{"id":418,"date":"2011-03-20T11:17:22","date_gmt":"2011-03-20T17:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/?p=418"},"modified":"2024-07-14T05:42:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T10:42:31","slug":"you-paid-for-it-missouri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/2011\/03\/20\/you-paid-for-it-missouri\/","title":{"rendered":"You Paid For It, Missouri"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, some facts. The Missouri Department of Mental Health (DMH) budget for the current fiscal year is $1,199,029,884; that’s nearly $1.2 billion. Of that total, $575,426,388 is from General Revenue (state taxes), $578,775,972 is Federal dollars, and $44,827,524 is from other sources\u00c2\u00a0such as\u00c2\u00a0state trust funds. Based on current state population, that’s $200 per person per year going to the MO DMH for facilities, personnel, administration, and rugs. Missouri will spend $466 million this fiscal year on non-Medicaid mental health treatment. For another perspective, if you drive or walk through downtown St. Louis, just count the number of homeless people<\/a> sleeping on park benches or panhandling on street corners.<\/p>\n

For the last five years, Missouri has received grants of Federal money funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), roughly $750,000 per year, and managed by a Governor-appointed committee called the Transformation Working Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SAMHSA is the federal agency that recently published a report falsely\u00c2\u00a0stating that 1 out of 5 people<\/a> in the U.S. is mentally ill.<\/p>\n

The Missouri Mental Health Transformation Working Group published its Comprehensive Plan for Mental Health, 2011 Action Plan Update<\/a><\/em> on September 30, 2010. Let’s see what they did with your money:<\/p>\n