wonderful acts of kindness for each other. Or maybe go into the Broward County jail in South Florida with Jana as she does her work with inmates and see if you think you are watching a victim or a strong and worthy person doing a job few folks could or would do. There are other examples in South Florida and here in North Carolina and all across America.
I agree with you Carl that none of the promises that were made to us have been carried out. I agree that the public mental health system is a mess. And just for your information Carl since you are a vet the Veterans Administration isn’t doing any better and maybe worse.
The piece below breaks my heart.
“Broughton loses money over Feb. patient death
From Staff Reports
[email protected]
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Morganton - Broughton Hospital lost its federal funding for Medicaid and Medicare patients after an investigation into a patient death there in February.
An autopsy found a male staff member was on top Anthony DeWayne Lowery’s torso for two to three minutes before the 27-year-old died. An original autopsy report said the Broughton staffer was 300 pounds. An amended report this month said that weight was incorrect.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ordered Broughton to devise a plan to avoid incidents like Lowery’s death.”
The death is horrible and the loss of money will mean that some of us somewhere will not get the services we need. To replace the money they will have to take it from someplace.
The truth is that if you live in some counties in North Carolina and have a mental illness or an addiction or are dually diagnosed as lots of us are there are more services than in others. Not having the same amount and quality of services available to people no matter where they live in this state is a crime.
How will they ever get things put together in the public mental health system where they serve people in the proper way? When they start listening to the folks who know. Who knows? The folks with the problems, their families and loved ones, and the front line workers.
I was asked by a county commissioner of Burke County, NC to apply for the board for mental health, substance abuse, and developmental disabilities for Burke and Catawba counties. I did and gave references from South Florida. One of my references in South Florida said she told them that if they did not want to hear the truth they did not want me on their board. She had watched me serve on boards down there for almost 13 years. I did not make the board which is perfectly OK. No advocate needs a vote. All information about public money and how it is used is public and all meetings have a time you can speak. I don’t have to be a member of a board to be heard. If I have an issue I think needs to be heard I will get it heard. As I said in the beginning of this blog. We don’t have the mental attitude of victims. WE ARE PERSONS even if the new Person to Person Manual in North Carolina does not really show that and we will be heard even if we don’t have a place at the voting table and are only on advisory boards.
The system may try to make us victims by being an under funded mess and even kill us at times by sitting on our chests in an improper restraint, but it can’t make us a victim unless we believe we are. As long as we believe we are persons we can climb higher than the system ever dreamed we could.
You can reach me directly at [email protected]
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