Skokie, IL - On Monday, October 25, 2010 Turning Point hosted a Community Impact Meeting for the agency members to discuss the drastic cuts in state funding for mental health. More than 50 people attended this forum including clients, families and staff.

Barbara Weiner, JD, an attorney who represents many community agencies throughout the state, including Turning Point, as well as Dan Wasmer, Associate Director of Region Services for the Illinois Department of Mental Health, were our special guests at this meeting. Barbara shared some informative statistics about the cost-effectiveness of funding mental health, such as that for every $1 spent on mental health services, $5 is saved on overall health costs. “Our legislators are not getting it,” she said while encouraging clients, families and staff to advocate. “The only way they’ll get it is if you share your stories and vote.”

Dan Wasmer was clear that his intention in attending the meeting was to listen to the concerns of clients and to promote recovery. He also explained that the Secretary of DHS and Director of DMH have both stated that reductions to the FY11 mental health budget constitute “bad policy.”  “I’m worried about the people who won’t get care; the people who are lost or never connected to care. Because they will not be linked to the public mental health system, we will have no way to record the real impact of this policy in terms human midevsite.tpoint.weareno1.org highlight of the meeting was the powerful testimony from clients and staff who shared personal stories about the impact of Turning Point’s services and what it means for the State of Illinois to no longer fund these services. The following are excerpts, grouped thematically, of what people shared at the meeting, as well as responses collected on index cards from those who chose to share their responses in writing. 

Impact of the cuts

“I’m one of those without insurance, and thanks to the generosity of some people I’ve been able to come until now, but I don’t know what it will be in 2 to 3 months. I’m dependent right now on Turning Point and my parents. I don’t know how long my parents are going to be here. Without Turning Point I’d be lost, either on the street or somewhere institutionalized.”
  -  TP client

“I have insurance but it won’t cover (mental health services). Unless something happens with the governor…I’ll probably go through every cent I’ve got to keep myself afloat. I could probably be one of those people who could end up in the hospital if it wasn’t for here.”
TP client

“I can only afford to take two groups a week, I am self-pay for groups. Medicare does not cover my groups. I normally take 10 groups a week. If I were to pay for 10 groups it would cost over $400/month.”
TP client

“I fear with the cuts in mental health, what that means for training opportunities. My
biggest fear is working somewhere that is not (aligned with) the recovery model.”
TP student intern

“When you take away that safety net, when you take away the programs that are helping people function…there’s a potential of a real snowball effect that we can’t really anticipate.”
  -    TP board member

“Because of the cuts in mental health care I am no longer able to afford my groups.”
TP client

“[Clients who were affected by cuts] were making some gains…and they really lost some big support. Those voices have really gotten lost.”
TP staff

“I have a therapy client who presently suffers from severe depression. He experiences profound sadness, guilt, and hopelessness. He has worked his entire adult life, but he is currently unable to work owing to the severity of his depression. Depression is highly treatable. However, my client cannot afford to remain in treatment because the sliding scale for uninsured clients has increased so dramatically. This increase was necessary for Turning Point’s survival in response to state funding cuts. As a result of my client’s lack of access to care, he is unlikely to experience symptom remission and so be able to return to work and reengage in relationships.”
  -    TP staff

“I have a client right now who is facing homelessness, and in the past we would have been able to help her out. We’re working as hard as we can to find the resources, but they’re just not there.”
TP staff

“The cuts impacted about 10 of my clients who are self-pay. In general these are people who are not going to get Medicaid. You’re talking about people who maybe had actually been working minimum wage jobs; you cut [their services] from them and then they have nowhere else to go. We have a system now that people who might have been able to recover… cant. [The funding cuts] forces them into a lower level of functioning. That’s who [the budget cut] really hit - the people who might have gotten out when they needed it.”
TP staff

“The impact of not having services, not only on the person but also on the family and the community cannot be underestimated….It is heartbreaking for the parents and heartbreaking for the children.”
Barbara Weiner

