Spotlights
327 - Reform the Reform: How mental health reform went wrong and what lies ahead

July 18, 2007

Key Facts:

• North Carolina’s 2001 mental health reform was ambitious and well intentioned but flawed.



• Many proven ideas did not make the final version of reform and lawmakers immediately raided the mental health trust fund to cover a General Fund fiscal crisis in 2001.



• Later changes targeting specific problems have left the entire system worse off.



• Money is spent poorly by local management entities (LMEs) with little oversight, leaving essential services with too little money.



• More money is not the solution. Pennsylvania spends more than three times as much per person as North Carolina with similar results.



• North Carolina’s involuntary commitment law does provide better safety for patients and the community than does Virginia’s.



• There is no single state to emulate, but many states have gotten specific policies right.

Download PDF file: Reform the Reform: How mental health reform went wrong and what lies ahead (178 k)

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