Mental health community protests budget cuts

Originally published: Friday, December 18, 2009

KSDK -- Budget cuts proposed by Missouri's Governor Jay Nixon went into effect earlier this month, including budget cuts for the Department of Mental Health.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) St. Louis and Mental Health America of Eastern Missouri hosted a rally to protest the cuts at the Mental Health America building on Grand Friday morning (December 18, 2009).

The groups say budget restraints are keeping them from helping their clients who need it the most.

Places for People, a local organization that provides mental health services to those who are homeless or cannot afford it, say they're really feeling the cuts first hand. Now, they can no longer take on new clients and they're worried more cuts could be on the way.

"We know that they desperately need help and they're coming here asking for help," said Donnie Winget from Places for People. "And it was frustrating before that we couldn't help everyone. But now it's been limited to whom we can help so narrowly that it's just really frustrating."

Local mental health experts say during the last decade they have seen public mental health services cut significantly -- even though the numbers of people in need for those services is not declining.

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