Repenting his youthful actions

Paul Gionfriddo was a 25-year-old legislator when the movement to close mental hospitals was in full swing.  Since his primary committee was Health, he played a fairly large role in Connecticut's closings.  He worked hard and was able to get money for community mental health and substance abuse treatment programs for adults.  He helped close special school districts and move these students to schools in their home towns.  He also got money for care coordinators to help manage the transition of people back into the community. Now, in the 21st century he realizes that he did not get enough money, the schools and other public services were not prepared to handle the mentally disabled.

His realization came about because his son is schizophrenic and the system has not been able to really help him, so that now, after stints in jails and hospitals and rehab centers, he is homeless in San Francisco.  Gionfriddo wants us to realize that mental illness can be as devastating as cancer; it can cost as much to treat and studies have shown it can reduce life expectancy by 25 years.

Here is what he thinks should be done:

If I were a legislator today, I’d mandate — and provide funding to ensure — that every teacher receive training in recognizing symptoms of mental illnesses. I’d see that pediatricians are trained to make screening for mental health concerns a regular part of well-child exams. I’d require school administrators to incorporate recommendations from pediatricians and mental health professionals into students’ IEPs.
I’d put much more money into community mental health services. I’d integrate how services are delivered by funding collaborative community mental health programs and have them run by mental health professionals. I’d include services for chronically homeless people under this collaborative umbrella.
At the same time, to clear our county jails of people with mental illnesses, I’d get rid of laws targeting homeless people, such as those against loitering or sitting on a sidewalk. And I’d make sure that there was supportive short-term and long-term community housing and treatment for everyone needing them. Both were promised almost 50 years ago in the federal Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1964 — promises that were broken when it was repealed in 1981and replaced by a block grant to states.

It's a very sad story.