Mental Health in NC

Those of you who know me well, know how passionate I am when it comes to the topic of mental health. I've not blogged much about this issue in a while, but the time is here that I can no longer remain quiet about this madness.

The mental health field is my passion as it relates to my career as a Social Worker and it means a lot to me personally with regards to my sister. Most of you know already that I worked in the mental health system (in NC) for several years before we were all "laid off" or as they like to call it "the system was reformed". The whole process was not handled well and it left a lot of us with resentment and anger. It sucks to have a job you love taken away from you b/c the State decides "oh, we don't need you and neither do the consumers of North Carolina".

Anyway, this blog isn't about my feelings it's about Gov Easley.....who is the main target for the crappy mental health system and services (lack there-of) that we have today in the state of North Carolina. In a news story back in early March of 2008, Gov Easley states that he reluctantly signed into law, House Bill 381, which decentralized the mental-health system. Easley then said his administration and Carmen Hooker Odom (then secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services), "vigorously opposed it, because it was too broad with not enough accountability."

SO WHY THE HELL DID YOU SIGN A BILL THAT YOU WERE SO AGAINST????? Bottom line is he could have vetoed the bill until a better course of action could have been implemented instead of putting thousands of good hardworking souls out of work and most importantly leaving those who need MH services with crap services to choose from or no services at all to choose from.

All of this banter leads me to my most recent finding re: good ol' Gov Easley. He recently agreed to a press conference of sorts to discuss the mental health system specifically. Check out this video below. He gets stumped at the first question....Jesus, Mary and Joseph....get this guy OUT OF OFFICE!! Thank god it's an election year and please lord god give us someone who can fix this mess and give the consumers of NC a mental health system that works for them instead of against them!!!
http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/2522369/