“If we say that we’re not endorsing something with our dollars, it says it’s not important to us. If we say [mental health] doesn’t have value, what does it say about people who are having symptoms? Is it going back to, ‘we don’t want to talk about [mental illness]?’ When there are more centers like ours out there it becomes more destigmatizing.”
TP staff

Effect of Turning Point’s services

“To find a place where people want you to get better, and they are trying to get better; who can find that in the drug addict world? I’d be lost or dead without it.”
TP client

“I’m exceedingly thankful for this social service agency…. I’m hugely invested in this place.”
TP client

“I have friends here. They are good people who don’t want to cause trouble. They just need extra help to stay well. I don’t want to be marginalized in an institution. And I’m willing to fight tooth and nail to prevent that.”
TP client

“Without the staff here, I’d have no one. This has been my recovery. I have said it many times to my therapist; I need you.”
TP client

(Client described how she lived on the streets for years, and eventually at the Y before she started coming to Turning Point.) “I got all this help from Turning Point. I was in the TLP (transitional housing) program. It really helped me out a lot to get straightened out. Now I’m in government housing. I’m hoping that everything will be able to the same for me, and I can keep coming here.”
TP client

 

“My life has really changed. I don’t cry every day; that is only because I have somewhere to come…. I’ve been here almost two years, and I can count how many days I’ve missed other than going to the doctor on one hand [….] I need the people around me so I can change and continue to get well. By being a mirror, maybe someone can see me and say ‘I can get better like her.’”
TP client

“It’s improved the quality of my life considerably. I’m really grateful for the people here at Turning Point….It’s really changed my life and given me a life I didn’t have before.”
TP client

“At first I didn’t know what to expect….After coming and having somebody who actually listens to me, understands and feels what I’m feeling and doesn’t judge; seriously I’ve been able to sleep. I’ve been able to look myself in the mirror and not feel bad about myself….I know, ‘OK, Tuesday’s coming and I’m going to have somebody to talk to.’
It’s been very encouraging to me.”
TP client

“Mental health is so important, and so often ignored. I wish I had a place like Turning Point when I was younger and had some serious problems.”
TP client

“The mission of the division of mental health is to promote recovery. I don’t know an agency in the state that has done a better job than Turning Point.”
Dan Wasmer

“When we talk about the recovery model a lot of people don’t understand what that means. I think the leaders of our state don’t understand what it means. It’s what transforms a community’s problems into a community’s assets…. It’s 8 or 9 members of PSR group (Turning Point’s day treatment program) coming together in the community, breaking bread together, sharing breakfast […] That is something that is possible only if we have the resources to help people build the social ties with the broader community.”
TP Board President

Cost Effectiveness of Services

“As the mother of a young adult man who has suffered from clinical depression since he was 13, I worry that eliminating mental health service will wipe out any safety net he might need when meds aren’t enough. Without necessary support, people in his condition can quickly spiral down and suffer needlessly, even putting their own lives at risk. At best there is likely to be tremendous lost potential and productivity and, at worst, there will be lost lives. The cost of hospitalization and treatment is much higher than the cost of proactively offering support services. Turning Point also promotes a healthier community attitude toward mental health. We need to keep mental health issues in the sunshine.”
TP family member

“I know what things cost. I was in and out of hospitals for two weeks a couple years ago. It cost $20,000. Ever since I have been here, I’ve been doing exceedingly well.”
TP client

“I don’t know where I’d be without Turning Point; probably hospitalized or in jail.”
TP client

“This place has been good to me. I know several people who turned to a life of crime.
If people don’t have a place like this to come to, they might turn to a life of crime because they don’t have anywhere else to turn to.”
TP client

“[The state funding cuts] is going to eventually take money out of every other program. It’s extremely short sighted to think this is going to work. Even if you don’t have a humanistic bone in your body, from a number’s perspective, this just isn’t going to work.”
TP staff

“I have friends here. They are good people who don’t want to cause trouble. They just need extra help to stay well. I don’t want to be marginalized in an institution. And I’m willing to fight tooth and nail to prevent that.”
TP client

We at Turning Point intend to continue speaking out against these cuts and advocating for the people in our community who need our help the most.