It's not that easy, Ol-ster... States are having a lot of trouble these days balancing their budgets... That is reality... Also real is that none are spending anywhere near what they used to spend on mental health (per capita) back when I got into social work... So the question is is where is the money???

Of course, there are lots of people who just think that government is evil and ineffective and/or that money can't solve problems and unfortunately many of those people have found a safe haven in the, ahhhhh, government... That is a big problem on top of them lack of funds for mental health...

I remember when deinstitutionalization came about in a big way and the state hospitals unloaded their clients on society... Well, more on adult services social workers than anyone else... It was a mess... And not long after that we started seeing the cuts in Title XX funds that we, as scoail workers, used to purchase services such as transportation, adult day care, etc. so what we ended up with was a double whammy in that here we had massive case loads of menatlly ill people and no resources to serve them...

So for people to say that we "ought to" do this or that is all well and good but unless mental health becomes a priority, and this recent shooting won't bring about, we're kinda screwed... I'd love to see the states re-prioritize but it ain't gonna happen because it will have to be paid for... Just like sensible gun controls won't happen... Too much push back from the folks who either profit from the sales of guns or are paranoid...

B~