NAMI Georgia
PARTNERS
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Advisory Board
United Way
Georgia Association of Community Service Boards
NAMI Executive Board of Directors
Nora Lott Haynes President
Eric Spencer
Vice President
Diane L’Heureux
Secretary
Bill Burr
Treasurer
Mimi Marlowe
At large
Boyd McLocklin
At large
Up to 80 percent of people with a mental illness can return to self-fulfilling lives and contributing members of our communities. When the proper recovery directed services are offered, taxpayers end up saving money.
In Georgia, the opposite is true. Too many are in the revolving door of jail/prison or hospitalization and cost the taxpayers of Georgia more than is neces-sary. Not only is the present methods that Georgia employs wasteful, but it is inappropriate treatment for a biological illness.
Misinformation and myths that result in stigma are the reasons why this illness is not properly treated.
Georgia needs to eradicate stigma and provide proper treatment. / THE CRISIS
Georgia faces a crisis for those who live with serious mental illness: In the last five years alone, 115 adults and children entrusted to the care of our state hospitals have died tragic—and even horrific—deaths. And 190 more have been the victims of substantiated cases of physical and sexual abuse. A series of investigative articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution note that our hospitals are overcrowded and overused, short-staffed, and lack important safeguards and public accountability. Without immediate action, our most vulnerable citizens remain unsafe. Governor Perdue, is this acceptable?
A CALL TO ACTION
This crisis requires long-term changes AND immediate action to address emergency needs. To ensure greater long-term oversight, our state needs independent reviews of every death at the state hospital, full funding of a state ombudsman with the authority to investigate claims of abuse and neglect, and mental health insurance parity. The Mental Health Commission
(SR 363) should require every agency receiving mental health dollars to convene to study the results and efficiency of their services to those with serious mental illnesses.
Additionally, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Georgia (NAMI Georgia) and our community partners call on Governor Perdue to fund community services that will prevent hospitalization and thus relieve overcrowding while addressing the need for improved, safe medical care in our state hospitals. We seek
·  Intensive, data-driven Georgia ACT Teams (Assertive Community
·  Treatment Teams) for adults; & adolescents in every region;
·  Adequate funding for Peer Support Specialists;
·  Funding for Georgia Medical Colleges with nursing and residency training programs to establish a program to allow residents and nursing students to rotate at the state hospitals. These residents and nurses, along with their supervisors, will bring academic knowledge and improved medical care to the hospitals and could serve as a liaison to the ACT teams.
As an emergency response to the state’s mental healthcare crisis, dollars should be directed to be spent as designated and outcomes tracked. The Department of Human Resources, Department of Community Health, Department of Corrections, DJJ, and the Department of Education should be required to file a public report to the governor documenting implementation and progress with those receiving services through any source of mental health dollars. RECOVERY must be the goal.
United Way, under the direction of Horace Sibley, is committed to ending Homelessness in Georgia. To compliment significant private resources, United Way unsuccessfully sought $3 million from the legislature to provide case management for supportive housing. We strongly supported this funding request because housing and supportive services are critical to helping people with serious mental illnesses recover.
With effective treatment and supports, individuals with mental illnesses can experience recovery and become contributing members of their communities. Programs such as Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Teams, Supportive Housing, and evidence based medical treatment save the state money by reducing the incidence of incarceration and hospitalization and promoting recovery. Finally, those with mental illnesses need customized or supportive employment or volunteer opportunities.
Over 600,000 Georgians live with serious mental illness. As Georgia citizens, we ask you, our legislators and Governor Perdue, to step forward and do the right thing—for our citizens, for our families, for Georgia’s taxpayers.
Description of Georgia ACT Teams (GACT)
Georgia currently operates 18 ACT teams, but they are mostly concentrated in urban areas. Several regions of the state have no ACT teams. While the program is successful, it has not been able to reach large numbers of individuals who need this help. ACT teams work differently than traditional programs because they go out to where the consumer is and work as a team to provide treatment in a comprehensive way.
Research has demonstrated that ACT has superior outcomes and saves money. Evidence shows that ACT is better than traditional case management in (1) reducing psychiatric hospitalization, (2) increasing housing stability and, (3) improving consumers' quality of life. Studies also show that consumers and their family members find ACT more satisfactory than other traditional treatment.
A study of a Georgia ACT team working primarily with individuals with serious mental illness in the criminal justice system showed significant reductions in hospital days, number of arrests, and days incarcerated. ACT generated a savings of $1.14 million dollars to the criminal justice, psychiatric hospital and shelter systems.*
A typical ACT team of 10-12 staff will provide 24-hour coverage for approximately 100 individuals with a history of very serious illnesses. The staffing pattern usually includes: a team leader who is a full time mental health professional, a psychiatrist, nurses, employment specialists, substance abuse treatment specialists, a GMHCN certified peer support specialist, other professionals (social workers, occupational therapist, rehabilitation counselor, psychologist) and a program assistant.
The GACT team is an integrated, self-contained treatment program in which team members work together collaboratively. This shared-caseload approach is an important component of GACT and distinguishes it from other community-based programs.
http://www.Georgia rehaboutreach.org/uploadedFiles/docs/FACT_2005_Outcomes.pdf